Update post 252: I did it! 😅 Has anyone done this: DIY glue ons after farrier trims

[Inimitable]

Quick update to my glue-on journey. I temporarily waved the white flag for one of my mares. We have two weeks of horse shows coming up and I just didn’t want to spend time/energy fiddling, fixing, futzing with the glue ons, so I had my farrier put her in steels with frog support pads all around when he was here last week. I will get back to experimenting with the composites when the big horse shows are done.

I did put the Octos back on my other mare after a fresh trim and, hooboy! What a difference! A much, much better fit and therefore a much, much better glue bond. I am optimistic.

Oh! Edited to add that my farrier also used a bench grinder to bevel the toes and take some bulk out of the heel for me. I have not had hind tabs pop, like I was before - I’m guessing the fresh trim and reduced torque from shaping the shoe a bit more has helped with that particular issue.

[Demerara_Stables]

Update on the tape: it’s a no.

The tape sat on the shoes to really get stuck for 2 days, and I prepped the foot with a rasp then a sand paper block. I put the shoes on and put pony out in a small paddock with lots of grass (read: she was inhaling not moving around ) and they were off after a few steps. The tape came off of the feet and the shoes, so I didn’t think there’s any chance it’ll work. Maybe a stronger tape? Anyone have suggestions?

Already received my gluing supplies so going to try that after a trip this weekend. Wish me luck!

[Feathered_Feet]

I can’t say I’m surprised - horses are really hard on their feet. If people have trouble keeping nail-ons and acrylic glue on horses feet, I’m not sure the tape had a chance.

[Demerara_Stables]

Ya I was skeptical too but “someone on the Internet” said it worked for them so I figured it was worth a shot!

[luvmyhackney]

How are they working? My pony got trimmed a hair to short now showing some laminitis/sore feet signs.

[FjordBCRF]

He’s doing really well in them! I mainly put them on because we got the all clear to get him back into some work he had some rubs from being in his Scoot Boots transitioning out of the clouds.

Once we’re through this cycle with them, I may try the Scoot Enduros. My trimmer had the kit and I really liked the way those seemed to fit with him just standing.

I also wanted to see how complicated they were to apply since I normally trim myself!

[Buddy0227]

Often the tabs fold under the hoof…happened to my horse.

[Simkie]

I’ve been following this thread with rapt attention, and just wanted to let you all know…

SmartPak has the EasyShoe Versa Grip Octos on sale, and also eligible for 20% off with their July 4 sale (code is 4July24.) I swear these were 15% off + the July 4 20% when I was looking at them yesterday, but 10% + 20% is still pretty sweet.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/easyshoe-versa-grip-octo-glue-on-shoe-26002

They also have the Versa Grip eligible for 20% off:

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/easyshoe-versa-grip-glue-on-shoe-25993

And the super glue is 15% + 20%:

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/easyshoe-quick-set-super-glue-2oz-26007

[EventerAJ]

I have been following this topic with interest (both here, and on other digital platforms).

My main question with all EasyCare and other composite shoes, is HOW do you shape them? What happens to horses with mis-matched feet? What about horses with flares? Hooves that aren’t perfectly round, but more diamond-shaped? Obviously flares can be knocked off to a degree, but it won’t leave a tight fit with a plastic shoe tab or cuff. What about horses with really wide heels/frog, or narrower? How do you open or close the heel of the shoe to fit?

I’m used to a traditional farrier balancing the foot, correcting the flares reasonably per cycle, and shaping a steel shoe to perfectly match the foot’s shape.

[barnesthenoble]

It depends a lot on the shoe. For horses with truly wonky feet that don’t even remotely resemble one of the pre-made shapes, you can buy the shoes without tabs, grind them to the shape you want, and weld on tabs or nail on the shoes.

I use my angle grinder or belt grinder to shape all of my shoes. I add a larger breakover and adjust the shape of the heels.

Some of the composites come with spring steel cores that can be shaped with a hammer.

I know many folks use hind patterned shoes for front feet and vice versa; this is one way to accommodate wonky-shaped feet. I have horses in different sized shoes on each foot, and some horses with a hind pattern of one size on one foot and a front pattern of a larger size on the other.

If you have flaring or other distortion that can’t be trimmed out, you’ll want to use the Versa Grip Glues or the EasyShoe Speeds. Those cuffs are designed to be used with acrylic or urethane glue, which allow you to fill as much space as you need to with the glue. Superglued shoes are not a great fit for horses with flares since you can’t build height with superglue. But you can fill a LOT of space with acrylic or urethane glue!

You can (and really should, for proper breakover) heat the tabs of any of these shoes to soften them so you can set the shoes back further to achieve 50/50 around center of rotation.

You can trim out the frog support to create a rim shoe (not my advice, but it’s an option!), just cut off the tip, add a rim pad to the shoe to remove frog pressure, etc. You can box in the heels more with a grinder to make them smaller, or try a different shaped shoe if you have a horse with really wide heels and a narrow toe.

It’s definitely a different process than traditional farriery in the way you approach fitting the shoe to the hoof. These shoes are designed to come with enough material to allow the HCP to grind off as much as they want for the application they want for that horse.

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

I love my new enduros. Just got them for the baby horse to help with hard ground and gravel roads. They are adjustable so it took a couple of tweaks to get them right. My first time working with them and I was moving the back heel piece screws very conservatively.

Now staying on for a full jump lesson with no issue & baby horse is much happier with her toes cushioned.

[Feathered_Feet]

This is a great overview, thanks for posting!

I might emphasize that customizing these kinds of shoes is 99% about removing material - as far as I know, you can’t really add (with the exception of welding on new tabs) or shape the material by heating & bending (e.g., to open the heels like you would with steel, though I think most of them don’t have open heels so not the best example).

From what I can tell (in my very limited knowledge), the easiest thing if you need a custom shape is to buy something with cuffs (like the Very Grip Glues), not tabs (which would be like the Octos) in a big size that allows you to remove the material you don’t want. (The reasoning is as Barnesthenoble states - tabs use super glue and really need a perfect fit, while the cuffs use acrylic which can fill in a lot of extra space.) E.g., if you want more heel support because the horse has underrun heels, you would buy something with the length you need, then grind away all the excess on the sides. Lots of people do this with a grinder after the shoe is on the horse (and clearly, lots of people have horses that are much quieter than mine!). My horse is not yet able to tolerate my (admittedly very loud) grinder, so I do a lot of shaping not on the horse, and maybe just some refining with a rasp (which is very not fun).

[RhythmNCruise]

Well, shucks. Thanks for giving it a go and updating us. The shoes look great in the pics at least!

[Demerara_Stables]

Of course! The tape was like $15 so easy to try out. Excited to get them on for real in a few days

[fivestrideline]

This thread has been SO educational- thanks everyone who has chimed in! I’m interested in following the process for those of you trying this out.

What I’ve learned is that unless I can find a farrier to do glue ons and help me prep/learn how to shape them to my horses’ feet, I’m sticking to boots at this time . I know once you get the method down it becomes easier, but the reality is I don’t have the bandwidth to get there right now!

I do wonder what the boot equivalent of shoe + pad + DIM/magic cushion might be? Boot and gel type pad? I have comfort pads in my cavallos right now for one horse, but I’m wondering if there’s something “better”. I’m about to need to replace a pair of boots as well so it’s a good time to make some changes.

[barnesthenoble]

In all fairness, there’s a legitimate argument that boots are better, especially while rehabbing feet! They allow you to more quickly adjust padding and trims, give you better access to the foot for more frequent trimming, and more completely offload the sole in flight (which helps with blood flow, since the blood-pumping mechanism of the hoof relies on expansion and contraction during landing and flight). I glue more because I just don’t have the time to futz around with boots on my horses who need protection 24/7, and have one horse in particular who just DESTROYS them. After trashing a few hundred dollars in boots that he shredded, I switched to glue ons. If I had fewer/less destructive horses to try and keep booted, that’s probably what I’d be doing except for competitions.

You really just have to experiment to see what your horse(s) like(s). I currently have one horse in Cloud boots so I can trim his toe once a week or so to try and chase some flaring. He says the Cloud pads are OK, but is happier in two 12mm green comfort pads layered on top of each other. I’m also playing with cutting the sole out of one comfort pad to create a rim pad and putting that on top of a full comfort pad, which he seems to like.

Next I’m probably going to try layering a 12mm green pad plus a 6mm black (medium) or red (firm) to see if that helps with durability and gives him a little more structure. I sometimes also add in a 1/2" felt pad trimmed from a cheap wool/felt western pad I got for this purpose.

Other pads I’ve tried with various success: Scoot Boot pads (love these for glue ons, both their flat and their wedges; the wedges do a good job of supporting the foot without crushing heels; haven’t tried them in boots yet); Thinline pads (they work okay, I’d want them layered with something else for a really sensitive foot); leather pads (meh, I use them in some glue ons on horses that just need a bit of magic cushion, not helpful in boots IME); just felt/wool (worked okay, but squishes down really fast); Prolite pads (had an old saddle pad that was dying and repurposed the shims–they worked ok); custom pad using Vettec Sil-Pak (just made a mess, didn’t work, threw it out).

[luvmyhackney]

Somewhat related to this thread……Those of you interested in trimming your own, go follow this person on Insta. He gives some close ups on how he uses his tools and I totally got sucked in his insta.

[candyappy]

@FjordBCRF

He’s doing really well in them!

Are yours as thick as the ones that @Demerara_Stables showed in their pictures? I was shocked at how thick they were? I guess they wear faster than steel shoes.

I couldn’t read your whole post because for some reason the annoying ads are now covering some peoples posts @Moderator_1 ??

[barnesthenoble]

@candyappy

Are yours as thick as the ones that @Demerara_Stables showed in their pictures? I was shocked at how thick they were? I guess they wear faster than steel shoes.

They are thick because they’re designed to be modified as needed. You can’t easily add material, but you can easily remove it with a grinder. They need to be set back with a breakover ground in to really ensure optimum biomechanics.

IME they wear slower than steel shoes–my horse who’d blow through a pair of steels every 6 weeks (sometimes to the point of them breaking) can get ~3 resets out of his.

[Demerara_Stables]

@candyappy When I first started using them my farrier said they were similar to having a shoe and a pad. They are obviously much softer than steel and I think they work really well for horses that tend to be a little foot sore. My farrier resets mine probably 2 or three times before we need to replace them, they last a while.