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

[Heinz_57]

@fivestrideline

That’s still the plan!

This is just… fixing what the farrier leaves. That’s all.

I think you are quickly going to become frustrated with this plan given the trim situation but I hope to be wrong! I’d be pretty annoyed if I paid for a skilled service and then had to “fix” the work afterwards every time.

I started trimming my own (5 years ago now) because I was tired of the “lazy” trims farriers were doing, and the one barefoot trimmer in the area turned out to be a total quacky whack. The farriers would do pretty OK for a couple trims and then stop actually assessing the foot after a while, just showing up every 6 weeks to lop off whatever had grown and call it good. If you end up considering learning to trim yourself, just know that it gives you the freedom to be able to do micro-trims - every few days, week, two weeks - and it’s far less labor intensive because there isn’t a whole ton of hoof to take off.

[fivestrideline]

@Heinz_57

I definitely agree that something needs to be done differently with the trim on those front feet.

Yeah I agree. Hinds are better, so I’m hoping to kinda split the difference and get the horse in a better place faster by doing a little myself.

[endlessclimb]

I do the same thing. I’ll take another 1/4" of toe off a trim done that day.

That said, I am going to try a new farrier, because 65 for a trim and then I need to pick up a rasp too - unacceptable.

[fivestrideline]

@Heinz_57

I think you are quickly going to become frustrated with this plan given the trim situation

Probably! but I’m okay with doing what @endlessclimb said and trimming a little myself for now. Once we get to the shoe/major overhaul point, we shall see how I feel. Shoes will be on the docket when the ground goes hard as concrete

[Heinz_57]

@fivestrideline

Shoes will be on the docket when the ground goes hard as concrete

Agreed… mine is getting pretty hard already and I don’t have a plan in place yet.

[IPEsq]

Your farrier may not really like what you are doing to “fix” the feet either. It is one thing to follow directions…like, my farrier would teach me how to roll off flares or fix chips after pulling hind shoes for the winter with one of mine, and so I’d try to help maintain the foot between trims. I made a couple of mistakes but mostly with not taking enough off or rasping from the wrong plane, and then I’d get some more education next time. Also went through my whole glue debacle last winter/spring to try to save my farrier trips out for constant lost shoes and touching up glue.

But just being like, well your trim sucks so I’m going to be rasping these feet over the next 5 weeks is probably not going to go as smoothly with your farrier in terms of your relationship. And really, with the trimming being so inconsistent (and when bad, pretty darn bad), you really need a new farrier. If for no other reason than you also don’t want to be learning from your current one during this process either.

[fivestrideline]

@IPEsq

But just being like, well your trim sucks so I’m going to be rasping these feet over the next 5 weeks is probably not going to go as smoothly with your farrier in terms of your relationship.

I’m prepared for that. Which is why I said I was only wanting to rasp and use the knife sparingly. But tbh I really don’t care if I do get fired as a client because:

@IPEsq

the trimming being so inconsistent (and when bad, pretty darn bad)

I really don’t want to DIY this. But I’ve been down this road with this horse for 5+ years (though I only started documenting and taking pics a couple years ago), and if I find a good farrier I inevitably have to move the horse . Hauling out every month is POTENTIALLY an option, though not a good or logistically easy option.

Ugh. Horses. I’m sure there will come a day where this becomes my job too, but I’d really rather not have to take the task on 100% on my own!

[Kyrabee]

@barnesthenoble

The good news is they will last forever, and you can probably resell it down the line if you need to.

Definitely. My Hoof Jack is 20 years old. I was still able to do foot work…at least cleaning if not rasping post shoulder surgery (why I initially bought it) and through lots of back problems including now. I am doing my own trimming now. I couldn’t do it without it.

[barnesthenoble]

Yeah, my advice re: trimming had more to do with the absolute minimum you’ll need to do prior to adding a glue-on. If you glue something on to the existing trim without pretty substantial alterations, you’ll be absolutely no better off. The trim is honestly everything. You cannot shoe your way out of poor trimming and IME a lot of DIY gluing failures come from folks trying to glue a shoe over their farrier’s trim when the farrier’s trim, well, blows. The composite shoes are fantastic but they are still only as good as the trim and application.

You have more leeway if you’re doing barefoot with boots. You still likely won’t see as much progress in hoof morphology without additional trim management, which will continue to make boot fitting frustrating, but it will minimize how much hands on trimming you need to do and theoretically reduce the risk of pissing off your farrier.

At the end of the day, you have to decide if you will either do everything possible to get the feet better, or you will accept as good as you are going to get with the professionals you have at your disposal. I don’t think either option is wrong or makes you a bad horse owner. But it is a decision you have to make. If the horse is largely retired and comfortable enough…meh…have the current farrier put the shoes back on. If he’s not a satisfactory level of comfortable or you have hopes of maybe hacking him around…the rubber will hit the road at some point and you can kick that can further down the road and revisit it when it inevitably comes up again, or you can start the process of learning now, accept that there will be mistakes and blunders and frustration, and be that much closer to having a process that works for you and hopefully your horses.

I know it sucks to be in your shoes because I’ve been there. I feel for you.

[equinelaundry]

@barnesthenoble How did you get those tubules so upright, so quickly?! Nice job!

[outerbanks77]

Just wanted to share that I did my first set of glue-ons this weekend. I dyed them, and realized that I should have welded on the cuffs first, because the darker color just made it a little harder to see when the plastic was at the correct melting point. EasyCare Versa Flex shoes with Stealth cuffs. I didn’t wrap tightly enough, so I can see there are some voids between the wall and the cuffs but we did jump yesterday and everything stayed on tight. I’m going to order another set so I can prep them well ahead of time and have them ready to go. My mare has pretty good feet, but some trainers have suggested that shoes might help her with her semi-wonky canter. Verdict is out, but I think I felt marginal improvement yesterday. Collected canter will probably be the telling factor when we have our dressage schooling day tomorrow.

[fivestrideline]

Wow! Pretty job, and prettier horse!

(Eyeballing my scruffy MUDDY undermuscled almost 5YO who looks every bit the stereotypical “fresh OTTB” )

[RedHorses]

Speaking as someone who couldn’t stand, sit, or walk for more than 15 minutes at a time - the hoof jack is the best.

And this thread is making me consider glue ons for my senior. There’s a 2-3 week period every July that I need to boot him in turnout. I don’t like having boots on that long in really hot temperatures.

[Inimitable]

Well, I’m doing this! One of my mares started to get footsore last week with the ground hardening up. My other mare is still doing pretty well, but we’re starting to school .90-1m so I’d like to give her some more support. Farrier was out today to trim and gave me the green light to apply the Versa Grip Octos later this week. Wish me luck!

[fivestrideline]

Do update! I’m still playing with boots on mine, looking into trying something less closed up than the Cavallos so that they don’t get so swampy and soak the foot when I turn out in them. I’m really happy with a Cavallo for ease of use but I’m concerned about how wet their feet stay. With the ground hardening up my one horse is definitely more sensitive, but we get so much rain that half the time he’s OK lol

[Mouse_amp_Bay]

I’ve been loving the scoot boots. Holes to let the water run out, no Velcro so the mud doesn’t clog the straps. Easy to rinse off and keep looking new.

[fivestrideline]

Those are first on my list. My concern is that they have less cushion/material between the horse and the ground, since that seems to be key for one of mine. TBD - perhaps someone makes similar setup with more “tread”.

[RedHorses]

My senior seems less confident in the Scoot boots. I’ve also had twist issues with the hinds that put too much pressure under the mud straps, which could be contributing. The front boots caused bad rubs in wet, muddy conditions the last time I used them for turnout.

Renegades are more open than Cavallos, and have a thicker, more rigid sole than Scoots. I’ve never used them myself.

[fivestrideline]

Good to know about the Renegades!

Likely these would just be for the fronts - but idk. I think ideally glue ons and a short cycle are the best option, but logistically challenging and I’m likely to get dropped by my farrier which I’m just not ready to commit to yet!

[outerbanks77]

Although I’m doing glue ons, I’m going to invest in a set of boots for backup. My mare threw a shoe last week, close to time for a reset. It would have saved a lot of headache if I could have just pulled the other hind shoe and slapped boots on her for a few rides until I had everything lined up to do a full reset (instead I rode her barefoot, she ended up sore and had to cancel lessons). Once I settle on the shoe package I like, I’ll be more diligent about having a full spare set ready to go at all times.