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Discussion on How do I pull a shoe (it's half off anyway)? | |
Author | Message |
Member: gldilox |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 6:18 pm: The good news today was that I watched a Jane Savoie DVD on "suppling your horse" and, for the 15 minutes I was able to ride, the techniques seemed to be working. The bad news is that my gelding must have stepped on his front right shoe (I remember him tripping at the trot) and now his shoe is bent and hanging off his hoof on one side. How do I remove it? What tool do I use?It will be Friday before I see the farrier and I have a show this weekend so he's going to have to be ridden with one shoe for a few days. |
Member: amara |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 7:18 pm: do you have the proper tools?.. they should be a must for anyone with shod horses...you MIGHT be able to make it work with a pair of large pliers???i dunno...or maybe get to local tack store and see if you can pick something up that will get you thru till your farrier can give you some training and you can get better tools that suit you... you need: a metal rasp, shoe pullers (nippers work in a pinch depending on size of shoe but tear the heck out of the nippers), metal nippers for cutting off ends of nail (not absolutely vital but make things easier), strong set of legs/back so you can support the hoof for a few minutes... place hoof in between thighs...use inside of thighs squeezing onto fetlock and pastern area to hold leg in place... use rasp to file away just over and under where the nails are clinched down into the hoof...if the nail is already away from the hoof you dont need to do this...use metal nippers to cut away edge of nail that is seated into hoof... if you dont have this use pullers or nippers to try to straighten nail as much as possible, (you can even use wire cutters if thats why you have)..or use rasp to file off the bent part.. otherwise it will be much harder to get thru hoof... looking at shoe, use pullers to grab nail heads and pull down towards toe of hoof... generally you start from heel and work your way forward, but sometimes i just find the loosest nails and work from there.... if you cant get a hold of any you can kind of "pound" shoe to the hoof, esp. on the loose side.. the now unseated nails will stay up as the shoe moves down to hoof... the important thing is work from heel to toe... as nails come out you can start to pull the shoe (working from heel) towards the toe to help loosen up more nails.. this is why its easiest to work from the heel to toe...as you pull shoe remember heel to toe!... as you get to last nails at toe be careful that you dont just rip the shoe off.. you can rip off a lot of hoof that way too... depending on quality of hoof you may need to wrap or boot the barefoot hoof if horse does not have the foot necessary to go barefoot... you'll have to use your best judgement on riding..some horses arent comfortable being a little one sided/uneven like that... personally i never thought a show was as important as my horse's health or comfort...but then again, this is why i dont show anymore... |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 7:27 pm: Personally I would never ride a horse with one shoe off and one shoe on as I'd be afraid it might affect the horses shoulder being "off balance." It probably depends on the type of shoe and riding. Someone with more knowledge could advise you on that. |
Member: gldilox |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 9:05 pm: Thanks for the explanation, Melissa. I'll try it tomorrow when someone is around to help me. I have nippers and a rasp: I'm waiting on a callback from my farrier and will go buy any tools he thinks I need.Before things get too snarky, I think I should explain why I have no problem riding him with one shoe: 1) his feet are in good condition; 2) he wears a light custom forged shoe, not a heavy plantation shoe; 3) our arena has excellent clay/sand footing: we are in FL and the pastures are sand, with no holes or roots, certainly no rocky terrain; and 4) he has thrown a shoe before and the one-sidededness did not bother him. I pay more than double over my old farrier to get my current "zen farrier" to drive over two hours to our farm. Fortunately, he lives five minutes from this weekend's show grounds. If he were to tell me to not ride the horse, then I wouldn't until his shoe was back on. We ride and show dressage and, even though he is a paint, we are holding our own against other, more expensive horses. All of my horses have a high standard of care. I understand that not everyone likes to show but it can be very enjoyable if you forgo the show queen mentality and concentrate on the fun and excitement of being there. I love getting ribbons! |
Member: mrose |
Posted on Saturday, Apr 28, 2007 - 10:13 pm: I agree re: the showing! |