Found a weird way to seat a shoe on a draft horse in Spokane last month

I had a big Belgian that kept throwing a front shoe no matter how I nailed it. Out of ideas, I tried a trick an old timer mentioned: I heated the shoe, dipped just the toe quarter in cold water for 10 seconds, then nailed it hot. It seated way tighter as it cooled. Some guys say that's asking for a cracked shoe, but it held for the full cycle. Anyone else ever try something like that on a hard case?

2 comments

2 Comments

claire_fisher4121d ago

Wow, that's actually brilliant. I've heard of hot shoeing but never the partial dip trick. It makes total sense, cooling just part of it would make the metal contract and really pull tight against the hoof wall. I'd be scared of cracking it too, but if it worked for a full cycle on a big horse, that's proof right there. Sometimes those old school methods are the only thing that works.

young.sarah21d ago

Yeah, it's like how the simplest fix is often the best one, right @claire_fisher41?