Had a horse kick the shoe clean off while I was clinching up

I was finishing a front shoe on a big draft cross in Bend last Tuesday, just starting to set the last clinch. The horse shifted its weight and kicked out, sending the shoe flying across the barn aisle. It bent the clip and snapped two nails. I had to start over completely, reshape a new shoe and pull the broken nails. Took an extra forty minutes and the owner was getting impatient. What's your go-to move to keep a horse still when they get fidgety at the very end?

3 comments

3 Comments

simonk988d ago

That exact thing happened to me with a Percheron mare last spring, same clinching moment. When you had to pull the broken nails, did any of them shear off below the hoof wall, or were you able to get them all out clean? That's always my biggest worry in that situation.

patricia328d ago

Oh man, that's the worst part. I got lucky and they all came out clean, but just barely. It got me thinking how often the real trouble is hidden below the surface, you know? Like when a fence post looks fine but the part in the ground is totally rotten. You don't know the real problem until you're already in the middle of fixing it. That clinch breaking is just the sign something gave way deeper down.

phoenixk648d ago

When you had to pull those nails, how many actually came out in one piece? I've seen some where the tip just snaps off and stays buried.