Spring is on the way, and many of us are dealing with rain, mud, and moisture. Thankfully, all of our EasyShoes are suitable for muddy turnout.
Here are a few tips to ensure a successful glue-on application that will hold rain or shine!
1. Correct fit.
A successful application begins with finding the best size for your horse. The snugger the fit, the better.
Especially for Super Glue applications (this applies to the Versa Grip Octo), the tabs should lay flat and snug against the hoof wall. Gaps between the tabs and hoof wall allows for dirt to wedge its way in between, which can result in losing shoes.
If you find yourself needing to fill a gap between the hoof wall and tabs, try utilizing this trick.
If the hoof wall is not symmetrical or has flares, one of our cuff style shoes may be better for your horse. This includes the Versa Grip Glue, EasyShoe Speed, and EasyShoe One Glue. The cuffs with holes are called EasyTabs, and they are designed for gap filling adhesives such as acrylic or urethane adhesives. These are more forgiving with filling gaps.
If you aren’t sure which size is best for your horse, we are happy to recommend a size for you. Please utilize our Fitting Assistant for help!
2. Clean and dry location to apply the shoes.
While shoeing in a clean barn is ideal, it is not always accessible. Sometimes, you may be shoeing at a remote location without a dry place to stand. If that is the case, we recommend keeping a rubber mat in your truck that the horse can stand on to keep your prep work nice and clean.
You can also slip the Easyboot Zip over the hoof to keep it clean after you trim.
3. Proper hoof prep.
We cannot over emphasize the importance of hoof prep! Even if you are in a dry environment, we recommend following the same hoof prep routine. Hoof prep ensures that the hoof is completely clean and dry. To the naked eye the hoof may appear clean, but there is likely dust and moisture that you don’t see. To prep the hoof, you will need:
1) Hoof Buffy or rasp
3) Butane torch
Here are our tips for success.
If you follow these protocols, we can ensure that your glue-on application can withstand mud, rain, snow – you name it!
