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| tips
and tricks for working with plastics |
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| downloads |
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- tips
& tricks EquiTracks pdf document
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- HQ
Issue 23 "Time for a change" Part
III
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- "Get
more efficient when applying Polysteel shoes"
by Richard Evans
AMERICAN FARRIERS JOURNAL, April 2003
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Plastic
hoof shoes can be applied very quickly and easily
with standard farrier tools. They do not require
any trips to the anvil and do not need any of the
tools required to bend iron. That will save time
and will be less stressful for your horse. |
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| Preparing
the hoof |
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When
trimming the hoof only excess sole and frog material
should be removed, as the frog, the carrying wall and
the sole are used as a further supporting part of the
hoof and shoeing.
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The
frog should only be cut back far enough to allow the
bar to rest on the frog.
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The
outer wall of the supporting edge should form a right
angle to the shoeing.
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| Selecting
the correct size |
- Measure
the widest part of the hoof from wall to wall, AFTER trimming
and add 2mm on each side. Example: hoof width 120mm+4mm
= 124mm. The shoe size you need to use is 125. It is indispensable
to let the shoe jut out, as otherwise the hoof wall will
soon grow over the edge of the shoe.
- Shape
the shoe with a rasp AFTER shoeing.
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NOTE:
To
understand what happens underneath our horses’ feet,
we need to be aware of the forces, horse and shoe are
exposed to. At a working trot of about 210 meters/min
(equals 12.6 km/h), a hoof has to cushion three times
the body weight every time it touches ground. To elucidate,
at trot a 350 kg horse puts about one ton of pressure
on its hooves and shoes with every step.
Due to these forces conventional iron shoes need to be
shaped and prepared to fit the hoof perfectly before being
nailed on, or else the hoof will be forced into the shape
of the iron shoe. Plastics on the other hand may be shaped
with rasp or nipper after being nailed on to the hoof,
as the material will always give in and adjust to the
hoof.
When changing to plastics, after wearing steel shoes without
barefoot periods, the horse might be uncomfortable for
the first few days. Steel shoes artificially keep the
hoof capsule together, whereas the flexible plastic material
allows the hoof capsule to work and stretch out as nature
intended. This may lead to cracks in the carrying wall
if the hoof is not properly rounded and shortened. Mostly
you will find that your horses shoe size increases after
the first shoeing period.
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| Nail
holes & Fitting |
- Six
nails per hoof are sufficient.
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To
place the nail holes correct, simply hold the shoe
to the hoof, the white line will be easily recognized
through the transparent material.
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To
prevent nails from coming loose, it is very important
to countersink them very deep into the material. The
horse must not walk on the nail heads!
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Nails
should not be applied beyond the tip of the frog/behind
the widest part of the hoof. This will prevent the
nails from being twisted off by the hoof mechanism.
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The nails should come out of the wall at approximately
¼ to 1/3 of wall height.
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Recommended
nails are REG or E nails, with thin shaft and very
wide head to prevent nails from pulling through the
plastic material.
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NOTE:
If plastics do not stay on the hoof probably, most of the
times the problem can be found in the nails. In the flexible
plastic hoof shoe nails do not sit as secured as in iron shoes.
The strain is not distributed as equally as in stiff, inflexible
iron shoes. Plastics have very good grip on the ground and
gravity has a much stronger impact on nails and walls, for
instance when turning around on tar. Plastics also get much
easier sucked into mud and deep ground and therefore pull
stronger on the nails and hoof wall. If the farrier did not
work conscientious the nails can get loose in the flexible
plastic and work in the hoof wall until the shoe starts twisting
and the walls or nails break off or out. |
| Clinching
& Finishing |
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Because
the nails are countersunk the lower jaw of the clincher
will not reach the nail head therefore might draw out
the nail during clinching, thus jeopardizing the correct
position of the shoe. Use a small and hard tool to close
the gap between clincher and nail.
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The
nails must be clinched very strong. Preferably the “Nagelniet”
(Tip of nail) should not be placed in a rivet bed or
rasped to thin, to give as much support as possible.
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Adjust
the plastic hoof shoe to the hoof using a rasp. Keep
in mind to leave at least 2mm material at the widest
part of the hoof.
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| General |
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a) The horse will produce a rolled toe into the plastic
material within a few days.
b) In general plastics look terrible used after the first
ride and make you wonder if they will last another day.
But pressure and heat compress the material and stop the
abrasion soon.
c) Durability depends on many factors; e.g. the horse's
specific motion, its weight and physique, the demand of
work as well as shape, treat and composition of the specific
product itself.
d) Plastics can be used for several shoeing periods, depending
on the wear, amount of nail holes and nail sizes used.
e) Some horses might be used to "ice-skating",
which means they slide on tar or asphalt to distribute the
recoil of the steel shoes over a longer distance. plastic
shoes do slide neither does the bare hoof. Some horses need
a few days to get used to the new (natural) way of walking
and while trying to slide, wear off the first pair of plastic
shoes faster.
f) Plastics do not conceal bad hoof conditions like unbalanced
feet, unequal load bearing or weak hoof walls but make you
work on the causes of those problems instead. Please consult
your farrier!!
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