Tried that new hot-fit shoe method on a draft horse last Tuesday and the hoof split right down the middle

I been shoeing for close to 20 years now and always stuck with cold fitting. But a younger guy at the feed store kept talking up hot fitting so I figured I'd give it a shot on a big Percheron I was working on. Grabbed a size 5 keg shoe, got it cherry red, and pressed it on. Thing sizzled like bacon and looked like a perfect seat. But when it cooled down and I started nailing, a crack ran from the nail hole straight down to the toe. Horse flinched and I felt about two inches tall. Owner watched the whole thing and just shook his head. I finished up with some epoxy filler but I learned real quick that hot shoeing ain't something you just jump into on a cold Tuesday without practicing on some scrap first. Anyone else had a shoe go sideways on a draft foot like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

wendy_garcia1625d ago

Hot fitting's the only way to go on draft feet, that was user error not the method.

jordan30524d ago

Yeah you gotta heat em up right or they'll never set proper.