Rough call today - had to choose between a quick patch job and the full proper reset

Got called out to a barn this morning where a draft cross had thrown a front shoe bad... really bad. Owner wanted me to just patch it with some epoxy and reset it in place. Said she needed the horse sound for a trail ride tomorrow. But after pulling the shoe I could see the wall was chipped pretty deep and the sole was bruised. I told her I had to take the shoe off, trim clean, and reset with a full new shoe or nothing. She wasn't happy but I did it anyway. Took me about 45 minutes start to finish... and of course the horse stood fine. Anyone else ever have to push back on a request like that and wonder if you made the right call?

2 comments

2 Comments

aaronclark23d ago

... I dunno man, sometimes a patch job works fine for a trail ride if you're just buying time until the next trim cycle. Horses have been walking on worse for centuries.

gavin_kelly9124d ago

Had a similar thing with a client's show horse last fall. Owner wanted me to glue the shoe back on because she had a competition in two days. Pulled the shoe and saw the quarter was cracked halfway up. Told her no way, trimmed it out, packed the abscess tract with iodine and cotton, and reset with clips and a bar shoe. Took an hour but horse went on to place third. Sometimes you just gotta trust what your hands tell you and not what the clock says.