kai657•25d ago

Spent a whole morning fixing a crack in a hoof wall after skipping the grow-out

Last month out near Salem, I had a mare come in with a nasty vertical crack halfway down the wall. I knew I shoulda done a grow-out weeks ago when it was small, but the owner was in a rush. I ended up patching it with some acrylic and fiberglass mesh, took me about 3 hours to shape and fill it right. The fix held up when she trotted out, but man, it woulda been way easier if I just insisted on proper timing. Anyone else deal with owners who push back on waiting for a crack to grow out?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy82411d ago

You said "the owner was in a rush," and that reminds me of a buddy of mine who shoes horses up near Portland. He had a client with a draft horse that had a small crack starting, but the owner wanted to keep riding trail all summer. My friend kept saying it needed to grow out for a month, but the owner just kept saying "patch it and move on." Well, the crack got worse, and one day the horse took a bad step on a rocky trail and the whole hoof wall split up to the hairline. My buddy had to glue on a full hospital plate and the horse was off work for three months. The owner finally learned her lesson, but it cost way more time and money than just waiting the first time. I swear some folks think we're just trying to slow them down when we're honestly trying to save them trouble.

tyler_fox4111d ago

That's a hard lesson to learn. Sorry your buddy had to deal with that.