Most of us may have ­already heard about all the ­goodies that come along with "plastics". Com­petitive riders and drivers will for instance highly benefit from the light weight and the excellent grip. On the healthy side, the shock absorbing ability of the plastics and the flexibility of the material, have to be mentioned. The ­plastic shoe also helps to prevent serious injuries, where horses are kept in herds, in busy places such as events or when handled by humans.

In practice, things become a bit more complex. There are a few "problems" with the use of plastics. However, most of these difficulties are related to inexperience and can easily be prevented by looking at the source and not only the shoe itself.

Wear and tear

The durability of plastics is measured in distance rather than in time. A highly competitive endurance rider will ride through a set of plastics within 200 km on a weekend, whereas ­EquiTracks most recently did a test ride in ­cooperation with Horse Trails Namibia on the famous Fish River Canyon Trail in Namibia, where the same shoe made nearly 700 km.

In general, plastics look terrible after the first ride, making you wonder if they will last another day. But pressure and heat compress the material and soon stops the abrasion. As it is with good hiking boots or sport shoes, they need a "wear in" to become really comfortable.

Some horses appear to be lazy or sloppy walkers. Instead of placing their feet properly on the ground, they "slide" along, also known as ice-skating. In reality, it is rather a way of self-defence. By sliding, the horse distributes the recoil of the iron shoes over a longer distance, to reduce the impact of shock and vibration on the limbs.

A bare hoof does not slide easily and the plastic shoe is designed to simulate the bare hoof, thus not sliding either. 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.

Many factors influence durability. Consequently one will have to look at the whole situation – the shape and the condition of the hooves, the horse's specific motion, its weight and ­physique, the demand of work, as well as the plastic composition of the specific product itself.

Fitting the plastic shoe

Plastic hoof shoes can be fitted quickly and easily with standard farriery tools. They do not require the anvil and do not need any of the tools required to bend iron. The mystery is in the flexibility of the material.

To understand what happens underneath our horses' feet, we need to be aware of the forces which horse and shoe are exposed to. At a working trot of about 210 m/min (equals 12,6 km/h), a hoof has to cushion three times the body weight every time it touches ground.

To illustrate, at trot a 500 kg horse puts 1,5tons of pressure on its hooves and shoes with every step. That is why conventional iron shoes need to be prepared and shaped before being nailed on. The hoof will be made to fit the shoe (hot shoeing) or else will have to give in to the inflexible iron shoe due to the said forces.

Plastics, on the other hand, cannot be bent like iron shoes; for that reason they come in various sizes and may be shaped with a rasp or nipper after being nailed to the hoof. Now, the same forces will make the flexible plastic shoe adjust to the hoof. Plastics cannot be used for corrective shoeing, as the material will always give in to the hoof. They do not conceal bad hoof conditions, such as unbalanced feet, unequal load-bearing or weak hoof walls, but make you work on the causes of those problems instead.

The change from iron to plastics without bare hoof periods, might leave the horse uncomfortable for the first few days. While the iron shoe artificially keeps the hoof capsule together, the flexible plastic allows the capsule to work and stretch, and change back to its natural form. It is quite possible for the horse's "shoe size" to increase. This process may lead to cracks in the carrying wall, if the hoof is not properly rounded and shortened.

If plastics do not stay on the hoof, the problem can be found mostly in the nails. In the flexible material of plastic hoof shoes, the nails do not sit as secure as in iron shoes and the plastic material does not distribute the strain to the nails as equally as the stiff, inflexible iron shoe.

Furthermore, plastics have very good grip on the ground and the gravity has a much stronger impact on nails and walls. Plastics also get sucked into mud and deep ground much easier, pulling stronger on the nails and hoof wall. Nails can become loose and work into the hoof wall, until the shoe starts twisting and the wall or nails break off or come out. Therefore, plastic shoes have only limited suitability for problematic hooves, for example hooves with weak, porous and thin walls.

Maintenance

All plastics come with a bar. Little stones can get stuck underneath it and make conscientious cleaning of the hoof a bit more time-consuming but even more important. Over-reaching and forging horses stand a good chance of keeping their shoes on and hoof walls in one piece, as plastics simply bend and flip back into place.

However, the nails sometimes pull through the shoe and have to be replaced. Plastics can be used for several shoeing periods, depending on the wear, amount of nail holes and nail sizes used.

If you would like to share your experience with alternative hoof protection with us, please visit our web page. Your input will be highly appreciated. You will also find a list of farriers, some very useful tips and tricks for shoeing and other interesting material at http://www.equitracks.com.