Spent 3 hours chasing a hot shoe on a draft horse because I skipped one step

Mason Bennett · 2026-05-04T17:10:03.669722+00:00

I had a big Belgian pulling a shoe every two weeks. Turned out I was leaving the heel too long on the inside branch. Took me 3 weeks and 4 resets at $75 a pop before I finally watched it close and saw the problem. Anyone else had a simple trim fix take way longer than it should have?

victor_jones995mo ago

Man that heel length thing got me too, took four resets before I figured it out on my Percheron.

5

elliot_barnes5mo ago

@jana_scott hit it on the head about watching close, that's exactly what did it for me too. Once I took a video of the horse moving on the hard ground I saw the heel was breaking over weird and letting the shoe twist. Shortened up that inside branch by just a quarter inch and the shoe stayed on for a full six weeks after that.

3

jana_scott5mo ago

That shoe pulling every two weeks bit is rough. I used to blame the ground or the horse's way of going, but watching it close changed my mind. Stupid heel length, who knew it could cause that much grief?

1