Whats the difference between hot and cold shoeing?
Hot Shoeing as it’s referred to in modern times is the applying of hot shoes to the horses’ hooves. The blacksmith then returns to the anvil to make changes if necessary, cools the shoes and nails them into place. The advantages of this method are many: • You can draw and custom-fit clips for added strength. • Hot metal shapes easier and more accurately. • The hot impression on the hoof shows exactly where the nail holes lie. This reduces the chance of pinching a horse. • The highs and lows of a dressed hoof will show and be corrected. To tell whether or not the shoe has been put on the hoof perfectly flat, take a stiff card and run it around where the shoe and hoof meet. It should not slip in at all. • The hot shoe touching the hoof wall will make the wall impervious to water. You will obviously want proper moisture in your horse’s hooves but you don’t want a mushy foot to nail to. The wall of the foot has only 16% water with the main moisture being carried in the periople or varnish
