By Karen E.N. Hayes, DVM, MS

Download a handy PDF reference chart from the editors of EQUUS magazine on how to pull a loose shoe.

What You'll Need

1. Gloves to protect your hands (optional).
2. Either a low-slung hoof boot, or materials to make a hoof slipper (see right). These will protect the hoof from chipping.
3. Clinch cutters; hammer and show pullers.

How To Do It

Step 1. Straighten the nail ends so they'll pull through the hoof without damaging it. Place the narrow, tomahawk-like blade of the clinch cutter against the bend in the clinches. Bend them open, or straight, by tapping on the cutter with the hammer. Or, cut clinches off as shown.


Step 2. Pick up your horse's hoof. If you can get a grip on them, pull the nail heads out with the shoe pullers. Odds are, though, that you'll be able to get some of the nails, but not all of them. That's okay'get the ones you can. (Be sure to discard the nails in a safe place, where they won't be stepped on.)


Step 3. Loosen the shoe heels by slipping the shoe puller's jaws between the shoe and the buttress of the hoof's heel. Push the tool's handle inward, toward the center of the sole. (It's important that you resist the urge to pry outward'this could rip off a substantial chunk of the hoof wall.)


Step 4. After you've loosened both heels, pry the shoe's toe loose in the same manner, by pulling the handle of the shoe pullers inward, toward the center of the sole.


Step 5. Repeat this motion wherever the shoe is still nailed, until it comes off.
If any nails remain in the hoof wall, pull them out with the shoe pullers.


Step 6. Remove the shoe.

Step 7. Apply the hoof boot, or make a hoof slipper: Center the padding over the sole, bringing the edges up around the hoof wall. Secure it there with the elastic bandage; cover the bandage with strips of duct tape to keep the hoof edges from wearing through.

Step 8. Confine your horse and schedule a farrier visit today.

Excerpted from the book Hands-On Horse Care. To order, call 1-800-952-5813 or visit HorseBooksEtc.com.

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Comments (2)

Jayne-Admin (62 days ago)

Hi Louise, Glad you liked the article. There's a link at the top of the article to a pdf file with no ads that you can download (color pics too!) You can view the file in the free Adobe Acrobat reader and print it out for future reference. Hope that helps.

louisebranchaud (62 days ago)

This is absolutely perfect! Thanks. One thing you could do to improve is having a print feature without all those ads. This way, I could print it and keep it in my saddle bag in case. But printing it as is makes 3 pages... And why not, it may save a tree! Thanks Louise

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