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THE ANCIENT craft of farriery shoeing horses – has been thrown into turmoil by the arrival of the
plastic horseshoe. Farriers in Britain are having to come to terms with
a host of new designs, described in this week’s issue of Horse and Hound.

The trendy new shoes, which could soon come in a range of colours, take
advantage of recent developments in materials science. The manufacturers
claim they cut down the stresses on a horse’s tendons and joints, and provide
more cushioning for the hoof than conventional metal shoes and nails. The
spate of new designs from inventors across Britain includes polyurethane
shoes stuck on the hoof with cyano-acrylate glue, and shoes with a steel
base and interchangeable plastic soles with various treads. Britain’s biggest
selling plastic shoe comes from the company Mustad, which also claims to
supply 75 per cent of the world’s horseshoe nails.

Trainers and riders who have tried the shoes are impressed. For one
horse, the transition from conventional shoes to glued shoes was ‘as dramatic
as if he had sprouted wings’, the magazine says. But in last week’s issue
Chris Colles, ‘Britain’s leading veterinary authority on the horse’s foot’,
questioned claims made for the new footwear: ‘There is no scientific evidence
that I am aware of that bolsters up manufacturers’ statements that some
alternative shoes absorb concussion.’

A recent editorial also warned: ‘DIY foot trimming before sticking on
a plastic shoe is a dire prospect leading to wholesale deterioration of
equine feet.’