Removing a shoe - do you have tools on hand?

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Gorgeous George

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George managed to half twist off one of his hind shoes today
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, and as the clips were digging into his foot it really needed to come off. Being a Sunday the farrier wasn't available (understandably) and I really didn't want to call the vet if I could help it.

I knew I had to straighten the clenches so I could pull the nails out but I only had a punch and hammer and just couldn't do it
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. Luckily my YO's OH and YM's OH had some tools and with a bit of effort we manged to safely remove it without damaging G's foot any further
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.

So I was wondering if you kept tools on hand to do the job, and if so what do you have, I really want to be better prepared should I be in that situation again.

Next time I see my farrier, I will ask for a shoe removal demo as well!
 
Yes, we have the full kit to take off, put on and forge shoes - and funnily enough no shoes on the horses!!!

I think at a minimum you will need a buffer, a nylon hammer, a set of shoe removing pincers and possibly a file to tidy up any hoof bits that might be hanging if nails have ripped out.
 
Yes, we keep enough to get a shoe off in an emergency - and they go in the car for shows/hunting etc.

Can't remember whats in the box off the top of my head though, but I got the bits from my farrier.
 
Yes, i have a set of tools for removing a shoe or sorting clenches. I have a buffer, rasp, clenching tongs, nippers and a hammer. I also have hoof testers. My local tack shop got all of them for me. Theyre not professional quality but i dont need them to be!
 
yes, i've got a full shoe-removing kit, it's not needed often, but when it is, it's an absolute godsend... and worth every penny.
a good buffer, hammer, stand (if your back's not good, this is essential imho), leather apron (unless you want ripped jodhs and skin), pincers for pulling shoe off. i also have trimmers for carefully neatening up the hoof afterwards if necessary. there's also a bit of kit for pulling out 1 nail at a time from underneath, this is absolutely brilliant if you aren't mega-strong!
edited to add: i've got rasps etc too, all were bought under the guidance of a farrier, they're all good quality, i've had them about 15 years and the whole kit will last the rest of my life, so it was worth buying good stuff imho.
 
I have my OH on hand
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and when he's not, I can just go in the forge and find everything I need (although he did once accuse me of using his cutters to remove a shoe, which I didn't
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). Before I acquired the OH I kept a full set of proper quality tools on the yard in case of emergencies.
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Yes, though no shoes any more but I do have to take them off new arrivals.

Puller, nipper, buffer, rasp, hammer.

My preferred way of doing it is to lift the clenches if I can, or nip them off if I can't get them up.

Then put the pullers underneath the heel of one side of the shoe and lever hard to loosen the first nail. Push the shoe back down and then you should be able to grab the nail head, which will be sticking out, and lever it sideways, to the outside, against the shoe and pull it out. Do the other heel the same way, then simply move the pullers forward under the now slightly loose shoe and do the next two nails the same way, and so on until you have removed all the nails and the shoe drops off. Sometimes it's easier to use the shoe itself to lever out the last two nails. Tidy up with the rasp.
 
Yes, my husband has enough tools and has had to remove the odd shoe or two in the past. I believe that every horse owner/rider should ask their farrier to demonstrate how to effectively remove a shoe.
 
Agree with Kerilli, nail pullers are a godsend! We have the kit except for a stand - v. good idea, and shall get one, as my back turns to jelly at the mere thought of all this! It all lives in the lorry so it's wherever we are.
I asked our lovely farrier to teach me how to take a shoe off properly after I had to botch it with a hoofpick and a lorry part one day, and thought he'd just demonstrate, as we didn't have a handy half-hanging-off shoe available - but no, he made me take a front and a back off from scratch all on my own (Murphy being very tolerant of my fumblings!) and it nearly killed me. The thought occurred to me that I should practise when he next came but frankly I couldn't face it!
 
Yep, I have the full set always to hand, my mare has had one taken off by us several times this year. She has mastered the partial pulling off of a shoe to perfection!
 
YES! My farrier asked me when he took me on 4 years ago if I could remove a shoe. He showed me how (nail by nail as i was so weak!) and purchased the correct gear at cost price. The best thing I learnt. I have had to remove many in the last few years and am thankful for his instrucion. (p.s. not as easy at it looks when he does it, I am hanging afterwards)!xx
 
What cptrayes says - but I tend to keep an old rasp to take the clenches off first.

Swan, the farrier suppliers, were showing me a tool that was designd for leisure riders and was a shoe puller, small hammer and clench puller sort of thing in one tool. Don;t know if they still do it.

You don;t ned to buy professional quality tools if you just want to pull off one shoe in an emergency occasionally - a good pair of pliers and a nipper from B&Q would do at a push.
 
Me too - but I am in a livery yard with 45 shod horses who are always tryign to kill themselves with their shoes

so quite good at pulling them!

Barefoot is so much simpler isn't it!
 
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