Road nails - good, bad or indifferent?

alsxx

alsxx

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2006
Messages
3,223
Location
Moved to Devon!
Visit site
Curious to find out what people think about road nails. We've never really used them, certainly as a child my ponies and my mum's horses never had them and it wasn't until I got older that I 'heard' about them.

I've never had any issues with slipping on roads, even up and down hills....I did try them on my mare and tbh I didn't actually notice any difference in her way of going on roads so I'm wondering if there is really any benefit to be had from using them?

We have recently moved to a very hilly area, one lane in particular is incredibly steep and so was wondering whether it would be of benfit to get the TB road nails, but again he's not slipping...also I wonder if they could actually be detrimental, as in, stopping a little bit of sliding and therefore having a jarring action on the foot/leg??
 
Well, I have road studs in mine and have done for several years and, having experienced my horse slipping and falling on the road with me when he had lost one of his studs (resulting in me breaking my collar bone), I don't think I'd ride without them to be honest!

I never used to have them in my ponies shoes years ago so don't know what made me change but the roads surfaces round us can be slippery and we have a lot of steep hills.
 
I use them on my mare. My welsh cob is a bull in a china shop and needs all the help she can get. Yes, they can cause some jarring, but my girl is so slippy on her feet that it makes a huge improvement for her. She was sliding on the concrete all the way in from outside to her stable in our American style barn - and that's flat! None of the other horses in our block does this, but she seems relieved to not slide with her road nails. I got them last year when she slipped and did her pelvis - so I had them put in and it helped on the ice as well.

Another down fall can be that if you do a lot of road work that your shoes can loosen up quicker as the tungsten tip can wear off.

Personally, I'd try your horse in the new area wihtout them. If you think they need them after a few weeks, maybe try them then. But I'd not bother til you know for sure.
 
my mare has them in but only because she slids all over the place on the road, my boy doesn't though i wouldn't bother unless your actually having issues
 
I have things called 'widias' here. They are not road nails but tiny little studs. Farrier drills a hole in each branch of the rear shoes and hammers in these little pegs - they are about 3mm high when new and are tungsten I think. I used to have four, two on the shoulders of the shoe and two on the back and only ever on the rears. I only have two now as my old farrier said they could make life difficult for FB in the sand school I used to ride in. I cannot ride him on the road without them as he slides his right hind and without them he would just never stop until he sat down!

I worried about nail heads wearing down on the abrasive ground we ride on, which is why I went for the widias.
 
I personally didnt like them...road studs were far more effective
smile.gif
,they didnt lose their effectiveness with shoe wear,the road nails do!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
I have things called 'widias' here. They are not road nails but tiny little studs. Farrier drills a hole in each branch of the rear shoes and hammers in these little pegs - they are about 3mm high when new and are tungsten I think. I used to have four, two on the shoulders of the shoe and two on the back and only ever on the rears. I only have two now as my old farrier said they could make life difficult for FB in the sand school I used to ride in. I cannot ride him on the road without them as he slides his right hind and without them he would just never stop until he sat down!

I worried about nail heads wearing down on the abrasive ground we ride on, which is why I went for the widias.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats what i had but we just call them roadstuds,lol
smile.gif

They are fab,my lad only ever had them in the hinds on the outside of each shoe,worked a treat!!Dont need them now as moved neddy and roadsurface much better!
 
I do a fair bit of hacking on steep roads. I found that with ordinary shoes towards the end of the life of a pair of shoes (once the nails wear flat) that they were becoming very slippery.

Farrier suggested road nails, and since then I have not looked back - I find them very effective. They don't stop slipping entirely, but they definitely reduce it.
 
Pip is all over the place with the let alone without. Not worth the risk of not having them TBH. He wears them down in about 2 drives though
crazy.gif
 
We have road nails in all four shoes of both of our mares, because the road surfaces round us are awful. However if we do a lot of road work they do tend to wear down faster than the horses need shoeing. If you don't have a problem don't bother, but if you do then they make a difference.
smile.gif
 
Interesting replies, he's been coping fine since we moved - we are mainly doing road work or schooling now but I only walk on the roads with a tiny bit of trotting up hill only....I do seem to remember loosing the tungsten tip on my mares road nails when she had them so I kind of wonder if he would loose the tip at the point where the shoes are wearing most!

I cant really describe how steep one of the hills is, its ridiculous yet he walks down that and doesn't slip at all....
 
My farrier hates them and says they cause concussion-which I'm sure they probably so. However I have a horse with SI damage and a bad slip behind wouldn't be good, so we have hind road nails in. 2 in each hoof to balance out the hoof. I figure as horses have most weight in forehand the damage of concussion behind is less of a risk. Seems to be getting on fine like this- I can definatly feel the difference when I have had them freshly done- and also can feel when they have worn down.
 
wouldn't be without them, its noticeable if our farrier forgets them particularly on certain stretches of road (depends of the surface though not that obvious) and frank isn't the slippy type

we also have to do quite a bit roadwork and find when we get to week 4 of our 6 week shoeing cycle they are invaluable.

We have nails or studs (of the sort banged in by farrier) and have never had a tungsten tip come off either in the last 5 years
 
They are clenchers so are just nailed in instead of a plain clencher. Basically what most people call road nails.
 
What an interesting post. I questioned my farrier many years ago about the benefits and pitfalls of road nails. He explained that road nails dont allow any 'give' in the natural movement of the foot creating a jolt, which could eventually have an effect on the joints. However, as he pointed out, you have to weigh up the risk of slipping and falling over on a slippery road surface against the possibility of joint damage.
 
Mine has them behind as he used to slide on some of the 'shiney' roads around here.

Never looked back and it has made him walk and trot out more confidently too.

Wouldn't bother if your horse is not slipping though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top