Shoeing a Hoof with a Fractured Coffin Bone

© Lee Sackett

This horse involved is a two year old filly. She fractured her third Phalanx (Coffin bone) in her left front hoof, while horsing around. This is the second shoe that I have made for her. It's the same as the first one, I just didn't have a camera along to take pictures of the first visit. Rather than making a shoe from scratch, I modified a keg shoe. First I turned the heels and welded them, making a bar shoe. Then I pulled clips between the first and second nail holes, and between the third and fourth nail holes. (Actually I pulled both clips on one side and then the other.) The clips in back are larger than the front clips, as they have more to hold.

Two views of the bar shoe which is a modified keg shoe, forge welded, with four clips. The next step was to hot fit the shoe to the hoof. I feel this makes the shoe fit like a glove. I like to pull my own clips for things like this because I feel that after the shoe is hot fit, home made clips hold better. For general use, store bought clips are fine, but I like to hot fit those too.

On the left is a lateral view of the left front hoof, and on the right is a medial view.

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