Chipping Under Shoe Nails

[sweetmagnolia]

Hi there,

Lately I've notice my mare has alot of chipping and splintering underneath her shoe nails. I've never seen this happen to her before, I haven't switched farriers and shes been on a pretty consistant schedule. What could be the causes of this? I recently moved farms is there anything in that change that could cause this? Thanks!

[Forgewizard]

Yup, there are several reasons for chipping below the nails. Most common reason is the nails are too low and too shallow( not in the center of the white line, but rather closer to the wall or even started in the wall.

Her hooves could be excessively dry or excessively wet.

The farrier may be using a different nail. Ask your farrier if they are using a slim blade nail. I prefer slim blades to regular blades, for resetting I'll use a nail with a slightly larger head, but keep using the slim blades if possible.

There could be invasive bacteria eating away at the nail holes of the hoof.

The shoe could be too wide for the hoof. Which will pull the wall outward.

The shoe may not have correct web width for the horse. A narrow web on a thick walled hoof will not support enough wall and the nails carry more load than they ought to, since the nails aren't actually rigid their movement as the wall flexes during each step will eventually cause cracks.

If the web is wider than the wall and the nail holes don't line up with the white line properly it can be just as bad as putting on a shoe that is to wide. - The wall gets pulled outward.

Different brands of nails use different types of steel. The various types of steel may react with the ammonias and chemicals from the bedding material and feces in the stall.

If using steel nails with aluminum shoes the oxidation between the two metals can cause chemical influences on the nail holes and contribute to the cracks.

[Red Amor]

Gday Kim ,
Mate thats a well thought out answer , good O

Hows your leg mate ?