I have a new client that wishes to try the slypners on her endurace arabian. Has anyone used these?
Slypners are a good shoe. The stainless shoe with the rubber inserts are an engineering genius. Along with the nails they comprise a system for different situations.
Have applied them in Vermont, Maine, Washington State, Florida, Virginia and the deserts of the middle east.
Did they work well?
Worked amazingly well for the situations used.
How difficult was it to apply them? It is my understanding (which may not be correct) that the shoes cannot be shaped much and that if they don't fit the horse out of the box he's gonna have to wear something else.
They are designed to be fit a little long. The stainless rims can be shaped a little on the anvil and with a rubber hammer or the mechanical horseshoe bending device; looks like a conduit bender.
They have toe clips that one can have or grind off. The nails are specifically designed for the shoe, long with heads designed for locking the rubber insert in place, with thin shanks.
Grass can be a problem, but a change of the inserts with studs is easy. Crimping the stainless rim can be a problem if the insert is lost during work. Horses with a gait faults, such as winging of the "toed in" horse or "plaiting" in the "toed out" horse can create ankle problems. This is due to the grab and no slide of the rubber insert during the impact and load phase of the stride..
IMO, the shoes are a good option on hard footings on a straight going horse. Have shod some very successful endurance horses who ran in the Slypner shoes.