what s wrong with the nail holes and shoe shapes

everybody harps on about only nailing on in the front half of the foot yet now lets not use the strongest thickest half of that front half , i actually thought this article was a lot older than 5 yrs ago , what a load of tosh , just trying to make a name for himself

I think more energy should be focused on the trim and fit
because imo nailing is the easy stuff

Still at the Hmm stage ,but not likely to quit my toe nails yet. He may be onto something ,however I have always concitered the shoe as a extention of the hoof wall and tryed to mimic its attachment to bone with my nailing to insure a tight fit without interfering with contraction or expansion of the hoof . I don't think any one with commin sense and a set of nippers thought the hoof was thicker at the toe so that point is mute . but twenty years ago it was the back two nails that were bad and while I aggre I still drive one back there if I feel its needed and have seen no ill effects . Shoeing is a nessicary evil in my book sometimes a entire shoeing will be a bunch of compermises to the rules in order to keep them sound doing what they are expected to do. As I said still at the Hmm stage .
PS if you're clinches are standing up in less then therty days you need to learn to clinch with a hammer!! Just saying:O

Monty imo if your haveing clinches up regulary it can be down to a few things.
bu t you should be able to do both well.

wrong choice of nail, wrong choice of shoe or both.
or your just poor at clinching

Aggred smitty but i would add pore triming and a unlevel hoof or shoe to your list

Well then your going into another bracket
if you cant do those things well you should not be shoeing

Aggered agen John and though im probobly little more then a hack ,unfortionetly for the horse some times my clinches are ushaly sound four months later. As you have said it comes down to the trim!

There is alot of things you need to put into an every day solid shoeing
job and clinching is just one of them

I've not seen a horse pull a shoe toe first. A logical person might conclude that the toe nails are mostly decorative myth in regards to keeping shoes on a horse. I went for several years without using toe nails on most of my book (doing this before Martin Kenny published his article) and didn't see any issues. Agree with Smitty, basics, trim and fit, flat foot, flat shoe are what makes the job.

monty. I"ll try to explain as I understand it. When a horse moving, the shoe has a tandency to walk to and fro the sole of the hoof. Now take a nail in your hands and bend it. Then bend it across. Understand now?
Clips I think are needed for decrease of stress to nails. I would not burn its when a hoof has thin wall.

I use the toe nails in every shoe I apply and I can't say that it affects the shape of the foot one bit. ..

Gary I know a few lads that change there way of shoeing
all the time.

back to nailing one of the worst things when nailing is to group them imo

I'm talking not about the foot shape. If the nail is near the toe it will bend across its wide side and will not keep the shoe in place.

How near is 'near '?

Very close. Why keep silence monty, may be I misunderstood his question?

Boris do you make shoes?

Yes of course.

No silence Boriss working late yesterday . I understand what your saying however every thing a nail is in is conciterbley weeker then the nail and the only way your toe nails would take the load you dicribe is if the shoe was loose. clincches poping up would indicate a downward force IE.a improperley seated shoe or unleval foot.if he nails were taking the load your describing and there were no nails at the toe to arest it your quarter nails would slice threw lamine and shoot out the back of the foot.

Bar shoe working cow horse 11 weeks out on a unstable foot

Do you have a view of the bar shoe monty?