How to Remove Horseshoe in Case of An Emergency?

To remove horseshoe one needs to hire a farrier. Ever heard about a farrier? You don’t know what they do? Exactly then do not worry we will also tell you that.

A farrier is actually an expert who is highly skilled, specialized, and experienced in equine hoof care and horseshoes. A farrier has the quality of both a veterinarian as well as of a blacksmith.

He also has all the knowledge in shaping the shoes of the horse, cleaning them, fitting them, trimming them, and more. Some farriers are also expertise in ironwork and make customized shoes for the horses.

They use tools like hoof testers, hoof nippers, anvil, radius rasp, hammer, and many more. It is very important to hire a farrier to get all this work done but if it is in case of an emergency then you should have these tools at hand which is given below.

How to get off rust a horseshoe?

Usually, Horseshoe is made of mainly iron and gets rust when it comes in the contact with water or moisture. Before the reuse of the horseshoe for decoration or other purposes, the horseshoe can be cleaned and the rust can be removed.

Steel wool, a scrubbing pad, wire brush, or sandpaper can be used to get off rust a horseshoe. In addition, mineral oil or knife oil can be used to softens the rust then can be scrubbed easily.

Lemon juice or white vinegar can be used as citric acid or acetic acid. Which are effective to remove the rust of a horseshoe.

Some commercial rust removers are available such as hydrofluoric acid and phosphoric acid, are the strong acids. But, they should be used carefully.

Remove Horseshoe – Used Tools

● Buffer

This is one of the tools that you need while you remove horseshoe. If you are looking to buy this tool, then you can avail it from the horseshoe and farrier tool supplies. The buffers are also called the clinch or a clinch cutter.

This tool is used in cutting the clenches and removing them in order to reduce the amount of damage that can be caused to the foot of the horse when the nails are removed during the process of shoe removal.

● Hammer

This tool comes along whenever you think of using the buffer in order to remove horseshoe. This tool is used to hit the buffer with. The hammers used by the farrier traditionally are between 8 to 14 oz in weight to nail on.

There is a rubber mallet used along with the buffer which is very common. It causes less wear on the buffer compared to using a hammer that is a regular one. If you need a hammer only for the removal of the horseshoe, then you can choose almost any small hammer for this.

● Pincers

This tool is also known as pull-offs. After the nails are removed or the cliches are raised then what you need is the pull-offs. This tool is used to liver the shoe away from the foot of the horse.

You need to start at each heel and then start moving and working towards the toe by following the direction. You need to keep working it around the shoe until it is free.

● Nail pullers

This tool can make the job heaps easier. The tool is not used in the process of horseshoe removal by the experienced ones or the farriers. But if you are a beginner and inexperienced then this tool can be very useful.

The nail pullers help in removing the nail from the crease present in the shoe from underneath. All you need to do is grab the nail and lever forward and backward until the nail has risen from the shoe.

After this, you need to use the nail pullers or the pull-offs in order to take the nail out. When the nails are put then there is nothing that holds the shoe in place. Remember if the shoe is flat and without a groove then using the nail pullers is not recommended.

In conclusion, besides all these tools make sure that you carry a band-aid to stop the bleeding in case you hit yourself with the hammer. You may also cut yourself on the buffer or incase if you stab a nail in your finger accidentally.

To remove horseshoe you need to learn about the tools and have some knowledge and experience. That is why we suggest you watch youtube videos and learn from there.

You can also read our blogs as here we discuss various Farrier tool-related topics on a daily basis. We hope that the above information was helpful and it gave you information about the tools needed during the process of remove horseshoe.