Since the disastrous spring of 2013 Miles has been given different styles of glue-on shoes. These work remarkably well — or they don’t. The critical issue seems to be getting him to stand still long enough for the acrylic that covers the top of the shoe to set. If he moves at all, the farrier has to sometimes even start over.
Miles does not like standing in the crossties for a farrier for glue-on shoes. He had always been great with the regular shoes in that regard, but now he began moving front to back to try to throw the farrier off balance. So we finally realized he needed to be sedated in order to stand still long enough for the adhesive to set. (There have been two different types of adhesive used so far — one is tan and takes longer to set, the other is black and sets up relatively quickly (I will track down the names).
If and when glue-on shoes set properly, they can work very well. Miles is light on his feet with them, as though wearing ballet slippers. They are comfortable. He doesn’t need pads with then, so his soles are exposed, which is good for his feet. They can stay on for quite a while — this last set (granted, we decided to let his hooves grow out a bit prior to the transition to barefoot so the span is longer than normal ) stayed put for 10 weeks. Then, the right front shoe came off, leaving the acrylic (which kept his foot off the ground). Two days later half of the acrylic (black this time) came off so he was semi-barefoot. As it was rainy and the ground was soft, and there was still too much acrylic to put a Simple Boot (Cavallo) on, I have turned him out as-is. And I called his current farrier (Farrier A). Looks like it is time for our barefoot experience to begin….:-0
Hooves R Us 