Lost a shoe on a gravel road last Tuesday, old tricks ain't what they used to be

I was out near Ellensburg on a Tuesday afternoon, doing a trim and reset on a draft cross, and the front shoe just popped clean off while I was pulling the clip. No warning, just a loose shoe and a horse giving me the side-eye. I tried the old trick of bending the clip over a cold shoe with my hammer, but it didn't hold like it used to. Anybody else notice the newer steel doesn't bend the same as the stuff from 20 years back?

3 comments

3 Comments

jenny_hall7d ago

You know, I used to think the steel quality thing was just old-timers complaining about the good old days. But then I lost a shoe just like you described last spring, same thing, cold bending a clip on a heavy draft shoe and it just didn't want to hold its shape. I had to reheat and forge the clip just to get it to stay put, which I never had to do before. It really changed my mind about the whole thing, I think the mills are rolling the steel differently now, maybe with more recycled scrap or something. The metal feels stiffer and less forgiving under the hammer, almost like it fights back. So yeah, I'm with you, the old tricks don't work the same anymore and it's frustrating when you're out on a Tuesday with a horse that just wants to get done.

michael_coleman107d ago

Wait, you actually managed to bend a cold clip on a draft shoe and it held for a minute? Last time I tried that the shoe just laughed at me and the clip snapped right off, had to reheat the whole thing.

logan_ellis7d ago

Tbh I think the steel's fine, you're just getting older and losing feel in your hands.