Spent a whole Saturday fixing a hoof crack that should have taken 2 hours

Had a nasty quarter crack on a client's horse in Nashville, figured I'd patch it and move on, but it took me 8 hours because the old epoxy wouldn't bond with the moisture seeping in from the wet ground. Anyone else run into this where the weather just ruins your whole timeline?

3 comments

3 Comments

knight.xena1mo ago

Oh man, that "should have taken 2 hours" part hit me hard lol. I read somewhere that hoof repairs in humid climates are like 3x more likely to fail because of moisture creep under the patch. Had a similar nightmare with a client's mare last spring where I spent 6 hours trying to dry out a quarter crack with a heat lamp and fans before the epoxy would stick. The wet ground in Nashville is brutal for sure, it just seeps up into everything no matter how clean you think the foot is. Next time I'm taping the coronary band with duct tape and using a hair dryer before the patch just to be safe.

reese_perry61mo ago

That "3x more likely to fail in humid climates" is way too real. I had a quarter crack on a gelding in Memphis last fall, spent all day trying to dry it out with a fan and a blow dryer but the moisture kept coming back through the sole, ended up having to redo the whole patch the next day. Did you find the duct tape trick actually helped hold the moisture out?

angela_dixon1mo ago

And @reese_perry6, I had a buddy who tried that duct tape trick on a cracked hoof up in Michigan during a wet summer and he swore it helped keep the moisture out long enough for the epoxy to set. He said it wasn’t perfect but it bought him enough dry time to actually get the patch to hold for a week instead of needing re-done the next morning. Did you ever try wrapping the whole foot in vet wrap after the patch to seal it from the ground?