I have used the GCs extensively on my
mare Equal Terms, and she wore the same pair on her back feet for
most of her 450 miles at XP this year. I love them in certain conditions-
rocks, gravel, roads..
The one major flaw with the GCs that I can not get
around, is that the nailing track is too far inside the shoe causing many
farriers to 'quick' the horse. If your horse does not have a round foot,
and a thick enough wall, you will be nailing inside the white line.
Placement of the nails should reflect this. I have put them on and
NOT placed the nails in a traditional pattern because the nailing groove did not
allow for it.
I am certain that some of the problems people are
having with "white line disease" and separation of the wall with the
extended use of GCs is due to nailing too close or even inside the white
line. While not technically 'quicking' the horse, they are causing the
nail (which admittedly does move more than with a steel shoe) to cause a hole
for bacteria and fugus to enter and grow in the white line. I HAVE NOT had
this problem with my own horses, and those that I have shod exclusively, but I
am VERY careful in my nail placement.
The Hippo plast, on the other hand, have a nailing
channel that extends outward to the outside of the shoe, allowing you to place
the nail where it will be most effective and least destructive.
The Hippo plast do not wear quite as will as the
GCs, though. My solution is to use the hippos on horses who cannot wear
the GCs. I have one client who uses GCs in front and Hippoplasts in back
because her mare has a narrow pointing back foot and you just can't get the
round GCs to fit.
I just read one user say you have to use metal
washers to keep the nail from pulling through the shoe- I do not, nor have I had
any reason to use washers. I got as much as 300 miles out of a set of GCs
on the XP where the ground was sandy, rocky and pretty rough in spots. I
do not reset them, but then I would not reset a steel shoe in a horse who was
actively racing.
