Heads up on those new 'quick-set' acrylic pads versus the old school rubber ones

I just finished a tough week shoeing a string of jumpers at a barn in Lexington and had to swap out my usual rubber frog support pads for some new acrylic 'quick-set' ones I got a deal on. The difference was night and day, and not in a good way. The acrylic stuff set up way too fast in the heat, maybe 90 seconds, and got brittle. I had a horse come back after three days with the pad cracked and a piece wedged up in the foot. The old rubber ones I've used for years might take a bit longer to trim, but they stay flexible and mold to the foot. It was a real mess to clean out and cost me an extra hour of work and a free re-shoe to make it right. Has anyone else run into problems with these newer fast-setting materials on performance horses?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_green139d ago

Man, that 90-second set time in the heat sounds like a nightmare. I had a similar thing happen with a gel pad that got way too hard. Cost me a whole afternoon fixing it.

kai8399d ago

Yeah, heat really messes with cure times.

karen_hill39d ago

That's why I always keep a spray bottle of water handy now.