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My regular farrier had elective surgery this week, putting him out of commission for a while. So I took my oldster to our vet clinic yesterday to use the farrier who comes routinely to the clinic to work on some of their clients' horses. My plan is to use this guy until my own farrier is back at work.

I was surprised to see this farrier using copper nails I couldn't be bothered to ask about them; he's one of those egotistical farriers who thinks he is manna from heaven. I was able to stomach his 'know-it-all' diatribe during the trim/shoeing, and now my oldster is sporting some bling on his feet.

Can anyone fill me in on the copper nail thing?

Sounded interesting so I looked it up. They're copper coated and they're marketed for their antimicrobial activity. Haven't found any actual research yet, but it seems like it might be easy enough to do informally by just nailing one shoe on with regular nails and the other with copper coated ones.

LOL! Well actually I had a copper kitchen sink installed for it's supposedly antibacterial properties. So maybe there is something to the copper nails.

Look up Esco Buff. He's a huge proponent of copper alloy shoes/nails. He has seen evidence of them getting rid of thrush and helping with other issues. I've seen some of his case studies and it appears to help.

Copper as a contact killer of microbes has been shown.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3067274/

Tsavo wrote:Copper as a contact killer of microbes has been shown.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3067274/

I knew that copper would kill microbes, but am wondering if copper plated shoes and nails would actually make a significant difference? Thrush tends to wax and wane on its own, which could complicate sorting it out.

OTOH, there's probably no harm in trying them, depending on the relative costs.

My farrier uses copper nails when he nails a pad to a shoe but not for nailing the shoe itself. It never occurred to me to ask why. Hmmmmm

You learn something new every day. My oldster doesn't have thrush, but maybe copper nails are just this farrier's SOP; or maybe a way to charge more......

Probably also where Koppertox gets its name, duh. Thanks for the replies.

My farrier has used the copper nails for the past two shoeing. He seems to like them and says that they can't hurt.

Miss A. got her feet done Saturday and I noticed the farrier uses copper nails. I didn't think anything of it. I've been out of horse care stuff for years and figured I was behind the times....

Update: had the farrier appt. again today and I asked him, 'What's with the copper nails?'

He said having lived and worked in The Jungle (a.k.a. Florida) for so long, he uses nails coated in copper which apparently keeps them from degrading, rusting, falling apart in the hoof wall. Not a thrush or microbial thing, just supposedly anti-rust and corrosion. He says they do that job well.