Horsenista Christmas: DIY Horseshoe Ornaments

Time to make those old shoes Christmas spectacular!

Supplies We Used:

1. Horseshoes
2. Drill
3. 3M Scoth-Brite Paint and Varnish Remover attachment
4. Wire wheel attachment
5. Drill press
6. Gloves
7. Safety glasses
8. Decorations

We used all old horseshoes, so first we had to clean off the grime. Two of my horses wear aluminum shoes, so for those we had to use the softer Paint and Varnish Remover attachment on our battery-powered drill. My unfussy horse wears good ol’ American steel. For those you need the tougher wire wheel attachment.

After donning gloves – seriously, don’t lose fingers – and safety glasses, simply run the attachments all over the horseshoes until the dirt and debris is kicked off. *Do not try to wash the shoes first if using power attachments. It just makes mud. *We used a tiny pick to clean out the nail holes.

The steel shoes took considerably more effort – i.e. pressure – so be careful. It did kick back when the angle slipped. *You have those safety gloves on right?

Aluminum with softer attachment.

Steel with wire attachment.

Then we took our freshly cleaned horseshoes and drilled out a few of the nail holes. We used a drill press, though this feat could be done with your same battery-powered drill and a little muscle. *The softer aluminum would definitely be easier to drill by hand. The steel shoes were pretty tough.

From there, it all becomes a little more artsy. I, unfortunately, can not show you my final creations because they are Christmas gifts, but here are a few ideas I pulled from Pinterest.

For more information on the images above and many more ideas, check out Horsenista’s Pinterest:

Visit Horsenista’s profile on Pinterest.

Go Riding.