Knowledge about hooves

What does a bonded fitting cost?

3 Min. Lesezeit

In short: if you apply the glue-on shoe yourself, you're looking at around 23 euros in consumables per hoof and shoeing period — roughly 45 euros for two and around 90 euros for four hooves. On top of that comes a one-off tool kit (heat gun, sanding material and small items), which, depending on the version, costs roughly 90 to 180 euros but lasts for years. A large share of the material is reusable: the base plate can typically be used for two shoeing periods, and both adhesive and cleaner are enough for a great many hooves. As a result, costs drop noticeably from the second round onwards.

This overview breaks down every item using current Goodsmith prices: the consumables per shoeing, the one-off equipment, the convenient entry via the starter bundles, and other costs that are easy to overlook. That way you can calculate realistically for your horse.

Consumables: what's used per shoeing

The actual shoeing material is manageable. Per hoof you need one base plate and one set of glue tabs; adhesive and cleaner go a long way and are enough for many hooves.

Product Price Enough for Reusable?
Base plate (per hoof) 19.95 € 1 hoof yes, typically 2 periods (often more)
Perma XT glue tabs (per hoof, left + right) 11.95 € 1 hoof usually single-use; with practice/repair sometimes 2×
XT-40 super glue 7.95 € at least 12 hooves several shoeings per bottle
XT Cleaner (degreaser) 12.95 € a great many hooves lasts across many periods

Because a base plate typically lasts for two shoeing periods and one bottle of adhesive is enough for at least twelve hooves, these costs are spread across several shoeings. Per hoof and period, this puts you at around 20 euros in material if you glue it on yourself.

What the shoeing costs per hoof and period

Factoring in the multiple uses, a clear picture emerges. The following example assumes the base plate is used across two periods and that the adhesive/cleaner share per hoof is only a few cents.

Item (per hoof, per period) Share Explanation
Base plate (spread over 2 periods) approx. 9.98 € 19.95 € divided by 2 uses
Glue tabs 11.95 € per hoof, usually new each period
Adhesive (share) approx. 0.66 € 7.95 € across 12 hooves
Cleaner (share) under 0.50 € very economical
Total per hoof around 23 € consumables, applied yourself

This gives the following ongoing material costs per shoeing period: around 45 euros for two hooves (front) and around 90 euros for all four hooves. For the very first order, the amount is somewhat higher because you're buying base plates, tabs, adhesive and cleaner together — for example around 148.50