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Source: Castle Plastics 

One day in the 1980s, Lindsey Serafini’s grandfather was watching his Standardbred horses getting shod. 

“The farrier was shoeing with hoof pads and my grandfather said, ‘I could make those,’” says Serafini, who is a fifth-generation owner of Castle Plastics. 

The business was created by Serafini’s great-great-grandfather in 1920 after he emigrated from Italy to Massachusetts, USA. He became a highly skilled craftsman, making horn buttons and “celluloid novelties” — the precursor to plastic products — using tools and dies, and injection molding. 

The company’s old logo promoting horn buttons and celluloid novelties. 

“I remember growing up in the 1990s and going to the barn with my grandfather to watch the farrier,” says Serafini. “I started in the business when I was very young.” 

Today, Castle Plastics is a leading manufacturer of horseshoe pads in North America and continually adds new products to their line. 

“Pretty much all of our ideas come from farrier feedback,” says Serafini. “When we start hearing the same thing from five or six different farriers, then we reach out to some of our major distributors to discuss demand. If they support a new product, then we’ll design it and build a new mould.” 

“We have a pad called the Road Pad that was my father’s idea,” says Serafini. The pad was created to reduce concussion on Amish buggy horses’ feet and legs while they trot roadways in the eastern United States. 

The Road Pad and Full Road Pad were created to reduce concussion on the feet and legs of Amish buggy horses.

“It’s really a game changer,” says Serafini. “A lot of farriers who shoe Amish horses are using it now.” 

Another idea came from farriers who were struggling to use mesh to hold protective pour-in plastic on the soles of horse hooves.  

“We made a very thin pad that has lots of holes,” Serafini explains. “So instead of struggling with a loose mesh, you just nail the pad on and pour the protective product right through it. That’s been very popular, and it’s also made as a wedge pad.” 

Castle Plastics has also diverged from black and clear pads into coloured products. They’ve trialed pink hoof pads as part of a campaign to support breast cancer donations, plus added colour to winter snow pads. 

1. The pink rim pad was created as part of a campaign to support breast cancer donations; 2. The pour pad is full of holes through which the protective product is poured; 3. The orange rim pad is easy to see in snow if the horse throws a shoe. 

“A few years ago, we had a new rim pad coming out for winter riding,” says Serafini. They decided to make it orange. 

“When a horse throws a shoe in the snow, often you can’t find it,” says Serafini. “But with an orange pad, you can spot it right away.” 

 As farriers identify challenges, Castle Plastics continues to respond. The company has been owned and operated by the Serafini family for over 100 years and remains committed to creating and manufacturing innovative products that serve the horse industry.  

Main Photo: Shutterstock/Alexander Rochau