Boy howdy, you must have strong fingers! I use my claw hammer to pull all the nails.

I would recommend trying a few and see. It is a bit of work to push the hog rings through the tough neck and tail part. I have a sharpened poker for pre punching holes. I also use a short nosed needle nose plyers to help pressure the rings in and out of the hide.

Some advantages are you dont need to dry the fur, or raise it on the nails. And can hang many in rows to dry both sides at the same time. Much cheaper than plywood here too.

They can tend to warp the skin or twist the thin hoops if stretched too tight, but its not a problem and better than ripped edges like on boards.

Also they are not real good for small kits.

One thing that helps with using hoops is to get the bigger hog rings. Also a lot easier on your fingers. Have a bench grinder beside my hooping station to sharpen the rings if they start to get a bit dull.

For those using horseshoe nails what size?, head style, etc. never knew that there was a whole other world when it came to nails for shoeing horses.