Over 40 years ago when I got my first horse I never saw a woman under a horse trimming hooves.  I bought into all the people that said that only farriers knew enough to do a good job on hooves, and as I looked around ALL the farriers were men, strong muscular men.  However once I switched my horse to pasture board he just did not get his feet trimmed regularly.  Luckily I had his shoes taken off or the situation would have been worse!  One day I was in my local old-timey tack store "crying" on the saddler's shoulder about it when he told me to get a rasp and a book and start working on them myself.  I looked at him and asked if he thought I could do it and he said the only way to know was to start doing it.  Since I did not see another solution to my problem I got my first rasp and a reprint of the US Cavalry manual on shoeing and thus began my lifetime of trimming my horse's feet. 

 

The next stable I boarded at was mostly pasture horses and they all got their feet seen to regularly.  Most of the time I kept my horse barefoot, he had wonderful feet with nice thick horn, and since I did not have much money I was glad I did not have to shoe him.  I gradually collected more books on farriery, Adams and Lungwitz, and tried to puzzle out how to trim properly.  I was so glad he saw the farrier regularly but I wanted to prepare for the future.  Finally, in 1977 I found the book that made it all clear to me "Horseshoeing Theory and Hoof Care" by Emiry and two others, and I finally learned how to do a hoof trim right and more importantly WHY I should do it right!  So between farrier visits I started to do some of my own trimming, getting under my horse with his foot between my legs, and gradually learning how to keep the toes short.  The next few stables had spottier farrier visits, and then I ended up on a breeding farm with even rarer farrier visits.  In the meanwhile my parents had given me their mare and she had VERY shelly hooves that would crumble and split.  I had shoes put on her but the farm's regular farrier did not do a good job and the next visit I changed the mare back to barefoot and resigned myself to a lot of work keeping her hooves good enough so I could ride her every day.  After a few months the barn owner pointed out that I needed to get a hoof knife and work on the soles if I wanted to balance the foot right, so I got one and started using it to get the sole trimmed down.  Once I moved to my own land I did most of the hoof work on my horses since it was rare that I could get a farrier out. 

 

As my MS got worse it got harder on me, but I managed to keep up until a drunk driver drove right into the front of my car on the highway.  This accident triggered a pretty big attack of my then undiagnosed MS, and it became more of a struggle to keep up with the hooves.  First I got a blacksmith's apron, then I got a pair of hoof trimmers, and that really helped.  Butover the years I continued to get worse and my husband had to start helping me, he would do the work with the nippers and then I would take over with the hoof knife and rasp and get the foot into proper shape.  But as I got weaker and unsteadier on my legs I had to stop holding the horse's leg between my knees and I had to change to the much slower method of holding the hoof in one hand while doing the hoof knife and rasp work with the other hand.  I was too weak to use the nippers one-handed, so my husband had to do all of that work.  I kept this up until my last horse died several years ago.  I was sad, of course, but I was also sort of relieved because I no longer had to trim hooves.  I gave away my blacksmith apron but kept my tools just in case I would need them again.  I thought I was through with trimming hooves.  I was wrong. 

 

I had started riding lessons and over the months I got tired of my lesson horse, Glow, getting very sore feet from his trims, and of hearing Debbie complain of it!  So I finally offered to trim his feet down during the weeks between the farrier visits.  You see, if a horse is on a six week trim schedule the hoof does not stay in front to back balance, and as the toe grows longer there is more weight on the much weaker horn on the heels of the hoof, and the heels wear down much more quickly than the toe.  The sides of the hooves toward the heel also start flairing out to the sides so that there is no longer a smooth curve back to the heels.  When the farrier is faced with this hoof it is almost like major surgery getting the toe down enough AND having to sacrifice the heel to get the hoof down enough to to get rid of the flair out to the sides, which meant for a week or two the horse walked on his sole, not his hoof wall.  So poor Glow walked for two weeks like he was walking on hot coals, really short strides flinching at every step.  I told Debbie that I was too handicapped to do a thorough job, but if I got to rasp his toes down EVERY WEEK and kept the heels from flaring out that the farrier would not have to cut the hoof down as drastically.  So, after expecting never to have to trim a hoof again there I was again rasping toes down.  My reward was that Glow never walked like he was on hot coals again.  The blacksmith was pleased with the work I did (I checked), and gave me some hints on how to work with Glow's feet so that everybody would be happy.  When Glow left the stable (back to his breeder) it rapidly became apparent that I would have to do the same thing with Mia, so every time I ride, unless she has been trimmed that week, I work with the hoof knife to get her sole down, and with the rasp to lower her toe and to limit the flairing of the wall back to the heel.  This makes me VERY TIRED, but again I am rewarded because she does not get sore from the farrier's trim. 

 

I could not do a good job without the regular trims by the farrier.  I depend on him to put the hoof into proper balance and shape, and to trim the frog down (I am too weak) and all I do is try to keep the hoof in that balance and shape.  I HAVE to do the toes weekly, otherwise they get so long that it take me several times to get the foot back into balance but the hoof does not look as good as it does when I do it weekly.  After the farrier trims her I can skip doing the hooves one ride, but ever since we put Mia on a supplement for her arthritis her hooves have been growing faster and stronger, so my next ride it is back to rasping the toes.  Winter time means less work for me, the hooves don't grow as fast, but once the weather warms up and the spring grass comes up, Mia's hooves grow TWICE AS FAST.  If I don't trim her hooves twice a week it is a LOT harder on me!  First I use the hoof knife on the sole just getting the crumbly part of the sole off, especially right behind the toes to get the sole below the bearing surface of the hoof wall, and lightly toward the heels.  Then I hold the rasp by one end, hold it in line with the frog (flat part of the rasp on the toe), rasp back and forth until the toe is down and then I hold the rasp sideways and rasp around the front of the hoof, taking off part of the dead part of the hoof and smoothing out the curve.  Then I rasp lightly on the side of the bottom 1/4 inch on the outside of the hoof towards the heels to smooth out the flairs.  If the hoof is chipped or beginning to split I smooth out the hoof so there are no parts projecting.  Every few weeks or so I MAY rasp the ground surface of one heel if one is longer than the other side of the hoof, but I do only one rasp, from back to front and I do not bear down on the rasp.  It is too easy to take too much off the heel off the hoof!  Even if I am really tired and weak I try to do the front hooves, some times I am not strong enough to trim the rear hooves too though I do try to do them once a week.  The hooves of the rear feet often are not as thick as on the front feet so the horses can wear the hoof down more just by moving around, leaving less work for me.

 

I was talking to Shannon, who went to classes and learned how to trim, if she wanted me to say anything in particular about people working on their own horse's hooves.  She said to emphasize NOT TO TRIM THE GROUND SURFACE OF THE HEELS.  She said peple try to do a trim fast, one side of the hoof at a time, and that they tend to bear down harder on the heel of the hoof than on the tougher toe, and that the hooves end up with long toes and no heel at all which can leave the farrier with an almost impossible task.  It can take MONTHS to grow a heel out enough to balance the hoof.  Ninety percent of my rasping is on the toe only, and except for flairs, chips or splits I tend to leave the heel alone.  By doing it this way Mia has developed a good depth of heel and the farrier does not have to trim the hoof drastically to balance it.

 

As I, crippled with MS, rasp Mia's hooves, I wonder why more people don't do this.  Barefoot is a rage nowadays, but do these people ever bother to rasp the toes down so the hoof stays in balance from front to back?  I know that a lot of people have severe arthritis and it is just too painful for them to do this.  These people should have the farrier come out every four weeks in order to keep the hoof in balance.  But Shannon said if a horse owner has the farrier out just every six weeks, if the owners would just do a little rasping on the toe every week the farrier would never have to make the horse foot sore just to balance the hooves.  I agree with her, since that has been my experience.  Shannon also said that if the toe is not kept rasped down, the joints of the legs can also become aggravated and painful as the front to back balance of the hoof continually changes, first by the toe becoming too long, and then from the farrier balancing the hoof.  It is much easier on the horse if the front to back balance of the hoof stays the same between the farrier visits.  The horse will simply stay sounder.

 

So people, I can do this.  Most of you can do this too.  Get the "Horseshoeing Theory and Hoof Care" book and study it (it is available used on Amazon.com.)  Then, after studying the book, talk with your farrier and watch what your farrier does when he trims the hoof.  Ask him what you can do between visits to improve your horse's hooves.  Listen carefully, most farriers are not very vocal and every word will count.  Since trimming a balanced hoof without big cracks or missing chunks is a lot less work for your farrier he might cooperate with you and help you.  One thing I have noticed is that the (male) farriers are completly entranced seeing a woman working on a horse's hooves.  I have often gotten encouraging remarks from them when they see me working.  They are also willing to tell me where I am messing up and what I need to do to improve.  Farriers can only work with the hoof that they are presented with, and if the hoof is badly out of balance, chipped, and with low heels, there is no way they can avoid making the barefoot horse foot sore.  The farriers never charge me less, but I am paying just as much for their knowledge and artistry as I am for their physical work so this does not bother me at all.  A good farrier is precious and worth his weight in gold.

 

Even with my MS I can keep Mia's toes rasped down and keep her soles off the ground (a millimeter clearance is enough.)  Mia is happy because she never becomes foot-sore, Debbie is happy because Mia's hooves always look good and she is never foot-sore, I am happy because Mia's feet never hurt her when I ride her.  Even Mia's farrier is happy, he still does the regular frequent trims (he does not loose business) but instead of facing a chipped, out of balance hoof that he HAS to make sore to get balanced he gets to show off his skill and artistry by making a decent hoof even better.  We all win just because every week I spend a minute or two on each hoof rasping the toes down and lightly taking off the excess sole with the hoof knife.

 

Of course if your horse is shod you can't do this.  But barefoot horses NEED THIS WORK DONE WEEKLY if at all possible.  If you can't do it yourself get your horse trimmed every four weeks, in my opinion it isn't good for a barefoot horse to go longer between trims.  Their toes just get too long and their heels get too short.  If you can rasp the toes  and the side flairs down then you can do six weeks between trimmings, or in an emergency up to eight weeks.  Keep your horse on a regular trimming schedule with the farrier, this way the farrier can correct whichever mistakes you make and you will have a correct hoof shape to guide your work.  And never rasp the ground surface of the heels unless for an emergency, this work needs the skills of a farrier.  It is just too easy to take too much off the heel! 

 

And you don't even have to put the horse's hoof between your legs.  You can leave all that work for your farrier.

 

Have a great ride!

Jackie Cochran 

 

              

 

 

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Comment by Marlene Thoms on May 23, 2011 at 12:59am
Oh, I didn't take any while he was standing, and these were before I'd cleaned or anything so they are not very good.
Comment by Marlene Thoms on May 23, 2011 at 12:54am

My computing skills may be even worse than my hoofing skills, but I think I have loaded two pics into My pictures. No idea how to get them here. But if you can see them, the right front is way too overgrown, about half an inch at the toe and is trying to  flare a little and chip on the medial quarter. Last year exactly the same thing happened and he ended up with a big chip there, so I'd like to avoid that. The left is a little long in the toe also, his trimmer says it's actually a bit clubby, but mostly it doesn't bother him, just looks a little funny. He has generally very sound feet but I have to watch his diet and he gains weight easily so pasture time is limited, and grains are out, carrots and apples limited. I'm just rasping a little at a time to wear down some of the overgrowth, as would theoretically happen if he were tripping over more rocky trails like he was doing last year. This year we aren't hitting the high trails, so his wear has been far less. This evening he came out of his paddock ripping and bucking, after an hour or so of continuous pacing to get to pasture time,so I haven't done too much harm yet.

Comment by E. Allan Buck on May 22, 2011 at 10:34pm

Marelene

could you post some photos of his feet standing on them and then the underside?

Comment by Marlene Thoms on May 22, 2011 at 9:52pm
Hey, a little update Jackie. I've been trying to grasp how the barefoot care thing works since I got my guy 18 months ago. At first it seemed so complicated, well it is, a hoof is an amazing piece of evolution. But since your post, I started a little here and there. Went back and watched more videos, everyone trims  a little differently, so that's confusing. But I think I am getting the hang of it, and getting a little braver, just rasping, not nipping. Fortunately Sharif is being reasonably good, and I keep the sessions very short, for my sake as well. Anyhow his regular hoof trimmer comes in two weeks, so he can tell me how we are doing, but he leaves so long between trims, even I can see a few things that need to be done. I'll let you know after his next visit.
Comment by E. Allan Buck on May 9, 2011 at 2:10pm

Jackie

I know about the clay!!!!!!!

Never be discouraged, you are an amazing woman to be able to work through what you have.

Let your heart sing knowing that every moment you do what others wish they could do is your own personal victory.   The horse know and understand.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on May 9, 2011 at 2:00pm

Thank you for your comments Allan and Marlene.

Allan, I have to do Mia's sole since she lives on red clay.  Different types of soils affect hooves differently.  I agree about the eye, which is why I like having a GOOD farrier do regular trims on the horses I rasp.

Marlene--  I just wish I could still do the whole trim myself instead of the little I do.  With your guy be careful at first and take it SLOW.  Back in the days before I was disabled, long ago, I got my horses so I could go out into the middle of the pasture with my tools and trim my horses.  Sometimes I even put a halter on and "ground tied" with the lead rope, especially the young ones.  But this was after years of me messing with their hooves and me teaching them to stay whoa-ed no matter what I did around them!  Couldn't do it now, Mia is tied up AND my son or Debbie stand at her head if she is restless.  Sometimes I wish I had a hay net so she would be happier with me!

Sometimes I am discouraged because I used to be able to do so much more and able to do it so much better.  At least I can still help horses in this small way. 

Comment by Marlene Thoms on May 9, 2011 at 10:18am
I am totally impressed that you can do horses hooves Jackie, more so in spite of your MS. I would like to do some on Sharif but I'm still chicken, maybe I'll get his trimmer to teach me a bit, just on the toes. One tip for your readers, if you get your horse's feet gradually conditioned by regularly riding on rocky ground, my farrier says he'd be out of business! I kind of doubt that, but he says that's the best way to maintain their feet between trims (and good diet of course).
Comment by E. Allan Buck on May 8, 2011 at 5:21pm

Good for you Ms. Jackie.

As a barefoot trimmer I can tell you that most folks do not have the eye to evenly rasp the hoof.  That being said, they can learn from a competant trimmer/farrier.

I am proud to say that I was schooled in trimming by a retired cavalry farrier, and such I have never lamed a horse, yet I have made many many sets of bad feet become good.  I do not cut away the sole.....it is flat at the toe and quarters..........

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