Archive for January 19th, 2012

For some reason Brandee, our 25 year old TB mare suddenly decided that no human on the face of the planet, except me, is going to touch her feet ever again.  How am I going to get her hooves trimmed?

A horse’s hooves should be trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks.  Some horses can go longer, due to slower growing hooves, but the average is every 6 to 8 weeks.  They are just like people’s finger nails.  Some people’s nails grow like weeds; others grow really slow and not very much. 

Having a Farrier (Shoer) do your horse’s feet cost about $40 to $60 for just a trim.  People who own horses with hard awesome hooves are lucky because a trim is most likely all they will ever have to pay for.  Shoeing is three times more than just a trim.

With 40 years of owning horses, showing, taking and giving lessons and then training horses under my belt all of the Farriers and Vets that I know all think that I should give hoof trimming a try myself.  I guess it is not that hard.  The shoeing part is what is hard and that requires talent, knowledge and a strong back.  So I am going to give it a shot!  It will save us some money because we have three horses.

I have two Farriers as teachers and our Vet for consulting.  All three are happy to volunteer the knowledge, as well as their time, to teach me.  A Farrier already donated the tools that I need.  I have been reading, watching DVD’s, and spending time with my two Farrier friends learning and practicing.  I should be ready in about six weeks.  Brandee, of course, will be my first customer.  This should be interesting.  We will post pictures and we will see if she stays sound. (Ha, Ha)  Hopefully this will inspire other horse owners to learn, learn, and LEARN. 

Even if you never have a desire to trim your own horse’s “footsels”, learning and understanding something new is nothing but a positive thing to do.  I just hope that the old back can take it!  Mine that is.

Comments please?