Hoof Trimming

[Wiggy]

Please pardon any mistakes I make here, I'm new to this message board thing...

I have a colt who may be toeing out slightly... a bit hard to tell with all this winter hair... I do trim his feet myself simply because it's been impossible to find a competant farrier around here... what would be the correct way to trim to help straighten him out slightly? I know doing too much can cause more harm than good... but I believe he is still young enough that I could make some margin of improvement... just not entirely sure how one does corrective trimming like that... and I dont want to be "experimenting" to figure it out either.

Thank you.

 

[Jill]

I am not an expert, but my husband and I do trim all our own minis.

When we have one that toes out a little, we take a little more off the outside edge of the hoof. That has worked well for our horses, but again, I am not an expert.

We had trouble getting farrier who were willing to do our minis and started doing them every other time ourselves and eventually got to the point where it worked best to do them totally by ourselves.

 

[southernmother]

when do you need to start hoof trims for the first time?

: My filly is 5 months old, and I have no idea about this. How can you tell when they need it done, and should she be having hers done already? She seems to walk just fine as far as I can tell. What exactly does "toeing out" mean? Please excuse my ignorance!!

:

 

[MBhorses]

Southernmother,

It depends on your horse. Our 2006 filly has had her feet trimmed three times and she is only 5 mos old.

We have a farrier come trim our horses for us.When the farrier comes if they need trimming he trims them,but if not he don't trim them.My husband and I hope to learn how to trim ourselves one day.

Good luck,

MELISSA

 

[midnight star stables]

Horses & minis should have their feet trimmed every 4-6 weeks. Horses feet are like finger nails and need to be cut down so that bones grow correctly and that they can walk. Southernmother, I recommend that you get a farrier immediately so that you can discuss the important of regular hoof trimming. Having horses feet done are extremely important for their overall care.

 

[ThreeCFarm]

My horses are trimmed every 8 weeks, and any new foals fall onto the same schedule as their mothers.

Southernmother, I highly suggest you get a farrier out to explain to you what to look for, the importance of regular trimming, etc.

 

[Sandee]

Please pardon any mistakes I make here, I'm new to this message board thing...

I have a colt who may be toeing out slightly... a bit hard to tell with all this winter hair... I do trim his feet myself simply because it's been impossible to find a competant farrier around here... what would be the correct way to trim to help straighten him out slightly? I know doing too much can cause more harm than good... but I believe he is still young enough that I could make some margin of improvement... just not entirely sure how one does corrective trimming like that... and I dont want to be "experimenting" to figure it out either.

Thank you.

I won't even attempt to say the correct way to do this. I believe that to fix the "toeing out" my farrier trims the inside of the hoof more than the outside to through their weight back to the inside. Please don't take my word for this though. There are boards for farriers just like this board is for miniature owners. Google farriers or something like that and find one. They would probably help you out.

 

[Loess Hills]

Our farrier comes every other month, so that ours all get done regularly. So important to have them done correctly, so many problems can develop with improper trimming.

We've learned a lot talking with our farriers everything from feeding to personality of horses. I wouldn't even attempt to try it by myself.........too scared of making mistakes!

 

[Fred]

If the horse toes out you trim the outside. I will say though that young horses go through funky phases and will go back and forth on toeing out. Nutrition, exercise, and growth all play a part. I don't worry too much about babies that toe out a bit. As for trimming each horse is an individual and they are all different when it comes to how often to trim. Linda B

 

[jbrat]

Hello,

I have been reading up alot on hoof care and done some of my own trimming. I thought maybe you would find these few links interesting, and in the links on the sites there are more good links, most use big horses for examples but it can apply to mini's and in the yahoo group if you ask you'll probably find many mini people there.

This first one would be a great place to ask your trimming questions

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/barefoothorsecare/

the rest are from my favorites lists sorry if any are duplicates or don't work I just copied & pasted them didn't check to see if they all work:

http://www.ironfreehoof.com/

http://www.barefoothorse.com/

http://www.clickandtrim.com/trimming.htm

http://www.b2bhoofcare.com/b2b_04a_service...seboots_01a.htm

http://www.easphotography.com/Horses/Home.htm

I didn't know if I should post all the other websites on the forum or not, but I thought others might be interested too, so I added it here instead of a PM.

Good luck and keep us posted on how things turn out!

 

[Jill]

Just for the record / for whatever it is worth, it took H and I years of working with our farriers (them showing us) and alternating trims between us and them before we got to the point where we felt we were doing a good job and could take over the trims on our horses. We're not doing it ourselves to cut corners or to be cheap, but because it really has worked out best for us and our horses.

 

[jbrat]

I'd prefer to always have a professional do my trimming, but sometimes it can be hard to find a dependable Farrier. And many farriers prefer to stick to the big barns where they do many horses in 1 stop. Which leaves us that only a couple horses, neglected. Luckily I have found a guy who likes to do the smaller farms, then he gets a break while driving place to place. He drives from over a hour away, I have several friends and we've worked it that when he comes this way I send him to atleast 3 diffrent places within 5 miles of me. Luckily, this has worked out for all. I had called a few different farriers closer to home but since I only had 2 they didn't want too do them or where just plan undependable- little did they know - I had 3 more stops for them within a few miles and they all had 2 horse to do too. so that would have given them 6 easy trims. Some don't like to trim mini's either because they are so small and they have to bend over alot farther. Some of these guys are just in it for the money!

So education on trimming is always a plus! Just incase your in a bind! I had to trim my QH a few times before I found a dependable farrier. I trim my QH bythe natural method with a good short breakover, to keep his 25 yr. legs sound. I had it down good, then had to have back surgery and now have the Farrier do it. But I still tend to redo the mustang rolls once he's done, nit-pickin' mommy.

I would never reccommend trimming without some major education and lessons from a trusted blacksmith.

It not a matter of being cheap, it comes down to doing the best you can with what you have available.

FWIW

 

[Wiggy]

Thank you all for your advice... I will have a look at those websites when I get a bit of time this weekend...

I would also much rather have a professional trimming feet for me... I don't like having to do it... but I've been through every farrier is the area who will even do minis.... none have done a very good job... one even made my horse badly lame for weeks... I don't need to be paying anyone to do that... I had help to get started trimming... and feel I do an ok job... but yes, wish someone else could do it for me!

 

[jbrat]

Unfortunately too many people are in the business only for the $ and don't really have the horse or owners best interest in mind! Or they don't really care or have the knowledge to want to do it right, Or their in a big hurry to get done and move on. Reguardless of why, it stinks to pay someone to make you horse lame or pay for any type of improper careless trim.

Which is another reason it is good to learn about trimmimg then you can tell if your farrier is doing a good job.

Being your own pets, I'm betting you'll take more care in how you trim.

NOw if they would just make a smaller rasp for small hands. I just can't get the hang of the hoof knife either, I've cut myself and don't use it anymore in fear of cutting the horse or myself again. So I have the farrier come out a few times a year, and I just keep them in shape in btw visits.

Good luck!