c/farriers

Had a wild Tuesday where everything just clicked

Last week I had a tricky laminitic pony that took me three hours to trim and shoe because she kept shifting her weight. Somehow my nippers and rasp felt like extensions of my hands and the shoes fit perfectly on the first try. Has anyone else had one of those magical days where the horse just cooperates and your tools feel right?

Had a horse spook mid-shoe and nearly took a hoof to the shin

Was working a draft cross in a muddy paddock outside Lexington last Tuesday and he stepped sideways, yanked the nail puller out of my hand, and I had to grab his leg and hold it while I finished with the clinch cutter one-handed just to get the shoe off safely has anyone else had a close call that made you rethink setting up in a wet field?

Vent: watched a shoe go from perfect to pancake in 3 months flat

I trimmed a mare back in March for a client near Lexington, and her fronts looked textbook. Three months later I come back and those same hooves are flaring out, sole flat as a board. Owner had been letting her stand in a muddy paddock 24/7 with no dry turnout. How do you guys get clients to stick to a dry lot schedule without them blowing you off?

Tried a new forge welding technique from a YouTube video and got a perfect billet on my first try

Used a borax substitute from an old timer's recipe and the damascus pattern came out cleaner than anything I've done before, has anyone else had luck skipping the standard flux?

The $5 hoof knife sharpening trick that saved my tired hands

Been dealing with sore wrists for months after trimming. My knives were dull but I kept putting off sharpening. Finally broke down and bought a cheap diamond stone from a hardware store near my shop in Austin. Used it wet like one of the old timers told me at a clinic back in 2022. Took maybe 10 minutes to get a good edge back on my main knife. The difference was night and day. Less pressure needed, cleaner cuts through the hoof wall. Anyone else notice how much easier trimming gets with actually sharp tools?

Tried making my own hoof packing mix... big mistake

Mixed up some pine tar with crushed aspirin and a little copper sulfate in my garage last week, figured it'd be a game changer. Ended up with a rock-hard mess that smelled like a dentist's office had a fight with a lumber yard. Anyone else ever thought they were being clever DIY-ing hoof stuff and just made a sticky disaster?

Tried the cheaper rasp from the farm supply store, never going back to my old brand

I finally tested that $20 rasp I've been eyeing up at Tractor Supply. Figured it would be garbage like most budget tools. But honestly, it cut through a mean quarter crack on a draft cross way smoother than my $60 one from the catalog. Needed way less filing to get the shape I wanted. Maybe I just got lucky with this batch? Has anyone else had a cheap tool surprise them like this?

My apprentice in Cheyenne insisted on using a new rasp he saw online, and it slipped on a quarter crack, nicking the horse's heel.

I had him switch back to our old reliable file, clean the small cut with saline, and we finished the job with a cold compress on the leg, but has anyone else had a tool fail because of a weird coating?

I used a new hoof hardener on a draft horse in Boise and it cracked worse than before.

The label said it was for all breeds, but after applying it to a Clydesdale's front hooves last Tuesday, I saw deep vertical cracks within 48 hours, so what's a better product for heavy horses in dry climates?

The time I used a regular hammer on a shoeing job versus my new Mustad driving hammer

Had a tough quarter crack on a draft horse in Spokane last month, and my old hammer just bounced off the nails. Switched to the Mustad with the heavier head and got every nail set in two hits flat. The weight difference is only 8 ounces, but it felt like swinging a log versus a feather. Anyone else find a small change in tools makes a huge difference on big feet?

My old rounding hammer handle snapped on a cold shoe last week, and I'm debating a full replacement versus just re-handling it.

I always thought a 4-point trim was best for heavy horses, but this Clydesdale changed my mind.

For years I stuck with a standard 4-point trim on draft horses, thinking it gave the best support. Then a client in Springfield brought in a Clydesdale with persistent heel pain. After talking with a farrier who works with pulling teams, I tried a rolled toe and a wider web shoe. The difference after six weeks was huge, the horse moved way better and the owner said it was the most comfortable he'd been. Now I'm rethinking my whole approach for big breeds. Has anyone else switched up their draft horse shoeing and seen good results?

Finally bought a proper hoof stand after years of making do, cost about $400 and it's a game changer for my back.

Warning: that 'easy' draft horse job in Lancaster almost cost me a finger.

I was trimming a big Percheron gelding at a farm out there about two months ago. The owner said he was 'a little fussy' but that was a huge understatement. I had him cross-tied in a wash stall, which I thought was fine. I was working on his near hind, rasping the hoof wall, when he suddenly decided he was done. He didn't just pull his foot away, he threw his whole weight sideways against the ties. One of the quick-release snaps on the cross-tie failed, the nylon strap whipped back, and his shoulder slammed into my arm. My hand, with the rasp, got pinned against the concrete block wall. I heard a crunch. I was lucky it was just a bad sprain and a deep cut, not a break. That 'little fussy' turned into a major safety lesson. Now I won't even start on a big horse without checking every single piece of hardware in the area first, and I bring my own heavy-duty cross-ties to jobs like that. Has anyone else had a close call that made you change your whole setup for draft breeds?

Heads up about that new 'quick set' glue for hoof pads

I used to swear by the old two part epoxy for sticking on pads, the kind you had to mix up and it took a full ten minutes to set. About six months ago, I tried a new fast acting glue that a supplier pushed on me, saying it would cut my time in half. The first few times it seemed great, but then I had a pad fail on a big draft horse after just three days of light work. The glue line looked good, but it just didn't bond deep enough to the hoof wall under real stress. I went back to my old method the next week because I can't risk a client's horse going lame over a saved five minutes. The old way is slower, but I've never had a failure with it in over eight years. Has anyone else run into problems with these new instant adhesives for therapeutic pads?

Just spent 4 hours on a quarter crack that looked simple from the outside

The internal separation ran way deeper than I thought, so what's your go-to method for assessing a crack's true depth before you start working?

Question about the old rule of thumb for hoof wall thickness

I was reading an old farrier manual from the 80s and it said a common guideline was a quarter inch of wall for a thousand pound horse. My vet just told me newer research shows that's often not enough, especially for performance animals. Where do you all stand on this, still using the old measure or going thicker?

Had to pick between a full shoe reset or a quick patch job on a tough client's horse

So last week I had this big draft horse come in, a Percheron named Gus, and his front shoes were beat up bad. The owner wanted them fixed fast and cheap, but I could see the clinches were shot and the hoof wall had some cracks. I had to choose between just pulling the old shoes, patching the worst crack with some acrylic, and tacking them back on (which would maybe hold for a month), or doing a full reset with new shoes and proper prep, which meant telling the owner it would cost about $180 and take over an hour. I went with the full reset, even though the guy grumbled about the price. It took a while, but Gus walked out way more comfortable. How do you all handle it when a client pushes for the fast fix on a horse that really needs the full work?

A client's draft horse went from a rough gait to smooth after we switched from keg shoes to handmade.

The owner said the horse was 'stumbling a lot' for about two months. We swapped the standard keg shoes for a set I made with a rolled toe and a little more heel support, and within three shoeings the change was night and day. Is the extra time for handmade work always worth it on a big, heavy horse, or did we just get lucky with this one?

I know everyone says to use a fresh rasp for every horse, but I tried something different on a tough quarter horse last week.

His hoof wall was super hard and my rasp was just skidding, so I took an old one I keep for rough work and put a slight curve on the edge with my grinder, just a little bend. It grabbed way better and saved me a ton of time on that one job. Has anyone else messed with reshaping an old tool for a specific problem like that?

My mentor told me to always check for thrush under the heel bulbs, even on clean looking horses

I thought he was being too careful until I found a bad case on a show horse last week. The owner kept the stall spotless, but the horse had deep pockets of black gunk that smelled awful. I almost missed it because the hoof looked perfect from the top. Has anyone else been surprised by thrush in a well-kept horse?

Pro tip: A horse at the Spokane rodeo last month showed me why I'll never use a standard shoe on a high-heeled horse again.

Noticed a big shift in hoof knife steel over the past five years

I was sharpening my old 440C blade from 2019 and compared it to a new M390 knife I picked up. The edge retention on the newer steel is a night and day difference, I can get through a full day on a single horse without needing to touch it up. I think the move towards these powdered metallurgy steels from makers like Mustad is what did it. Anyone else find their sharpening routine has changed because of better steel?

Warning: A vet in Cheyenne told me to stop using my old hoof knife sharpening trick

Honestly, I was showing him my edge with the 20-degree bevel I've done for years, and he said it's actually causing micro-fractures in the horn. He pulled out a scope and showed me the tiny splits I couldn't see. Ngl, it hit different because he wasn't a farrier telling me, it was the guy who has to deal with the lameness issues later. I've been doing it wrong for probably a decade. Has anyone else had a vet point out a basic tool technique that was actually causing harm?

That time a draft horse in Bend tried to 'help' me with his shoe

I was working on a big Percheron named Gus at a ranch near Bend, Oregon, and he decided to grab the rasp out of my hand with his teeth mid-job. He just held it there, looking at me like he was checking the work. I had to trade him a carrot for it back. Ever since then, I keep a pocket full of treats for the 'helpful' ones. Anyone else have a horse that thinks they're an apprentice?