Pedicure
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Every eight weeks, my horses get a pedicure. They seem to enjoy it, or at least they enjoy the change in routine and the attention. My farrier, Dick, is a calf-roper and he and his wife are co-owners/managers of a barn that is currently housing fifty head of horses. They have an indoor arena where they give riding lessons and host clinics. The chaw of tobacco in his mouth and his cowboy style hide the fact that he's the son of a kindergarten teacher and a county legislator. He's bright, loves a good joke and hasn't much use for Republicans. He's also very kind and gentle in all his dealings with horses.
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First Dick uses snippers to clip off most of the new hoof growth. It's like using a nail clipper on your toenails (but you need a bit more strength). If you click on the picture, it will enlarge somewhat.
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Next, he files the hard edge he just snipped to smooth it and make it uniformly even.
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After the hoof is clipped and filed, he measures to be sure it has the proper angle. When he's satisfied that the horse is correctly balanced, Dick uses a sharp farrier's knife to pare off excess sole and trim the frog (that's the V-shaped area in the above photo). He'll file around the hoof , rounding the edge slightly before applying some Thrush-X to help prevent any hoof rot that might be starting. In a dry summer, that usually isn't necessary unless he has found an injury.
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It was a special day at the barn because Becky stopped by to watch. For some reason, Heidi seemed more interested in her than Dick did, but then, this horse-work is serious business.
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