Hoof trimming

[Farrier!]

its ok to trimm your horses an donks feet as long as they dont lay done on you.i had this 16 hand saddle/TB gelding.an he would lay on the farrier as soon as he picked up his hind feet.needless to say i was never there when he would trim his feet.we would leave him an pick him up later that day.

Why????'
This is a training issue or a horse that is in pain. Why would you leave the horse with someone to have who knows what happen to it?

 

[wynedot55]

this was 25yrs ago.an yes we knew what the ferrier would do.an i had just bought the horse.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

My mare has long front hooves right now that really need to be done. Luckily her back hooves are an ok length, as she's not quite ready to be seen by the farrier for the backs. We've gotten to the point where she'll let us pick them up, but she won't hold up her feet yet. Its not the farriers job to train our horses for us, so I won't let those feet be touch until she's trained well! Luckily she's great with the front feet, so I can get those done.

I don't think I would ever get into shoeing a horse myself, but perhaps trimming. Around here its like taboo to trim your own horses' feet. I'm not really sure why. I'm glad to hear there are others out there who do their own horses though! But as someone else mentioned, a good farrier is definitely worth their weight in gold!

 

[Warped]

The guy we're buying the pony from gave me the number to his farrier that he uses to trim his horse,pony and donkeys hooves.
He charges $15 each animal and comes right to your house. He said he's great with the animals and the pony does well with him. So i think until i can grasp how to do it myself,we'll be using him.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Wow! $15 an anaiml is awesome! For shoeing and trimming here we pay $125 an animal. I'm not sure how much trimming alone will be though. Our farrier is coming out tomorrow.

 

[wynedot55]

last i heard around here trimming a horses hooves was $60 a hd.

 

[Countrymom]

Going rate for trimming in south Texas is $35 and shoes run anywhere from $65 to $100. I pay $75 each. And like I have said before, not every farrier does a pony. Just found anew one to work with who does a wonderful job of corrective work. One of our cutters needs some special work to keep him straight.

 

[Bronco Hollow]

Mules and donks are trimmed differently from horses, just thought I would point that out...

farrier, words of wisdom you speak.

 

[sterlng&sierra]

I would definately use a farrier worth his salt. Yes, they can be expensive, but if you screw up and the horse/donkey goes lame, you will need the much more expensive corrective farrier work. Of course, you need to spot the good farriers from the bad. One farrier told us our donkey had laminitis...oddly, the donkey was not lame before that farrier worked on him...you can guess how quickly that farrier left!

Other than that, we've had pretty good luck with our farriers and our donkey. Just watch carefully for any signs of lameness or issues with the hoof shape. If the animal goes lame AFTER the farrier leaves, and the hoof is not abcessed, bruised, etc, time to rethink your choice of farrier.

 

[Oklabarrelracer]

My hubby trims our weanlings starting at 3 months so they will be mannered when it's time for a farrier "if I haven't sold them by the time they are ready to start under saddle" Hubby also trims our mom mares. But for my barrel horse's, the farrier does the natural trim. Not that I don't trust hubby, but he has a 60 hour work week "firefighter" & he is afraid of doing something wrong & soreing my competition horse's. I LOVE the natural trim & my barrel horse's run great & handle the ground better than when they were shod. I agree with another poster that a good farrier is worth their weight in gold. I have had both bad & terrible but I VERY gratefull for my farrier now as he keeps my horse's feet sound.
Just information but I have found that ground flax seed is wonderfull for the health of your horses feet.I give my horse's 1/2 cup in their grain once daily. My horse's feet are healthy & no cracks. Flax seed is inexpensive & lasts a long time.