Whoa~! Rein 'em in here and show your horse! 2026

[Ravenbird]

I learned to trim and shoe my personal horse, but it was never easy physically. Only doing one horse I never got fit for the job and never got fast. When boots became a thing for trail and endurance riding I quit metal shoes, then quit doing any feet at all when I found a good shoer. I still have my anvil and hand tools which I should let go, but some things become sentimental.

My nippers were a bit over $200, but they are excellent quality and cut through the hoof wall easily.

Yup. Quality tools are worth every penny. Mine are G.E., probably 30 years old now, with one re-build.

 

[Sunje]

I learned to trim and shoe my personal horse, but it was never easy physically. Only doing one horse I never got fit for the job and never got fast. When boots became a thing for trail and endurance riding I quit metal shoes, then quit doing any feet at all when I found a good shoer. I still have my anvil and hand tools which I should let go, but some things become sentimental.

Yup. Quality tools are worth every penny. Mine are G.E., probably 30 years old now, with one re-build.

That's good to know. My nippers are GE. Not sure how to get them rebuilt if/when I need to (probably not in my lifetime)--send them back to the manufacturer?

I use boots only now, when I need them. My mare needs them, but I think my gelding will be able to go barefoot. Rocks don't seem to bother him at all, and his feet are rock-hard themselves. Good on you for learning how to shoe!! That is well above my knowledge level.

I've seen a different kind of shoe that is in 3 pieces--toe plate and 2 heel plates, screws onto the hoof. It is the coolest thing!! Allows the hoof to flex where it needs to, but still protects the foot. I can't remember the brand, will have to find it.

 

[Ravenbird]

That's good to know. My nippers are GE. Not sure how to get them rebuilt if/when I need to (probably not in my lifetime)--send them back to the manufacturer?

Back around the late '90's we used Lopez or G.E. but I looked it up and Lopez has either joined or been bought out by Centaur forge and G.E, no longer offers rebuilds. If you take good care of your nippers and just do your own, they'll last a lifetime. I bought mine used already with the rebuild, never sent it off myself. The guy I bought it from had gotten them back from Lopez and not used them yet, so like brand new. It does shorten the jaws slightly so can't be rebuilt more than 2 or 3 times.

Good on you for learning how to shoe!! That is well above my knowledge level.

Kinda forced to way back in my time in Arkansas going through every farrier around and getting awful work done on my horse. We decided we could pay for a bad job or do a bad job ourselves for free. It was a LOT of trial and error, but nothing worse than what we were getting from the local farriers. The satisfaction of having shoes that stayed on for one of my 50 mile rides was the highlight. Then when I started training horses and always had good farriers I went back to paying for a better (and way faster) job than I could do. When I quit training and only had one horse I trimmed and booted.

 

[JanS]

We decided we could pay for a bad job or do a bad job ourselves for free.

Back in the 70's there were a bunch of farriers around here who were actually throwing the horses natural stance off. They would take the heels way down and leave the toes really long, so they were almost standing on their fetlocks. That's when I decided to invest in a good set of nippers and the rest of the stuff I needed to do it myself.

 

[MyBuddy]

Whoa, you guys are Way beyond me! I could never trim and God forbid, shoe, my own horse! I actually tried to rasp one time and ha! That's harder than it looks! And then one time I bought a knife that I thought I can use. I gave it to my farrier! There's no way on Earth that I'm strong enough or smart enough to trim my own horses. I love my farrier!

When I first got my horses I had some guy that came and trimmed them. He was very cheap. And very unreliable. When he told me to call him when I needed him again I was like, what? I wasn't even sure when I needed him. And then when I thought I needed him, it took him a couple of weeks to get back here! By then they really were long! Everyone around here told me that getting a good farrier was hard and to get them on a regular basis was almost impossible. I found that out real quick. This guy just trimmed basic. He didn't know anything about anything specific.

Then I found my farrier now and he was a godsend! First time he was here and he gave me the bill, on the bottom of the bill said when he was coming back! I said, I'm already scheduled?? He's like yeah. Like it was no big deal. I was shocked. How cool is that!? Coming on a regular basis my horses feet were kept at a nice even length. All. the. time. It wasn't like they were long, then short, then long, then short. It was wonderful and I felt like he was gold. I always said he was almost better than my vet. Because it was like having a vet come here every 6 to 8 weeks. Anytime I had a problem I could call him and he would zip over. And I always made sure to pay him for those extra trips. Many times I thought something needed a vet visit and I would talk to him and find out it was nothing. Or he what tell me what to do. And it's not an easy job. Even just bending over cleaning my horses feet I know it's tiring. So even though he makes it look easy, I know it's not an easy job. Yea, I'm going to keep him as long as he's able to do the job! And I hope it's until all my horses are gone!

 

[MyBuddy]

As for the chiropractor, I have thought about it. Not because of Cheyenne's feet.. but just because I have a couple of friends who actually had it done on their horses. It's just one of those things where I'm not totally on board. I know, I know, don't hate me. I've been to a chiropractor twice. Once years and years ago when I was in my twenties probably. And another time probably 20 years ago. Both experiences were not great. The second one he was cracking my neck and OMG I thought he was going to break it! It was not a pleasant experience in I don't feel like it did anything. I can't even watch videos that pop up where they are cracking a horse or dog. And then I read somewhere that they actually did hurt somebody. So I don't quite trust it. Don't come down on me! This is just my opinion and own experience. I believe in everything holistic and I know that's actually part of the holistic field. I'm just not totally on board with it.

Plus Cheyenne's feet are a bit different. We all walk a certain way. It's the way we're built. Chiropractor doesn't change that. At least in my opinion. She's always going to have that kind of walk. Her footstep is always going to land that way. She's been that way from day one. It's her conformation. Now if it's something else that might be out of a line? That's making her limp? That's maybe a different deal. But I suspect that she is just tender in the feet with probably arthritis and old age.

My friend with the Friesian has had a chiropractor work on her horse. So if I ever wanted to try it I do have a connection. And it's always in the back of my mind. Not totally discounting it. Just hesitating.

 

[JanS]

Both experiences were not great. The second one he was cracking my neck and OMG I thought he was going to break it! It was not a pleasant experience in I don't feel like it did anything

You must have gotten one of those quacks who give all chiropractors a bad name. We've had one for years and you don't hear that loud cracking you see on some of the videos and it didn't hurt at all. The animal chiro is also a holistic doc and he is excellent, not to mention he comes to you when he does his farm rounds in the area. He does a bunch of horse farms in the area regularly so I had him stop by for Della after the deer mishap in the car and she went from barely being able to get up and down the steps to running around normally again after one visit.

 

[MyBuddy]

This is what I walked into Saturday morning. I guess I forgot to lock that gate. This one eyed Jack knows how to open that gate if it's not locked. He couldn't have opened it too far with the fan on the stall front but he may have tried to squeeze by anyway.

Got food?

 

[Ravenbird]

This is an amusing story - since it has to do with Polo Ponies I'm tagging @LifeofRubie
I thought of putting it in with the dog breeding/breeders discussion, because it really applies to the imperfect dogs as well. Sometimes they are simply the best. I didn't download the photos, just use your imagination.

 

[Sunje]

This is an amusing story - since it has to do with Polo Ponies I'm tagging @LifeofRubie
I thought of putting it in with the dog breeding/breeders discussion, because it really applies to the imperfect dogs as well. Sometimes they are simply the best. I didn't download the photos, just use your imagination.

View attachment 162859

Great story! When I was 16 I worked and lived at a place that ran a trail ride outfit. They had one little dun mare who looked like she walked right out of the old book "The Horseman's Bible", the drawing that shows pretty much every conformational fault that a horse could have. Even her dun color was washed out, her mane stuck straight up. She did, however, have a smooth back that was ideal for bareback riding. She was absolutely perfect being ridden with just a halter and lead rope (not even tied around) and bareback. I trusted her completely, and she had the sweetest temperament.