This message is from: EmailUser bolinsj boli...@myshorelink.com
Hi Robin
I have a bad back, and can tell you the flap disc trimming method is
fantastic. It is easier on the horse as well as my back. I have the DVD,
and bought a angle grinder at Harbour Freight Tools for $15 on sale, and
they have a pack of flap discs (3), for $8. Just replace the grinding blade
on the grinder with a 60 frit flap disc. They have courser grits if you
need them.
I was concerned about he noise, but it seems to just put the horse to
sleep. Let me know if you have any questions.
John Bolinski986 Irishtown Rd North East, MD 21901
410-398-0257
p.s.- The rule of thumb I use is to trime standard breds at 52-53 degrees
on the front and 55-56 in the back. On Fjords, I find that since they are
drafts , with their front legs set back, I trim the fron at 55-56 degrees
and the same in the back.
On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 6:00 PM, Robin Churchill rbc...@yahoo.com wrote:
This message is from: Robin Churchill rbc...@yahoo.com
I know there are some people on the list who do their own trimming. I am
in a
situation where I am the only one with horses who lives on an island and
it is
pretty much impossible to get a farrier to come out here. so I have to
trailer
my horses off every time I have their feet done. I use the particular
farrier
I use now because he is a laminitis specialist and I have an older
warmblood
who has metabolic issues and has had laminitis and other hoof problems.
This
particular farrier will only do the horses feet every 6 weeks for reasons
that
I won't bore you with. I have 2 barefoot fjords. One of the fjords has a
nice
hoof conformation and is fine on a 6 week schedule. The other has a foot
that
is more of a flaring type compounded by the fact that in the front he wears
his feet slightly unevenly so he flares more to one side. If he is not
touched
up in between the 6 week intervals, he ends up not only tripping the
closer it
gets to the time for him to be
done, but also getting toe cracks where the hoof starts to flare. At
first, I
was trying to rasp him myself just to maintain the shape which helped some
but
I find his hooves to be so hard that I just don't get much off and it
requires
that I do it about once a week and I still don't get it as well as I'd
like.
In the meantime I found a guy who will touch him up in between and who gets
the toes a little shorter and the horse has stopped tripping. However,
again,
I have to trailer the horse to him which means trailering a horse about
every
3 weeks just for farrier work not counting anything else that I want to do
with them. I have looked into barefoot trimmers and there don't seem to be
any in my area. There are some videos that are available on youtube to
show
techniques for barefoot trimming. I have also seen some special tools
advertised.
My question is whether anyone has a preference for the type of
rasp they use. There are all different brands/types and I don't really know
the difference.(What I have now is a couple plain old 14 inch rasps and a
10
inch rasp. I also have one of those rider's rasps which is totally
worthless)
There is also something called a Pferd hoof plane that seems to be a little
more easy to use than a standard rasp or at least advertised to need less
effort. Today I saw something called a radius rasp, I think and some other
hoof plane thing that looked a lot easier for someone who is not a farrier.
All I want to do is keep the hoof shape between farrier visits and prevent
the
horse from tripping and the hoof from cracking and not have to trailer the
horses so much when it is inconvenient. Looking at the bright side, a girl
who
was helping me out here said my horses load on the trailer faster than she
has
ever seen 3 horses get on, so it has gotten them accustomed
to being trailered and I meet the farriers at different places sometimes
so
it does get them out, but sometimes I don't feel like or don't really have
time to take a horse someplace. It pretty much shoots the day. Any advice
would be appreciated.
Robin in SW Florida where it is finally cooling down
but still have no see-ums.
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