The Hight Cost of Hoof Care

Like it or not, every time someone buys a horse, they automatically buy into the non-optional, cradle-to-grave, extended lifetime warranty hoof care program. And, as an added bonus, one way or the other, the owner enjoys the benefit of being responsible for all costs associated with keeping their horse on its feet.

The most economical hoof care program is one where the owner is capable of providing quality hoof care that meets all the needs of their trusty steed.

The tools are relatively inexpensive compared to all things horse related. As with most tools, quality varies from good to bad. You always want to buy the best tools you can afford. The reason for this is simple. Look what you are going to be doing and imagine all the bad things that can happen in a worst case scenario. Now understand, if you take care of your horse's feet over its lifetime, at some point, it is going to snatch its foot away due to circumstances beyond your control. Be it a fly bite, car horn or scrap of paper floating by, it will happen so quickly that if you are lucky, all you'll lose is a gasp of air.

Good quality tools protect you from harm, or at the very least, help reduce the possibility of serious injury. If your horse is able to go barefoot, this is indeed a plus. You'll still need a quality leather (or Kelvar) apron, hoof pick, hoof knife (with sharpening file), nippers, rasp and a hoof stand, plus a tape measure and hoof gauge and a book of some sort to keep a record of what is being done to your horse's feet. Now I know there are some folks who don't think that hoof lengths and angles matter but how else are you going to know that you are trimming your horse's feet the same way every time? It is so simple to do and adds only a minute or two to the job.

When trimming a hoof, after it has been trimmed with the hoof nippers and leveled with the rasp, but before being rounded up, that hoof has some very, very sharp edges. If your horse chooses this moment to jerk its foot away, if you are not wearing a leather apron, your chances for being cut beyond just your hand, go way up. Of course it goes without saying that open-toed sandals, flip-flops and even sneakers have no place around a hoof care operation. The only one barefoot should be the horse.

The best hoof pick I know of is one made from half a horseshoe. It will not bend or break; additionally, it will outlast the user and can be made to fit your hand. Ask your neighborhood farrier to make you one. Most likely, he or she will enjoy the chance to demonstrate their forging skills for a good cause.

The hoof knife works best when it is extremely sharp. Quality steel and a solid handle are a must. It may not sound right, but you are more apt to cut yourself or your horse with a dull knife than a sharp one. A sharp knife requires less effort to use and performs its job more readily than a knife in need of a good edge.

Hoof nippers should be handled before you lay down your hard-earned money. Find a pair that will fit your grip while allowing you to take advantage of the maximum leverage that comes with the longest handles that you are comfortable using. It is amazing how hard to cut a dry hoof can be. A high quality set of hoof nippers may very well last a lifetime for the owner of one or two horses. A word of caution about trying to re-sharpen nippers . it is not as easy as it looks. Most manufactures will offer a reconditioning service. It is well worth it to have it done right . and too easy to ruin them forever.

Rasps can be purchased either new or re-sharpened. A top-of-the-line rasp will last a long time for the barefoot horse owner if care is taken to be sure the hoof is clean before work begins and that the rasp is not just tossed willy-nilly into the tack box when the job is done.

A hoof stand is one of those tools that will make the job so much easier because it takes the physical strain off your body and allows you to concentrate on the work at hand without the aches and pain that comes from holding a horse's leg in your lap in a process that you do not perform on a daily basis.

A small retractable tape measure and brass hoof gauge are not expensive and make it possible for you to give your horse a consistent trim time after time. While it may be hard to believe that fractions of an inch in length one way or another or a couple of degrees in hoof angle can cause problems for a thousand pound horse, they can and do with disappointing frequency as evidenced by the horse trimmed too short that is lame for a few days afterward.

Of course, the best tools in the world aren't of any use if the person wielding them has not taken the time to learn how to use them properly. I advocate that every horse owner know how to at least trim their horse in an emergency and remove and/or replace a damaged shoe if the horse is shod. This is a lot more important than knowing how to change a tire on your car, truck or trailer. You can always leave the vehicle on the side of the road but if your horse has a foot emergency, action needs to be taken immediately or you run the risk of serious if not permanent damage, plus a lot of hoof problems are downright painful if not corrected right now. This includes letting the hoof get too long and out of balance between trimmings.

On really nice side benefit associated with horses whose owners take care of their feet is that these horses are usually very well-behaved.

Okay, so you know how to trim a hoof in an emergency but you really don't want to trim your horse(s) every six weeks or so. That's where farriers come into the picture.

Your farrier will have all the tools, knowledge and desire to work on your horse's feet. While the cost of maintaining his or her vehicle, tools and insurance will be spread among all the customers, there are things that will drive up the cost of an individual horse's care. First and foremost is the horse's willingness to stand quietly for the work. A farrier's livelihood depends on being able to trim/shoe a certain number of horses in a day. If one horse takes up too much of this time, then the farrier may charge more or refuse to work with the horse until it has been trained to accept the farrier's presence. Which may lead to the situation in the next paragraph.

Not having a horse's feet trimmed on a regular basis practically guarantees a horse's hoof care is going to result in higher costs somewhere down the road. If a hoof is allowed to grow overly long between trimmings, if nothing else, it is eventually going to reach a point of imbalance causing possible damage to among other things, the tendons, joints and/or Navicular bone.

However, perhaps the simplest, most cost effective way to prevent unwanted costs from creeping into your hoof care program is through the judicious and timely use of the hoof pick. Anytime you can prevent thrush from gaining a foothold, or a puncture from becoming infected, you will save your horse from unwanted pain and distress and yourself, priceless time and money.

When overgrown hooves become weak due to the excessive hoof wall, the heels may become run-under and/or contracted in addition to the increased risk of cracks, chips and catastrophic collapse of the hoof wall resulting in severe lameness. The related increased costs have to take into account the loss of the use of the horse as well as any vet and/or unscheduled farrier appointments needed to get the horse back on sound footing. There is also the time you are going to have to put into the whole business of getting your horse up and running again once it has healed to the point it was before the injury.

One very important cost that can be attributed to insufficient hoof care comes from an injury to a rider caused by a horse so thrown off its gait that the rider suffers from being thrown or pinned under a horse that goes down due to poor conditioning of it's feet.

So, while there are any number of horses that seem to get by without suffering any ill effects from having their feet neglected, I can't imagine anyone wanting to take the chance of seeing their hoof care costs go through the roof over a simple trim job.

In this day of rising costs for everything under the sun, one of the simplest ways to hold down the cost of your hoof care is to ensure that your horse's feet are trimmed on a regular basis. Whether you do it yourself or hire someone to do the job for you, your horse will benefit from the attention and your budget will be the better for it.

Spring is just around the corner and along with your regular trimming, those folks who are going to have their horses shod for the first time in a while, be sure and let your farrier know a trim or two in advance of the shoeing date. This heads-up gives the farrier the opportunity to address any special problems prior to the actual nailing on of the shoes.

Happy trails to one and all.

Buz Riley - 2004 - 2005 ©

Back To Buz Riley's Articles Home Page
Back To Articles Home Page