Horse Talk

[Member 482121]

Nice-looking horse, Abigalerose. My wife and I have one that looks just like yours. He is a gelding, though, and a Walker. Huge beast, 16 1/2 hands tall. His name is Denali ("The Great One"). Now and then, when it rains a lot and often and the ground stays wet, he has a problem with thrush. A few weeks ago he came down with it again (for the second time). It happened suddenly. One day he was OK, and the next he could hardly walk. We treated him with soaks in water and Clorox and a medicine called Koppertox. He responded really well to the treatment and is walking and running normally now, though one of the frogs is not completely healed yet.
I don't ride (not a sport for people with artificial hips and a bad back), but my wife does, though she hasn't been riding for a while after she fell off the horse some time ago. It wasn't the horse's fault. She hadn't tightened the cinch strap enough. Fortunally she was unscathed. Here in our pasture the soil is sandy and soft. And she managed to avoid the cow patties, too!

 

[EliyaSage]

I'm not too sure how active this thread is anymore, but i need some help about horses. We recently found a local place that sells sweet-feed for our goats, same product but much cheaper than where we had been getting it from. This place has a miniature horse there, and today i was looking at her or him and noticed that his or her hoofs where awful!!!!!!!! The hoofs looked like they hadn't been trimmed in a long time.. She or He, (I'm guessing it was a she), is in a large pinned out area, made up of grass and dried mud, looks like there wasn't anything for her hoofs to be worn down on..
My heart instantly broke for her. The owners seem like lovely nice people, i don't understand how they could let that happen, they have goats and a full-size horse, who seemed perfectly healthy and their hoofs looked fine!!!
I have some hoof trimming equipment i use for my goats, and next time i go over there, i think i'll bring it, and if they still haven't taken care of her hoofs than i'll ask if i can try to trim her hoofs, I'll say "It'd be an educational process, and training" i might say i was thinking about purchasing a horse and i wanted to know the difference of trimming their hoofs from trimming goat hoofs. That way i wouldn't sound rude or judgmental. If they say anything like "Oooh, you don't trim Horse hoofs!" Or "Oh no, you stay away from her, she don't need no hoof trimming" than i think i'll just have to stop being a customer even though it's cheaper there. I refuse to allow them to make profit off me if they aren't taking care of their animals. Then i might try and contact local authorities.... though i hate to even think of getting them in trouble, if they aren't taking care of their animals i don't see how i can stand by and watch. So, my question is, How do you trim horse hoofs? Is it really any different from trimming goat hoofs? Any tips on trimming their hoofs or how i should handle my situation? She seems to get around okay and she doesn't seem to be in distress.

-I won't name names.
-They DO NOT abuse their animals in any way.
-All other animals on their property are healthy and happy.
-Their animals are ALL properly fed and hydrated.
-The miniature horse is perfectly fine other than her hoofs.

-Her hoofs looked slightly less severe than the hoofs in this picture.
-This is a photo i found off-line that looks similar to her hoofs.

Any suggestions?

 

[Member 482121]

I am not an expert, but my farrier comes every month and trims my horse's hooves. If they are not trimmed for a long time (and not worn on hard ground) and start looking like those in the picture, trimming them becomes very difficult because the quick extends beyond where it should be. At that point it becomes more of a vet's job than a farrier's, because the animal should be tranquilized. If I were you I'd turn these people in for abuse and neglect of an animal.

 

[abigalerose]

Hey, this thread is really active, so feel free to ask as many questions as you want!
And to answer that question, I've never trimmed a horses hooves before, so I can't tell you much, but you want to do the outter hoof wall, and do it at a 45 degree angle, and then file it after. To make things easier you can soak the hoof for about 20 mins first.
Also, if it were me, I'd twist the truth a bit and tell them you're training to be a farrier and you'd like to trim their horses hooves for free for practice, tell them you have a lot of previous experience with trimming other types of hooves and maybe even show them some pictures.

 

[Kusanar]

I'm not too sure how active this thread is anymore, but i need some help about horses. We recently found a local place that sells sweet-feed for our goats, same product but much cheaper than where we had been getting it from. This place has a miniature horse there, and today i was looking at her or him and noticed that his or her hoofs where awful!!!!!!!! The hoofs looked like they hadn't been trimmed in a long time.. She or He, (I'm guessing it was a she), is in a large pinned out area, made up of grass and dried mud, looks like there wasn't anything for her hoofs to be worn down on..
My heart instantly broke for her. The owners seem like lovely nice people, i don't understand how they could let that happen, they have goats and a full-size horse, who seemed perfectly healthy and their hoofs looked fine!!!
I have some hoof trimming equipment i use for my goats, and next time i go over there, i think i'll bring it, and if they still haven't taken care of her hoofs than i'll ask if i can try to trim her hoofs, I'll say "It'd be an educational process, and training" i might say i was thinking about purchasing a horse and i wanted to know the difference of trimming their hoofs from trimming goat hoofs. That way i wouldn't sound rude or judgmental. If they say anything like "Oooh, you don't trim Horse hoofs!" Or "Oh no, you stay away from her, she don't need no hoof trimming" than i think i'll just have to stop being a customer even though it's cheaper there. I refuse to allow them to make profit off me if they aren't taking care of their animals. Then i might try and contact local authorities.... though i hate to even think of getting them in trouble, if they aren't taking care of their animals i don't see how i can stand by and watch. So, my question is, How do you trim horse hoofs? Is it really any different from trimming goat hoofs? Any tips on trimming their hoofs or how i should handle my situation? She seems to get around okay and she doesn't seem to be in distress.

-I won't name names.
-They DO NOT abuse their animals in any way.
-All other animals on their property are healthy and happy.
-Their animals are ALL properly fed and hydrated.
-The miniature horse is perfectly fine other than her hoofs.



View attachment 1040507
-Her hoofs looked slightly less severe than the hoofs in this picture.
-This is a photo i found off-line that looks similar to her hoofs.

Any suggestions?

Those hooves look foundered. And it's surprisingly easy for them to get that bad. I have a mini that I am bringing back from being that bad (as bad if not worse that the image you provided). It's hard to describe what needs to be done, but the toes need to be brought back, and it may need to be done gradually.
What I do with mine is clean his feet, there is the sole then a crevice, then the wall, I trim mine all the way back to the sole so his foot is flat across the bottom (I happen to know he has a lot of sole built up so I'm not quicking him). Then i put him up on a hoof stand (made one by nailing a piece of landscape timber to a 1x6) and use a rasp to bring the toe back. I use the rasp because it is gradual and you can see what you are doing more than the nippers. His hooves are white, when you get close, you start seeing some pinkish color coming through, when you see that, stop, then they won't get tender and sore, the quick will back up on its own.
It will take several trims to get feet like that back healthy. I am doing mild trims on my mini every weekend right now until I get them in good shape.
My mini looks pretty good after about 4-5 trims once a week.

 

[EliyaSage]

I am not an expert, but my farrier comes every month and trims my horse's hooves. If they are not trimmed for a long time (and not worn on hard ground) and start looking like those in the picture, trimming them becomes very difficult because the quick extends beyond where it should be. At that point it becomes more of a vet's job than a farrier's, because the animal should be tranquilized. If I were you I'd turn these people in for abuse and neglect of an animal.

After hearing how easily this happens, i'm hoping they just do it every so often and their going to do it very soon.. I couldn't live with myself if they got in trouble.. their such sweet folks..... I'll casually bring it up next time i'm there and how they respond to it will set out how this unfolds..

 

[EliyaSage]

Those hooves look foundered. And it's surprisingly easy for them to get that bad. I have a mini that I am bringing back from being that bad (as bad if not worse that the image you provided). It's hard to describe what needs to be done, but the toes need to be brought back, and it may need to be done gradually.
What I do with mine is clean his feet, there is the sole then a crevice, then the wall, I trim mine all the way back to the sole so his foot is flat across the bottom (I happen to know he has a lot of sole built up so I'm not quicking him). Then i put him up on a hoof stand (made one by nailing a piece of landscape timber to a 1x6) and use a rasp to bring the toe back. I use the rasp because it is gradual and you can see what you are doing more than the nippers. His hooves are white, when you get close, you start seeing some pinkish color coming through, when you see that, stop, then they won't get tender and sore, the quick will back up on its own.
It will take several trims to get feet like that back healthy. I am doing mild trims on my mini every weekend right now until I get them in good shape.
My mini looks pretty good after about 4-5 trims once a week.

How long would you guess it took for her hooves to end up like that? If it is as easy for that to happen as you say it is, maybe it isn't as serious as i imagine. But if she isn't taken care of by the next time i drop by, i'll casually bring up her hooves and how they respond to it will decipher the next step and how it unfolds...

 

[abigalerose]

Played around with June a little bit, I tried riding her bareback but I was a little nervous. I haven't ridden in months and Jasmine kept following us around trying to poke me with her nose. So I guess I need to do some saddle work and round pen work and build my confidence back up. (And teach Jasmine some manners).
And I smell like a sweaty horse now lol but I kinda like it

 

[Kusanar]

How long would you guess it took for her hooves to end up like that? If it is as easy for that to happen as you say it is, maybe it isn't as serious as i imagine. But if she isn't taken care of by the next time i drop by, i'll casually bring up her hooves and how they respond to it will decipher the next step and how it unfolds...

Mine gets bad in the winter, the horses don't move much and the ground is muddy, I get mine trimmed every 7-8 weeks, but I trim the mini not my farrier, so sometimes he misses a trim due to him not standing for me or having someone hold him, so skipping a trim in winter can get them pretty bad... Probably close to that point. 14 weeks? Its not super fast, but its not years or anything.

 

[PeepersMama]

Played around with June a little bit, I tried riding her bareback but I was a little nervous. I haven't ridden in months and Jasmine kept following us around trying to poke me with her nose. So I guess I need to do some saddle work and round pen work and build my confidence back up. (And teach Jasmine some manners).
And I smell like a sweaty horse now lol but I kinda like it

aaaaand it just backspaced almost my whole post. -_-

Don't ya just love the smell of horse?
My trainer came down and helped me out with Mira yesterday. She did AWESOME for her first time with a saddle, but she was being a full on BUTT this afternoon. I had her bridled for the last part of yesterday's lesson, but today she was... ready for it. -_- she was trying to rear to get her fat head away from me.
I WAS SO TICKED AT HER.
So i ended dat lesson before i smacked her and hurt her sensetive unicorn feelings.
And worse, Smoke was limping a little, so i didn't want to ride him and make it worse.
But Ginger was perfect. She knows her nme really well now - from all the times i have to yell at her to GET OUT OF MY BARN YOU STUPID!!!