Sunday, November 12, 2017

A hoof stand makes all the difference...

 I love the lighting in this photo.  His face is so pretty.

Please forgive me for having so few photos.  I'm going to try to post more even if I don't have a bunch of pictures to share.  Anyway, I finally got a hoof stand back when Chrome and Rocky were first diagnosed with white line disease.  I don't know how I lived without it.


I love this thing!  It makes a world of difference.  Before this I was using a car jack thing that was all metal and weighed a LOT.  This thing is so light and maneuverable and has a wide base that I can put my foot on to hold it still.  It has the cup for resting the top of the hoof in or the round part for rasping from the top of the hoof.  I don't really use the cup very much because I don't use nippers very often.  I just rasp between their professional trims to prevent as many cracks as possible.  Preventing cracks helps prevent the white line by not giving it a place to grow.

Unfortunately I injured my shoulder a few weeks ago and I missed a few weeks of trimming.  I can only do two hooves per weekend because of my weak back, so I did Chrome's hind hooves this weekend. Next weekend I'll do his fronts.  If hubby doesn't do Rocky's then I'll do his the next week, although they are due for a trim before then so we will see.  It's really simple with the hoof stand to just put a quick bevel on the hooves when I don't get so far behind.  This weekend was a bit more difficult because I went so long between trims due to the injury.  I'll get caught up eventually if I stop hurting myself.

I'm really proud of Chrome though... I just wish I had pictures.  This weekend I was trimming his hooves by myself and I'm lazy so I just carried my chair, rasp and hoof stand out to the pasture.  Chrome was napping with one hind hoof resting on it's toe.  He watched me set my stuff up without moving.  Then I grabbed his hoof and started rasping without even putting a halter on him.  So I trimmed his hind hooves out in the pasture with no halter or rope.  The only problem is if Rocky decides to investigate because he will chase Chrome off which can be dangerous if I get on the wrong side.  Luckily Rocky had his head buried in the hay bale and was ignoring us.


I'll leave you with a picture of Zep waiting on the horses to go out to the back pasture.

4 comments:

  1. I thought I did, but I guess I just meant to... maybe I'm losing it in my old age...
    What kind of stand is that and where did you get it and, if you don't mind, how much moolah? I need one, tried to make one (fail), must fork out $ or ponehs be unheppeh. My farrier has been sick for 8 months... you can imagine how the feet look in my barn - trimmed, but raggedy frogs and unpared soles. Farrier! Are you EVER coming back to work??
    ehem, hoofstand infor please???
    signed,
    StrongHeart, WeakHands

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    1. This is the one I ordered. https://www.horse.com/item/hoof-it-hoof-stand-standard-horse/BIA99/

      I don't remember how much shipping was or how long it took to get here, but I don't think it took long. It is an absolute lifesaver! Or back saver hehe.

      I can't even imagine if my farrier was sick that long!! That's awful! I hope he/she feels better soon.

      I don't trim the frogs or soles. I'm afraid I'll do more damage than good. It's too easy to take off too much and cause them to get sore. Then when they get sore they start landing toe first to take the pressure off their heels which causes the structure of the hoof to get weaker over time. It's a never ending cycle that is hard to break. I just trim the hoof wall all the way around to prevent cracks and chips. I try not to touch the bars, but if they are folding over I'll trim them back flat with the sole. I never cut them deeper than the sole. The bars are supposed to help support the hoof, so they do no good if trimmed too short. Anyway I'll quit rambling. Sorry for oversharing. I'm such a hoof geek hehe.

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  2. Aww Zep! Haven't seen him make an appearance in a while, glad he is still doing well.

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  3. You could never overshare - thanks for the info!

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