Most horses seem to have a nice outer shell on their hooves. Why would a farrier fine rasp it all away? Isn't it better to leave it? Doesn't the outer layer give the hoof some protection?
At some point it can become leverage. Picture a toe wall an inch thick. I take half of that before putting a bevel.
Really? A stretched forward, super thick toe wall would not be leverage? Why strive for equal wall thickness then or worry about long toes?
When you're done with a trim, do you fine rasp the outer shell away? Isn't that like protection? I'm not talking about rounded edges, or bringing the toe back, I'm talking about the whole hoof. Buffing? maybe. But wouldn't fine rasping leave the outer wall more porous than buffing?
Thanks, George. Maybe it's the wear that makes it look finished, Not the wear/rasping that takes off the finish. I think I'm just wondering why her fronts look dry because the r/f has these vertical dryness cracks in the toe area. Maybe I should stop looking at her hooves!
Those sound like what some call sand cracks...its real fine lines in the wall..look dry.. buy something to put moister back in.. if buffy did that all the ones I do would have it..and I go all the way to the top..hell I buff the feathers off a draft one time other than the owner being pissed nothing else..
After sanding/buffing/finish rasping, I spray the hooves with a sealant to reseal after finishing the hoof.
You do damage to the hoof by buffing or filing the horn above the lower half . Those who go above it do it for cosmetic reasons & to hide growth rings that would show the hoof has not been trimmed & shod properly . If consistently done over time it will cause the hoof wall to become brittle. What damage you create in the top half You will have to deal with at a later date. When what you have damaged grows down. The least amount of rasping or buffing is what you want to be doing. Its not a piece of wood or metal your working with.
We gonna have to agree to disagree on that one jac..I just have not seen any adverse effects from bugging... But with that said keep in mind 99 percent of what I shoe is in a boarding farm that is rode in lessons at a very min of 3 times a week and most rode 5 days a week and some two times a day..and they are slaping junk on the feet daily
Trav this is a page from a 1921 Australian light horse farrier manual. I have other British farrier manuals & even books US printed 60 years ago that pretty much say the same thing. Just worded slightly different. In the case of the Australian light horse in ww1. I'm pretty sure after that campaign.Those farriers knew what they where talking about . Because lives depended on sound horses. The fact that other farriers from other country's made the same observations. Can not be over looked as ringing true .
Thanks jac ...I do see it right there in black in white print no question about it... But here is my full take on it..it also talks about dumping the toe..not cleaning up the frog... In my world if I don't cut that frog down and clean up thrush the horses are stalled all day standing in piss and shit..then a women comes along half picks the foot ...many times I have had new horse that where tender at the frog due to poor cleaning...blood spots ..and so on..and the terrain the horses ride on just will not exfolate the over growth...... Also more often than not I have to scrape the hoof wall to get all the junk off so not to gum up the Rasp..hell the foot can't even breath so to speak .... Can you just guess at the ground covers on a calvery horse ...the rough ground..the sharp rocks...thick sand...much like I do an endurance horse ...less is more ..do not touch a knife to a endurance horse.. but I think them cream puff hunters it does good for them...I very well may change my mind one day but as of right now with the bell boots and all the junk put on the feet of the cream puffs I just haven't seen bad effect yet..and I do some endurance horses and the feet all seem to act the same...maybe that's the diff ...the horses of today would not last an hour on a calvery run.... But good read I liked it ..and will deff start paying a little more attention to see if I am missing a adverse effect... What would the signs be on a over dressed foot that things going bad..I do horses that are still packing kids around in the twentys and up...how many more miles could I get put of them I wonder..
Trav my take on what is being said. Is keep it to what is only required to maintain the correct hoof shape & fitting of shoe correctly. Steering clear of doing things for only cosmetic reasoning. examples paring frogs just for the sake of making it look neat & pretty. The frog is self shedding. You should only be tidying it up. meaning lose flaps of old frog that is due to shed & not carving in to frog that is healthy & not ready for removal. Exposing the new underneath frog at a time it hasn't finished growing & developing to take the old frogs place . Placing the new frog under burden. All unnecessary parring results in interfering with the frogs growth cycle . The new frog being generated under it not having time to develop before its exposed to the harsh elements . Prolonged continuance practice results in shrunken frogs because the frogs growth regeneration could not keep up. The frog is an expansion Joint. If you limit its ability to do its job of expanding as required . Then the heels will most certainly have no choice but to contract. Buffing & rasping wall of new growth growing down from the coronet can only be reasoned in my mind as a cosmetic fetish & if I'm wrong in stating so. Please give me the beneficial reasoning for buffing & rasping at the top half of the horn of the hoof .
Oh yes for sure its al for cosmetics reasons...I guess my question would be this..what are the signs of the foot going bad due to buffing it one time every five weeks..
