Thursday, June 19, 2008

The trimming process

Here is a trim in progress--this is Sly's hind right leg. It is up on the stand, and the farrier is first picking out the gunk--dirt, etc--with a hoof pick.


The next order of business is to dig out the sides of the frog. The frog is the part that stretches from the heel to the middle of the sole, that comes to a V in the middle. It always looks to me like it is made of resin when it is scaled out like that.

After that part, the nippers come out and nip off the extra length of hoof wall. The hoof wall is the outside of the hoof, which mostly supports the horse. Notice how it is also fresh and clean and white underneath there. After that is done, the farrier makes sure that the hoof is balanced and rasps down the parts that need to be in order to balance it properly. And unbalanced hoof is a bad deal and can do damage to ligaments and tendons, etc, and do it in a hurry.

This is Sly looking skinny because it is the end of the breeding season. He is also looking filthy.
Here he looks embarrassed as his toe is rasped. He is probably embarrassed because his mane looks absurd, the dirt is ground in to his skin, and he needs to eat.


I just like this pic as it is his trademark--curly ears!

5 comments:

Holly said...

I like that last one too and he is NOT skinny. Slim, not skinny

*Sarah* said...

Neat neat. What happens in the wild when there isn't someone to clean/treat their feet?

Paige said...

Wild horses travel far and wide over rough terrain, so it helps to wear the feet down naturally--and usually evenly, depending on their conformation.

If their feet don't hold up or there are other problems, then they end up lame---and usually prey for something else

theCloth said...

I like the part about him being worn out by all the mares. Some guys have all the luck.

Anonymous said...

Ah! Lesson on trimming of the feet.

And he is NOT SKINNY! How about "svelte" and handsome.

Thank you for the lesson. No test I hope.

Enjoy Carol

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