Barefoot people - how many self-trim?

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pennyturner

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Following on from Shod/unshod thread discussing regulation of trimmers:

I have trimmed my own ponies for years. It's not that hard, and I don't have any of the freshly shod footiness I occasionally used to have when either shod or farrier trimmed.

Actually it's a bit of an exaggeration to say I trim them, because with the exception of one pony with dodgy hocks who consistently develops flares, most wear naturally (roads) and don't need trimming at all. A very occasional 'tidy' - once or twice a year! - is usually enough.

Interested to know if I'm alone.
 
I trim mine, but I also occasionally send pics to my most local trimmer for him to advise.
However, its all gone out the window at the moment, as she has a fractured pedal bone, and needs to have shoes on until this has healed. :rolleyes:
Oh well!
 
I'm learning to trim mine under the eye of an excellent local retired farrier, just to keep me from getting too enthusiastic! Mine are babies so don't self trim much as yet, but am hoping that when they start working they will do more for themselves. I like the idea of being able to do a little bit as and when they need it, rather than going long-short-long-short all the time.
 
Well, considering my farrier has just undone nearly a years' successful self-trimming work by MURDERING my horses feet (never again) and leaving two of them hobbling for a week, we shall be self trimming from now on without the "professionals" input.
 
I occasionally give the tarmac a helping hand :) My main aim is always to get enough wear on them that they don't need this, so even if I don't have time to ride, he gets at least 40 mins on tarmac daily. He needs a slightly more frequent trim spring and autumn, as growth rate is higher but weather makes it harder to get enough roadwork. Because of the roadwork, "trimming" is really just a bevel and a visual check of sole/heel/bars/frog and make sure balance is still OK, with no unusual wear patterns etc.
 
I just keep my boy,s tidy In between trimmer visits, I did have to manage for six months on my own last year while my trimmer was unwell and his feet were none the worse for it!:)
 
We also tidy and have found some are best having a little rasp every couple of weeks. I know they should be self trimming but this works well for us. I have my farrier come to do my 3yo. She has been a bit boxy in her right front and he's done a great job of keeping her balanced so I don't mess with her too much. I would not be confident in having those skills. Also my older TB gelding gets done by him too. He does a good job with his heels and takes into consideration the injury he had to his hock 9 years ago. An injury that my vet advised to put him down over as he'd never come sound. My farrier knows I'm committed to trying to make the bare thing work so he's been great at helping me learn and trying to meet the goals I have with each specific horse.

But yeah inbetween we tidy.

Terri
 
My horse mostly self trims, I have a trimmer come out every few months to check balance, am thinking of buying a rasp to do a tidy up every couple of weeks
 
My trimmer has let me loose on my more straightforward horses hooves after he gave me a little lesson on how to do a maintenance trim. He will still be coming to do the more awkward ones so will check the work I've done then.
 
Looks like I am in the minority as I dont go there, and dont intend to go there either. I dont know enough about it, dont have experience and dont want to damage my horse. He has just gone properly barefoot all round and we are still experiencing the slightly footy stage. Have been recommended to have a tidy up every 12 weeks or so, or whenever he needs it. As most of the yard is in fact barefoot, I do get a lot of assistance.

I would add as well that none of them follow 'a barefoot diet'. All of them get good grass, hay and a bit of feed as and when. Mine is the exception to the rule with supplements (glucosamine and devils claw), but then again he is nearly 21!

Each to their own, and if you do it, and it works for you then fine.
 
I don't trim, my horses self trim (I might run a rasp around edges now and again, but not what you'd call "a trim").
 
I don't and wouldn't do mine myself although both are barefoot. However, reading this thread has made my think I may get mine done too often?
I tend to tie in with friend when she gets her boy shod every 8 weeks but the farrier only ever has a little file of both of them to the tune of £40 (for both of them obviously)
Do you think I could go 16 weeks? It's sounds a long time to me and the money is certainly not the issue. But do I need to be doing this every 8 weeks?
 
I used to trim my ponies hoofs.

My trimmer did give me many lessons before actually letting me lose on her feet and I only ever gave her touch ups. Her feet were very straight forward and I wouldn't dare trim someone else's.
 
Well I most certainly wouldn't do someone else's horses. I really hope that's not the impression people get if you say you rasp yours in between visits. And it is just rasping and keeping the shape for me anyway. I'm not out there doing specific stuff even though shown. I don't have that confidence. But really I should have been doing rasps before this. Would have saved my poor brrodmare the agony of being mechanically foundered when 10 months pregnany by a former butcher that was a qualified farrier. Could have cared less either.

Terri
 
TheoryX1 said:
Looks like I am in the minority as I dont go there, and dont intend to go there either. I dont know enough about it, dont have experience and dont want to damage my horse. He has just gone properly barefoot all round and we are still experiencing the slightly footy stage. Have been recommended to have a tidy up every 12 weeks or so, or whenever he needs it. As most of the yard is in fact barefoot, I do get a lot of assistance.

I would add as well that none of them follow 'a barefoot diet'. All of them get good grass, hay and a bit of feed as and when. Mine is the exception to the rule with supplements (glucosamine and devils claw), but then again he is nearly 21!

Each to their own, and if you do it, and it works for you then fine.
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I don't do mine.

One has to have front shoes on due to being odd (sidebone that cause severe lameness).

Two are barefoot and chillin' in a field - one retied pony aged ten, one yearling - both are seen by my lovely farrier every twelve weeks or so.
 
trimmer does ours every 5-6 weeks but its not a major trim, just a tidy up.

i trimmed the ponys feet for 3 years and he was absolutely fine,but my back wont stand up to doing much more, so i would rather pay the trimmer to do it, and ease my back :)

i wouldnt say they self trim, as do little road work, but the foot certainly grows balanced so its just a case of tidying, rather than an radical balancing.
 
ive got 4 and i run the rasp over the edge once a week to keep them rolled but farrier trims them every 6 weeks. they do about 20mins road work per day but thats not enough to keep them self trimmed.
 
NativePonyLover said:
God, no. I barely trust myself to look after my own nails properly - let alone my horse's!

He's trimmed by an EP :) x
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lol. If ponies noticed the state of my nails, perhaps they wouldn't let me!

Really good posts. Glad I'm not alone, and interested in the range of regimes which work for people. I can't imagine needing to trim every 6 wks, but different type / nutrition / workload, all make such a difference.

I have a 13yo dartmoor stallion who has only ever had a rasp around twice in his life - and it was hell to do it. His hooves are like concrete. :)

White feet seem to grow more quickly, but much softer.
 
i think a lot depends on the surface(s) they mainly work on?

my horse does 99.99999% of his work on sand/rubber (as he is dangerous to hack). so he gets a lot of sole stimulation but virtually zero wear. he doesnt grow a lot of foot because he doesnt wear a lot of foot so a 6 week tiny trim works best for him and there really isnt much to come off ever but i dont think he could self trim, even with his minimal growth.

its also interesting that TYPE of work affects the foot too....both trimmer and I have noticed that as soon as my horses start the ultra collected work, the piaffe and passage, they start to lay down much more heel and the foot comes more upright.
obviously we try to keep them close-ish to the ideal angle but to a certain degree i allow the horse to show me the foot it needs to grow for the work, and use that as a basis for each trim.

:touchwood: i seem to have very sound horses.
 
I run a rasp round to keep everything at bay and also to take back the bit of hoof that doesn't get worn at the toes other wise the horse trips.

I am in a bit of a predicament as every time I have a farrier/trimmer out to do anything the horse always ends up lame until she grows the foot back, so am now tempted to keep doing the road work and my minimal non-invasive filing and leave my horse to it... she obviously knows what wedges, medial & lateral extensions she needs for her dodgy conformation. :rolleyes:
 
I've just realised how my other post might have come across (i.e badly!) ... I think it's great that people do & can trim their own horses. But I'm the last person in the world that should be trusted near my pony with a rasp - I find horse's feet confusing & struggled with every text book I've read when it gets technical, I don't understand angles, lines & I struggle to visualise how things *should* look so I leave it the professional as he has fab feet & I would like to keep them that way :)

I really admire people that can do it though :D
 
Gypley said:
I don't and wouldn't do mine myself although both are barefoot. However, reading this thread has made my think I may get mine done too often?
I tend to tie in with friend when she gets her boy shod every 8 weeks but the farrier only ever has a little file of both of them to the tune of £40 (for both of them obviously)
Do you think I could go 16 weeks? It's sounds a long time to me and the money is certainly not the issue. But do I need to be doing this every 8 weeks?
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My two that don't self trim as not worked enough are done about every 12 weeks by a farrier, so yes, every 8 weeks might be too frequent if your horse is in work, but then again, my haflinger hasn't been done by the farrier for a bout 18 months now...
 
I would love to be able to do this. I went on a mini course last year but I still have not got the confidence to actually start to touch up and sadly I do not know anybody to help near by-not even my trimmer.
Horses are both bare feet and ridden daily. They wear themselves down but can get small cracks and start to flare.
How did you all start? What basic equipment should I buy? Any advice would be helpful, many thanks in advance.
 
Mine do their own bar the very occasional tiny bit needing rasped by me, there would be no point having a trimmer to them. I have one youngster and the farrier does her. Hopefully when she is in work I won't need the farrier for her either.
 
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Those of you that tidy up your horses feet, what do you use & where do you get it from? My youngster is currently not in work & barefoot & trimmed by farrier as he does no road work to speak of yet. I want to keep him bare foot (hairy coloured cob) but just wondered what others use to keep feet tidy. My other horse is shod & have v recently started using a new farrier (who's amazing) for him, he's not yet seen the youngster but I will be getting him to have a look at his feet on his next visit in any case.
 
Mine self trims :) he's been fully barefoot for about 6 months now and farrier has tidied edges once just when the nail holes reached the floor causing a couple of jagged edges.
Like TheoryXI though he's not on a difference diet from what he had when shod and gets same amount of grass etc as my shod horse. He does have pro hoof supplement.
 
My cob does up to 3 hours road work daily. She is trimmed by an ep every 9 weeks. However, the bars of her hooves do not wear down and my ep always needs to pair these down. For this reason I won't trim myself because I don't have a 'good eye' for this type of work. Just to add, she's never been shod, never lame and has the toughest feet on my ep's books.
 
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