Chestnuts and ergots

[HorseyTee]

My welshie has massive chestnuts and even bigger ergots...they are huge!

How do you go about removing them? I'm worried I'll hurt him if I pull at them.
I'm more concerned about the ergots as they are curled so don't want them catching on anything.

 

[cobgoblin]

My farrier always trims them when he comes... If yours doesn't, ask him to.

 

[HorseyTee]

Oh ok.
In all the years the farrier has never touched them.
The chestnuts get massive then tend to drop off themselves but the ergots have grown and grown...like little foot horns lol.

We have farrier on 3rd June so will get them sorted then.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

My farrier thought I should do them myself, so I do. My horse’s ergots look like exploded mushroom stalks if left too long, horrible! They’re very easy to remove using normal secateurs. You might need ones that open quite wide.

On mine, I cut quite close to the leg, but if you’re concerned, treat it like you were cutting dog nails, do slices. I was told they might bleed if you cut too close, but tbh, you’d have to be practically up against the leg to manage that, ime. Obviously, the horse feels nothing.

 

[milliepops]

Haha, exploded mushroom stalks here too 🤣
My OH is a farrier, he thinks I should trim them too but they make me feel sick 🤮
So he does them under duress (and much mickey taking 🙄)

 

[Meredith]

I think my mare should be unlevel in walk. Last week a huge chestnut came off her near hind. The off hind one is huge and shows no sign of loosening.

 

[GoldenWillow]

My cob has ergots like curly fingers, the chestnuts I'm fine with pulling off but his ergots give me the creeps. My farrier cuts them off for me, with only a little bit of mickey taking 😀

 

[HorseyTee]

Haha!
Mushroom stalks and curly fingers....yep they are literally like that!
I will live in hope that the farrier will cut them off for me next week haha.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Whhhaaaaaattttt? Mushroom stalks and curly fingers?

I feel like I'm missing out as it must be so satisfying cutting those off, but my horses all shed theirs naturally so they stay small.

 

[milliepops]

Whhhaaaaaattttt? Mushroom stalks and curly fingers?

I feel like I'm missing out as it must be so satisfying cutting those off, but my horses all shed theirs naturally so they stay small.

Ewwww no they are gross. My WB who only grows bumfluff feathers sheds hers. But the tufty footed welsh girl grows some utter horrors.

 

[GoldenWillow]

Whhhaaaaaattttt? Mushroom stalks and curly fingers?

I feel like I'm missing out as it must be so satisfying cutting those off, but my horses all shed theirs naturally so they stay small.

Definitely not missing anything, they are revolting

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Oh, so there could be a link between amount of feather and size of ergots?

 

[milliepops]

I certainly find that the ones that I trim/clip their legs, their ergots drop off neatly. And the ones who grow fluffy heels need a bit of maintenance. I can only assume that the feathers protect the ergots from dew etc so they aren't softened - Kiras turn really hard wheres the others tend to be softer textured so they flake off naturally.

 

[cobgoblin]

Our farrier's dogs queue up for the curly mushroom stalks... Yummy!

 

[The-Bookworm]

I had a rummage the other day and took hers off.
Huge things.

 

[The-Bookworm]

Our farrier's dogs queue up for the curly mushroom stalks... Yummy!

Do you think it's a delicacy we are missing out on.

 

[cobgoblin]

Do you think it's a delicacy we are missing out on.

I'm sure some London restaurant would serve them on a slate.

 

[Snowfilly]

My Clyde used to grow the most revolting ergots. The farrier would nip them off but they grew much faster than hooves and I used to cut them in between as well. Gross.

Every heavy I've known has bad ones, I think it jus be related to feather length.

 

[On the Hoof]

My last mare had very little feather but the moist revolting exploded mushroom ergots which made me feel sick to look at never mind touch, luckily farrier was most obliging. Her chestnuts also grew very large, moisten them with a little oil round the base and they will pull off nice and easily.

 

[Merrymoles]

Exploded mushrooms here too - but also huge amounts of feather. Farrier takes them off whenever I ask. Chestnuts drop off themselves.

 

[Lyle]

I've found coating the ergots and chestnuts in vaseline for a few days makes them soft enough to gently pull away. My WB gets fairly large ones, which need to be removed so I can trim his fetlock hairs into shape. I've found this works, otherwise have heard you can use nippers to gently nip them off.

 

[HorseyTee]

Hmm my tb doesn't have any at all. And his chestnuts never get big either really.
But the native and the welshie who are both rather hairy get massive ones.
The welshie is the one with the gigantic ergots. I'll have to get a photo lol.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Oh, so there could be a link between amount of feather and size of ergots?

Quite possibly, mine’s a hairy h/w cob. My tb never needed hers doing, really, nor my warmblood.

I’m glad my exploded mushroom stalk analogy is permeating!

The yard dogs are very keen on the bits I chuck over the door. Ick!

 

[ponies4ever]

only my cobs grow too long and split into a 3 pronged fork shape - yuk!! defo needed farrier to remove

 

[BeckyFlowers]

My Welsh cob currently has ergots the shape of devil horns on his front left.

 

[Twohorses]

I use a hoof knife to slice the chestnuts off, then rub mineral oil into them so they don't itch.

I use short handled shoe nail cutters to cut the ergots but the hoof knife would probably work just as well.

FWIW, left and right handled hoof knives can be bought

 

[Sleipnir]

My geldings' chestnuts are quite large (never the ergots), but they seem to shed naturally after a while and never look like exploded mushroom stalks. I sometimes just peel them off and he doesn't mind.

 

[deb_l222]

Ooooh love this thread!! Lucy’s chestnuts used to sort of split in the middle when they were ready for shedding. It was like picking a wonderfully big scab

Tommy Clydesdale’s ergots used to be left to the farrier, mainly because I didn’t have the tools or the strength to get through those monsters

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

My Fell pony used to get fantastic ergots all round! One of my shetland geldings grows huge chestnuts on his front legs and the wee filly gets long ergots on her hind legs. I just trim them off to a suitable length. They don't care!

 

[HorseyTee]

Haha love that everyone else has these weird horns to tackle.

I will get the farrier to do it this time and then try and be brave and do it myself next time.