Keeping a hoof when horse is gone

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Equi

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A post on another thread reminded me of a keepsake at a big estate house here. It is the hoof of one of the daughters beloved ponies, which she kept when he was put to sleep. I assume that back in the day (1800s maybe?) the horses would have been fed to the dogs or people, so this would have been easy enough to get but would you?

I don't know why but i really liked the idea. Hooves are really individual. Sort of like keeping antlers even though i know they don't die to get antlers, unless you scalp them :confused4:
 
I was once with a farrier and he had a hoof which hinged so you could see the internal structures. It wasn't as freaky as I thought it would be as it was preserved somehow.

Now the fresh dead legs he wanted to keep in the freezer were another story.
 
The man who owned the estate the GS hacienda was once part of had a mounted hoof from a mare his ancestor took the Crimean war brought home and hunted and point to pointed it was on a silver mount with all the battles hunts she hunted with and point to points she ran in .
I would hate to do that to my own horse but it was a poignant thing, this hoof of a long dead mare who when to war and made it home to hunt and die at home , a blessed horse .
 
Back in the dark ages when I was doing BHS stages the place I trained at had the skull of a horse that they had owned for many years.
And I remember taking my first horse to hospital where they had a leg of a horse that had been all stripped down and preserved so you could see all the bones, tendons etc. My friend was a bit freaked out about that but I found it fascinating- the best way to learn about equine anatomy is to actually see it.

I have some of my first horses tail washed and plaited and kept with her ashes but I'm not sure if I could have kept a whole hoof. It feels a bit different for me having known the horse when it was alive.
 
I wouldn't want my horse's hoof cut off after his death just so I could have it as a keepsake.
A bit of mane or tail, yes, but removing a hoof seems disrespectful.
 
equi said:
A post on another thread reminded me of a keepsake at a big estate house here. It is the hoof of one of the daughters beloved ponies, which she kept when he was put to sleep. I assume that back in the day (1800s maybe?) the horses would have been fed to the dogs or people, so this would have been easy enough to get but would you?

I don't know why but i really liked the idea. Hooves are really individual. Sort of like keeping antlers even though i know they don't die to get antlers, unless you scalp them :confused4:
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Ewww no I could not, I find that horrid I am afraid not for me. There are keepsakes that I would accept but not my horses hoof.
 
That's a hard one. There are some in Newmarket I think and they were very interesting, but would I want one? I have a great imagination and I think I'd be concentrating too hard on the face they would have to cut it off...

However, oddly enough, I was thinking that I would quite like Ned's skull when he passes. Properly cleaned of course, so maybe I could keep a headcollar on it, or something. I was also pondering if I could keep a pets skin, as I have just got two beautiful fox pelts (from 1920s! Still in great condition)
Part of me thinks it would be a great comfort and part of me thinks it's would be too painful.
 
TelH said:
I have some of my first horses tail washed and plaited and kept with her ashes but I'm not sure if I could have kept a whole hoof. It feels a bit different for me having known the horse when it was alive.
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My first pony is buried here. If i had more massive house i would want his skeleton mounted...i am really weird that way haha
 
I know of people who have kept hoof chips or chunks but those have been from trimming when the horse was alive. I've never heard of someone not a farrier keeping actual hooves or parts of the feet. I wouldn't personally want to do that.

I think taking hair for a bracelet is lovely though.
 
I think it was the Victorians who loved to keep a favourite horse's hoof and had them made into inkwells with glass insert and silver mounts, often with their name etc engraved on them. They are very collectable these days a fetch a large sum.

I'm not sure if I'd be up for having my own horse's hoof sat on the mantlepiece but each to their own.
 
ha SF.

I am wondering what one could best use a set of 4 for. Especially given how interested I am in his feet it would almost seem rather apt!
 
I think it was a very popular thing in the past. Although I wouldn't want my own horses' hooves treated like this, it was done with love for that horse as a memento, I think we have to remember that we have masses of photos etc to remember our horses by, in say Victorian times, this wasn't such a big thing. Lots of examples here: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=h...X&ved=0ahUKEwi09KXw3KfKAhVDrxoKHXeoAT8QsAQIHg
 
I have a chunk of tail and his shoes.

The farrier happened to be there when my boy was pts, so he took them off afterwards and polished them up for me, which was nice of him, as I hadn't even thought of getting his shoes. The YO got some tail for me, she did that with every horse that is pts on the yard, it was sort of a tradition.
 
chillipup said:
I think it was the Victorians who loved to keep a favourite horse's hoof and had them made into inkwells with glass insert and silver mounts, often with their name etc engraved on them. They are very collectable these days a fetch a large sum.
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I used to volunteer at a museum, cleaning objects for display or preservation. One of the objects I cleaned was a hoof which had been hollowed out and fitted with a silver lid to be used as a trinket box. It had a silver shoe fitted to the bottom, and the name of the horse (which I have unfortunately forgotten) spelled out in silver letters around the hoof. Not sure I'd want one, but it would have been a pretty expensive way to remember a presumably much-loved horse.
 
nikicb said:
I think it was a very popular thing in the past. Although I wouldn't want my own horses' hooves treated like this, it was done with love for that horse as a memento, I think we have to remember that we have masses of photos etc to remember our horses by, in say Victorian times, this wasn't such a big thing. Lots of examples here: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=h...X&ved=0ahUKEwi09KXw3KfKAhVDrxoKHXeoAT8QsAQIHg
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Aww some of them are lovely. I might do this when the time comes for my wee old mare!
 
For all four, you could make up four shoes in a sort of cloverleaf arrangement, attach lined (glass maybe?) hooves and use for condiments perhaps. :D

My old horse grows a fantastic winter coat, it is a lovely colour and very thick and soft. I must admit to vaguely considering having him turned into a rug, should he pass during the winter... :)
 
I'm not a huge fan of taxidermy in general and I think it is the "trophy" aspect that appals me. I much prefer admiring them whilst alive! However when I was little and would visit my grandparents I'd spend hours staring, fascinated, at a small collection of taxidermied animals. None had been hunted for; they were tiny animals the cat had killed and dragged inside (I remember a weasel specifically), and birds that had flown into windows. It was very educational, especially as they weren't something you'd usually get a good look at.

I also massively enjoyed visiting the Natural History Museum in London.. however the one animal I found myself walking away from rather quickly last year was the horse. It just looked very macabre inanimate like that, probably because I am so used to seeing horses in particular alive and in the flesh. Seeing the rest didn't bother me.

A small digression.. but it is interesting to think about where the line goes between the macabre and honouring the animal it came from.
 
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ester said:
ha SF.

I am wondering what one could best use a set of 4 for. Especially given how interested I am in his feet it would almost seem rather apt!
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Got a chair with legs that makes marks on a carpet? Easily solved with four feet...
 
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