My horses has overgrown hoofs, one of them has now cracked, I have tried for the last month to get a farrier?

Question

With no luck. So how do I do it myself? is there a good book or site out there that showes me how to trim hoofs? I really have no choice. Also what can I do about the crack?

Answer 1

Only a farrier should do this, you could damage the horses hooves. They sell oil that you can out on the hoof to help treat it, but you should call up farms/stables or a local Vet Clinic that deals with horses, they may be able to find you a farrier.

Answer 2

If the farrier won't come to you and you're that desperate, trailer your horse somewhere closer to the farrier. Don't trim him yourself.

Answer 3

i strongly advise you to not attempt to trim her hooves. if you can't get a farrier out, then get the vet to do it. there's nothing you can do for the crack except let it grow out.

Answer 4

HI I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM WITH MY FIRST CLYDESDALE, AGE 7.

LUCKILY ONE OF MY DADS FRIENDS WAS A TRAINER EX FARRIER.

BUT IF THE WORST HAD COME TO THE WORST THEN I HAD A COUPLE OF THESE BOOTS AROUND

http://www.speedgate.co.uk/products/view...

BUY THEM FROM SPEEDATE OR SOMEWHERE AND IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD THEM THEN I WOULD HAVE TRIMMED HER HOOVES WITH WOOD FILEING TOOL.

Answer 5

Get some hoof dressing and/or oral supplements designed to help with hooves.  You can also use venice turpentine and pine tar on the hoof and coronet bad (read each carefully to see how to apply).  Once you have done that, run several strips of duct tape across the crack and from one side of the hoof to the other.  You may have to repeat this for a while, but it really does help.

Although you can trim the hoof ever so slightly, it is best to get a professional to do it.

Look in your phone book or online for farriers in your area.  You could also call you vet's office and see who they deal with....they may have several names.

If there are any Amish communities in your area, stop by and ask their farrier if he does work for outsiders.  Those in my area do and they are very good and very affordable.  The only catch around here is that you have to take your horse to him, but it's well worth it.

I hope this helps.

Answer 6

Buy a trimmer and a rasp.  I like Nordic Forge professional trimmers.  They are better than the cheap economy pairs and will last longer but are not as expensive as the 'Diamond' brand.  Nordic forge is also supposed to be American made.

Then take the foot and trim off around the ridge.  You can see where the hoof extends beyond the sole (unmistakable).  Clip this off.  Then rasp off the protrusions left by the trimmers.

This will get you by until you get a farrier.  Then you can get someone to SHOW you how.

Answer 7

There are some GREAT websites on barefoot trimming. Just google barefoot trimming. They give wonderful instructions on do it yourself trimming. I took a  clinic on it not long ago but could have done the trimming just by what I learned from the sites. I will say that it is not easy to do and farriers deserve every penny they get.

Answer 8

Phone your vet and get him to recommend someone or phone the SPCA for a list of names and numbers - my friend had to do this last year because nobody would come out.

Answer 9

I would call a vet b/c they could trim hooves in an emergency like that

Answer 10

Unless your trained you really shouldnt trim hooves yourself with nippers the saying that , i  rasp around the edge of the hoof myself quite often to keep them tidy but i would never cut away from underneath i would be afraid of getting the angle wrong or taking away too much ,the hoof wall is not that thick you might get carried away.

I wouldnt worry too much about the crack unless its a gaping split it probably isnt too deep.

Contact the farriers guild to find one near you. Good Luck

Answer 11

Why not trailer your horse to a farrier? Perhaps call up one of the larger barns in the area and ask if you can trailer in when their farrier will be there!

Answer 12

if they r that bad u need a farrier. the crack needs to be looked at by a farrier. they r out there. u just havent look hard enough

Answer 13

Yeah you shouldnt treat it yourself but you can go to yellow pages or google farriers in your area, but hurry that sounds serious. Good luck

Answer 14

Hoof trimming is really not something you can do on your own. It takes special training to learn.

Do you have any neighbors around that have horses? Your best bet is to find out what farrier they use, and try to get on his schedule for the same day. That way he can group you with others in the area.

I know from experience that it is hard to get a farrier to come out for one horse. If you combine with your neighbors, you increase your buying power.

Answer 15

I dont think you should try to fix it as if something goes wring and the crack gets worst when you are trimming them that it might make the horse sore and go lame.  I say try the phone book for numbers of good farriers.  Ask around or go to the local tack.feed place and ask if they know of any good farriers i your area.  But for the mean time  they make hoof oils that you can add on it and if the horse lost a shoe or the crack is really bad you can ducktapr the hoof and the bottom to help it from splitting. If you do have to do it your self try to google and look for good websites that show you how to do it step by step.

Answer 16

Check the boards there at Big-R, they usually have some cards posted. You could haul your horse to town to meet the farrier. There's a few arenas around Pueblo you could meet at. There's a tack and feed store out in Pueblo West and also an arena,too.

Hope this helps.

Answer 17

Overgrown walls are going to crack - it is a normal progression - it is how horses trim their own feet in the wild.  You did not say if the crack was just in the overgrown part or just a piece chipped off.   Usually, cracks are not a big deal and can be eliminated with trimming.  It is not recommended that you put oils or dressings on your feet and supplements are not needed just because your horse's hooves are overgrown.  It can be very difficult to get farrier's out in rural areas.  You can learn to do this but I would not recommend learning just from a book.  You could do some rudimentary removal of the extremely overgrown wall but I would be sure to leave everything too long.  It is better to go too long than too short.  You don't want to take a chance on hurting your horse.  His feet are his life.  I'm sorry you are having this problem.  Maybe you could trailer your horse and take him to the where the farrier will be working one day.  If you can get him trimmed, you could attempt to maintain his feet with just a bit of rasping every few weeks.  It would be safer to rasp than to cut, and this would keep him from getting terribly overgrown and breaking his feet.  Good luck to you.

Answer 18

Do NOT try to trim the hooves yourself. You can cause some pretty serious damage.

Do you have a trailer that you can travel to the farrier instead of the farrier coming to you?

Answer 19

your local vet would probably do this for you but it may be expensive. personaly i have trimmed away my old mares hoofs, which where quite long and starting to split. I only trimmed them slightly. The best way to do it is to pick the feet up as normal and put it between your knees and then just cut away slightly. If you look at the white section of the hoof, this shouldnt neet cutting at all, but the hoof wall itselt is quite thick and this could be quite strenuous. You should then rasp off around the front of the loof, just to round them off a bit. You should still carry on trying to get a farrier as they should come out every 6-8weeks to trim the hoofs back for you. As for the crack, this should grow out properly, once the hoof has been cut and angled correctly. As for all these herbs and formulas etc. there is no scientific evidence proving that they really work. The best one if you did want to try 1 would be farrier formula (or something lyk tht) which you see advertised in all equine mags. As for keeping the hooves conditioned, the best way would be to rub some vegetable oil in to them every so often.