Does anyone trim their mini's feet on here ?

[minimom1]

I want to learn to trim my (2) mini horses and my one mini donkey's feet myself.

There are not a lot of ferriers in my area and I have tried 3 now and am VERY

disapointed with not only the job they did but the way they all treated my animals.

All 3 have decent feet, but the angles on all of them are wrong and they are

rocking back on their heels and the toes are not even touching the ground.

I have pointed this out several times but every trim they still look like this.

One mare is very timid as she had little human contact until 6 months ago and

the other one and the donkey are just yearlings. THESE ARE STRICTLY PETS NOT

SHOW STOCK.

I had one ferrier literally throw my 10 month old 25" mini filly over backwards because

she reared (the only reason she reared is he was holding her foot up WAY to high

because he did not want to get down on his knees, he essentially lifted her up).

I had a different one absolutley brutalize and manhandle and throw my 11 month old

mini donkey around because it was his second trim and he objected to having his

back foot being held up for so long. I would like to teach them having their feet

trimmed is not a bad thing, they are fine with me, but then a stranger comes in being gruff and in a rush and does not have the time or patience for them, insults them and makes comments about why would people even keep them etc etc because they dont like trimming mini's and then they charge me $35 each horse that they took less than 10 minutes on.

My best friend was a ferrier and he taught me a lot about hooves BUT he now lives

in NZ so he can not help me lol. I have a lot of knowledge but have never actually

put rasp to foot ... and I am terrified I will screw them up or take too much off and

make them sore. Any advice on how I can (or how you did) go about learning how to

trim them myself would be appreciated or if you know of any DVD's that would help me

learn to trim.

 

[barnbum]

My husband trims 5 out of 7 of ours. I have an awesome farrier who I 100% trust and respect, but at $25 a horse every 6-8 weeks, it's a big expense. My farrier always trims the babies, so he's only doing two foals now, and will trim them for a year at least.

My husband only rasps. Our farrier showed him what to do, and checked his work when he came. He always gave Mark's work a thumbs up. Mark does rasp under and in front because rasping only tends to leave a long toe. If he has any concerns, he says to have the farrier check whoever and it's done. But--Mark says he's really getting the hang of it.

He wants to try nippers, but I say no because I just can't stand to think of the "what ifs."

One DVD Mark watched and I LOVE is Natural Balance Hoof Trimming done by Gene Ovnicek. I highly recommend it if you're going to try it on your own.

 

[AshleyNicole]

[SIZE=12pt]We learned by a video similar to the link I'm going to give you at the end of my post. To get an accurate angle we used a hoof leveler. We had the same problem as you do; no one wants to come out to trim feet only. I was scared at first that I would mess it up(I never did) but as you practice you get better and better. Also watching the Ferrier (when they did come out) helped.[/SIZE]

Hope this helps

http://www.ttminihorse.com/tackstore/index...p;productId=198

http://www.minitack.com/slthl.htm

 

[Katiean]

I learned as a teen and young adult from my cousin. The one thing I am learning now is that it is a lot of work. I have 4 horses and I am now setting appointments with a really great farrier. He is kind and doesn't get ruffled if my horse is a butt. As I get older I can do my own horses feet. But, it is just easier on me to call Scott. He does a great job.

:wub

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I wont trim my horses feet regularly (farrier does) but if there getting to long and I have a show coming up then ill use the rasp on them a little. I've just watched my farrier do it and i did the same thing. IMO is the same thing as doing your own nails.

If you dont trust your farrier maybe find a new farrier if possible? But if not, reading books about it and videos might help then you can try it out, i personally think its fun.

 

[HGFarm]

My ranch hand X husband was an excellent farrier, and I learned from him. Learned to shoe a full sized one also, but hate doing it... it's really back breaking and certainly gives you a whole new outlook on what your farrier goes through every day to make a living!

There are a lot of good books/articles out there that discuss correct balance, angles, etc.... and if you have a good farrier, ask lots of questions when he/she is trimming their feet to learn why they are doing certain things.

The problem is, especially with growing youngsters, if you dont keep them level and in balance, or know how to correct a little problem that might arise, you are going to create even more problems.

Perhaps your farrier will let you trim one each time he comes out and kind of give you some guidelines on what to do til you are more comfortable with it, but I recommend you read everything you can in the meantime. The better educated you are, you will also always know if your farrier is doing a good job!

 

[Matt73]

I did mine for a while but then stopped. I don't have the patience for it, admittedly. One of my guys needed correcting and if I hadn't admitted that and sought professional help, he'd be crippled right now lol. I can do maintenence work, but don't even do that now. It is definitely an art and skill that not just anyone can do.

 

[Dona]

I have always trimmed my own minis.......trimmed my own full sized horses before that. You have to have a good eye for angles to do it properly. I learned by watching my farrier, way back when. I used to be able to do my whole barn in one day. Now, I'm lucky to do one or two in a day. My 60 year old back just can't take what it used to. I have finally resorted to using a farrier, since I have found an excellent one who is an expert in "barefoot" trimming & she only charges $10.00 a head for minis!!!!!! But I still trim the babies & others if they need it in between farrier visits.

 

[Margaret]

I learned when I started in Miniature horses, about 10 years ago,

by a trusted friend and farrier, who eventually moved away from my area.

It has been a valuable investment of my time,

and the horses get done when, and how they should be done.

Its a good investment for someone to learn, but may not be everyones cup of tea..

Ive tried teaching other people when I have trimmed their miniatures,

and they eventually lose intrest, and end up calling me back to do them again and again..

guess I want them to learn more than they do.

 

[^T-bird89^]

My old farrier taught my step dad because he was tired of getting down so low to do the minis and he got kicked between the legs by a pregnant mare because he cranked her bag leg up to high. I learned as a teenager from watching as I already knew the proper stance and the correct angles and I ended up having to take over because my step dad's back couldn't handle it. I use nippers and rasp, etc, and have been trimming all my mom's mini donks and my own two minis for five years now and even trimmed a few riding horses.

What I used to do in the beginning when i first started is draw a line on the outside of the hoof where I needed to trim using a permanent marker. When you are trimming either kneel or sit down (if you can trust your minis) and just take you time trimming on the line. You can always cut away more but you can never put it back. So just do a little at a time. You will get better with experience. The rasp is mostly for filing away sharp spots and evening out the hoof to make sure they are completely balanced after the trim- I guess you could say its kind of to polish up the hoof.

Good luck. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Leeana]

I started trimming most of our horses back during the fall. We have several farrier's around here, some good and some not so good. I trim mostly our broodmares and horses that are just here not doing a lot. My normal farrier does our show horses & foals. I have been having him check over the broodmares hooves to check my work. I ordered the Baracuda nippers and really liked them at first however they just could never feel "normal" to me and sold them here on LB. I use the smaller nippers from TSC, they work great for the minis and babies. I'm hoping by this spring I will feel comfortable doing ALL of the horses here and just having the farrier out to check over.

Its not as much about saving the money, although that is a perk in doing so. Its so hard to actually get ahold of any of the GOOD farriers around here and they are so busy that it takes weeks to get scheduled in and I am just so busy that they cannot schedule me ahead on a normal 8 week chart. I have a friend that trimmed a few for me last minute at a few of the shows this year which was really nice

.

 

[Peggy Hogan]

I trim my 4. Every time I do I worry both for my back and that I'm doing it wrong (I'm a bit of a perfectionist...) But hey $50 a head for minis??? That's the going rate here.

I try to work with Pete Ramey's methods and learned from a young farrier here, but would LOVE input from someone who feels confident.

One thing I can say, is that by training them with the clicker I do have horses that are willing to let me trim them without any one holding them. That helps....

 

[FoRebel]

My husband learned from Lisa (Runaway Ranch)'s husband before he passed away almost 2 years ago. The farrier that we use for the bigs has never had to correct any of the ones that my husband has trimmed!

 

[minimom1]

Thank You all for your replies, advice and links. I will of course have a ferrier

check my work as I still have 2 big horses I have to call the ferrier for.

I would NEVER touch my big horses because of the fact that they are bigger

and of course get ridden so if I screw up the angles I will screw up their legs.

 

[Genie]

I do ours and thanks to the barracuda nippers it is an easy chore. (for the first 10 years I was using the old style nippers which worked okay but my small hands and arthritic hands were looking for something spring loaded to make the job easier...voila, the barracuda nippers)

I learned by watching an excellent farrier and he was kind enough to critique my job once I started doing them myself. He hated bending down to the little ones.

The look of the finished hoof is different for the minis than the farriers for standardbreds do, so with practice and patience you will perfect.

In the beginning you will be taking less of the hoof with each trim and then a bit more until you have the desired look.

Most people worry about going too deep and the hoof bleeding and therefore will not attempt.

That was my fear too, so I started slowly and not taking much hoof and trimming often.

 

[BannerBrat]

[SIZE=12pt]This may help.[/SIZE]

www.barefoothorse.com

This is an awesome site, but I guess right now they are redoing it.

http://www.ironfreehoof.com/

Good luck, take your time, and don't be afraid to leave them for a day & go back to them later.

I do try to keep them even though, as in just doing both the fronts one day & both the backs another.

 

[MindyLee]

I trim all 7 of mine + the 100-200 other minis in my county as I am a mini horse farrier. I also learned from my father and his farrier when I was young.

 

[minimom1]

Good News, I found a 2 day clinic in 2 weeks that is close enough for my husband

and I to go to. It is all on barefoot trimming and they give you cadaver feet to practise

on and then I bring my donkey and mini and they will teach us how to trim them in

particular. It is pricey but only the cost of 4 or 5 ferrier visits, so it should be well woth it and informative to boot. It is structured to teach the owner how to trim their own horses. I will let you know how it went in a couple of weeks.