Hoof Restoration: Maintenance Trim on Fast Growing Hooves

[@sidilicious11]

I wish I could trim my gelding to the peripheral edge of the sole. But if I do he’s sore for a couple weeks because we have so much gravel in our turn out areas. If I leave him a quarter inch of wall he’s pretty comfortable on the gravel. But then his walls separate in a lot of places. So I give him a steep bevel and have to let the separation do it’s thing. Have you dealt with this dilemma before?

[@The_Female_Farrier]

Yea unfortunately I deal with this a lot with client horses. It’s like walking on the edge of a knife trying to balance keeping them comfortable and removing enough hoof to maintain a healthy balanced hoof. With some horses this time of year I will put them in glue-ons so I can keep the hooves collected through the summer. Then they go barefoot the rest of the year. It’s definitely hard to do 100% barefoot.

[@sidilicious11]

@@The_Female_Farrier thanks for your response! Yes, summers are the harder. The ground is less forgiving here where it gets so dry from June to October. And the hooves are harder to trim too! I do a decent job on my two, but I’m by no means a professional. My guy’s hooves were so tough when I trimmed them the other day that I’ve decided to hire someone next time for the first time in 15 + years . I,d love to see what they do different too. Wish you were in my area. Sid, in northwest Oregon

[@The_Female_Farrier]

Oh man hooves like concrete are the hardest to trim! Every once in awhile they get like that out here and I just die. I’ve considered getting a grinder but haven’t decided which one I would like to purchase yet. All my friends that trim in the desert use them and swear it makes the job a lot easier. Good luck hopefully the dry season will pass soon!

[@deanwitt7903]

Have a good farrier put shoes on it . Problem solved .