Farriers

[coss]

Is it just me or have you noticed whene the farrier goes to trim the front hooves
he will generally pull the hoof between his knees and work away?

Harry absolutely hates it and is a fidget. Today when the farrier came i mentioned that when i pick out his feet i don't do that and he stands happily. farrier then rested the hoof on his knee and in his hand (alternating) and harry just stood...

why do they always go to put it between their knees when most horses aren't used to it?

[teabiscuit]

cos it's easier for them to work with the hoof when its positioned that way

it's more secure than resting on the knee where the horse can just flick his foot off easily, and the farrier still have 2 free hands for the job.

[coss]

cos it's easier for them to work with the hoof when its positioned that way

it's more secure than resting on the knee where the horse can just flick his foot off easily, and the farrier still have 2 free hands for the job.

understandable until the horse drags them backwards ;)

[teabiscuit]

hey my brothers a farrier so i can ask him

straight from the horses mouth, would that be more useful for you?

[Wally]

You take a grip with your knees so you have both hands free to control your tools.

it is nearly impossible to get a Shetland's foot between your knees and as a consequense they are a real pain to shoe and trim.

It is up to the owner to train the horse to get used to the farrier.

[coss]

hey my brothers a farrier so i can ask him

straight from the horses mouth, would that be more useful for you?

:cool:
i can see why they would first try to put the hoof between the knees but just wondered whether its common practise to continually attempt to do it when the horse is obviously not happy... your brothers opinions would be appreciated ;):D

[teabiscuit]

:cool:
i can see why they would first try to put the hoof between the knees but just wondered whether its common practise to continually attempt to do it when the horse is obviously not happy... your brothers opinions would be appreciated ;):D

LOL not sure i could repeat his answer on a public forum if i asked him such a question
seeing as i trim my own horses feet i should damn well know myself why it's done LOL

[MelanieD]

Its much much easier to trim gripping the foot with legs so both hands are free than trying to trim one handed. Its something the owner can work on getting the horse to accept. Start with just holding on with hand as normal and pressing leg against your leg so horse gets used to feeling something gripping either side of the leg.

I only trim a few horses but if they don't like the gripping with knees thing I'll trim by holding foot in one hand and rasping one handed if I really have to, but it is more work and hurts my wrist if I do it a lot so will try to get them used to the hands free grip :)

[Jenny2502]

lol Wally
i laughed so much when my farrier trimmed my shetlands for the 1st time! it is so funny!

[poniesrule]

Charlotte refused to let the farrier hold her feet that way. But after about a year of me picking out her feet almost every day between my knees, she has just started to accept it as routine.

Previously, my farrier has had to trim her on the stand (she's fine on the stand-falls asleep!), but for the 1st time two weeks ago, he managed to trim one front foot in his knees!!, just need to work on the other front foot now!!.