06/12/2025
Hey all! It’s been a very strange week. I just wanted to share some information that might be helpful for horse, mule, and donkey owners. But honestly right now I’m specifically targeting donkeys 😅. I work on some exceptionally fabulous donkeys, but I also work on some that are not the greatest little citizens 🙃🫏…..yet!
I have been trying to stay more in the west side of the county these days when working because traffic in the area is pretty terrible. It’s become really hard to try to get across 49 to the east side. What used to take 30 minutes is now taking about an hour and fifteen minutes 😵💫. Long story short It’s been awhile since I’ve had many new clients and have sort of forgotten the drill. I have not been asking all the questions I used to before scheduling an appointment to make sure their equines were ready to stand for a trim. So part of what I have been experiencing is shame on me. I should know better. I also realize people can’t do better until they know better and part of my job is to educate owners. So I thought it would be a good time to go over what your equine needs to be able to do to stand well enough to get a great quality trim.
#1 - They need to be halter broke. I thought we would start at the very beginning. Unless they are the most superb equine citizens and can stand absolutely perfect at liberty, they need to be easily haltered and understand how to lead. If they know how to stand tied that would be even better!
#2 - They need to be able to stand still. If they aren’t relaxed enough to stand still with 4 feet on the ground, they aren’t going to be able to stand still with 3 feet on the ground. Sadly I’ve become pretty good at trimming a moving target, but they still don’t get as good of a trim as they should. Could you imagine Bob Ross trying to create a beautiful painting while the canvas is constantly being je**ed in different directions? He probably wouldnt have a masterpiece in hand when he was finished and neither will your horse.
#3 - They need to be used to having their bodies and legs touched and handled. If they don’t want me to touch their shoulder, back, or b***y, they definitely aren’t going to want me touching their legs, and they certainly aren’t going to want me to pick up their hooves or trim them.
#4 - They need to be able to pick up ALL 4 hooves. Not just the fronts. Not just the left front under a full moon, while sage is burning either. When I say pick up, I mean they offer you the hoof when you run your hand down their leg. Not you have to use all your strength to pry their hoof off the ground and force them to “bend the knee” Game of Thrones style.
#5 - They need to be able to hold their hooves up for a minimum of 2 minutes for me to give them a good quality trim. If your equine needs more training to understand this, train them. If your equine is in pain, give them pain medication before a trim. If your equine has had bad experiences and is working though trauma, give them dorm gel, a CBD treat, or have the vet sedate them. If they can’t hold their hooves up I can’t give them a good quality trim. If they can only hold their hooves up for a short period of time and then rip them away, I usually get some sort of minor or major injury. Most days lately I come home with a minimum of sore muscles, minor abrasions, cuts, and bruises. Sometimes these are unavoidable but the majority of the time they are very preventable. I’m not going to lie thats a painful and very frustrating reality to work within day in and day out.
#6 - They need to be used to and accept fly spray or some some other type of fly deterrent. Y’all honestly if I have to start wearing a helmet when I trim because I’m concerned about getting kicked in the head during fly season, I think I might just hang up my apron and make a drastic career change. If they don’t like being sprayed, soak a rag in fly spray and wipe the rag all over their body, specifically their legs. If they can’t handle that rag they aren’t ready for a trim. You can also use products like swat or equi-spot if they dont like sprays. If you don’t want to use any of those products a strong fan will work a treat to keep the flies off of them, and as a bonus will also help keep all of us cool this summer.
# 7 - Make sure they are comfortable standing for a trim inside the barn or somewhere in the shade. This is not a requirement to get a good quality trim, but definitely makes life a heck of a lot better for all parties involved during the summer heat. It’s a tough job during the best of times but the extreme heat is absolutely debilitating. I definitely don’t do my best work when I’m focusing on trying to push through being heat stressed. When trimming, often times our heads are located below our heart and that impairs our ability to function when experiencing extreme temperatures. Many times I have had to move an equine somewhere out into the hot sun because they cannot stand still or comfortably inside or where there is shade.
There’s probably more but that’s all I currently have to spout off about right now. Work hard with your equines to teach them these things so they can have the best hooves possible. Protect your farrier from your equines and from themselves. We are a stubborn bunch that think we are pretty tough and don’t like to complain and make waves or be a bother. But the truth is many of us silently suffer especially through the summer but try to power through and carry on anyway.
Super ridiculous AI picture of what NOT to do and a deformed horse whose leg bends the wrong way with a backwards hoof for attention 🫣🤔.
