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Learn how to properly trim a horse’s hooves
Time:
2025-06-06
Step 1 – General cleaning of the hoof
As your knees are holding the horse’s hoof, your hands should be free to move. However, you should use one hand to support the stability of the foot whilst working on it. Hold the knife with your strong hand facing you and the hook pointing inward.
Depending on the amount, hardness, and thickness of the dirt you may need to scrape the sole several times before it becomes reasonably clean.
You can use the bent front piece of the knife to clean out the collateral grooves on each side of the frog. Make sure to remove dirt and mud from the area without pressure to avoid any unnecessary cuts or puncture wounds from the knife.
Last but not least use your brush or wire brush to get rid of dust and any remaining dirt.
Step 2 –hoof trim
Your hoof nippers work like nail cutters — by placing them on the edge of the wall you can cut excess hoof around the entire foot with little effort. Make sure to start with small amounts before you are comfortable enough to decide how much hoof can be taken off during a trim.
Make sure your nippers are flat on the foot and the handles are pointing up to you to avoid cutting awkward angles into the hoof. To avoid a sharp toe, trim the front of the hoof at a 45-degree angle.
Hoof trimming is about trimming the overgrown hoof wall and allowing your horse to go forward comfortably. Most horses need regular trimming in a 3-6 week cycle when kept barefoot. However, the growth will depend on different factors such as age, fitness, overall health, and activity level. It is recommended to keep an eye on your horse’s growth and wear to find the best-suited schedule.
Step 3 – Filing the hoof
While your knees are still holding the hoof in position, you want to use both hands to hold on to your rasp. Make sure you are in a stable position where you can stay balanced while holding the foot. Work slowly, being careful not to file the sensitive sole and frog areas. Use the white line in the hoof as a guide to ensure that you are rasping only the safe zones.
Check the hells for an unevenness. Don’t drag the rasp across both heels at the same time. Instead, identify the higher of either heel and file it down to the other’s level.
Step 4 – Remove excess sole and frog material
It is important not to touch the sole until you’ve reached a stage in your education where you can distinguish between live sole, exfoliating sole, and retained sole.
Live sole has a waxy appearance while exfoliating sole is either chalky and comes off easily with your hoof pick or has cracks and edges that look like they can be peeled away. Retained sole is usually quite smooth and frequently fuses with the frog.
Required Tools:
- Hard Brush
- Rasp
- Nippers
- Hoof Knife
- Gloves
- Hoof Stand
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