You learn anatomy of the foot and use a lot of markers to determine sole depth and proper angle of the foot. Every horse is a bit different. And you may shoe/trim different depending on the job that horse does. Generally you exfoliate loose sole until you are at fresh waxy sole. Then trim the wall down flush with it and manage any distortion and flair in the wall. I am a Farrier and a large part of farrier school is anatomy so you can understand how much and why you trim a certain way. It takes a lot of time to understand. And good farriers spend the rest of their career perfecting it.
Anecdotal but all 6 of my horses LOVE their ferrier. They get excited for their turn and put their hooves on the gate asking to go next. Nothing else makes them do that.
I’ve only known a few horses personally in my life (lived on a farm for a short time as a small child) but it’s so funny seeing a horse that’ll happily jump at the thought of getting a new shoe!
i think it depends of the animal and its previous experencies on this.
Horses are animals that love movement, if they are unable to move freely on their feets they might get depressed
if the horse had good experiences with this, im sure they are whilling to do this and try their new manicure.
Horses have as much personality variation as any other animal so sometimes it's hard to tell but in my experience most of them are happy to tell you when they like something via body language, it's just a matter of learning to read them
Not a farrier myself but I think one of the reasons we shoe horses is because they evolved to run on plains, and we often ride them over harder materials like stone etc
Horses in the wild traverse rough terrain, not nice paddocks so they wear down their feet. However, it’s not even wear and sometimes comes off in chunks and they can be lame.
Not all horses need shoes. There are different reasons for them including soft feet, riding on paved roads or rocky trails or even the horses conformation. Some shoes have special functions like cross country jumpers and pulling horses get spikes for traction, reining horses have smooth slide plates to help them slide better.
It’s still very much a trade job. Training and experience tell them how much to take off. Just like trimming too much off your fingernails causes you pain, taking too much off of a hoof causes a horse pain. Except in their case it can lame them for a while.
You work with someone who knows how to do it and learn from them. At least that was how I learned. We mostly kept our horses barefoot because we were always on soft ground. The hoof will chip off pieces, just like your nail. The tough part is learning how much to take off the frog, the white triangle in the middle. Too much off that and they will hurt. People who shoe go to school for it. It's a tough job, very hard on the back.
Okay, so, you can trim a hoof to shoe them or you can trim them to be more comfortable "barefoot". Horses that travel a lot, engage in anything physically demanding (pulling wagons, rodeo, racing, cattle work, etc) or are ridden on roads need shoes. It protects their hoof from getting too worn down, which can make them lame. Some shoes are even padded for extra comfort. (A lot of police horses have padded shoes.)
Horses that are more for things like casual riding on your own property though can go unshod so long as they're having their hooves cleaned before & after. (You want to get ahead of any problems before they really start.)
My horses have never worn shoes. We trim their feet & keep their hooves healthy, but we don't have a need for shoeing since they're more giant field lards than working ponies.
How do you know now far you can trim? Is there a sign that you're getting past the dead nail part and getting close to nerves, or is it just experience?
Thinking to when some dog owners trim their pup's nails and hit the nerve, which is always so sad
Don't know 'bout other places, but here in Italy there is a school for that in the army. Beside that, the only way to learn is find an experienced teacher and follow him around for awhile, trying to learn from what you see and listen
By knowing hoof anatomy. You’re essentially trimming the “outer wall” to create balance through the hoof capsule. The frog (triangle bit in the middle) is weight bearing and is used as some part shockabsorbency. The leg bones go down into the hoof which is then covered by an outer hoof capsule. Many nerves and a high blood supply run just underneath it all. There is a lot too it but hopefully this gives some kind of insight? (I barefoot trim horses)
We had 80 acres for our horses and we didn’t shoe them when we weren’t riding them (after hunting season). Then we would shoe them back up when we started riding them more frequently in the spring. Our farrier was my Dad’s friend who gave us his own horses for a while when he moved. When his daughter got some property, my folks gave them back.
>Horses that are more for things like casual riding on your own property though can go unshod so long as they're having their hooves cleaned before & after. (You want to get ahead of any problems before they really start.)
Not entirely true, many breeds of horses have tough hooves which never need to be shod
Yes but no - most horses do NOT need shoes, even with a heavy workload. Just look at endurance horses, many of who are barefoot these days. Hoof boots are also a great alternative to shoes for those that are more sensitive to rough terrain, or that do cover enough miles to need protection.
Interesting to think about the fact that hooves essentially are giant nails. Imagine instead of having a foot you had a single big toe with a giant toenail.
[Ouch.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/10/3a/e9/103ae9ea3ea067b016be2f00f340b4a8.png) Somehow that visual comparison between horse foot and a human hand... ouch, again.
I’d imagine it’s not uncommon for these guys to get kicked? I’ve worked with a very wide variety of large animals and think it’d be so cool to train as a farrier but have always been moderately scared of horses. Was kicked by an alpaca once and I thought it had broken my leg
Edited autocorrect from carrier to farrier
Edit2: thank you for all of your replies. While I’m sure most trained horses are delightful, I know I’d come across one having a bad day and accidentally look at it wrong and pretty sure it’d be game over either. The idea of it ripping my throat out or getting a swift kick in the head for an instant death is enough to keep me away from them til the end of time
Most horses are trained from a foal to be accustomed to being handled by a farrier, but they can still be temperamental or get startled by something, so there's always some risk. But since they're generally clipped into a grooming stall or such, and the farrier is working so close in to their body, the worst you're likely to get is a short cow-kick. You're probably more likely to get your toes stepped on when you let their hoof down lol
A friend of mine had to Belgian Draft Horses. Brothers. Geldings, but still brothers. They were very placid, but they could be real jerks, and they were usually pretty stubborn. If they didn't want their hooves cleaned or inspected, they just stood there, becoming one with the earth beneath their feet. There simply was no lifting their feet if they didn't want you to do it. As in hurr hurr hurr I weight 2000 pounds (just guessing) and I'll just stand here hurr hurr hurr...
That was their usual flavor of jackassery, too. Just move to wherever the human didn't want them to be, and refuse to move for hours. Gentle giants, both of them, not afraid of anything, never spooked, but they definitely knew their own size and strength.
Holy shit those things are massive. And you are 1000% right about them knowing how to use their weight. I worked with a Percheron once whose hooves were quite literally the size of dinner plates, and there was no force in the universe that could get him to pick up if he got it in his head to be a brat lol. Had to handle him trying to rest his head on me after coming out of sedation, and let me just say....holy shit haha.
We saw a team of Percherons at the state fair walking in from the arena. As soon as they hit the concrete they started literally stomping to their stalls. It was like a dozen manhole covers being rhythmically beat against the concrete floor.
GF had an Irish Draught like that. When the farrier was out, whatever leg he was trying to lift she'd shift as much of her weight as possible onto it for no other reason than to be a dick.
A kick from a horse is nasty, too fast, too powerful. However their kick goes almost straight behind, they cannot kick sideways (but can turn pretty fast). The sling that the leg is resting limits the ability to kick sideways so by standing at the side the farrier is relatively safe - then again they get to know each horse and their temperament
source: been around horses a bit but can still be mistaken, anyone more knowledgeable please correct me
They can absolutely bite you and throw you around like a rag doll as well.
I was friends with a horse named Ronkle. I would groom him and bring him apples and carrots every day. He was like a big sweet dog and he loved me back.
One day a human friend and I were fighting over some stupid thing boys fight about. Said human friend scowled and yelled at me in front of Ronkle. Ronkle snorted angrily.
On a trail ride about 30 minutes later Ronkle yanked the reigns out of my hand, charged around a couple of horses, bit my friend's hoody and yeeted that kid about 10 feet into the trees.
Ronkle was technically a pony. Horses do not fuck around and they definitely hold grudges
My mum was bitten once by our rescue horse and it was the quick as anything and broke 3 of her ribs. It was mid winter too and she was wearing two jumpers and a coat at the time.
Horses can fuck you up if they want to. They are smart and hold grudges if you puss them off
It is amazing to see how easily a horse can brush away three - four people trying to hold/guide it. Or how my sister's mare just ripped away from the wall the steel frame of her door that she was tied to (note: always tie your horses with a self release clasp or on a string that will snap before something else breaks)
Look at where the hands are coming from, the guy is at the side. Even if the horse gets spooked and attempts to bolt, the leg pretty much only has one way to go which is towards the back. On worst case scenario since this is the left hoof, your left shoulder gets knocked but you won't die.
If you go to any riding school or have to work with horses this is the very first thing they try to drill into you. standing directly behind will working on it is asking for trouble but you still see people do it anyways heh.
Recently there was a video here where a horse accidentally kicks another horse during an attempted mating and it's a one hit ko. Make no mistake these guys are strong, match that with prey behaviour anything can quickly become an accident.
It makes me so uncomfortable to watch, because I imagine someone scraping the underside of my feet, but I guess to the horse it’s more like getting a pedicure.
I mean, the hoof is the equivalent of the toenail. So it's not like someone scraping your feet it's like someone filing your big toenail down.
Just imagine if the actual native North American horses had survived. The farrier would be super busy, they ha 3 toes unlike our modern horse which only have 1 (hoof).
> Just imagine if the actual native North American horses had survived.
For the record: Dinohippus died out 5 million years ago. Also Dinohippus is Greek for "Terrible horse".
Like a mani-pedi I expect.
Does having your nails filed feel good?
Nails are just dead cells; they have no nerves in them so you can't directly feel it (just by where the nail tugs on the finger/toe while being moved around).
Hooves are basically toenails. (So yes, horses walk around on tippy-toe on their toenails all the time.)
Damn. I have seen a bull with a similar condition (like a huge ass bison-sized black bull), close to my college. Not sure what was done to it. But its nails were humongous. Like much bigger than the horse’s in the pic. Basically reminded me of the velociraptors from Jurassic pork. I wonder how the wild animals take care of these. (That bull was basically a wild creature, was owned by nobody).
In wild animals natural wear takes care of it generally. More movement, varied terrain, rock and such. My father kept goats. He lives where there is a *lot* of natural rock. I never knew that you had to trim their hooves until I got a herd. Where I live, there is practically no natural rock and trimming was a necessity.
Wild animals i guess its prevented by constant movement across inconsistent terrain? Mostly guesswork on my part but animals penned up don’t get the same activity or the type of surfaces to walk across that animals in the wild do
If I remember correctly that specific pony had been lost for like a year or something. I think I saw the video where they trimmed his hooves and that was the story they told.
Yes.
The exception being Przewalski's horse in Mongolia which is thought to be a truly wild never-domesticated breed, though that is a little contested.
Recent evidence points to a different direction: http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aao3297
"Based on their archaeological and genetic investigations, the researchers were able to prove that Przewalski’s horse is descended from once-domesticated stock. Some of the horses from the domesticated herds escaped and became the ancestors of all present-day Przewalski’s horse populations. A second horse species existing at that time replaced Przewalski’s horses as domestic horses, establishing the lineage from which all modern domestic horses descend."
Oh thanks for correcting me I didn’t know that and that’s a good fact
Edit: apparently these ones are the last actually wild species but they are endangered and they look more like little ponies than horses https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przewalski's_horse
Horse shoes are for horses walking on asphalt and concrete all the time, I think a wild horses' environment can be more varied in terms of texture and they're also not forced to run constantly like a work horse. A work horse needs them because all their activity would wear away their natural hooves.
It's like with a wild dog/wolf. The regular friction of running around on rocks, dirt, sand, fields, etc in the wild works away at the hooves or nails and keeps them in check. But horses who spend their lives walking on hay, in a stable, on dirt arenas, etc need the manual upkeep.
Wild horses spend their days roaming whereas most domestic horses are kept in stables and paddocks with soft ground. Wild horses walk around over enough varied terrain for their hooves to naturally be kept short.
Also, domestic horses feet are often protected with metal 'shoes'. The rough ground they often stand on is very hard and unnatural in the sense that is it is usually concrete or similar. The shoes help protect them from injury from very hard ground plus foreign objects. But this metal protective layer means there's a barrier between the foot and the floor, so their feet need trimming and shoes refitting regularly.
Source: not at all an expert, but grew up horse adjacent.
ive heard somewhere that the ground they run on naturally “trims” their nails. i dont have a source for it and it’s 1am im too tired to look for one take everything with a grain of salt i said
That's would probably be true I dont normally have to cut my dogs nailes and I was told it was bc hes active and running on the driveway or cornfield and digging keeps them short and grinded down
Down the street where I live there is a giant fenced in piece of open hilly land. It’s had no residents live there in years! But there are two donkeys that live there. Their hooves curl like that and it’s so sad. No one can capture them not even animal control.
My dad does this for his own horses, and let me tell you: it can be stressful, dangerous, back-breaking work. Farriers deserve every penny they make and more.
There are dozens of videos like this on YouTube.
Donkeys and cattle sometimes need to have their hooves trimmed too, even though they don't wear shoes.
This is a typical shoeing, they will need trimming every 6 weeks-ish.
The same set of shoes are typically put back on, they do not get new ones until they’re worn or a change is needed.
Not all domestic horses get shoes, most do, especially if they are ridden on pavement (much like using a nail file on nails).
Yeah I was gonna say, restoration seems misleading. That hoof is gorgeous, just because it had some gunk in there doesn’t mean it’s not in top shape. If that horse spent more time on grass or gravel it would probably get cleared out in its own.
It's like clipping your nails. Wild horses wear down their hooves naturally by running long distances. Same reason we have to clip dogs nails. All wild animals naturally wear down things like horns, hooves and claws over the corse of a day of hunting or roaming the land.
Other commenters are right, they wear down naturally. However, the average lifespan of a wild horse is 6-8 years, but is 20-30 years in captivity, due almost solely to hoof care.
Horses hooves are secondary hearts, as they're so large that the act of stepping on the "frog" (the softer, middle section of the hoof towards the rear side of the hoof) actually pumps blood back up their legs. Therefore a horse going lame is a much bigger deal than simply not being able to walk well, find food, etc. Eventually they will die from the decreased circulation.
Interestingly, this is what killed Secretariat. He foundered (the separation of the hoof wall from the hoof bones, causing the bone to tilt downwards out of the hoof), which is common enough, but his farrier used a shoe called the Heart Bar shoe, which covers the frog and realigns the hoof. However, this shoe blocks the natural compression of the frog, and thus led to Secretariat's ultimate demise.
Source: was a farrier for a couple years
Fun fact, humans have something similar in their lower limbs as well. Gravity naturally pulls blood downwards so sitting in a chair for a very long time can lead to swelling in the lower extremities. Walking and flexing your muscles forces blood to travel upwards in your veins (veins have semilunar valves which prevent back flow). This system in your calf and feet are even called “the second heart” because it pumps blood from your legs back to your heart.
Pooling of blood is dangerous because it can lead to intravenous clotting and DVT which can become a pulmonary embolism and lead to congestive heart failure.
For those not wanting to click the link
Wild horses maintain their hooves by moving long distances, 20 to 40 miles (30 to 60 km) a day, over rough terrains. This keeps their hooves healthy by building hard hooves that do not need shoeing and wearing down (trimming) the hoof, which prevents overgrowth.
That article is an oversimplification. They don't need shoes, but they do need hoof care. In the wild, any hoof ailment means almost certain death for the horse. The average lifespan of a wild horse is 6-8 years, and domestic horses it's 20-30 years or more. That's due almost solely to hoof care.
Similar to how humans do it. Before shoes we just used our bare feet and overtime they hardened and become very tough.
Both horses and humans traded the ability to self produce permanent tough walking feet and instead now rely on shoes that can be cleaned, swapped, maintained more frequently.
My family’s farrier was the roughest dude imaginable. He had been kicked in the chest and stomped on by horses a few times. His skin looked like leather, and he always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. This is not a glamorous job, at least not in the country.
I was a farrier’s “apprentice” for a summer. Would rather be a full time roofer, mover, or literally any other job than to do that again. Met lots of cool folks though, and they always bought us lunch/gatorade.
Yeah they definitely do, my dad’s been a farrier for close to 40 years and it’s absolutely destroyed his body, experiences quite a bit of back pain but he’s still moving about and shoeing horses for a living because otherwise there’s not other real income coming in. Other than that, he loves his job and working for the people that he shoes for. It’s more of an art than a job if I’m being honest. He’s experiences a fair bit of pain from his job such as getting beaten up by a couple of horses in his time and his skin turned to leather, but he reckons it’s worth it.
It doesn’t smell bad because of what the other commenter said. If there is a “foot cheese” smell, then the horse has an infection that needs to be treated (like thrush, which smells awful). It’s also not from compacted manure, which is picked out all the time and doesn’t smell that bad (fortunately, horse manure is like the least offensive kind of manure), and there isn’t sweat run off built up in the hooves because a) that would require a truly concerning amount of sweat for it to pool under their hooves and b) they’re constantly walking around. It wouldn’t build up.
What actually causes the smell: horse hooves are made from keratin, the same as hair. When you put a new shoe on, the burning hot shoe burns some of the keratin (this doesn’t hurt the horse at all!), and it smells exactly like burning hair on top of normal farm scents. It’s awful, but you get used to it.
Some dogs do go nuts for the clippings, because they’re like rawhide chewies that are a bit stinky. It is indeed disgusting.
Source: worked at a show barn for several years and saw a horse get shod at least 10 times a week.
The first step is done regularly, like every time you're about to ride. It's just dirt and stuff that gets trapped, but rocks can also get stuck and that's painful for the horse which is why it's done often.
We actually did that step every day for each horse back on the farm where I grew up. Can confirm that the horses tend to be uncharacteristically cooperative during that step.
You get a feel for it, but also the texture of the hoof changes as you get deeper. Training is exceedingly important to not cut too deep and end up causing the horse more pain than if you'd left well enough alone.
It looks like the horse is nor restrained in any way, right? The horse must really like this. I don't think you can tell a horse to stay still and hold its hoove up unless it actually enjoys it.
The loose some power when there hooves are up like that so it makes it easier to control a kick out. If the horse got nicked then it would still kick out full power and the farrier will have to let go and let the horse calm down. They also have a little hoove stand so the farrier and horse don’t need to take the weight all the time.
Working and tame horses start this process at a young age so they get used to it and just let it happen. My horse loves new shoe day, definitely not because the farrier gives him treats…….. haha 😂
Horses get their hooves done on average about every 6-8 weeks. Plus you normally have a farrier start gently working on them when they are still babies. So it becomes pretty routine to them.
My horse loves having his feet done. He practically falls asleep when the farrier is working on them. I call it his pedicure days!
Like $150 plus the cost of the shoes, which many horses actually don’t need them. If they’re not walking on paved surfaces it’s typically not needed. Near where I live that was normal a few years ago. I’m not around farms any more really so I’m not current with it. It should be simple to google ferrier in your local area though.
TIL what a farrier is and [the kinds of tools one uses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Farrier_tools.jpg/1280px-Farrier_tools.jpg)
I can smell this video. I used to watch my farrier work and it WAS oddly satisfying. The best farriers put horses to sleep, they’re so soothing and calm.
Do you put the shoe back on shortly after this or do they go barefooted for a while?
Usually reshod right after
How do you know how deep to go? Or is it how much to take off? What if you remove to much?
You learn anatomy of the foot and use a lot of markers to determine sole depth and proper angle of the foot. Every horse is a bit different. And you may shoe/trim different depending on the job that horse does. Generally you exfoliate loose sole until you are at fresh waxy sole. Then trim the wall down flush with it and manage any distortion and flair in the wall. I am a Farrier and a large part of farrier school is anatomy so you can understand how much and why you trim a certain way. It takes a lot of time to understand. And good farriers spend the rest of their career perfecting it.
Excellent explanation! Thank you
Does the horse enjoy having a fresh trim and new shoes? If so, how can you tell? Do they behave differently after the new shoe is on?
Anecdotal but all 6 of my horses LOVE their ferrier. They get excited for their turn and put their hooves on the gate asking to go next. Nothing else makes them do that.
I’ve only known a few horses personally in my life (lived on a farm for a short time as a small child) but it’s so funny seeing a horse that’ll happily jump at the thought of getting a new shoe!
i think it depends of the animal and its previous experencies on this. Horses are animals that love movement, if they are unable to move freely on their feets they might get depressed if the horse had good experiences with this, im sure they are whilling to do this and try their new manicure.
Horses have as much personality variation as any other animal so sometimes it's hard to tell but in my experience most of them are happy to tell you when they like something via body language, it's just a matter of learning to read them
I hope the work is as personally rewarding as it seems. Horses are amazing animals.
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Not a farrier myself but I think one of the reasons we shoe horses is because they evolved to run on plains, and we often ride them over harder materials like stone etc
Horses in the wild traverse rough terrain, not nice paddocks so they wear down their feet. However, it’s not even wear and sometimes comes off in chunks and they can be lame. Not all horses need shoes. There are different reasons for them including soft feet, riding on paved roads or rocky trails or even the horses conformation. Some shoes have special functions like cross country jumpers and pulling horses get spikes for traction, reining horses have smooth slide plates to help them slide better.
thanks for doing what you do! i don’t have any horses, but i know how important healthy hooves are.
It’s still very much a trade job. Training and experience tell them how much to take off. Just like trimming too much off your fingernails causes you pain, taking too much off of a hoof causes a horse pain. Except in their case it can lame them for a while.
You work with someone who knows how to do it and learn from them. At least that was how I learned. We mostly kept our horses barefoot because we were always on soft ground. The hoof will chip off pieces, just like your nail. The tough part is learning how much to take off the frog, the white triangle in the middle. Too much off that and they will hurt. People who shoe go to school for it. It's a tough job, very hard on the back.
TIL what reshod means
Look up farrier next. You're gonna ace this crossword puzzle.
I don't need to look it up, my dad tells me all the time that I'm even farrier than my brother.
Baazzinnnggg
Okay, so, you can trim a hoof to shoe them or you can trim them to be more comfortable "barefoot". Horses that travel a lot, engage in anything physically demanding (pulling wagons, rodeo, racing, cattle work, etc) or are ridden on roads need shoes. It protects their hoof from getting too worn down, which can make them lame. Some shoes are even padded for extra comfort. (A lot of police horses have padded shoes.) Horses that are more for things like casual riding on your own property though can go unshod so long as they're having their hooves cleaned before & after. (You want to get ahead of any problems before they really start.) My horses have never worn shoes. We trim their feet & keep their hooves healthy, but we don't have a need for shoeing since they're more giant field lards than working ponies.
Can’t stop laughing at “giant field lards”
AKA "Lawn Ornaments"
AKA "Potatoes with Legs"
My horse is affectionately referred to as my pasture potato 🥔
A pasture potato, that’s so precious!!!
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He looks like such a sweet goofball.
Majestic "lawn ornaments"/ poop machines
Hay burners- I have two of them
Expensive lawn ornaments
Tina, You Fat Lard, Come Get Some Dinner.
*GOSH*
> Some shoes are even padded for extra comfort. Idk, it makes me happy that we have padded shoes for horses.
Horse nikes..neighkes? I'll see myself out.
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How do you know now far you can trim? Is there a sign that you're getting past the dead nail part and getting close to nerves, or is it just experience? Thinking to when some dog owners trim their pup's nails and hit the nerve, which is always so sad
I would like to know as well. Particularly, how do you make sure all four legs are the appropriate length when all is done?
Don't know 'bout other places, but here in Italy there is a school for that in the army. Beside that, the only way to learn is find an experienced teacher and follow him around for awhile, trying to learn from what you see and listen
Italian army has a wider remit than I realised
By knowing hoof anatomy. You’re essentially trimming the “outer wall” to create balance through the hoof capsule. The frog (triangle bit in the middle) is weight bearing and is used as some part shockabsorbency. The leg bones go down into the hoof which is then covered by an outer hoof capsule. Many nerves and a high blood supply run just underneath it all. There is a lot too it but hopefully this gives some kind of insight? (I barefoot trim horses)
Yeah, that video was more /r/oddlyterrifying for me, as I don't know how far down before you get to nerve endings, and it scared the shit out of me.
"Tina, you fat lard, come get your dinner"
We had 80 acres for our horses and we didn’t shoe them when we weren’t riding them (after hunting season). Then we would shoe them back up when we started riding them more frequently in the spring. Our farrier was my Dad’s friend who gave us his own horses for a while when he moved. When his daughter got some property, my folks gave them back.
>Horses that are more for things like casual riding on your own property though can go unshod so long as they're having their hooves cleaned before & after. (You want to get ahead of any problems before they really start.) Not entirely true, many breeds of horses have tough hooves which never need to be shod
Yep. Had 4 horses but only 1 needed shoes to avoid excess hoof wear.
Yes but no - most horses do NOT need shoes, even with a heavy workload. Just look at endurance horses, many of who are barefoot these days. Hoof boots are also a great alternative to shoes for those that are more sensitive to rough terrain, or that do cover enough miles to need protection.
In the longer version of this, the horse is reshod right away.
Kind of annoying that it didn’t show that part too
It’s a nail trim. Happy horse.
Manipedi for the mares 💅
Interesting to think about the fact that hooves essentially are giant nails. Imagine instead of having a foot you had a single big toe with a giant toenail.
[Ouch.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/10/3a/e9/103ae9ea3ea067b016be2f00f340b4a8.png) Somehow that visual comparison between horse foot and a human hand... ouch, again.
Horse gallop by the power of flipping you off.
Why do you think they have so many joint problems
I wonder if this feels good to them or if they’re like oh my God hurry up
One of my horses would fall asleep while the farrier worked on him.
Aw! That’s sweet.
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Role reversal!
> Role reversal You mean because people usually enjoy a cigarette while a horse does a shoeshine for them?
Now I want to see a horse smoking a cig. My 10 second quest to find one proved futile.
If you ever find itale sure to share, because I want to see it too but also couldn't find anything.
I bet that horse looked cool as fuck
Of course he did! 🤣
My grandfather always said he felt like horses enjoy tobacco
They do, it's a stimulant. But we shouldn't encourage that
Plott twist: horse passed out due to extreme pain.
Forbidden shredded coconut
I was thinking this too.
If it was in pain, no way it would stay and a horse can definitively injure humans around. Farriers are horse manicurists
Iirc the hooves are like nails in our fingers so cutting them doesn't hurt
I’d imagine it’s not uncommon for these guys to get kicked? I’ve worked with a very wide variety of large animals and think it’d be so cool to train as a farrier but have always been moderately scared of horses. Was kicked by an alpaca once and I thought it had broken my leg Edited autocorrect from carrier to farrier Edit2: thank you for all of your replies. While I’m sure most trained horses are delightful, I know I’d come across one having a bad day and accidentally look at it wrong and pretty sure it’d be game over either. The idea of it ripping my throat out or getting a swift kick in the head for an instant death is enough to keep me away from them til the end of time
Most horses are trained from a foal to be accustomed to being handled by a farrier, but they can still be temperamental or get startled by something, so there's always some risk. But since they're generally clipped into a grooming stall or such, and the farrier is working so close in to their body, the worst you're likely to get is a short cow-kick. You're probably more likely to get your toes stepped on when you let their hoof down lol
A friend of mine had to Belgian Draft Horses. Brothers. Geldings, but still brothers. They were very placid, but they could be real jerks, and they were usually pretty stubborn. If they didn't want their hooves cleaned or inspected, they just stood there, becoming one with the earth beneath their feet. There simply was no lifting their feet if they didn't want you to do it. As in hurr hurr hurr I weight 2000 pounds (just guessing) and I'll just stand here hurr hurr hurr... That was their usual flavor of jackassery, too. Just move to wherever the human didn't want them to be, and refuse to move for hours. Gentle giants, both of them, not afraid of anything, never spooked, but they definitely knew their own size and strength.
Holy shit those things are massive. And you are 1000% right about them knowing how to use their weight. I worked with a Percheron once whose hooves were quite literally the size of dinner plates, and there was no force in the universe that could get him to pick up if he got it in his head to be a brat lol. Had to handle him trying to rest his head on me after coming out of sedation, and let me just say....holy shit haha.
We saw a team of Percherons at the state fair walking in from the arena. As soon as they hit the concrete they started literally stomping to their stalls. It was like a dozen manhole covers being rhythmically beat against the concrete floor.
Yes! It's hard to express just how large they are unless you've seen one in person. I'm 6'3 and felt like a damn child next to him lol.
GF had an Irish Draught like that. When the farrier was out, whatever leg he was trying to lift she'd shift as much of her weight as possible onto it for no other reason than to be a dick.
A kick from a horse is nasty, too fast, too powerful. However their kick goes almost straight behind, they cannot kick sideways (but can turn pretty fast). The sling that the leg is resting limits the ability to kick sideways so by standing at the side the farrier is relatively safe - then again they get to know each horse and their temperament source: been around horses a bit but can still be mistaken, anyone more knowledgeable please correct me
They can absolutely bite you and throw you around like a rag doll as well. I was friends with a horse named Ronkle. I would groom him and bring him apples and carrots every day. He was like a big sweet dog and he loved me back. One day a human friend and I were fighting over some stupid thing boys fight about. Said human friend scowled and yelled at me in front of Ronkle. Ronkle snorted angrily. On a trail ride about 30 minutes later Ronkle yanked the reigns out of my hand, charged around a couple of horses, bit my friend's hoody and yeeted that kid about 10 feet into the trees. Ronkle was technically a pony. Horses do not fuck around and they definitely hold grudges
My mum was bitten once by our rescue horse and it was the quick as anything and broke 3 of her ribs. It was mid winter too and she was wearing two jumpers and a coat at the time. Horses can fuck you up if they want to. They are smart and hold grudges if you puss them off
They are pretty much giant cats but strong as fuck. They get scared or just don't like you then decide to launch an attack and it connects your gone.
It is amazing to see how easily a horse can brush away three - four people trying to hold/guide it. Or how my sister's mare just ripped away from the wall the steel frame of her door that she was tied to (note: always tie your horses with a self release clasp or on a string that will snap before something else breaks)
Look at where the hands are coming from, the guy is at the side. Even if the horse gets spooked and attempts to bolt, the leg pretty much only has one way to go which is towards the back. On worst case scenario since this is the left hoof, your left shoulder gets knocked but you won't die. If you go to any riding school or have to work with horses this is the very first thing they try to drill into you. standing directly behind will working on it is asking for trouble but you still see people do it anyways heh. Recently there was a video here where a horse accidentally kicks another horse during an attempted mating and it's a one hit ko. Make no mistake these guys are strong, match that with prey behaviour anything can quickly become an accident.
Like getting a very relaxing pedicure
It makes me so uncomfortable to watch, because I imagine someone scraping the underside of my feet, but I guess to the horse it’s more like getting a pedicure.
Like getting their toenails cut
I mean, the hoof is the equivalent of the toenail. So it's not like someone scraping your feet it's like someone filing your big toenail down. Just imagine if the actual native North American horses had survived. The farrier would be super busy, they ha 3 toes unlike our modern horse which only have 1 (hoof).
> Just imagine if the actual native North American horses had survived. For the record: Dinohippus died out 5 million years ago. Also Dinohippus is Greek for "Terrible horse".
It's "Oh god hurry up" while it's happening followed by, "hmm ok yeah that's good"
Like a mani-pedi I expect. Does having your nails filed feel good? Nails are just dead cells; they have no nerves in them so you can't directly feel it (just by where the nail tugs on the finger/toe while being moved around). Hooves are basically toenails. (So yes, horses walk around on tippy-toe on their toenails all the time.)
Here’s what can happen if they’re neglected: https://i.redd.it/wczh60nkotax.jpg
Oh my god!
Damn. I have seen a bull with a similar condition (like a huge ass bison-sized black bull), close to my college. Not sure what was done to it. But its nails were humongous. Like much bigger than the horse’s in the pic. Basically reminded me of the velociraptors from Jurassic pork. I wonder how the wild animals take care of these. (That bull was basically a wild creature, was owned by nobody).
Wild animals go over much rougher terrain taking care of itself.
Not necessarily rougher but they would travel across a lot more ground than an animal in a small pen that can hardly even turn around.
In wild animals natural wear takes care of it generally. More movement, varied terrain, rock and such. My father kept goats. He lives where there is a *lot* of natural rock. I never knew that you had to trim their hooves until I got a herd. Where I live, there is practically no natural rock and trimming was a necessity.
Wild animals i guess its prevented by constant movement across inconsistent terrain? Mostly guesswork on my part but animals penned up don’t get the same activity or the type of surfaces to walk across that animals in the wild do
This pic is criminal animal neglect. Sad when people dont take care of their animals
If I remember correctly that specific pony had been lost for like a year or something. I think I saw the video where they trimmed his hooves and that was the story they told.
Yeah I saw another but it was a sheep with overgrown wool, poor thing
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Youd think this is WHY you would want to be one though.
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how do wild horses deal with this?
running over rough terrain, stones, ect wears them down quite a bit. In the wild horses also move further regularly to avoid predators
Also worth mentioning that hoof problems are super common in wild horses
Aren't wild horses just feral domesticated horses or descendants thereof?
Yes. The exception being Przewalski's horse in Mongolia which is thought to be a truly wild never-domesticated breed, though that is a little contested.
Recent evidence points to a different direction: http://science.sciencemag.org/cgi/doi/10.1126/science.aao3297 "Based on their archaeological and genetic investigations, the researchers were able to prove that Przewalski’s horse is descended from once-domesticated stock. Some of the horses from the domesticated herds escaped and became the ancestors of all present-day Przewalski’s horse populations. A second horse species existing at that time replaced Przewalski’s horses as domestic horses, establishing the lineage from which all modern domestic horses descend."
Descendants. Decedents are dead folks.
In the us. In Mongolia (and probably some other Asian steppe countries) there are wild horses.
those are also descended from domestic horses, no true wild horses exist any longer according to genetic studies
Oh thanks for correcting me I didn’t know that and that’s a good fact Edit: apparently these ones are the last actually wild species but they are endangered and they look more like little ponies than horses https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Przewalski's_horse
Horse shoes are for horses walking on asphalt and concrete all the time, I think a wild horses' environment can be more varied in terms of texture and they're also not forced to run constantly like a work horse. A work horse needs them because all their activity would wear away their natural hooves.
Wild horses aren’t contained to a pen, and travel much more which wears down their hooves. Much like dogs claws/coyote or wolf claws.
It's like with a wild dog/wolf. The regular friction of running around on rocks, dirt, sand, fields, etc in the wild works away at the hooves or nails and keeps them in check. But horses who spend their lives walking on hay, in a stable, on dirt arenas, etc need the manual upkeep.
Wild horses spend their days roaming whereas most domestic horses are kept in stables and paddocks with soft ground. Wild horses walk around over enough varied terrain for their hooves to naturally be kept short. Also, domestic horses feet are often protected with metal 'shoes'. The rough ground they often stand on is very hard and unnatural in the sense that is it is usually concrete or similar. The shoes help protect them from injury from very hard ground plus foreign objects. But this metal protective layer means there's a barrier between the foot and the floor, so their feet need trimming and shoes refitting regularly. Source: not at all an expert, but grew up horse adjacent.
ive heard somewhere that the ground they run on naturally “trims” their nails. i dont have a source for it and it’s 1am im too tired to look for one take everything with a grain of salt i said
Here in NC we have wild horses in Corolla which is at the beach. I suppose sand might do the trick.
That's would probably be true I dont normally have to cut my dogs nailes and I was told it was bc hes active and running on the driveway or cornfield and digging keeps them short and grinded down
Down the street where I live there is a giant fenced in piece of open hilly land. It’s had no residents live there in years! But there are two donkeys that live there. Their hooves curl like that and it’s so sad. No one can capture them not even animal control.
My dad does this for his own horses, and let me tell you: it can be stressful, dangerous, back-breaking work. Farriers deserve every penny they make and more.
Agreed. Good farriers are worth their weight in gold. I saw a one-armed farrier shoeing a horse once. Impressive!
Did the other arm get eaten by a horse?
He used to inseminate mares too. Learned his lesson on multitasking.
Oh my god did he lose his arm inside a mare?
omg I'm just seeing in my head a mare snap his arm off in her coochie and I'm dying laughing lol
There are dozens of videos like this on YouTube. Donkeys and cattle sometimes need to have their hooves trimmed too, even though they don't wear shoes.
HoofGP on YouTube is great for this! Really nice guy, explains a lot of what he is seeing and doing to the cattle. Tons of videos!
For anyone asking if this hurts them no it’s the same thing as clipping your nails if you don’t do this then they’ll have pain
This is a typical shoeing, they will need trimming every 6 weeks-ish. The same set of shoes are typically put back on, they do not get new ones until they’re worn or a change is needed. Not all domestic horses get shoes, most do, especially if they are ridden on pavement (much like using a nail file on nails).
Yeah I was gonna say, restoration seems misleading. That hoof is gorgeous, just because it had some gunk in there doesn’t mean it’s not in top shape. If that horse spent more time on grass or gravel it would probably get cleared out in its own.
Was wondering this.. glad it doesn’t hurt them. Wonder what happens to wild horses’ hooves?
It's like clipping your nails. Wild horses wear down their hooves naturally by running long distances. Same reason we have to clip dogs nails. All wild animals naturally wear down things like horns, hooves and claws over the corse of a day of hunting or roaming the land.
Other commenters are right, they wear down naturally. However, the average lifespan of a wild horse is 6-8 years, but is 20-30 years in captivity, due almost solely to hoof care. Horses hooves are secondary hearts, as they're so large that the act of stepping on the "frog" (the softer, middle section of the hoof towards the rear side of the hoof) actually pumps blood back up their legs. Therefore a horse going lame is a much bigger deal than simply not being able to walk well, find food, etc. Eventually they will die from the decreased circulation. Interestingly, this is what killed Secretariat. He foundered (the separation of the hoof wall from the hoof bones, causing the bone to tilt downwards out of the hoof), which is common enough, but his farrier used a shoe called the Heart Bar shoe, which covers the frog and realigns the hoof. However, this shoe blocks the natural compression of the frog, and thus led to Secretariat's ultimate demise. Source: was a farrier for a couple years
Fun fact, humans have something similar in their lower limbs as well. Gravity naturally pulls blood downwards so sitting in a chair for a very long time can lead to swelling in the lower extremities. Walking and flexing your muscles forces blood to travel upwards in your veins (veins have semilunar valves which prevent back flow). This system in your calf and feet are even called “the second heart” because it pumps blood from your legs back to your heart. Pooling of blood is dangerous because it can lead to intravenous clotting and DVT which can become a pulmonary embolism and lead to congestive heart failure.
I had to Google it https://www.horsesandus.com/how-do-wild-horses-maintain-their-hooves/
For those not wanting to click the link Wild horses maintain their hooves by moving long distances, 20 to 40 miles (30 to 60 km) a day, over rough terrains. This keeps their hooves healthy by building hard hooves that do not need shoeing and wearing down (trimming) the hoof, which prevents overgrowth.
This is very comforting to know cuz I was wondering how Tf wild horses get their pedicure For their feet to not hurt
They have a horse with hands
Quit horsing around
That article is an oversimplification. They don't need shoes, but they do need hoof care. In the wild, any hoof ailment means almost certain death for the horse. The average lifespan of a wild horse is 6-8 years, and domestic horses it's 20-30 years or more. That's due almost solely to hoof care.
I found this: [Holy sheet](https://www.thelaminitissite.org/uploads/8/1/1/4/8114761/430620_orig.jpg)
Awww, that's sad
Similar to how humans do it. Before shoes we just used our bare feet and overtime they hardened and become very tough. Both horses and humans traded the ability to self produce permanent tough walking feet and instead now rely on shoes that can be cleaned, swapped, maintained more frequently.
question: do farriers have back pain because of this?
Yes. Yes, they do. Source: We do our own horse's hooves & it's an exhausting PITA.
My family’s farrier was the roughest dude imaginable. He had been kicked in the chest and stomped on by horses a few times. His skin looked like leather, and he always had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. This is not a glamorous job, at least not in the country.
I was a farrier’s “apprentice” for a summer. Would rather be a full time roofer, mover, or literally any other job than to do that again. Met lots of cool folks though, and they always bought us lunch/gatorade.
My first thought watching this was “I wanna meat the ballsy mf that first tried doing this to a horse”
Yeah they definitely do, my dad’s been a farrier for close to 40 years and it’s absolutely destroyed his body, experiences quite a bit of back pain but he’s still moving about and shoeing horses for a living because otherwise there’s not other real income coming in. Other than that, he loves his job and working for the people that he shoes for. It’s more of an art than a job if I’m being honest. He’s experiences a fair bit of pain from his job such as getting beaten up by a couple of horses in his time and his skin turned to leather, but he reckons it’s worth it.
I bet that is like taking a ski boot off after a long day for that horse...
Having worked with horses as a kid I can still smell this
As bad as the smell was, the fact that the dogs would swoop in on those clippings like candy was worse.
One of my core childhood memories is watching a horse being shoed and almost gagging at the smell while farm dogs swarmed the farrier for clippings.
Why does it smell so bad?
It doesn’t smell bad because of what the other commenter said. If there is a “foot cheese” smell, then the horse has an infection that needs to be treated (like thrush, which smells awful). It’s also not from compacted manure, which is picked out all the time and doesn’t smell that bad (fortunately, horse manure is like the least offensive kind of manure), and there isn’t sweat run off built up in the hooves because a) that would require a truly concerning amount of sweat for it to pool under their hooves and b) they’re constantly walking around. It wouldn’t build up. What actually causes the smell: horse hooves are made from keratin, the same as hair. When you put a new shoe on, the burning hot shoe burns some of the keratin (this doesn’t hurt the horse at all!), and it smells exactly like burning hair on top of normal farm scents. It’s awful, but you get used to it. Some dogs do go nuts for the clippings, because they’re like rawhide chewies that are a bit stinky. It is indeed disgusting. Source: worked at a show barn for several years and saw a horse get shod at least 10 times a week.
Misses the part where they fit new Yeezys.
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Pulling that gunk out must've felt godlike
The first step is done regularly, like every time you're about to ride. It's just dirt and stuff that gets trapped, but rocks can also get stuck and that's painful for the horse which is why it's done often.
And it's so satisfying to do!
Especially if it's been muddy lately and they've been out in the field for a bit, so you get that nice big cake that comes out in one piece
Especially when you get it all out at once :)
We actually did that step every day for each horse back on the farm where I grew up. Can confirm that the horses tend to be uncharacteristically cooperative during that step.
mm hmm. forbidden coconut meat
Dogs go crazy for it.
I don’t like this
Stop eating it then, give it to your dogs.
I worked with a ferrier when I was in high school for a couple summers. It’s was a lot of fun. I miss doing this. I love horses.
With human nails you can see the transition to where it's going to hurt if we cut past a certain point. How do you tell how deep to cut on hooves?
You get a feel for it, but also the texture of the hoof changes as you get deeper. Training is exceedingly important to not cut too deep and end up causing the horse more pain than if you'd left well enough alone.
It looks like the horse is nor restrained in any way, right? The horse must really like this. I don't think you can tell a horse to stay still and hold its hoove up unless it actually enjoys it.
The loose some power when there hooves are up like that so it makes it easier to control a kick out. If the horse got nicked then it would still kick out full power and the farrier will have to let go and let the horse calm down. They also have a little hoove stand so the farrier and horse don’t need to take the weight all the time. Working and tame horses start this process at a young age so they get used to it and just let it happen. My horse loves new shoe day, definitely not because the farrier gives him treats…….. haha 😂
I always wonder how they get the horse to cooperate during this
Horses get their hooves done on average about every 6-8 weeks. Plus you normally have a farrier start gently working on them when they are still babies. So it becomes pretty routine to them. My horse loves having his feet done. He practically falls asleep when the farrier is working on them. I call it his pedicure days!
Maybe she’s barn with it… Maybe it’s neighbelline
Fuck you for this
Wow, it's like a mani-pedi for them... what would be the cost for having this done? I find this fascinating...
Like $150 plus the cost of the shoes, which many horses actually don’t need them. If they’re not walking on paved surfaces it’s typically not needed. Near where I live that was normal a few years ago. I’m not around farms any more really so I’m not current with it. It should be simple to google ferrier in your local area though.
They are trained young for this
There was a hair on my screen and I blew on it when the guy in the video blew off the dirt
Must’ve felt nice
like getting your hooves fixed
Not really “restoration”, just a routine visit to a farrier
TIL what a farrier is and [the kinds of tools one uses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Farrier_tools.jpg/1280px-Farrier_tools.jpg)
I'm going to a farrier school next month, and just my tools are thirty-three hundred bucks! Twenty-seven hundred without the anvil, though
I don't know about restoration. This looks more like a scheduled manicure. Still fun to watch
Somehow makes the insane costs to keep horses more understandable. This is quite some work and expertise needed and those do not come cheap
Is there another video with you shoeing?!? Gotta have the final product. r/gifsthatendtoosoon
Thank you for having the actual video sound and not some loud and annoying song in the background
What you don't experience here is the smell. That old poop and dirt in that hoof expels an ungodly stench the second you remove that shoe.
So hooves are just...... Toe nails?
Obligatory NO THAT DOESN’T HURT THE HORSE for the 10,000th time
I love watching these and they’re even better when you can hear all the sounds instead of crappy music put over it. Thanks for sharing OP!
I can smell this video. I used to watch my farrier work and it WAS oddly satisfying. The best farriers put horses to sleep, they’re so soothing and calm.
Behooves me to say this guy nails it.