How to Trim Your Own Horse
This is intended as a guide for those who want to trim their own horse. It contains sufficient information to trim most any horse, except those suffering from the most severe congenital defects. While it is our contention that most horses are better off left untrimmed, some people may, for various reasons, feel that their horses need to be trimmed. It is for these people that this manual is intended. A basic understanding of the parts of the hoof and how they function is assumed. Those lacking that should consult our video, "Understanding the Hoof--From the Horse's Perspective."
The guidelines presented are adequate for most horses. Keep in mind, though, that each horse is an individual, and general guidelines often must be adjusted to some degree for each individual horse. The best way to do that is to trim, pay attention to how the hooves react, and then make slight adjustments in your trimming method until you find the right method for your particular horse. And then you must also be open to changing that method as the hooves themselves change. Never blindly follow what worked last year if it's not working this year...something has changed. I developed these guidelines over years of trying different things and seeing the results. Most of all, they will minimize harm.
These guidelines are only intended for horses who have 24-hour turnout in some sort of natural environment with room to roam.
Why Self Trim?
But why would anyone want to trim their own horse? There are several good reasons. First of all, most horses are overtrimmed; that is, they are trimmed too often and too short. The usual recommendation of trimming every four, six, or eight weeks, as recommended by most farriers and natural hoof trimmers, is, for the great majority of horses, overtrimming. Horses usually do not need to be trimmed that often, but if you contract with a farrier or natural hoof trimmer for trimming services, you will be pressured to have your horse trimmed often. In fact, many will refuse to take you on as a customer if you don't follow their recommended trimming schedule. And that leads to another reason to trim your own horse--you are independent of farriers and natural hoof trimmers, which is important to some people because of bad experiences. Another reason is that you will avoid having your horse's feet forced into a pattern. Many farriers and trimmers have a certain interpretation of how a hoof should look, how it should be trimmed, and they apply that pattern to practically every horse they work on. Yet another reason is that trimming your horse can improve the relationship between you and your horse--it's another thing you do together. Another reason is that you can save money. If you have just one horse, that may not seem like much, but if you have several, the farrier/trimmer bills can really mount up to a lot of money. Finally, I think the most important reason to trim your own horse is that it allows you to be in control...YOU are the one who makes the decisions regarding the trimming.
Don't think you can't trim your horse. Anyone who is physically able to ride a horse should also be physically able to trim it. And, contrary to the impression you may have gotten from the various branches of the hoof care industry, hoof trimming is NOT rocket science. It is not complicated. It is actually just simple common sense. So...if you have the desire, there is no reason why you can't do it.
What You Need
To trim your horse, you will need some basic tools and equipment. The first one, you probably already have--a hoof pick. It doesn't matter what kind you have, as long as it will scrape the dirt out of the hooves, it will work. I use one which was made from an old horseshoe.
The second thing you need is nippers. They don't have to be expensive. Just get basic nippers. The ones with longer handles will give you more leverage if you don't have a lot of strength in your hands. If you invest in good nippers and take care of them, they should last a lifetime.
You will need a good rasp with handle. Don't skimp here to save a few dollars; a cheap rasp will cause you to have to do a lot more work and will lengthen the time it takes to trim. Go ahead and buy a good rasp. If you keep it out of the weather so it doesn't rust, it should be good for many trimmings. When you notice it getting dull, replace it. Handles come in either wood or plastic and screw onto the end of the rasp. I prefer the wood handles, but some people like the plastic ones better. Just use whatever fits your hand the best.
You might want to consider a pair of gloves. The rasp will be sharp, and no matter how careful you are, you might scrape your fingers. A pair of gloves will offer protection for your hands. There are many types of gloves that work well. Gardening gloves, work gloves...there are a lot of choices. Get a pair that offers protection yet is not bulky, so that you will still be able to feel what you're doing.
The biggest investment is the hoof stand and cradle. This is an absolute necessity. You need a stand to pull the hoof forward on, and you need a cradle to rest the rear hooves in. I recommend the one sold by NC Tool Company in Pleasant Garden, North Carolina. Be sure you tell them you also want the hoof cradle. It is sold separately but is essential. NC Tool will take a credit card order and ship it to you. There are other types of stands on the market. One that is becoming popular is the Hoofjack. It is plastic and some people prefer it to the metal type sold by NC Tool. It really doesn't matter what kind you have as long as you are comfortable with it and it fills your need.
What Is Trimming?
Now that you have the desire and the tools, you're ready to trim. But...before we get to the actual trimming, let's think a minute about what trimming actually is. The hoof care industry seems to think that horses' hooves are out of control--if left alone, they would just grow and grow until reaching ridiculous proportions. To them, trimming represents a necessity to keep those wildly growing hooves from curling up and growing to the moon. But actually, a horse is a naturally occurring animal, just like a deer, bear, raccoon, cow, pig, or whatever. The hooves are not out of control.
The horse is not a manmade thing; it is a naturally occurring animal. As such, the horse was designed with hooves that were meant to be adaptable and self-maintaining; that is, the horse was designed to survive in a variety of environments and lifestyles with no hoof trimming. The fact that horses are naturally found in and thrive in a wide variety of environments tells us that the hooves are adaptable. Whatever situation the hooves find themselves in, and however they get there, whether by trimming, a certain use, or a certain lifestyle and environment, the hooves immediately sense the needs of the horse and begin adapting. They don't just grow wildly out of control. What happens in hoof growth is an intelligent, natural process; it is the horse's body sensing what the hooves need to be like and responding to that need. (Sometimes the environment of the horse can be so detrimental that Nature is overwhelmed. If that's the case with your horse, then the hooves are the last thing you need to be concerned about....please consult our book, "Maintaining a Natural Horse" for more discussion about this.)
If you understand this, you can see that trimming represents throwing a monkey wrench into what Nature is trying to provide in that horse's hooves. Nature is trying to do something with those hooves, trying to adapt them and provide what that individual horse in that individual environment needs. Trimming comes along and alters that. It removes and reshapes what Nature is trying to do to the hooves. Thus trimming, even under the best of circumstances, represents an intervention...in the most basic sense, it is telling Nature that she doesn't know what she is doing, that we know better than Nature. Of course, if that's your belief, and unfortunately it is the belief of many people in our pseudo-"scientific" age, then get out the nippers and rasp and nip and rasp away and pay no attention to the following guidelines. But if even a small part of you can consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, in spite of our "science" and our egos, there might be something we don't understand, then approach trimming with caution. In the next section, we'll learn how to do that.
Approaching Trimming With Caution
The first step in approaching trimming with caution is to realize a very important fact--there is no magic trim. There is no pattern or step-by-step method of hoof trimming. There are no magic measurements to take and no magic measurements to trim hooves to. There is no picture or model that you should try to force your horse's hooves to conform to. There are no secret magic formulas, despite the fact that some people have made quite a name for themselves in the commercial hoof care world by saying that there are and that they have discovered them. A hoof is trimmed by reading what that hoof is saying, by reading what Nature wants that hoof to be like, and when trimming, being careful not to get in the way. Now of course that statement doesn't tell you how to trim, but it does tell you a lot about how NOT to trim...and knowing what not to do is far more important in hoof trimming than knowing what to do, because if you avoid doing the wrong things, you will avoid causing damage. If all you do is avoid doing the wrong things in trimming, you may not be doing the best possible job, but you will not do anything wrong and will not cause harm. That's something worth thinking about for a few minutes. Your job in trimming is to stay out of the way of what Nature is trying to do...not help Nature along, not improve on Nature, not show Nature how it should be done....but simply stay out of the way. In my book, "Maintaining a Natural Horse," I talk about how hooves can become deformed by improper trimming; that is, trimming that gets in the way of what Nature is trying to do. This is important to realize, because although there is a lot of talk today about how shoes can deform hooves, there's not a lot of talk about the fact that "barefoot" or "natural" trimming can also deform hooves just as quickly and severely as shoes.
So, the first step in trimming your horse is to discontinue any hoof maintenance at all for a period of time and just watch and see what Nature tries to do with the hooves. If the horse has shoes, that means pulling the shoes...if the horse is being trimmed, even by a so-called natural hoof trimmer or barefoot trimmer, that means discontinuing the trimming. Then just leave the hooves alone for a while. How long is hard to prescribe, since it will vary with each horse and with the condition of the hooves when you start, but in general, I would say six to nine months should be sufficient for most horses. During this time, it is a good idea to examine the hooves every month or so and make notes on what is happening. It's useful to take measurements; for example, hoof width at the widest part of the hoof (should be near where the bars end) and the distance from the tip of the frog to the tip of the toe. Write these down, along with your general impressions of what is happening: Are there cracks or chips? If so, where? Has a big piece broken out? What's going on in the heel area? Is one side of the hoof getting longer than the other side? Is one front hoof getting bigger than the other front hoof? Is one rear hoof getting bigger than the other? Is one hoof getting out of round, with one side of the hoof developing more mass than the other side? Is there a place that seems to get more wear than other places? Whatever you notice, make a note of it, every month. At the end of six or nine months, you should have seen changes taking place; you can go back over your notes to realize the full extent of those changes. Most likely what those changes represent is Nature beginning the process of shedding the hoof deformity caused by the shoes and/or previous trimming and beginning the process of giving the horse the hooves it actually needs, not the hooves that farrier science, veterinary science, or natural hoof care says it needs. Notice here that I said "be ginning" the process....the process of returning the hooves back to what Nature knows the horse needs takes a lot longer than six or nine months. However, in six or nine months, you will begin to get the idea of where Nature wants the hooves.
When you examine the hooves every month and note what you observe, it is important to examine EACH hoof and write down what you see for each hoof. There are four hooves on your horse, and each one is different and subjected to different stresses. You need to come to know each individual hoof for the individual it is. This will become very important when you actually start trimming.
Please don't think you can skip this step of letting the hooves alone for a period of months and observing what you see. It will not harm the horse, and what you learn during that period of observing the hooves will prove invaluable...and I think you'll be surprised at what happens, or rather, what doesn't happen!
Now let's go back to the issue of taking measurements. There are various methods of measuring hooves with the aim of detecting hoof deformity. Sometimes this process is called "hoof mapping." It just means measuring from certain landmarks on the hoof to other landmarks and comparing what you get with certain standards. Anything lying outside any particular standard will be termed "hoof deformity" or "hoof pathology" by whoever promotes and/or follows that particular standard. Whether it represents actual hoof "pathology" that is harmful to the horse is another matter, though. Hoof measurements and mapping can be useful for determining where your horse's hooves are at any particular point in time and seeing how they may be changing, and thus they can be helpful. However, their usefulness is limited. The problem is that if your horse's hooves fall outside of the standards....well, what do you do then? And does that mean that your horse is on the road to lameness? Do you take your nippers and rasp and MAKE the hooves conform to the standards? Well, remembering how we said that there is no standard or pattern to which horses' hooves must conform, can you consider the possibility that your horse may not NEED hooves that conform to some standard? Can you consider the possibility that Nature may know best, and that Nature may know that that particular horse needs hooves that are different? Here is just where you shouldn't get too caught up in "studies" or what so-called experts say about what they have "discovered" about hooves. Hooves that don't conform to a certain standard, even if that standard is all the rage now, may not represent deformity for that horse, because they may be providing what that individual horse needs. They may look deformed compared to the standards, but yet at the same time may provide exactly what the horse needs. Your horse may need hooves that do NOT conform to the standards if they are to be allowed to function properly. Well, anyway...if you don't believe me and do try to use your nippers and rasp to remake your horse's hooves according to the standard, you'll soon find that it's impossible, for you simply can't cut that much off unless you want a lot of blood and exposed live tissue...and a horse that can't stand up!
Use any measurements or hoof mapping only as a tool to help you discover how your horse's hooves are changing, but don't think your horse necessarily must or should have hooves that conform to the standards. Measurements and hoof mapping are a reflection of what's happened in the past, and we can't look to the future if we are buried in the past. Their usefulness is limited to helping you keep track of what's going on with the hooves...and that's all.
Finally, if you want to approach trimming with caution, you absolutely MUST get over your or anyone else's preconceived notions of how a hoof should look, and you must quit comparing your horse's hooves to mustang hooves or any other pictures you might see in a farrier or trimming book or horse magazine. There is no certain way a hoof should look, there is only a way a hoof should FUNCTION. And function cannot always be predicted by looks. Pictures of wild mustang feet are interesting to see, and we can learn much from them, but please don't think your horse's hooves should look like that, and above all, don't think they will ever look like that. Also forget the pictures you see in the teaser stories that are trying to get you to buy a certain book or video or attend a certain seminar...the pictures that basically say, "Well, this horse, when it had hooves that looked like this picture was so lame that it couldn't walk, but now that the hooves look like this other picture, the owner is able to go on week-long trail rides." Forget all the promotional stuff...and realize that most promotional stuff is not presented as promotional stuff! Finally, get over any notion that you may have which says that cracks, chips, and broken out places are abnormal. They are not abnormal, they are to be expected, they are the way a hoof naturally operates, and they are no reason to panic. The horse is an animal, and the hooves need not look like the horse just came out of a pedicure salon.
Trust that Nature has some sense and consider the possibility that what's there may be there for a reason that the farrier science people and even the natural hoof care people don't understand.
Beginning to Trim
The following should be interpreted for what it is--guidelines. It represents, in general, a way to trim that will minimize harm. Feel free to modify any part based on your experience with each particular horse.
OK, now we have some understanding of what trimming is and how we should approach it, and after our six to nine month observation period with no hoof maintenance, we also have some idea of how Nature wants our horse's hooves to be. Now we're ready to trim if we so desire. The first step is to pick the hoof up and, using the hoof pick, remove all dirt and whatever else might be packed in underneath the hoof. Then we want to observe what we see and think about the environment this particular horse lives in. The disadvantage when trimming is that you know what the situation is while you hold up the hoof, while the hoof is unloaded, but you do not know what the situation is when the hoof is loaded. It really doesn't matter what the situation is when the hoof is unloaded, for when the hoof does its work, it is loaded. Look at the wall length that extends below the surface of the sole and imagine the environment, and realize that when the hoof hits the ground, it will be loaded by hundreds of pounds of pressure. Then imagine what all that pressure will do. How will things change? How much hoof wall will sink into the ground? Let's say you have an excess one-quarter inch of wall length and your horse lives in a very soft, grassy area...is that excess one-quarter inch really a problem, or will it sink into the ground? If it will sink into the ground, it ain't a problem, and what's not a problem doesn't need to be trimmed off. Or maybe your horse doesn't really have any excess length at all; maybe it looks like the hoof wall has just mashed underneath to form what might look some sort of a shoe-like structure, especially in the toe area. If you cut this off, you will find underneath what looks like live tissue; it will be sort of white and shiny looking. It's not actually live tissue, but Nature obviously doesn't want it exposed. The mashed up hoof wall underneath which has hardened into a sort of callus is a protection and should be left there. Another thing to examine is the heel area. Of course we hear from natural trimmers and farriers alike that the heel should be flat and level all the way through the quarters back to the heel and that the heels should extend to the back of the frog. But...although that was observed in some natural horses living on extremely hard and rough terrain, on natural horses living in softer terrain, there was no smooth, flat, and level surface continuing through the quarters to the heel, and the ground surface of the heel did not extend back to the frog buttress. A sort of heel "caulk" had formed, which means a projection at the heel buttress, and it became more pronounced as the terrain was softer. Also, the softer the terrain, the farther forward of the back of the frog did this projection form. So, unless your horse lives in extremely hard terrain, a flat heel surface extending all the way to the back of the frog is not natural and may not be advisable to force. Another thing to be careful of is not to think the wall height must be level with the sole. Natural horses who live in extremely rough and hard terrain may naturally wear their walls down to sole level, but horses who live in softer terrain will have wall length extending beyond sole level. This is because some wall length will sink into the environment or flare upward, and the effect when loaded will still be that the sole bears weight. These are just a few points to keep in mind when you initially look at the hoof before trimming.
After removing all dirt with the hoof pick, notice the sole. In most areas of the United States, you don't need to worry about the sole, just notice the sole level and leave it alone. In areas where there is extreme dryness, you might get clumps of accumulated dead sole underneath. I generally do not advocate removing those, as they are the hoof's protection from the harsh environment, but if you are going to do any wall trimming, you might have to remove some of that because you can't have the clumps of dead sole sticking up higher than the wall. This is best removed with the nippers, being very careful not to take off any more than you absolutely have to, remembering that it's there for a purpose--to protect against the harsh environment. (If you are tempted to take off a lot of this dead, clumped sole so that you can trim the wall length, you might want to consider whether you are trimming too much wall.) Now take the smooth side of the rasp and very lightly rasp sideways along the front third of the hoof. The goal here is not to take off any appreciable amount of hoof material, just to clean things up so that you can locate the white line. Rasp off no more than you have to to recognize the white line. (A note here--if the horse has the mashed hoof wall in the toe area, as described earlier, do not rasp this off until you get to white, shiny tissue. Just skip this step; we'll talk later about what to do in this case.) After you have found the white line, look forward to find the area where the pigmentation of the outer hoof wall begins. On a dark hooved horse, this will be easy to find; it is where the color of the hoof wall changes from lighter to darker. On a light hooved horse, it is harder to recognize. Sometimes you can see an area where the hoof wall seems to become a little more pigmented, but on some horses you won't see any difference at all. Make a mental note of where this area is, for it will mark the limit of rasping the flare when you pull the hoof forward.
The first actual trimming action is to rasp off some of the flare. Place the hoof stand in the center of the horse's breast forward of the horse and pull the hoof forward, placing it on the hoof stand. Be sure and line the hoof stand up with the center of the breast, rather than lining it up with the leg. It should be at a distance from the horse so that the horse can stand comfortably with its hoof on the stand. This will vary from horse to horse, but start with a distance of about three feet in front of the horse and adjust the position until the horse can stand comfortably and the hoof is steady. Sight down the hoof. Notice the angle of the hoof as it grows for the first inch and a half from the coronary band. This, in general, is the angle of the hoof with no flare. Anything at a steeper angle represents flare. Rasp downward, starting at the toe area, holding the rasp at the same angle as the hoof angle as it comes out of the coronary band, and begin rasping out the flare. If there is a lot of flare, you can rasp until you reach the non-pigmented portion of the hoof wall. Then you should stop. If flare still remains, you will have to remove it gradually at subsequent trimmings, if possible. Follow this same procedure all around the toe area until you reach the quarters. When you reach the quarters, if the hoof is approximately symmetrical, you can generally rasp until the hoof is at the same angle all the way down; that is, you can rasp out flare without worrying about invading the non-pigmented area of hoof wall. Just stop when you reach the white line area. (The treatment of an asymmetrical hoof at the quarters will be described later.) Continue rasping off flare until you have rasped around the entire hoof, being sure to stop in the toe area when you reach non-pigmented hoof wall. If you have a light hooved horse, you might have to estimate where this area is. In this case, stop rasping about one eighth of an inch before the white line. You may have to take the hoof off the stand a time or two and look underneath to remind yourself exactly where the white line is. But what if the horse, instead of straight down wall length, has the area of mashed out wall in the toe area acting as sort of a shoe-like structure, as was described earlier? You will have to be careful, because you have no idea where to stop. You will have to watch as you rasp and see if you can tell when you get into nonpigmented hoof wall. It will be an estimate, but err on the side of caution. After all, a little extra flare won't hurt.
(Let's stop here for a minute and consider something. I know there are trimming methods out there that advise rasping out flare all the way into the white line. However, that is unnecessary and can lead to weakening of the hoof structure. I also know that there is a line of thought about "hoof tearing" from the angular pressure of the flare before breakover, and some even say that causes soreness. But, I take the "hoof tearing" hypothesis with a grain of salt. It's just another one of those things that got started and repeated until it became like folklore. The wild horses which I observed who live at the beach have a tremendous amount of flare at the toe. They are not sore from tearing and do not seem to experience "pain with every step" like you hear about at some of the natural trimming/hoof boot promotion clinics.)
Some horses will have asymmetrical hooves. That means that the hoof on one side of the frog is wider than the hoof on the other side. This sometimes results from the horse bearing significantly more weight on one side of the hoof than on the other side. The side which bears the most weight will get bigger and have more mass, because the hoof responds like a muscle...muscles that receive more work and stress get bigger. Bearing significantly more weight on one side of the hoof is not a hoof problem. It is a result of the unique conformation, body build, and way of moving of that horse. Thus, it is not something you can correct by trimming. Yes, you can trim the hoof until it looks symmetrical, but you still will not change the way the horse bears weight. So, since you can't change it, don't fight it. (This is the same principle involved when one front hoof is larger than the other hoof.) Nature has given this horse more hoof mass on the side that bears more weight because that side has to do more work. When rasping out the flare, respect that. In other words, don't rasp out all of what may appear to be flare, because if you do, not only will you most likely rasp straight through the white line and into the sole, you'll also remove what Nature has tried to provide. In such a case, stop rasping out flare slightly before you reach the white line; in other words, don't invade the white line. The hoof will still look asymmetrical and appear to have flare, but don't worry about it.
Now that we have some of the flare rasped off from the top, we're ready to begin trimming from the bottom. Take the hoof off the stand and either put it between your knees or kneel down and place it in your lap. Before we cut anything off, we need to think about excess wall length. To some, any hoof wall that extends beyond sole level is excess, and they advocate removing it. However, remember that you are seeing an unloaded hoof not in contact with the terrain. When the hoof is loaded, especially in softer terrain, you can have wall length in excess of sole level and still have the sole loaded. In other words some of that excess wall length will sink into the terrain, and much of the time the excess length will flare out, so that the effect will be to load the sole, although viewing the unloaded hoof does not show that. So, some excess wall length is not only not harmful, it is perfectly normal, indeed it is what the hoof needs in most terrains. At this point we must go with only general guidelines, but they are consistent with our overriding philosophy of trimming not to get in the way of Nature. So, in the terrain that most people will encounter, the terrain that comprises most of the continental United States, an excess wall length of between one eighth and one quarter of an inch is not a problem and doesn't need to be removed. If you are in an extremely soft and sandy area, a quarter inch or even more may not cause a problem. If your horse has wall length that is out of those bounds, you can take the rasp and remove some excess length, never under any circumstances getting closer than one eighth of an inch to sole level. What works best for your particular horse will be found by experience.
The maintenance of at least one eighth of an inch clearance to sole level is important. Never invade that clearance while trimming. Folklore has it that mustangs have no excess wall length extending beyond sole level, and especially those of you who live in extremely hard and rugged terrain might be tempted to remove any excess wall down to sole level. However, keep in mind two things: First, mustangs are not the only wild horses; other wild horses, who maintain soundness throughout their lifespans, have hoof wall extending below sole level. And secondly, mustang hoof walls were reduced to sole level by Nature herself, not by a rasp. If you live in hard, rugged terrain and if your horse's wall lengths are not reduced on their own to sole level, don't take it upon yourself to do it with a rasp. Second, you might encounter a situation, especially in the quarters, where the wall of one quarter is already at or near sole level, while the wall of the opposite quarter is higher. In that case, since Nature reduced one quarter to sole level, through either general wear or breaking off, you might be tempted to help her out a little and go ahead and reduce the other side...and additionally reasoning that the ground surface of the hoof should be level, and if one side is already at sole level, the only way it can be leveled is to reduce the other side also to sole level. But here is where reading each hoof, and what Nature is trying to tell you, is essential, and where we will let Nature override our preconceived, artificial notions of hoof "balance." I never reduce anything to sole level, not even in the name of "balance." Don't let "balance" be your ultimate goal when trimming. You can reduce the higher quarter to within one eighth of an inch of sole level, but no more.
No horse who wasn't sore before a trim should be sore after a trim. If it is, it was trimmed too close.
Another instance where we want to let Nature override our artificial notions of balance is where we see, at any two opposite corresponding points of the hoof, dramatically different wall lengths. For example, from the 2 o'clock position to the 4 o'clock position, we have three quarters of an inch of length but from the 10 o'clock position to the 8 o'clock position, only one eighth of an inch (as measured from sole level). Obviously Nature wants one side to be longer, and we need to respect that. Here I use another general rule, not in any way implying this is a "scientific" formula; rather, it's just a general rule to help avoid doing harm: If one side is at least twice the length of the corresponding other side, I will maintain approximately half of the differential. In the example above, three quarters is more than twice one eighth, and the differential is five eighths. So, I would just round the differential down to 4 eighths, half of which is 2 eighths. So, I would not trim the low side at all, since it is already at our limit of one eighth from sole level, but bring the higher side down to three eighths. Now you have one side which is one eighth and one side which is three eighths, with the differential being 2 eighths. This method also works if you need to shorten the lower side...just maintain half the differential. You have shortened the longer side some in relation to the lower side, but you have still maintained some semblance of what Nature was trying to do. Keep in mind here that this guideline is not a hard and fast rule; you don't have to be so precise as to need a calculator and steel rule. This is just a general guideline, which will keep you from doing harm. Every horse will be different, and that will only become apparent through many trimmings. There is an exception to this guideline. If one part has broken off either to sole level or beyond, I will usually bring the opposite part down to one eighth of an inch above sole level regardless of how long it may be. The above guidelines are suggested only as a conceptual method to give a general idea of what to do...obviously, when I trim a horse, I don't measure and make calculations, I just eyeball it.
Finally, related to wall length, we need to consider what to do if the horse, instead of straight down wall length, has the area of mashed out wall in the toe area acting as sort of a shoe-like structure, as was described earlier. In this case, I generally do nothing, as I have found through experience that this is best. If it is wildly out of level, on the order of one side being twice as thick as the other side, I might rasp down the thicker side a little, but I do it cautiously, for I don't want to get to nice, shiny, live-looking tissue. That area is there for a purpose, because Nature has sensed that this horse needs some extra protection, so it doesn't make sense to trim it off. If you do, you chance making the horse sore. So, it might be best just to leave it alone. Although it's not what we expect to see, it does not represent a "pathology" that has to be removed.
So...back to trimming. We're going to do this in two steps. The first step is leveling the hoof as much as practical, while the second step is reducing excess wall length if necessary. It may seem like a waste of time to do this in two separate steps, but it lessens the chances of making mistakes. Remember, you can always go back and take more off, but you can't add back what you have rasped off. As you gain more experience, you may be able to do it all in one step, but don't rush this. At any rate, using the smooth side of the rasp, rasp sideways until the quarter area (represented by the area in the neighborhood of the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions) is level from side to side, paying attention to the limitations described above. Take off no more material than is necessary to get it level. Remember that leveling is accomplished by bringing higher material down to the level of lower material, not by lowering everything. Don't get too picky here...you don't need a carpenter's level to do this...it's not that critical....just get it level by eyeballing it.
Now go to the toe area and, with the smooth side of the rasp, level this area from side to side, subject to the limitations described above for uneven wall lengths and sole clearance. There is another limitation when leveling the toe area that is vitally important--keep the toe area just slightly higher than the quarters; that is, don't take so much off the toe area that the quarters are loaded.
Now for the heels...keep in mind that only on wild horses in the most severe terrain were flat, level heels observed that extended back to the frog buttress. Horses in other terrains had heels with projections, or caulks, that were ahead of the frog buttress. When trimming domestic horses living in most areas of the United States, you need to keep that in mind. Under no circumstances should you reduce the wall to sole level at the back of the heel. Always leave at least one eighth of an inch of wall above sole level...in softer terrains, there can be more. (If Nature herself has reduced wall length to sole level at the heels, don't worry about it, and don't get sucked in by the thing about "this horse won't grow heels.") If your horse has developed the heel projections as described earlier, trimming will remove them. There is no way to rasp over the heels and leave those projections. That is one of the compromises of trimming, and if you decide to trim the heels, it is just something you will have to live with. The hoof will begin healing and recovery as soon as you finish trimming.
Most horses you will encounter will have one heel at least slightly higher than the other heel. They can be leveled, which is done by bringing the higher heel down to the level of the lower heel, provided that you do not get any closer than one eighth of an inch to the sole level. It is sometimes the case that the sole on the higher heel side will have dropped, in which case you cannot completely level the heels; you must stop when you reach one eighth of an inch above sole level, whether or not the heels are level. The same general guidelines apply as described above when one heel wall length is more than twice the length of the other; maintain half of the differential. If this unequal heel length was caused by improper shoeing and/or trimming in the past, there is a chance that it will self-correct if given time. But if it doesn't, don't force it. Also, the same limitation regarding quarter height that applied to the toe also applies to the heel area--keep the heels just slightly higher than the quarters.
A word of caution here in regard to keeping the toe and heels slightly above the level of the quarters. This is more important than leveling the toe area or the heel area. In other words, don't bring the heels or toe down so much in the leveling process that you then have to go back and lower the quarters below the one eighth sole clearance in order to have the quarters lower. Pay attention to the level of the quarters as you level the toe and heels so that the quarters remain lower.
If there is no excess wall length at the heels, I generally do nothing to the heels, even if they are not smooth, flat surfaces, and even if they are not level. Remember, only in the most extreme terrain, which most of you do not have, were wild horses observed with smooth, flat heel surfaces. A hoof does not have to and should not look like a machined surface after it is trimmed.
Now let's go back to excess wall length. In most terrains you need only be concerned if more than one quarter of an inch excess wall length remains all around the hoof. Much of the time you will find that, after you get everything leveled, there won't be any room to cut off excess length. But, assuming that you have leveled everything subject to the restrictions described above and are still left with excess wall length, you can reduce the walls. Here is where it can get tricky. If you had areas that you left higher during the leveling process, don't just go in now and level everything out in the name of reducing wall length. While reducing wall length, maintain the unevenness that Nature showed you she wanted in the hoof. There is no formula for this, it's just something you will have to estimate. Here's a good way; you might find a better way. Find the part on the hoof that's closest to the sole. Lower it to about one eighth of an inch above sole level. Then lower everything else the same amount you lowered this part. What you have done is lower the shortest part of the wall to the limit (one eighth of an inch) and then reduced everything else the same amount, the effect of which is to maintain the approximate relativity of wall heights you had before you reduced wall height in general. If in the leveling process you already reduced a spot to one eighth of an inch sole clearance, then you do not have any room to remove any excess wall length. Excess wall length is best removed with the smooth side of the rasp, rasping sideways. This will smooth out the ground surface of the hoof wall.
At this point, we have leveled the heels, quarters, and toe, separately, or at least leveled them as much as we can while still respecting what Nature is trying to do. We have also eliminated excess wall length, if there was any. If you did not have to remove any excess wall length, take the smooth side of the rasp and smooth everything in as best as you can. Smoothing everything in is not the same as removing wall length...lightly rasp sideways just enough to create a smooth surface. Note that "smooth" does not mean the same as "even" or "level." It is entirely possible that the underside sweep of the hoof surface, from the toe, through a quarter, and to a heel, will not all be one uniform level. If so, don't sweat it, and by no means invade the one eighth inch clearance from the sole just to get everything level. Remember that the goal of trimming is not to create a smooth, level surface on the ground surface of the hoof. If you don't have a smooth, level surface after you trim following these guidelines, then it is because Nature had developed an uneven surface outside the boundaries of the guidelines explained above for leveling uneven surfaces, and in the case of such unevenness, we must respect what Nature senses the horse needs. Keep in mind that there was no level surface before you began trimming, and it was that way for a reason, so don't worry about leaving it not level.
Now look at the bar area. Any bar material that projects above wall height should be removed, as well as bar material that is folded over. This can be done with the nippers. Be careful not to remove bar material significantly lower than the wall height, except in the case where you are removing folded over bar material. If bar is folded over and you need to remove it, be careful to just remove that which is folded over. If a bar is only slightly folded over, I just leave it alone. You do not want to expose white, shiny tissue in the bar area.
A note here about the sole. Some older horses and/or horses with chronic foot or other health problems will develop a sole that is not even. You will notice bumpy areas where sole sticks up. Leave those alone; removing them can make the horse sore. There is no reason to remove them, as they do not represent hoof pathology that you can do anything about. If your horse has these, you will have to take that into consideration when you are lowering the wall length--don't lower the wall below these bumpy areas of sole. On such a horse, it may be that the wall itself has broken off or flared out so that the wall level is above the bumpy sole areas. If that's the case, don't worry about it, for Nature has done that on her own, for a purpose. Nature doing it on some horses does not give us permission to do it on all horses.
As far as the frog is concerned, if there is dead frog hanging in a large flap that looks like it is about to fall off, it is acceptable to take the nippers and snip it off. Otherwise, leave the frog alone. Never take a knife and "shape" or "clean up" the frog.
The trimming job is just about complete. Only one step remains. Pull the hoof forward again on the hoof stand and take the smooth side of the rasp and round off the sharp edges of hoof wall. I find this is best done with the rasp held sideways, at about the angle you want the rounding to be. This will remove the edges and lessen the tendency of the wall to unnecessarily crack. This rounding should be done so that you have a fairly consistent and uniform arc around the toe area from approximately the 10 o'clock to the 2 o'clock position. The shape of the coronary band can be your guide...the shape you see at the coronary band should be approximately the arc you see around the hoof edges...approximately. The hoof is now trimmed.
Now let's step back a minute and see what we've done. We've removed all the flare that we can safely remove. We've leveled the ground surface of the hoof as much as possible while respecting the sole level and what Nature is trying to do to enable hoof function. We've removed as much excess wall length as we safely can. We've rounded the sharp edges of the hoof to lessen unnatural cracking and chipping.
Now a few thoughts about what we did NOT do. We did not try to make both front hooves or both rear hooves look like mirror images of one another. We did not try to make the toes point straight ahead. We did not try to change the horse's gait with trimming. We did not try to take a hoof which had more mass on one side of the frog and trim it down until the mass on both sides of the frog was equal. We did not "clean up" the sole or frog. We did not try to cure any disease by trimming. We did not try to adjust the pastern angle. We did not try to make the legs go straight down. We did not try to keep the heel bulbs off the ground. We did not take an angle gauge and trim the hoof to a certain angle. We did not try to make the hoof land evenly. In other words, we didn't try to re-engineer the horse through trimming. We merely tidied the hoof up a bit for cosmetic reasons. And, believe it or not, that's really all you can expect from trimming. You can ruin a horse by improper trimming, but you can't remake a horse by trimming.
Some may become alarmed here because it might seem like we have trimmed the hoof so that we might have three separate levels, one at the toe, one at the quarter, and one at the heel. In actual practice, though, I don't think that will be the result. Most horses are not going to grow hooves so out of whack that you will end up with a three-part ground surface by following these guidelines.
Let's talk about a few options in trimming. In the step of bringing the hoof forward and rasping off flare, if your horse has a lot of flare, you can make your job easier by putting the hoof between your knees and, using the nippers, making vertical snips to clip the flare off to the pigmentation line. Then you can put the hoof back on the hoof stand and smooth it out and make it even using the rasp. However, this does take some practice, as it's easy to let the nippers get out of control and cut too far back, so if you're a beginner, it might be better to just invest the extra time and work to do it safely with the rasp.
Another option is a slight toe bevel. This is indicated if your horse has so much flare at the toe that you can't get it all rasped out. To make a toe bevel, hold the hoof between your knees and use the smooth side of the rasp. Hold the rasp at a 5 to 10 degree angle to the hoof at the toe, and rasp forward a few strokes, being careful to rasp only ahead of the white line, never into the sole itself. This toe bevel should be only in the area between approximately the 11 o'clock and 1 o'clock positions of the toe. The toe bevel will serve several functions. First, it will help breakover in horses with extended toes and lots of flare, and second, it will help avoid unnatural cracks in the tip of the toe area sometimes seen in such horses. It is also good to put a toe bevel on a hoof with more than a slight crack in the centerline of the toe. That will help take some pressure off the crack area...but don't expect it to be a magic cure-all.
What do you do if your horse has unnaturally high heels which were forced high over time by improper trimming and/or shoeing? You might be tempted to think, "High heels are bad," and then jump in and lower them. But if you do that, you will be cutting into live sole at the heels, and remember, we said never do that. There is no doubt that high heels are in fact bad, but consider that if your horse has heels which have been forced high, it happened over a long time, and it's going to take a long time for them to come back to normal. That is something which you simply can't accomplish with nippers and a rasp; it is something that hopefully Nature will accomplish over time. You see, as the heels got high, the sole level also dropped. It wasn't just the wall getting long, but the entire heel structure sank down. Before the heels can be safely lowered, the sole will have to be allowed to recede. As the sole recedes, you can gradually, over time, lower the heels, never at any time lowering the wall length to less than one eighth of an inch above sole level. On some horses, the heels will come back to normal soon; but unfortunately, on many horses, it will be a slow process, and it may never happen. This points out the danger of letting your horse's heels be forced high--it may turn out to be permanent, no matter what you do.
Sometimes you will encounter a horse that has a hoof which has rolled under wall on one side. It's not just excess wall length that rolls under, but the whole side of the hoof seems to gradually curl under. The opposite side will usually be more or less normal, maybe even wider and beefier than the rolled under side. The rolled under side will usually be lower than the other side, and you may be tempted to lower the normal side, thinking that if you get everything level and "balanced," you can "correct" the problem and the rolling under of that side of the hoof capsule will stop. However, the chances of you changing anything are slim, and you usually will get better results if you just allow the normal side to stay a little higher and beefier and not worry about the rolled under side. That rolled under area is nothing to get worked up about, although many in the hoof care industry would go to great lengths (at your expense) to try to correct it, and many would even advise some shoe or epoxy to "restore balance." This is one of those cases where you will just have to ignore conventional wisdom and let the horse go its own way. Sure, it would be better if it were not there, but it is there and most likely will stay there no matter what you do...so don't waste your time and effort, and most of all, don't chance making things worse!
What do you do if you have a horse with a club foot? Simply follow the guidelines just like you would with a non-club foot. You can't change a club foot by trimming or shoeing; it is a function of the bone and muscle structure of the horse. It is not a hoof problem; what you see in the hoof is a result of something higher up.
Some horses have outer hoof walls that seem brittle and prone to chipping off. This upsets some people, as it looks ragged. It's usually nothing to worry about from any perspective other than cosmetics, but if it bothers you, you can help lessen it by taking the rasp every couple of weeks and rounding off the edges of the hoof wall. That won't stop it, but it may help lessen it.
Final Thoughts
Trimming can be dangerous, because when you trim, you remove the natural mechanisms Nature uses to maintain the hoof--splitting, cracking, chipping, breaking off, flaring up, etc. All these natural mechanisms depend on accumulation of excess length and flare. So when you trim, you have to be careful, because you can end up with a hoof completely divorced from what Nature knows that horse needs. Especially over time, you can force things, like high heels. That's why it's vitally important to remember how the hooves were after your six to nine month observation period, and if you notice things changing dramatically, consider if your trimming is what is causing the changes. For example, if you remove flare, you are destroying the process by which Nature would eventually get rid of excess hoof length. What this means will depend on the individual horse, and it's impossible to consider all possible variations. A safe thing to do is periodically quit trimming for a while, again six to nine months is resonable, and watch again and see what Nature tries to do...if it's something very different from what you were doing while trimming, then adjust the way you trim. As stated earlier, there is no pattern or method to trim by; you must adjust for each individual horse.
One thing you may experience is that if you take off flare, especially around near the quarters where the wall is thin, you will destablilize the wall by removing mass, with the result that the thin little flareless wall you leave there will soon break off. This is a compromise of trimming, but don't get too upset about it, because the flaring was Nature's way of getting rid of excess length, and if Nature had wanted all that length to remain, the hoof would not have flared. You may end up with something broken off beyond the point at which it would have eventually broken off had you not destabilized the wall, but that's just another compromise of trimming.
Another compromise is that if you remove flare, you are removing the mechanism by which Nature gets excess hoof wall out of the way (bending upward), and if you don't then trim enough excess length off, you are hindering natural hoof function for that particular horse. How do you know exactly how much excess length to trim off after you have removed the flare? Well, you can't know, you just have to make your best guess. Again, a period of letting the hooves grow for a while, untrimmed, can help remind you of what Nature is trying to do. Above all don't forget that trimming is a compromise, and that you will never be able to trim a horse without causing unnatural things to happen...just don't let them get out of hand.
Many of you will try to use this method, only to find there's nothing to be trimmed off using these guidelines, especially as far as excess wall length is concerned. That means that your horse is maintaining its feet on its own. It that's the case, don't feel as though you have to trim. If there's nothing to trim, there's nothing to trim. For many people who self-trim, their trimming consists of nothing more than taking off a little flare and rounding the edges for cosmetic reasons. If that's what you end up doing, then fine. There's no obligation to cut something off.
If in doubt, don't remove it. Watch and see what Nature tries to do with it. That will be your clue as to what you should do during the next trim.
Finally, remember that trimming is not a magic solution to hoof and lameness problems. Trimming cannot remake hooves into something that they are not, and trimming cannot remake a horse into something it's not.
