Just a quick shout out to everyone for your amazing comments on my previous post. I don't think I realized just how many of you do your own trimming.
It's not a very common thing here at all, despite there being no reliable farrier service available for a couple of years now. We were lucky for many years to have an excellent, reasonably priced farrier living locally, so most of us happily paid him and didn't think too much about it! (He got his license right when I leased my first horse at 11 years old, so there was no way I was 'firing' him after 25 years of trimming my horses!) He used to bug me to just get on with it and trim them myself and just call him if I had a problem...but I was like "You're awesome and I cannot live without you! Plus you only cost $40 to visit" so...yeah, missed learning opportunities there :)
Then I moved south, to the land of all the top class horsey professionals one could wish for. Three years later, by the time I moved back home, Best Farrier had retired to somewhere warmer and drier. So, so sad.
Long story short, I'm very grateful for your willingness to share your experience and resources...I feel far less alone now, and very encouraged.
I just submitted my order for tools (including a quality pair of nippers, thanks for the pro tips!), and I'm actually really excited to do this!
I trim Spud myself - I do have the farrier check him over and trim if needed 1-2x a year tho just to make sure we are still on the right track.
ReplyDeleteYou can do it!
ReplyDeleteIt's empowering!
ReplyDeleteHey, check out my blog today, there's a photo where my horse is doing an awesome Welsh impersonation! Seriously he could be a Welsh B. LOVE Welsh ponies!
ReplyDelete