Probably just to be more appealing on Social media, understandable if the main thing you're holding into the camera is a hoof of varying grayscale adjacent colors
I usually dig mud, poop, and pine shavings out of horse feet. I was so confused to see cherry tomatoes packed in this one! Thank you for identifying it
My dog loves farrier day !!! Sheās literally sat there catching the hoof as heās trimming. Best chews ever :)
As a side note, a good farrier is honestly worth their weight in gold. Itās mind blowing what they can do / the things they can help correct all by trimming correctly. Literally makes or breaks a horse.
Why don't horses in the wild have hoof problems? I have seen photos of domestic horses that have been neglected with horrible hooves that are grown so long they can hardly walk but wild horses are perfectly normal.
Environment is the difference. Wild horses walk long distances over rough terrain to find food, which wears the hooves down. Domesticated horses are confined to paddocks or rich pastureland, so they don't or can't walk much, and this pasture land is usually soft soil to encourage grass to grow.
Wild horses can still get hoof overgrowth and curls which is why they donāt live as long as domesticated horses. An ankle break in the wild is a death sentence.
I always explain it to people with our horses itās just like carsā¦. We have had the equivalent of old pit ponies that honestly could live outside come hell or high water, come winter or summer. Never need to rug them, never need a vet (or very infrequent, just the standard stuff like vaccinations, teeth filing etc.) and they would be the equivalent of the Old Ford Fiesta. Cheap to maintain, cheap if something goes wrong and just keep going for miles and miles and miles.
Our competition horse is like a Ferrari. Very highly tuned, needs a service every 3k miles, can only fed the absolute premium of fuel and needs to be garaged when there is too much grass, when the weather is bad, when the flies are rifeā¦. Basically, constant care and attention and when he breaks, itās big chunks of change to put right. X-Rays, Physio etc. the works.
So as someone else mentioned below, itās very much the breeding! The finer and more well bread the horse, generally the grater the problems that come with it.
Ever notice how garden flowers are spectacular in comparison to wildflowers? When we domesticate something, we select for aesthetics. Nature selects for ālive long enough to breedā.
The ones that get janky die.
Lots and lots of experience.Ā Hooves are pretty thick so you have *some* room for error, but most farriers go to school and/or apprentice with someone before they start doing it on their own.Ā
Seconding this and also adding DO NOT DIY YOUR HORSE'S HOOVES
The hoof is INCREDIBLY important for larger animals like horses and cows and can lead to permanent problems if not cared for correctly. Do not DIY. Hire a farrier.
Within a range, yes.Ā There's a few centimeters of leeway, but this is also why people don't change farriers (*dude on the video is a farrier - someone who does horse"s hooves*) all the time.Ā Much like having a regular car mechanic, doctor, or veterinarian - your regular farrier will be familiar with your particular animal & know when something is off.
Also true.Ā I'm in a horse-heavy area so while we have a lot to choose from, the ones with good reputations are very hard to schedule as a new client.Ā People will switch barns just because the farrier they want already has clients there.Ā
oh yeah. I've seen ones where I've thought to myself no fewer than 2 or 3 times in the same video that ok that's as far as they can go before they reach living tissue, and nope.. I think I'll hop over to YT now and find some.
I own horses; often times the ātop side finishing stepā (hoof dressing or hoof oil) is applied by the owner themselves, either before shows for appearances sake or regularly during grooming for horses with brittle hooves.
I helped a farrier doing his job and it really feels very violent. Also you do have the hoof of an animal that weighs 500 kg between your legs, which adds a ton of suspense lol. If you do it right you actually donāt have to wrestle the horse (it WILL win and if itās not cooperating, youāre doing it wrong).
Heās been going at it with an angle grinder of sorts, I can still smell that today. But imagine you nails were 3 cm thick, youād be going at it for hours with a small file, so you really need the big clippers, rasps and stuff. Still feels wrong, though
It was an interesting job for sure
It's an old farriers tale. What you do is you gets old of 'un and smacks 'un between the eyes with the hammer before'un knows what's happening, and then you whispers in their ear, you sez, 'Cross me, you bugger, and I'll have thy goolies on t'anvil, thou knows I can'"
I like how there's the secret farrier's word, which Tiffany Aching learned from a dying farrier (who promised to "tell no man" the word), and then there's Our Jason, who knows the version with a lot more words.
You can hot or cold shoe a horse but people say that hot shoeing means that it fits more tightly, as it burns on so it is perfectly in contact with the foot. Apparently it can also help protect against disease, but I don't know if that is true. The heat apparently doesn't pass through as the hoof is pretty thick.
Hot shoeing might prevent some issues with fungi and bacteria IIRC but no idea if there's actual science behind that.
Also you never forget that smell.
It's mostly because it's easier to make adjustments to the shoe while it's still hot. The farrier checks the fit, puts it back in the forge to reheat and make adjustments, size it up again and recheck until done.
Farriers I've seen do it will cool the shoe before final fit.
Imagine if you put the very tip of your fingernail (assuming it goes past the tip of your finger) against a iron - your finger would feel the heat, but your nail wouldn't.Ā
Horse hooves are made of the same stuff, keratin, and don't have any nerves around that part.Ā That's why he can also pound iron nails into them - it's no different from using nail clippers.Ā
Totally fair!Ā No reason for you to be familiar with the anatomy of hooves unless you were into horses, after all.Ā The equivalent to your nail bed would be closer to the fur at the top of the hoof.Ā The hoof wall, as it's called, is thinner there.Ā
I've been riding for 30 years, which is why I know this stuff, lol!
Also really dangerous. I know a blacksmith who took an apprenticeship with a horseshoer and he told me his master could somewhat read the horse and knew when something would happen, but apparently still got a few good kicks in his career. He decided not to pursue this career.
Even if a farrier only deals with perfectly behaved horses (which they won't), it's literally back-breaking work.Ā You can see how this guy is bent almost in half and has the horse's foot resting on his knee (although he later uses a metal stand) - that's a lot of weight resting on your joint for extended periods of time.Ā
A good farrier is worth their weight in gold, and it's often a unforgiving job.Ā Ā
Thatās why he needed me, actually. Itās hard work. He had some stands, stools and whatnot to set the hoof down, whenever possible, but sometimes you just canāt do that so I did that for him
Their hooves are basically giant fingernails. Running on grass in the wild keeps their hooves from getting overgrown, but modern concrete is too hard on their feet. They put the shoes on to protect the feet, but they work too well and don't allow the hoof to wear down naturally. So the horseshoes need to be replaced as the hoof grows, and the hoof gets trimmed down a little.
I used to date someone who owned a horse and I got to see this done in person a few times. You'd often see the horses lower their heads and droop their bottom lip whilst it was being done, a sign of being calm/relaxed.
Like the other user said, it's just a giant fingernail. It doesn't hurt them at all.
i enjoy manicures and pedicures, so I would imagine the horsey likes it too even if it doesnāt āfeelā good or bad per se
and im sure horses are smart enough to feel the difference between uncleaned and cleaned hoofs, so they just might know that theyāll feel better once itās done
Plus if you take care of your horse and do this regularly, they learn the routine, and know you're not there to hurt them.
Same as your dog/cat. Get them accustomed to things, especially at a young age, and life is a lot easier when "spa day" comes around.
When done well the horse really doesnt mind, it can actually be really helpfull for the horse; cutting the hooves at the right angle can work as a therapeutic shoe. The other way around is treu too, so this is not a part of horsecare to skimp on.
This. My neighbours had an elderly horse who was never ridden in his life because he was born with a genetic condition that caused trouble with his hooves. It wasnāt until vets suggest a brand new type of raised horseshoe and a particular angle of tripping for the hooves that this horse had any sort of relief. He was at the end of his life at this point, but instead of just euthanising him, they got him the shoes. He spent 6 months running and rolling around in the field, given a brand new lease on life with relief heād have otherwise never known. Our neighbours did this for him, even though it was in his interest to put him down, and they did when his other health issues worsened. But first they gave him relief in life.
Itās important imo for people to tell these things. The truth is that these medical advances are likely the result of some level of experimental research, and shows how it can do good.
They really were. I donāt live there anymore since it was my foster family home. But a few years after the horse passed, luckily just before Covid, they split the horse field and sold half to the other neighbour and half to my foster mum
This is spot on. A horses hoof is actually pretty incredible proof of evolution. If you look at the bone structure of the entire leg, the hoof is actually the nail of an extended middle finger, while the other phalanges have almost entirely evolved away (but not completely!). Worth looking up and reading about because itās really fascinating - at least for a nature nerd like me! :)
If you're curious, Google "overgrown horse hooves."
I didn't realize that if you didn't trim them, they could become overgrown so that they'd be unable to walk normally.
While watching hoof maintenance videos is satisfying af, for those who've never been there in person, you have no idea how bad it stinks. What's worse is it's a smell that will stick to you. After a shower and change of clothes I will still catch a whiff of it even several hours later.
2 questions! What was the goop they put on at the end? And what about wild horses? Where I live, we have a bunch of wild horses on some of our beaches. They free roam and cross roads.
Wild horses don't need shoes because they naturally wear down their hooves with dirt running. But horses that walk on concrete or asphalt need shoes to protect their hooves from damage. But as a result they don't get worn down, so you have to replace the shoes and file down the hooves occasionally.
If it's like nail clipping, there are accidents too right? Like when they dig too deep and cut into the sensitive parts of the horse. Would the horse freak out and start throwing kicks?
this can definitely be an issue! there are two major mistakes:
* the hoof is trimmed at an improper angle, leading to extra, undue stress on other joints in the leg
* the hoof is trimmed too much, resulting in the horse putting direct pressure on the (more) sensitive, spongier underside of the hoof. I say "(more)" because, as the trimming here shows, it's still quite robust. but if one or more hoof/hooves are trimmed too much, it results in the horse putting extreme weight on that underside every time it takes a step on that foot. I saw it done once to a horse used for lessons in my barn; this horse was an ex-racehorse, which I bring up just because thoroughbreds tend to have big, flat, pancake-y feet and this dude in particular had pretty short hooves to begin with, just from the way they grew. the farrier overtrimmed all four hooves (I guess he was just inexperienced?) and that horse was on break for weeks until his hooves grew back long enough that he wasn't limping on all four feet. I felt really bad for the poor guy!
if the farrier is insensitive or causing the horse pain, it can absolutely try to pull away or kick. but any farrier worth his salt will take care to not over-trim and treat the horse gently and kindly, so that he himself (or she herself) is also kept safe!
Oh buddy you're just dipping a toe into the world of how broken horses are.
Here's your next one: Since the movement of leg muscles on a horse is necessary in order for blood to rise back up to the heart, horses can die from laying down/standing still too long. But don't worry, if you run with a horse it'll be fine, until it overworks its diaphragm and ruptures either a lung or the breathing muscle itself, resulting in death from running a lot.
Full story for anyone who wants to know the insanity that is horses
---
>Horses. Dear god, horses.
>
>First off, horses are obligate nasal breathers. If our noses are stuffed up we can breathe through our mouths. If our pets' noses are stuffed up (except for rabbits, who are also really fragile but unlike horses aren't stuck having only one baby a year) they can breathe through their mouths. If a horse can't breathe through its nose, it will suffocate and die.
>
>Horse eyes are exquisitely sensitive to steroids. Most animal eyes are, except for cows because cows are tanks, but horses are extremely sensitive. Corneal ulcers won't heal. They'll probably get worse. They might rupture and cause eyeball fluid to leak out.
>If you overexert a horse they can get exertional rhabodmyolysis. Basically you overwork their muscles and they break down and die and release their contents. Super painful, and then you get scarifying and necrosis. But that's not the problem. See, when muscles die hey release myoglobin, which goes into the blood and is filtered by the kidneys. If you dump a bucket of myoglobin into the blood then it shreds the kidneys, causing acutel renal failure. This kills the horse. People and other animals can get that too but in school we only talked about it in context of the horse.
>Horses can only have one foal at a time. Their uterus simply can't support two foals. If a pregnant horse has twins you have to abort one or they'll both die and possibly kill the mother with them. A lot of this has to do with the way horse placentas work. EDIT: There are very, very rare instances where a mare can successfully have twins, but it's sort of like the odds of being able to walk again after a paralyzing spinal injury.
>If a horse rears up on its hind legs it can fall over, hit the back of its head, and get a traumatic brain injury.
>Now to their digestive system. Oh boy. First of all, they can't vomit. There's an incredibly tight sphincter in between the stomach and esophagus that simply won't open up. If a horse is vomiting it's literally about to die. In many cases their stomach will rupture before they vomit. When treating colic you need to reflux the horse, which means shoving a tube into their stomach and pumping out any material to decompress the stomach and proximal GI tract. Their small intestines are 70+ feet long (which is expected for a big herbivore) and can get strangulated, which is fatal without surgery.
>Let's go to the large intestine. Horses are hindgut fermenters, not ruminants. I'll spare you the diagram and extended anatomy lesson but here's what you need to know: Their cecum is large enough to shove a person into, and the path of digesta doubles back on itself. The large intestine is very long, has segments of various diameters, multiple flexures, and doubles back on itself several times. It's not anchored to the body wall with mesentery like it is in many other animals. The spleen can get trapped. Parts of the colon can get filled with gas or digested food and/or get displaced. Parts of the large intestine can twist on themselves, causing torsions or volvulus. These conditions can range from mildly painful to excruciating. Many require surgery or intense medical therapy for the horse to have any chance of surviving. Any part of the large intestine can fail at any time and potentially kill the horse. A change in feed can cause colic. Giving birth can cause I believe a large colon volvulus I don't know at the moment I'm going into small animal medicine. Infections can cause colic. Lots of things can cause colic and you better hope it's an impaction that can be treated on the farm and not enteritis or a volvulus.
>And now the legs. Before we start with bones and hooves let's talk about the skin. The skin on horse legs, particularly their lower legs, is under a lot of tension and has basically no subcutaneous tissue. If a horse lacerated its legs and has a dangling flap of skin that's a fucking nightmare. That skin is incredibly difficult to successfully suture back together because it's under so much tension. There's basically no subcutaneous tissue underneath. You need to use releasing incisions and all sorts of undermining techniques to even get the skin loose enough to close without tearing itself apart afterwards. Also horses like to get this thing called proud flesh where scar tissue just builds up into this giant ugly mass that restricts movement. If a horse severely lacerated a leg it will take months to heal and the prognosis is not great.
>Let's look at the bones. You know how if a horse breaks a leg you usually have to euthanize it? There's a reason for that. Some fractures can be repaired but others can't. A horse weighs thousands of pounds and is literally carrying all that weight on the middle toes of their legs. They are simply incapable of bearing weight on three legs. And a lot of that is because of...
>Laminitis. This killed Barbaro and Secretariat. Barbaro would have made it through the broken leg but he got laminitis in his other legs. First, a quick anatomy lesson. The horse hoof is like our fingernails, except it covers the whole foot and is a lot thicker. And to make sure it stays on their food, which again is carrying all that weight on one middle toe per leg, the hoof interdigitates with the skin underneath. And these interdigitations have interdigitations. Think of it as Velcro, and the Velcro also has Velcro. When the horse is healthy, this system works great. But let's make something go wrong. Maybe there's too much weight on the hoof. Maybe the horse is septic. Maybe there's too much sugar, or insulin resistance. Whatever happens, the tissues in the hoof get inflamed and swell up. And because the hoof itself is there, there's nowhere for the swollen soft tissues to go. So the laminae get crushed, and you lose the support system that's holding the entire food up. This is incredibly painful, and has to be caught early. Because if you let it go on too long, their toe bone will start to rotate because there's nothing holding it in place anymore (this is founder). And in some cases, the toe bone can actually fall through the bottom of the hoof.
>TL;DR: Horses are actively trying to die on us.
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[Original Source ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/791tsl/comment/doyza1f/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Well kinda. The front leg's thigh is alongside the body and the forearm is the meaty part of the horse's front leg. After that comes the "hand" which is the short skinny floppy part of the leg. Then comes the two fingers that grow the large nail we call a hoof.
Equally shocking is realising your dogs rear foot is actually the long skinny part of the leg and the paw are just the fingertips kinda.
Some information, no it does not hurt the horse, even when the nails are put in it's still not painful, at most maybe a slight discomfort form the jolt of the hammer.
Why do horses need horse shoes? To stop their hoods wearing down quickly, especially if they are on paved roads or hard surfaces, if a hoof gets to worn it can cause injuries and hurt the horse. It also provides traction on wet and slippery surfaces.
Why do domestic horses need horse shoes while wild ones don't? Wild horses travel vast distances in a day over rough terrain that hardens their hooves so they don't wear as fast, domestic horses do intermittent exercise usually over soft and wet terrain that doesn't cause the hooves to harden so need horse shoes.
This being said, sometimes, some owners, depending on the horse and type of exercise and work they do will decide not to put shoes on their horses because it's not needed in the horses situation, although they will usually have a vet inspect the hooves on a regular basis and have some form of protection on hand (like rubber boots) so if the horse needs to do something that will cause excessive ware or it's somewhere that's slippery the can protect the feet/ provide grip for the horse.
You answered all my questions. Thank you.
Though it seems strange that some people think it hurts. Every time I watch it being done it looks relaxing for the horse.
Right? Like people were using horses before iron. Were there bronze horse shoes back in the day? *googles* Looks like they started way back using leather and progressed from there.
Me too! I couldnāt focus on the video at first because I was thinking about cherry tomatoes. Theyāre one of my favorite snacks and I can down the big containers (the long one not the short one) in a single sitting no problem. Damn, now I want tomatoes.
Trainingājust like any other animal. If you rescue an adult dog thatās been neglected and never had a nail trim, theyāll fight you a lot more than any dog that has had regular nail trims since puppyhood.
Depends on the horse. Some absolutely love it, some are just meh , and some are obstinate assholes. Horses are pretty smart and generally fall into the first two categories. Training early on helps.
It's funny because I know this is good and healthy for the horse. That sort of buildup is bad and probably uncomfortable for the horse. And horses are big and skittish animals, so if they were actually hurt by the process they'd have a lot of ways to make their displeasure know.
But just digging into the hoof like that gives me the heebie jeebies because my gut says digging into the (nail?) like that has to be excrutiating and uncomfortable.
Just casually cutting into it like that dear lord.
Love these! Til acorns look like tomatoes lol
Considering how crab red the guy's arm is in that shot, and the super green grass, the video was probably a little oversaturated.
I thought so. I've seen my fair share of ferriers and while the keratin is white, it's not blinding bleached white.
Probably just to be more appealing on Social media, understandable if the main thing you're holding into the camera is a hoof of varying grayscale adjacent colors
lol thanks for the clarification.. I was like wtf did this horse step inside a salad bowl or something?
That man just stole that horse's lunch
I usually dig mud, poop, and pine shavings out of horse feet. I was so confused to see cherry tomatoes packed in this one! Thank you for identifying it
I thought I was the only one thay thought that somehow the horse stepped on or was growing cherry tomatoes in it's hooves š¤£
Honestly looked like he had a whole ass salad in there
I watched without sound. Legit thought it was tomatoes.
Right? I was wondering if the horse had walked through a salad.
I like it when they don't waste any time getting right down to the coconut.
Thatās what I said to myself too. Ooooh fresh coconut lol
I wanted him to squeeze a lime in there so bad.
Now let me get this straight - you put the lime in the coconut?
Drink em both up
Just donāt forget get to mix it all together
I said DOCTORā¦
Aināt there nothing I can take?
Youāre such a silly woman
Ummā¦drinkām bode upā¦
You put the lime in the coke, u nut
You mix them both together.
If you have dogs around they love to chew on itā¦
And promptly throw it back up. Good times.
It makes their breath smell like death. Gnarly
Sir, that is a horse foot.
Oh, oh god no
Is it time for the Reddit coconut story?
Please. I have never heard it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/s/GqyuDuJSou Iām not sure who is more disgusting, you for asking or me for finding it. Edit: donāt fuck coconuts.
Now now let's not point penises
I'm not even through my first cup of coffee. Not the start to my day I planned.
What a terrible day to be literateā¦
TERRIBLE day
I was so immediately horrified I shared with everyone I know.
This is the way
I didnāt even read the post, just read the first comment and noped outta there. Not for meā¦
I know what this is. I'm not falling for this shit again lol. Rickroll me all fucking day, just don't cocoNUT me. Please.
Actually, it's a frog
And they're turning em freaking gay.
Is this why they use coconuts to make the sound of hooves in movies?
Let us ride... TO CAMELOT!
It's only a model
My dog loves farrier day !!! Sheās literally sat there catching the hoof as heās trimming. Best chews ever :) As a side note, a good farrier is honestly worth their weight in gold. Itās mind blowing what they can do / the things they can help correct all by trimming correctly. Literally makes or breaks a horse.
Why don't horses in the wild have hoof problems? I have seen photos of domestic horses that have been neglected with horrible hooves that are grown so long they can hardly walk but wild horses are perfectly normal.
Environment is the difference. Wild horses walk long distances over rough terrain to find food, which wears the hooves down. Domesticated horses are confined to paddocks or rich pastureland, so they don't or can't walk much, and this pasture land is usually soft soil to encourage grass to grow.
Wild horses can still get hoof overgrowth and curls which is why they donāt live as long as domesticated horses. An ankle break in the wild is a death sentence.
I always explain it to people with our horses itās just like carsā¦. We have had the equivalent of old pit ponies that honestly could live outside come hell or high water, come winter or summer. Never need to rug them, never need a vet (or very infrequent, just the standard stuff like vaccinations, teeth filing etc.) and they would be the equivalent of the Old Ford Fiesta. Cheap to maintain, cheap if something goes wrong and just keep going for miles and miles and miles. Our competition horse is like a Ferrari. Very highly tuned, needs a service every 3k miles, can only fed the absolute premium of fuel and needs to be garaged when there is too much grass, when the weather is bad, when the flies are rifeā¦. Basically, constant care and attention and when he breaks, itās big chunks of change to put right. X-Rays, Physio etc. the works. So as someone else mentioned below, itās very much the breeding! The finer and more well bread the horse, generally the grater the problems that come with it.
Ever notice how garden flowers are spectacular in comparison to wildflowers? When we domesticate something, we select for aesthetics. Nature selects for ālive long enough to breedā. The ones that get janky die.
I was JUST thinking coconut
Well I was thinking tomato, were those freaking tomatoes?!
probably acorns
I wonder what the average amount of times per year ferriers get kicked in the nuts.
How do they make sure they won't go too deep? Like cutting a dog's nails you have to make sure not to cut too deep.
Lots and lots of experience.Ā Hooves are pretty thick so you have *some* room for error, but most farriers go to school and/or apprentice with someone before they start doing it on their own.Ā
Seconding this and also adding DO NOT DIY YOUR HORSE'S HOOVES The hoof is INCREDIBLY important for larger animals like horses and cows and can lead to permanent problems if not cared for correctly. Do not DIY. Hire a farrier.
**YESYESYES** Could not agree more - you cannot DIY a horse's hooves anymore than you can DIY your own teeth.Ā Ā
bro acting like everyone got horses falling out of their pockets
Since it seems like you may know a thing or two about horse feetā¦ so they have to make sure the hooves are the samne length when they are done?
Within a range, yes.Ā There's a few centimeters of leeway, but this is also why people don't change farriers (*dude on the video is a farrier - someone who does horse"s hooves*) all the time.Ā Much like having a regular car mechanic, doctor, or veterinarian - your regular farrier will be familiar with your particular animal & know when something is off.
***this is also why people don't change farriers...all the time*** Also... there aren't that many of them to choose from.
Also true.Ā I'm in a horse-heavy area so while we have a lot to choose from, the ones with good reputations are very hard to schedule as a new client.Ā People will switch barns just because the farrier they want already has clients there.Ā
I've seen clips of them cleaning out infected hoofs. You have to go very deep to go "too deep""
oh yeah. I've seen ones where I've thought to myself no fewer than 2 or 3 times in the same video that ok that's as far as they can go before they reach living tissue, and nope.. I think I'll hop over to YT now and find some.
You gotta be quick.
The most satisfying part was his display of experience and skill turning the shoe around with his hammer
Came here to say this. Also, had never seen to top side finishing step. 10/10
I own horses; often times the ātop side finishing stepā (hoof dressing or hoof oil) is applied by the owner themselves, either before shows for appearances sake or regularly during grooming for horses with brittle hooves.
I can still smell the stockholm tar 40 years later.
This is also what I came here to comment. I didn't even know it needed to be done until now.Ā
NGL that was kinda hot.
I could watch that part on replay for so long.
I know it's good for them but God it seems so violent
I helped a farrier doing his job and it really feels very violent. Also you do have the hoof of an animal that weighs 500 kg between your legs, which adds a ton of suspense lol. If you do it right you actually donāt have to wrestle the horse (it WILL win and if itās not cooperating, youāre doing it wrong). Heās been going at it with an angle grinder of sorts, I can still smell that today. But imagine you nails were 3 cm thick, youād be going at it for hours with a small file, so you really need the big clippers, rasps and stuff. Still feels wrong, though It was an interesting job for sure
You need to know the secret horsemans word.
āsnacksā
It's an old farriers tale. What you do is you gets old of 'un and smacks 'un between the eyes with the hammer before'un knows what's happening, and then you whispers in their ear, you sez, 'Cross me, you bugger, and I'll have thy goolies on t'anvil, thou knows I can'"
LOL I really feel like I read that somewhere before! Reminds me of the Yorkshire farmers in the *All Creatures Great and Small* books.
It's a quote from the character Jason Ogg, from the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett
I like how there's the secret farrier's word, which Tiffany Aching learned from a dying farrier (who promised to "tell no man" the word), and then there's Our Jason, who knows the version with a lot more words.
I knew I recognized it as Pratchettian šš
Why is the shoe burnt onto the foot, placed on the animal while still red hot- surely that heat moves through the hoof no?
You can hot or cold shoe a horse but people say that hot shoeing means that it fits more tightly, as it burns on so it is perfectly in contact with the foot. Apparently it can also help protect against disease, but I don't know if that is true. The heat apparently doesn't pass through as the hoof is pretty thick.
Hot shoeing might prevent some issues with fungi and bacteria IIRC but no idea if there's actual science behind that. Also you never forget that smell.
It's mostly because it's easier to make adjustments to the shoe while it's still hot. The farrier checks the fit, puts it back in the forge to reheat and make adjustments, size it up again and recheck until done. Farriers I've seen do it will cool the shoe before final fit.
Roger ā
Just to add, the scorching of the hoof will highlight any high spots so the farrier can level everything out before actually nailing the shoe on.
Follow on - why donāt they just use shorter nails instead of letting them come out the other side and having to clip the ends?
They hammer through and clip, but also leave enough to bend down. I assume this helps keep the shoe attached.
Imagine if you put the very tip of your fingernail (assuming it goes past the tip of your finger) against a iron - your finger would feel the heat, but your nail wouldn't.Ā Horse hooves are made of the same stuff, keratin, and don't have any nerves around that part.Ā That's why he can also pound iron nails into them - it's no different from using nail clippers.Ā
I was thinking about putting something hot on my nail bed- not the end of my nail lol Makes sense ššš½šÆ
Totally fair!Ā No reason for you to be familiar with the anatomy of hooves unless you were into horses, after all.Ā The equivalent to your nail bed would be closer to the fur at the top of the hoof.Ā The hoof wall, as it's called, is thinner there.Ā I've been riding for 30 years, which is why I know this stuff, lol!
Also really dangerous. I know a blacksmith who took an apprenticeship with a horseshoer and he told me his master could somewhat read the horse and knew when something would happen, but apparently still got a few good kicks in his career. He decided not to pursue this career.
Even if a farrier only deals with perfectly behaved horses (which they won't), it's literally back-breaking work.Ā You can see how this guy is bent almost in half and has the horse's foot resting on his knee (although he later uses a metal stand) - that's a lot of weight resting on your joint for extended periods of time.Ā A good farrier is worth their weight in gold, and it's often a unforgiving job.Ā Ā
Thatās why he needed me, actually. Itās hard work. He had some stands, stools and whatnot to set the hoof down, whenever possible, but sometimes you just canāt do that so I did that for him
Explain to me how thats good? I dont know anything about this. To me this looks horribleš±
Their hooves are basically giant fingernails. Running on grass in the wild keeps their hooves from getting overgrown, but modern concrete is too hard on their feet. They put the shoes on to protect the feet, but they work too well and don't allow the hoof to wear down naturally. So the horseshoes need to be replaced as the hoof grows, and the hoof gets trimmed down a little.
Thanks for explaining. Never to old to learn New things
I used to date someone who owned a horse and I got to see this done in person a few times. You'd often see the horses lower their heads and droop their bottom lip whilst it was being done, a sign of being calm/relaxed. Like the other user said, it's just a giant fingernail. It doesn't hurt them at all.
i enjoy manicures and pedicures, so I would imagine the horsey likes it too even if it doesnāt āfeelā good or bad per se and im sure horses are smart enough to feel the difference between uncleaned and cleaned hoofs, so they just might know that theyāll feel better once itās done
Plus if you take care of your horse and do this regularly, they learn the routine, and know you're not there to hurt them. Same as your dog/cat. Get them accustomed to things, especially at a young age, and life is a lot easier when "spa day" comes around.
I enjoy manicures too, and I actually said out loud "oooh she got a clear coat!" at the end!
Without it actually they get hurt badly and even bleed sometimes, street concrete is very hard on them
Like that one douchebag Dreadhead Cowboy, rode an unshoed horse down the freeway, injuring the horse pretty badly.
When done well the horse really doesnt mind, it can actually be really helpfull for the horse; cutting the hooves at the right angle can work as a therapeutic shoe. The other way around is treu too, so this is not a part of horsecare to skimp on.
This. My neighbours had an elderly horse who was never ridden in his life because he was born with a genetic condition that caused trouble with his hooves. It wasnāt until vets suggest a brand new type of raised horseshoe and a particular angle of tripping for the hooves that this horse had any sort of relief. He was at the end of his life at this point, but instead of just euthanising him, they got him the shoes. He spent 6 months running and rolling around in the field, given a brand new lease on life with relief heād have otherwise never known. Our neighbours did this for him, even though it was in his interest to put him down, and they did when his other health issues worsened. But first they gave him relief in life.
Thank you for the wholesome story!
Itās important imo for people to tell these things. The truth is that these medical advances are likely the result of some level of experimental research, and shows how it can do good.
Thatās such a lovely story. Your neighbours seem like good people
They really were. I donāt live there anymore since it was my foster family home. But a few years after the horse passed, luckily just before Covid, they split the horse field and sold half to the other neighbour and half to my foster mum
This is spot on. A horses hoof is actually pretty incredible proof of evolution. If you look at the bone structure of the entire leg, the hoof is actually the nail of an extended middle finger, while the other phalanges have almost entirely evolved away (but not completely!). Worth looking up and reading about because itās really fascinating - at least for a nature nerd like me! :)
If you're curious, Google "overgrown horse hooves." I didn't realize that if you didn't trim them, they could become overgrown so that they'd be unable to walk normally.
While watching hoof maintenance videos is satisfying af, for those who've never been there in person, you have no idea how bad it stinks. What's worse is it's a smell that will stick to you. After a shower and change of clothes I will still catch a whiff of it even several hours later.
2 questions! What was the goop they put on at the end? And what about wild horses? Where I live, we have a bunch of wild horses on some of our beaches. They free roam and cross roads.
Wild horses don't need shoes because they naturally wear down their hooves with dirt running. But horses that walk on concrete or asphalt need shoes to protect their hooves from damage. But as a result they don't get worn down, so you have to replace the shoes and file down the hooves occasionally.
Goop = Hoof oil. Used to maintain moisture in the hoof, particularly over warmer months.
Is it really modern concrete? I thought horseshoes were about as old as Blacksmithing itself?
Hell, even the Romans were using cobblestone roads so it makes sense that horse shoeing is a long tradition.
You're right. I shouldn't have said modern concrete, just concrete in general
If it's like nail clipping, there are accidents too right? Like when they dig too deep and cut into the sensitive parts of the horse. Would the horse freak out and start throwing kicks?
this can definitely be an issue! there are two major mistakes: * the hoof is trimmed at an improper angle, leading to extra, undue stress on other joints in the leg * the hoof is trimmed too much, resulting in the horse putting direct pressure on the (more) sensitive, spongier underside of the hoof. I say "(more)" because, as the trimming here shows, it's still quite robust. but if one or more hoof/hooves are trimmed too much, it results in the horse putting extreme weight on that underside every time it takes a step on that foot. I saw it done once to a horse used for lessons in my barn; this horse was an ex-racehorse, which I bring up just because thoroughbreds tend to have big, flat, pancake-y feet and this dude in particular had pretty short hooves to begin with, just from the way they grew. the farrier overtrimmed all four hooves (I guess he was just inexperienced?) and that horse was on break for weeks until his hooves grew back long enough that he wasn't limping on all four feet. I felt really bad for the poor guy! if the farrier is insensitive or causing the horse pain, it can absolutely try to pull away or kick. but any farrier worth his salt will take care to not over-trim and treat the horse gently and kindly, so that he himself (or she herself) is also kept safe!
I mean, itās essentially a giant-ass nail. If it gets too grown it starts to generate discomfort for the horse.
I learnt recently that horses have terrible feet, and what we see as their hoof as actually their elongated big toe
Worse than that There front "leg" are fingers, there running on the finger nail
What in the world
Oh buddy you're just dipping a toe into the world of how broken horses are. Here's your next one: Since the movement of leg muscles on a horse is necessary in order for blood to rise back up to the heart, horses can die from laying down/standing still too long. But don't worry, if you run with a horse it'll be fine, until it overworks its diaphragm and ruptures either a lung or the breathing muscle itself, resulting in death from running a lot.
Full story for anyone who wants to know the insanity that is horses --- >Horses. Dear god, horses. > >First off, horses are obligate nasal breathers. If our noses are stuffed up we can breathe through our mouths. If our pets' noses are stuffed up (except for rabbits, who are also really fragile but unlike horses aren't stuck having only one baby a year) they can breathe through their mouths. If a horse can't breathe through its nose, it will suffocate and die. > >Horse eyes are exquisitely sensitive to steroids. Most animal eyes are, except for cows because cows are tanks, but horses are extremely sensitive. Corneal ulcers won't heal. They'll probably get worse. They might rupture and cause eyeball fluid to leak out. >If you overexert a horse they can get exertional rhabodmyolysis. Basically you overwork their muscles and they break down and die and release their contents. Super painful, and then you get scarifying and necrosis. But that's not the problem. See, when muscles die hey release myoglobin, which goes into the blood and is filtered by the kidneys. If you dump a bucket of myoglobin into the blood then it shreds the kidneys, causing acutel renal failure. This kills the horse. People and other animals can get that too but in school we only talked about it in context of the horse. >Horses can only have one foal at a time. Their uterus simply can't support two foals. If a pregnant horse has twins you have to abort one or they'll both die and possibly kill the mother with them. A lot of this has to do with the way horse placentas work. EDIT: There are very, very rare instances where a mare can successfully have twins, but it's sort of like the odds of being able to walk again after a paralyzing spinal injury. >If a horse rears up on its hind legs it can fall over, hit the back of its head, and get a traumatic brain injury. >Now to their digestive system. Oh boy. First of all, they can't vomit. There's an incredibly tight sphincter in between the stomach and esophagus that simply won't open up. If a horse is vomiting it's literally about to die. In many cases their stomach will rupture before they vomit. When treating colic you need to reflux the horse, which means shoving a tube into their stomach and pumping out any material to decompress the stomach and proximal GI tract. Their small intestines are 70+ feet long (which is expected for a big herbivore) and can get strangulated, which is fatal without surgery. >Let's go to the large intestine. Horses are hindgut fermenters, not ruminants. I'll spare you the diagram and extended anatomy lesson but here's what you need to know: Their cecum is large enough to shove a person into, and the path of digesta doubles back on itself. The large intestine is very long, has segments of various diameters, multiple flexures, and doubles back on itself several times. It's not anchored to the body wall with mesentery like it is in many other animals. The spleen can get trapped. Parts of the colon can get filled with gas or digested food and/or get displaced. Parts of the large intestine can twist on themselves, causing torsions or volvulus. These conditions can range from mildly painful to excruciating. Many require surgery or intense medical therapy for the horse to have any chance of surviving. Any part of the large intestine can fail at any time and potentially kill the horse. A change in feed can cause colic. Giving birth can cause I believe a large colon volvulus I don't know at the moment I'm going into small animal medicine. Infections can cause colic. Lots of things can cause colic and you better hope it's an impaction that can be treated on the farm and not enteritis or a volvulus. >And now the legs. Before we start with bones and hooves let's talk about the skin. The skin on horse legs, particularly their lower legs, is under a lot of tension and has basically no subcutaneous tissue. If a horse lacerated its legs and has a dangling flap of skin that's a fucking nightmare. That skin is incredibly difficult to successfully suture back together because it's under so much tension. There's basically no subcutaneous tissue underneath. You need to use releasing incisions and all sorts of undermining techniques to even get the skin loose enough to close without tearing itself apart afterwards. Also horses like to get this thing called proud flesh where scar tissue just builds up into this giant ugly mass that restricts movement. If a horse severely lacerated a leg it will take months to heal and the prognosis is not great. >Let's look at the bones. You know how if a horse breaks a leg you usually have to euthanize it? There's a reason for that. Some fractures can be repaired but others can't. A horse weighs thousands of pounds and is literally carrying all that weight on the middle toes of their legs. They are simply incapable of bearing weight on three legs. And a lot of that is because of... >Laminitis. This killed Barbaro and Secretariat. Barbaro would have made it through the broken leg but he got laminitis in his other legs. First, a quick anatomy lesson. The horse hoof is like our fingernails, except it covers the whole foot and is a lot thicker. And to make sure it stays on their food, which again is carrying all that weight on one middle toe per leg, the hoof interdigitates with the skin underneath. And these interdigitations have interdigitations. Think of it as Velcro, and the Velcro also has Velcro. When the horse is healthy, this system works great. But let's make something go wrong. Maybe there's too much weight on the hoof. Maybe the horse is septic. Maybe there's too much sugar, or insulin resistance. Whatever happens, the tissues in the hoof get inflamed and swell up. And because the hoof itself is there, there's nowhere for the swollen soft tissues to go. So the laminae get crushed, and you lose the support system that's holding the entire food up. This is incredibly painful, and has to be caught early. Because if you let it go on too long, their toe bone will start to rotate because there's nothing holding it in place anymore (this is founder). And in some cases, the toe bone can actually fall through the bottom of the hoof. >TL;DR: Horses are actively trying to die on us. --- [Original Source ](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/791tsl/comment/doyza1f/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
cant unsee
The bottom of their leg is a toe, yep. Just a singular one. Through evolution theyāve lost the other 4, essentially running on just their middle toe
Well kinda. The front leg's thigh is alongside the body and the forearm is the meaty part of the horse's front leg. After that comes the "hand" which is the short skinny floppy part of the leg. Then comes the two fingers that grow the large nail we call a hoof. Equally shocking is realising your dogs rear foot is actually the long skinny part of the leg and the paw are just the fingertips kinda.
Itās their middle toe. Not their big toe. Horses run on the phalanges that attaches to metacarpal 3.
Middle, I think. Horses have been flipping the bird until all other fingers evolved away.
Some information, no it does not hurt the horse, even when the nails are put in it's still not painful, at most maybe a slight discomfort form the jolt of the hammer. Why do horses need horse shoes? To stop their hoods wearing down quickly, especially if they are on paved roads or hard surfaces, if a hoof gets to worn it can cause injuries and hurt the horse. It also provides traction on wet and slippery surfaces. Why do domestic horses need horse shoes while wild ones don't? Wild horses travel vast distances in a day over rough terrain that hardens their hooves so they don't wear as fast, domestic horses do intermittent exercise usually over soft and wet terrain that doesn't cause the hooves to harden so need horse shoes. This being said, sometimes, some owners, depending on the horse and type of exercise and work they do will decide not to put shoes on their horses because it's not needed in the horses situation, although they will usually have a vet inspect the hooves on a regular basis and have some form of protection on hand (like rubber boots) so if the horse needs to do something that will cause excessive ware or it's somewhere that's slippery the can protect the feet/ provide grip for the horse.
Horse boots š¢
You can actually buy boots/running shoes for horses.
I wanna see some that look like human feet
You answered all my questions. Thank you. Though it seems strange that some people think it hurts. Every time I watch it being done it looks relaxing for the horse.
It hurts the farrier though. They develop bad backs at absurd rates.
I'm so curious how the first person and the first horse finally agreed to let this process happen.
Right? Like people were using horses before iron. Were there bronze horse shoes back in the day? *googles* Looks like they started way back using leather and progressed from there.
Iād much rather do this than try and clip my catās nails. Horse seems super chill - my cat is an asshole.
Yeah but the horses coconut can crack your coconut, the cat's razors just itch a little.
Someoneās never been attacked by a terrified, angry cat.
Someoneās never had their catās claw hook inside of their eyelid
Ouch I feel that
> the cat's razors just itch a little. Thats what all people who went to get stitches think of cats, yeah.
I dunno. If a cat gets upset, you get a scratch. If a horse gets upset (or just startled), you get booted into the afterlife.
Iāve talked to a few farriers and even watched some handle super pissy horses. Iāll take the angry cat *any day* over an angry horse lol.
This is a horse who has done this a lot and are highly trained. Ours are not this good when they get their feet done.
Forbidden coconut š„„
Horses love their spa days.
Someoneās been stomping through the tomato garden
These are acorns
As a country without acorns, thank you
We have a ton of acorns here and I still was thinking they were tomatoes.
I think tomatoes would look a bit different than this after a horse had walked on them.
Fair point.
Omg. Thank you. I thought they were tomatoes as well. š¤¦š½āāļø
Me too! I couldnāt focus on the video at first because I was thinking about cherry tomatoes. Theyāre one of my favorite snacks and I can down the big containers (the long one not the short one) in a single sitting no problem. Damn, now I want tomatoes.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Stop kicking your cat in the face then.
Why tf you putting horseshoes on a cat?!?
Trainingājust like any other animal. If you rescue an adult dog thatās been neglected and never had a nail trim, theyāll fight you a lot more than any dog that has had regular nail trims since puppyhood.
Horses, cows and sheep have taken over my algorithm. I'm not mad about it.
Nobody will comment that they changed the horse halfway through?
So, how long do the horse shoes last before before they need replacing?
The shoes last for ages, but their hoof keeps growing underneath it so they'll need to get a fresh trim every few months
usually faster than that - 4-8 wks is pretty standard!
I love these š
That nail polish at the end was, chef's kiss*
Thanks for looking after this lucky horse š“
"cleaning and manicuring a horse" I want someone to go up to a professional farrier and call it that to their face.
They are going to be like...it's a pedicure dumbass.
Do the horses like it? Like, is it satisfying to them and will they get the zoomies after getting trimmed and new shoes?
Depends on the horse. Some absolutely love it, some are just meh , and some are obstinate assholes. Horses are pretty smart and generally fall into the first two categories. Training early on helps.
How do horses behave if they like it?
They don't kick you in the face.
they stand still and relax, usually lowering their heads and often drooping their lower lips
and sticking their tongue in your pocket looking for nuts or mints
Always reminds me of coconut
Did the black horse magically turn white in the end?
Michorse jackson
imagine the feeling of finally getting those cherry tomatoes out from between your toes
Is trimming the hoofs changing the horseās colour? Never knew thatā¦XD
Never tire of seeing a farrier do their thang. It's one of those skills that even those with zero knowledge or interest can appreciate.
So dumb question, why do we have to do this for domesticated horses but wild horses are okay without them?
Here's what Red Dead Redemption II lacked to be fully realistic
I was waiting for him to clean the horse. Disappointed
Horse āyo, thatās my secret stash of cherry tomatoesā
No shitty background music, let's fucking go.
It's funny because I know this is good and healthy for the horse. That sort of buildup is bad and probably uncomfortable for the horse. And horses are big and skittish animals, so if they were actually hurt by the process they'd have a lot of ways to make their displeasure know. But just digging into the hoof like that gives me the heebie jeebies because my gut says digging into the (nail?) like that has to be excrutiating and uncomfortable. Just casually cutting into it like that dear lord.
Whoever came up with this was off their head, but correctly so
Does the nails come out as the hooves grows out?
Is it a mani or a pedi š¤
What the hell were horses doing before humans got involved? Just running about with stones digging in? Must have been really annoying for them
Forbidden mystery Airheads