Farrier Tips and Guidelines to Clean a Hoof

We humans like to stay clean and maintain hygiene and also get rid of the unwanted elements and impurities to prevent ourselves from catching diseases. Just the same way animals require the same care.

They cannot maintain their own hygiene nor they can take care of themselves as much as we do. So it is our responsibility as being a pet owner to look after them and take care of their health and their hygiene.

If you have a horse as your pet then besides giving them good food it is also necessary to take care of their hooves and clean them up from time to time. It is not unusual to pick the rocks and twigs out of a horse's hooves because they can cause severe damage.

Which is why you need to be very much careful and also need to be experienced in farrier care. Besides this, the presence of the manure and the soul can also create a damp.

It can further cause the problem of thrush. To get a healthy horse foot you need to clean it from time to time. So today we have brought you some expert tips by our highly skilled and experienced farriers.

These expert tips will help and guide you in the ways one can clean them easily with farrier tools. So without wasting any time further let's have a look at the tips.

Pick the hooves

The very first thing that you should do is pick out the hooves of the horse's and make sure that it is tied safely. You can also use crossties in this process as it will be a safer thing to do because they keep you away from the walls. And also the posts which you can knock into unintentionally if your horse acts up.

Train your horse

The second thing is that you should make sure that your horse is trained and knows how he can lift up his foot. You can either tap on the chestnut or twist it or pull up on it.

You can also pinch lightly on the above side of the pastern joint. The horse should pull up its foot easily and also allows you to support the hoof.

Get to know the farrier equipment

You should also be aware of the farrier equipment such as radius rasp, farrier nippers, hoof tester and have knowledge of how to use them. These tools and equipment are used to clean the hooves and you can buy the Farrier tools and equipment easily from the Farrier supplies in the UK.

Clean-up the hooves & take out the dirt

After that, you need to make sure that the horse has lifted up his foot and then you need to hold his foot in the left hand of yours. Use a hoof pick in this process using your right hand in order to clean the hoof and take out all the dirt, manure, debris, mud and other impurities.

Notice the part between the heel to toe

Besides this, you also need to focus on the heel to toe and also need to give all your attention to the cleft around the frog.

Clean the dirt away

Then you can use a stiff brush in order to brush away the dirt and the chaffs. By using this you can clean the sole too.

Check on the missing hooves

Check the shoe properly and check out if there are any nails missing and also check if there is no loose. Besides this, make sure that the clenches have not risen.

Repeat the same with the other hooves

Repeat the same procedure and steps with the other three hooves of your horse.

Apply sealant

When you are done with the cleaning make sure you do not forget to apply a foot conditioner or a sealant as per recommended by your veterinarian or farrier.

In conclusion, you can also watch tutorials online and learn from them. Besides this, we hope the above information has helped you to understand the cleaning of the hooves properly and easily. We suggest you keep the environment clean for the horses; they need the same clean environment just the way we need it.