HealthyHoof.com

Part Time Trimmer Challenges & Considerations

June 2008

Making The Decision To Trim Your Own Horse - Take That Decision Very Seriously!

It's been several years since I began offering trimming clinics on a trial basis, and three years since I started helping a few clients learn to maintain their horses feet.

I've observed some very good work by most of these folks, and I've seen potentially detrimental imbalance develop in more than a few cases. Learning to trim part time is more difficult than most people expect it to be, and everyone who has become a good trimmer did a lot of practice (hours a week) studying, and research online.

I ask everyone to carefully consider taking responsibility for maintaining their horses feet. My clients validate their work on a periodic basis, usually asking me for a photo-consult, or working with a barefoot email forum (usually BarefootHorseCare at Yahoo groups ).  Most local folks who have learned how to trim, choose to use their skills to do periodic updates on their horses feet, and schedule someone for the regular trims, or have a professional perform periodic trimming.

How Easy Is It To Become A Competent Owner Trimmer??

This is (to quote Dr Phil) the Get Real About Trimming talk.

Becoming a good trimmer takes a lot of practice, even if you're just trimming one horse; its like becoming a good pianist takes lots of regular practice, even if you're only playing one song. Its hard to get competent with one or two clinics and practicing once or twice a month.

If you want to learn about trimming so that you can assess your horses soundness and hoof care plus be able to rasp a rough wall between trims? Most people easily master the necessary skills. If you need to become your horses only trimmer? You can do it, but expect to have to invest a lot of time, money and energy into it.

Trimming looks relatively easy when a professional does it, but a good trimmer has thousands of hours of practice and is deceptively strong. Trimming is hard on us physically, even when we're in great shape. Some horses are easier than others, but even an easy trim is hard work for a novice or part-timer.

Trimming your own horse takes most owner-trimmers 2 to 3 hours for a complete trim for the first few months, and neglecting those trims keeps you from riding and impacts your horses soundness. Becoming competent requires a financial investment in training and tools (a decent set of tools runs most people $300 to $500), hours researching and more time working on your horses feet. It may not be any cheaper than hiring a professional trimmer.

Being your horses trimmer means you are solely responsible for noticing frog infections and treating them, trimming frogs, noticing changes in movement and posture, changes in wall quality and the quality of the wall connection, seasonal changes. Being your horses trimmer is a big responsibility that only starts with a mustang roll; that's the easy part!

If your only choice for barefoot hoof care is to do it yourself? Or if it fascinates you and you've become soundness obsessed and need to learn to manage your horses feet yourself? Don't let me discourage you! The barefoot community is here to help folks like yourself be successful. It takes determination.

If you're learning to trim to save money? Be aware of the fact that your horses' comfort and soundness is at stake, and his life could be at stake. Trimming is not something to take lightly. Doing a good job takes many, many hours of study and practice, and there are many better ways to save money. Spare your horse and hire a trimmer!

Good trimmers have a passion for trimming and rehabilitation, a devotion and commitment to attaining robust soundness that helps them persevere even when they feel like klutz's for the first few months. If you love physically hard and mentally challenging work, and don't mind doing a *lot* of reading and research? Go for it.

Challenges for Part-Time Trimmers

Part time trimming is a lot harder than full time for a variety of reasons:

• People gradually lose skills if they don't practice them on a frequent basis, and horses only need to be trimmed once every 4 to 6 weeks, which doesn't provide most owners much opportunity to practice
• Part time trimmers tend to consistently make the same small trimming errors, and as time goes on, these small errors grow into significant imbalances in the hoof
• Part time trimmers don't have an opportunity to build the physical strength or tool dexterity that a professional has
• Very few horses that have been shod have easy-to-trim feet; their feet change rapidly, which means they can seem even harder to trim
• Very few of owners grew up looking at well balanced feet so imbalance looks normal to most horse owners. Professionals have a wide variety of feet to study and develop a keen eye for soundness, balance and hoof conformation.
• A healthy or transitioning hoof constantly adapts to changes in trim, conformation, health, exercise, diet, climate and environment, which can be very confusing for a non professional

Some part time trimmers set their standards too low or lack the experience to develop their standards; as a result, their horses have to live with incorrectly balanced trims and compromised soundness.

Physical Problems Seen in Owner/Part-Time Trimmers Horses

Imbalance creates the same soundness problems in barefoot horses as it does in shod horses. Long toes and under run heels ultimately lead to navicular symptoms in barefoot horses, too. Improper beveling results in flat soles and chipped walls. Uncontrolled wall flare results in cracks. Heel imbalance forces a horses foot to toe in or out, or to take on a club-foot profile. Lateral wall imbalance can cause coffin bone degeneration and arthritic changes in joints over time.

Removing Metal Shoes is the Easy Part of the Transition to Barefoot

The challenge a ethical and effective trimmer faces is helping the hoof become optimally balanced, then keeping it balanced as it continues to change and adapt.

Some of the owner-trimmed horses I know are very successful, have great skills. These trimmers either have a professional trimming coach or have formed groups of owner-trimmers who are constantly discussing feet, attending clinics, questioning each others work and making suggestions for improvement.

Determined to Trim? Plan for Success!

The easiest way for people who want to trim their own horses to ensure that they don't run into problems is to take it very seriously. Barefoot hoof care is not easy, and its not cheap when its done correctly. Plan for success:

• Educate yourself thoroughly; several great courses on trimming, diet and soundness are available (I've listed the ones I recommend on my Links page). There are a variety of clinics offered across the country, I recommend Pete Ramey's DVD highly to every horse owner and it's a must-mave for anyone learning to trim. There is a wealth of information available online, but also many different approaches and some grossly inaccurate material. Be prepared to invest more than one thousand dollars in training and tools in your first year or two.
• Consult with qualified professionals frequently (every 6 to 12 weeks) until they can't improve your trim. This is often more expensive than a trim because of the training time involved, but its a good investment long term.
• Hire a professional on a quarterly or biannual basis to help you improve skills and to ensure that your trim is balanced. Having a qualified professional trim your horse periodically is a good way of ensuring that your horse stays balanced. Most well known trimmers offer photo consults.
• "Mentor" (ride along on rounds) with a professional to expand your knowledge of hoof care. This usually costs $100 to $150 a day.
• Form or join a trimming support group of other owner-trimmers; meet to ride or trim on a regular basis
• Participate in online trimming or hoof care forums, or attend clinics to expand your horizons.
• Don't believe everything you read or hear! Be a critical thinker, for your horses sake.

A Caution About Letting Others Trim Your Horses

Remember the old saying "No Hoof, No Horse"? People who work on your horses feet can do serious, even irreparable, damage, even if "all they are doing is trimming". Insist on a fully qualified professional, someone whose work you know well, or someone who is working with a qualified trainer to learn.

What makes a person a good trimmer? Hundreds of hours of study, thousands of hours of practice. Make sure that anyone who touches your horses feet has the experience to do a good job. Get references from their clients, make sure they've been trimming professionally. if someone says they're certified, ask for proof. If a trimmer says they trained under a well-known trimmer, let them know you will be calling that person for references.

There was a man in the Santa Cruz California area recently, saying he had personally been trained by Pete Ramey and that he was a professional with years of experience. He severely foundered one horse and lamed many others. He was convincing, but he was lying. He had trimmed his own horse under the guidance of a professional, but he hadn't ever met Pete or even been to a Pete Ramey clinic . He lied, and worse than that, he hurt many horses.

I know of people who watch a DVD or go to an informational clinic on trimming, trim a dozen or so horses, mentor with one or two professionals and declare themselves professional trimmers. The horses they trim suffer the results.

Other people attend one clinic, are able to use what they learn to trim their horse, mentor with various professionals on a frequent basis and their skills grow as their learning continues. Personal coaching can be expensive; most trimmers charge twice their trim charge for a lesson, but its money well spent if someone is dedicated to becoming good.

Always ask for multiple professional references (such as references from well known trimmers,trainers, vets or body workers) for any new trimmer, and make sure the references are valid! Barefoot owners and trimmers are a small, tight community, we all know who is good and who isn't. If you aren't sure, ask an American Hoof Association member ( at http://www.americanhoofassociation.org/cases/trimmers_list.php ) in your area for a reference!

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