Trimming (mostly) from the top

Lauren Gruber with the Nexus Center demonstrates her trimming technique on a front hoof and a hind hoof. She typically checks the heels and bars first. Then she does the bulk of the trimming/rounding of the walls from the top. This is followed by a final finish of the mustang roll from the bottom.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• nexus
• center
• barefoot
• trimming
• mustang
• roll
• from
• the
• top

[nexuscenter]

The only thing that should be done from the top is to shorten the wall LENGTH. If one is THINNING the wall then one's trimming technique is flawed. If the video makes it appear as if the wall is being thinned then the viewer is mistaken. Thank you for your comments!

[thehappyhoof]

I went to trimming from the top like this for a year. But then I discovered that Trimming from the top takes off too much hoof wall, weakening the wall, and leading to an asemetrical hoof. I can see that your horse is doing what mine did and that's why I quit. Both front hooves are flaring out from the inside due to the wall being rasped off on the outside quarters. I bet the bar on the outside of those hooves is also laying over more on the outside than on the inside.

[nexuscenter]

This horse is my own and I have been trimming him for 10 years. I did trim him from the bottom for a long time. He was a sinker, metabolic and unrideable. He has always had a flaring of the inside wall and both of his bars were laid over. It has gotten much better over the past 6 years. He is happier and rideable (dressage) as the result of trim, plus diet, plus lifestyle. Thank you for taking the time to look at the video and for your comments.

[pcc483]

That horses heels will eventually collapse

[LaRanaTJ]

So glad I´m not alone. Totally agree - if u thin the wall you remove the strength that maintains the interior structure. By removing flare frm the top as semtech30 advocates you r making a cosmetic improvement only. These things have 2 be treated with ´time´. But you still have a rather contracted heel on the front! The central sulcus still 2 deep in my opinion. Is this horse still in transition or are you happy with that hoof form? May I also ask why you choose this technique "from the top"?

[Delkolovr2]

Looks great!I bet its tiring!but worth it :)

[semtech30]

I would thin the wall up higher . I can still see a bulge.

Thinning the wall releases pressure from an otherwise contracted hoof capsule.

Rasp the toe from the bottom until you achieve a 55 degree hoof angle and it will slow toe growth and equal heel growth.

You do ok.

Hard work isn't it. Dont forget to breathe.

[breakfastxmonkeyXX]

Thanks for clarifying this. :) Usually when people are trimming from the top they're thinning the wall which damages wall support.

[rswalz]

What I don't like about creating a bevel from the top or outside of the hoof wall, especially when it goes up to high on the hoofwall, is that one renders this area more fragile, more vulnerable, at least initially. The horse's physical response to this will be to try to build up more wall there (stimulus=growth) and we end up at the same point (spinning our wheels) with a short period in between trim cycles that the situation might be in balance.

[rswalz]

What we do know is that stimulus affects growth, thus a rasping will encourage a response from the hoof wall. Where the hoof wall maintains the stress of the horse's skeleton pushing out, thinning too much the hoof wall you create weak links or areas that will give more to the internal expansion than the stronger areas. This is an energy leak of sorts that, in my mind, would proscribe thinning the hoof wall without adequate thickness and hoof wall balance to begin with.

[SPritDncr]

Curious to know if you practice the trimming of the bar, and removal of the debris between the bar overlay and sole, to bring bar back to it's midpoint? Thank You for sharing your video as I continue this trek of learning this art of timming my own horse's hooves. Dd

[bmc06239]

I would agree you should not to go so far up the hoof wall with your rasp, but I live in the northeast so different climates make different feet. I find about a 1/4 inch roll is all that's needed. Overall I think your horse's feet look very sound...nice work !