Posted by Patty Stiller on June 25, 2003 at 09:54:32:
In Reply to: Can aggressive trimming and rasping lead to chipping posted by Michelle on June 24, 2003 at 13:28:32:
: My new farrier seems to take out a lot of sole and rasps the outer hoof quite agressively when she comes to trim my horses. She uses the rasp on the lower half of the hoof. I thought it was not good for the hooves to rasp the outer hoof wall. Can taking so much sole cause the hoof to not be as strong? My horses feet have started to chip very easily. One of my horses had a bout of laminitis after he last trim. I imagine it is probably not related. Should I be questioning her technique? I certainly do not want to offend her.
Taking sole beyond that which flakes out easily is contraindicated.There is strong reseach which shows that doing so weakens the foot and actually causes further flaring of the dorsal wall and continual flattening of the sole. As well, it should not be necessary to rasp flares off the outer wall after the first time, IF the foot is left strong and is mainatained regularly. Repeated flaring develops from a long, weakened, or out of balance foot. Patty