Old timer at the Wyoming State Fair told me my nippers were dull after one glance

He walked over, picked up my hoof, and said 'son, you're crushing the horn not cutting it.' Has anyone else had a total stranger call them out on their tool maintenance mid job?

2 comments

2 Comments

charles_kim25d agoTop Commenter

That old timer probably saved you a lot of sore horses down the line. A dull pair of nippers will mash the hoof wall instead of slicing it clean, and that crushed horn creates all sorts of problems with cracks and flaking. I had a farrier tell me the same thing once about my hoof knife - said I was scraping instead of paring and showed me how a sharp edge just glides through without forcing it. Once you get that proper cut, the tool feels like it's doing the work for you. Makes you wonder how many other little things we're doing wrong that nobody's bothered to point out yet.

rivera.keith25d ago

Ngl, now I'm paranoid my whole life is just dull tools and bad technique.