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Guy at a clinic told me to stop using the same rasps on both feet | Farriers - nhfree.com

Guy at a clinic told me to stop using the same rasps on both feet

I was at a clinic in Boise last spring and this older farrier walked up and said I was spreading thrush between hooves by not having separate rasps for each horse. Has anyone else switched to dedicated tools per horse or am I overthinking this?

3 comments

3 Comments

gavinp443mo ago

I used to think the whole separate tool thing was just overkill until I had a bad thrush outbreak in my own barn about three years ago. I was using the same rasp on all four horses and one of them had a mild case I didn't catch early. That bacteria just sticks to the metal and you can't see it. Now I have a color coded set for each horse and it made a real difference in how fast thrush cleared up. It's a pain to keep them sorted but I've seen way less hoof issues since I started.

paulw633mo ago

Color coded tools? That's next level OCD there buddy. Next you'll be telling me you have a separate hoof pick for each horse and a special bucket for their favorite flavor of apple. I mean I get it, I caught my farrier using my rasp on his own boots once and I threw the whole thing in the trash. But now I just keep a bottle of bleach water and dunk everything between horses. Works fine for me but I'm probably just lazy.

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sean_walker453mo ago

@paulw63 I feel you on the bleach dunk thing but honestly it only gets the surface. I had the same thing happen with my own horses a couple years back - one of them had a hidden crack I didn't see and next thing I know three horses all had the same nasty smell. I went full color coded route too after that. Duct tape and different colors of spray paint on the handles. It's a pain to keep track of but my hoof problems dropped way off. I'd rather haul a few extra rasps than deal with another round of treating thrush.