What type of hoof nippers does everyone use? Our two drafts are the only drafts that my farrier does and she has a hard time trimming both our drafts with her standard horse nippers.

We are looking to get her some new nippers to make it easier to trim our horses. We have had this farrier for over 4+ and she is terrific with all of our horses. We want to make her job a bit easier.

Any advice would be appreciated.

My farrier uses the same set of nippers on my draft mares as he does on my 12hh pony and the 11hh donkey. Maybe it just takes more hand strength to do the draft horses? I know my farrier gets out his newest rasp and sharpens his hoof knife before working on my big girls.

GE makes a 15" nipper for about $160. One of my catalogs has a Dale Sprout 16" nipper for $117. Always buy the best you can afford.

The GE nippers Muley mentioned are by far the best nippers I ever owned. If the hooves are hard, it is a difficult cut. Have seen, but never used, the compound nippers (they give mechanical advantage somehow).

Bud's Nippers are the best that I have used.

I had thought the copmound nippers would be the way to go, but wasn't too impressed. They're heavy and require two hands. The action still requires almost as much effort as normal nippers. Also the angle of the teeth (which are replaceable) could pull the cut deeper than you'd like, so you need to be careful and not take too much foot off. On the positive, you won't bend the handles and if their feet are really hard they will get the job done. And for about $50 (nasco supply), it's not like you're throwing a lot of money away.
I think they're more for cattle.
Jonathan

Thanks for all the replies :-)

We have been looking at the Bud Nippers, too, but want to be sure they actually work as stated because they are so pricey.

A friend of mine had a horse with feet so hard it required standing him in a creek for a couple of hours before the farrier came. (This was the best thing to try and soften them a bit. ) Even then it was a real hard job. Then one day whilst I was there I was amazed to see that they were using a small hand held electric planer to trim the horse's feet, which he did not mind and it got the job done real quick! And the finished job looked great.

I have a roto clipper that goes on my side grinder. It's about 3" in diameter and it has slots cut in it like a "slicer dicer" that you used to get on tv. Now it's not for trainees, but it's sure fast on the old ones. I started on a block of wood first, to make sure that I had good control of it, but once I started on a hoof was I impressed. It beat hand nippers and was the best hoof rasp I ever had. It does not take long for new horses to get used to it and they are inexpensive. The chips sure do fly. I recommend eye protection.

I have a set of 15" St Croix nippers that I use and wouldn't take a farm in Texas for them. At a 120 bucks they are well worth the money. If they will open up wide enough to get a bite on it you can nip it without any problems. And Shane, that's nothing. I saw a farrier a while back using a 4" electric grinder on a hoof. He just set it flat on the hoof and let it rip. Didn't take long to get r done.

I have always used a pair of the 15" GE nippers, but I can see how it would be very difficult for some folks to use them on draft hooves! I have never used the compound nippers, but would love to hear if they work!

I have had the Bud nippers for a long time and they work well. Can trim percheron hooves that are too hard for other knippers.

The large GE nippers are what I use on my drafts and regular horses. When the hooves are really hard I have my husband help squeeze them after I set the bite, perhaps you could offer that help also. They also make a great set of clinchers for drafts, again I use those on my regular horses. I found regular horse clinchers wear out too fast with draft horse-sized nails.

Shane is on the right track. How about a small angle grinder with a abrasive disc? Seems to work well and just change disc to sharped.

Surprised to not have Dale jump in and say, wear them down, then they don't need trimming.

I second the GE nippers. Pricey, but the are excellent, last longer if taken care of, and are rebuildable

Shane, tell me more about the electric planer. What exactly is it and where do you get one? Thanks.

Shane, that is ingenious. Have seen the "body grinders" with a wood carving wheel used for dairy cattle for years, never thought of the electric planer.

I use hoof grinders on horses that I do in stocks. I have a few horses than I can use the grinder on without being in stocks, but I prefer to limit grinder use to a stocked horse.

Frank, I am in Australia, but any power tool shop should sell them. Our hardware shops sell them over here. It's just an electric wood planer. Pick the cheap ones up here for about $20.00 US. Just set the depth and away you go.

have used a power grinder with a "flap" sanding disc with great success ... very quick, and horses (belgians) don't mind at all

I believe if I was in the farrier business, I would take a look at the Merlin brand "electric hoof knife". You can see it at the link below.

http://www.hooftrimmingtools.net/

Since it is designed for trimming horses feet it should be more quiet and lighter than an angle grinder. I don't personally know anyone who uses one but suspect with some practice you would save a lot of time and money on rasps and nippers. One of the drawbacks is some farriers work sometimes not too close to electricity so you would have to invest in an DC inverter that plugs into your vehicle cigarette lighter. These inverters are not too expensive. I have seen this "electric hoof knife" advertised in both "The Trail Rider and Western Horseman magazines".

I use a side grinder with the harshest sand paper wheel that NAPA sells.

Wow, talk about an old thread being brought back up. Since I replied about the GE knippers, I still use them and love them.

However I have a belgin mare now that absolutely will not let you hold her rear feet up for trimming. In stocks she will brake the restraints, we tried tying her rear feet to her neck and she will just kick and kick. She is gentel in every way except this, she will let you handle her front feet all day long and you can work under her without an issue.

Well to trim her back hoofs we have resorted to a stanley 1 inch wood chisel. We have her stand on a piece of scrap plywood(to keep from dinging the chisel blade on rocks and such) and start taking off hoof. From experience I know how much and what angles to take of but it works very well and we both are in better spirits after the trim!! Just be careful not to take to much. And its cheap. I think if I was to trim only one horse or so, I would go this route instead of buying expensive hoof knippers or putting up with cheap hoof knippers.

hello, anyone use the merlin trimmers since this post began? my sister has RA and has a hard time trimming with her hands/so i gets to do all our horses(8)
has anyone found they prefer electric vs nippers/rasps?

I have used the merlin trimmer one time. I was very impressed with the tool. I live in Central Colorado and my horses feet are super hard and dry. The variable speed setting is really nice.It seemed to me that the speed needs to be a little past the middle speed setting. If you set the speed to slow it seems to chop. It works really good to take out the sole to make sure there is not sole pressure when you are shoeing a horse. I have a hoof jack and It can be done setting on a mechanics seat if your legs get tired. I have only used it one time but again I was very impressed. Be sure to wear a good thick glove on the hand you are holding the foot with,and safeth glasses and be sure and choke up on the handle. Also check out the u-tube video on horse shoeing time showing the use of the merlin tool.

I just wanted to post here because I'd noticed that the Electric Hoof Knife (previously called the Merlin Hoof Trimmer) was mentioned in several posts a while ago and I wanted to post an update. We now have a new tool available, with new upgrades designed specifically for the hoof trimming industry.

If you've never heard of the Electric Hoof Knife, it is a power tool (11.5 inches long and 1.2 pounds) designed to quickly and effortlessly trim horse hooves. Using a miniature chainsaw disc (totally safe, we assure you!), it cuts the work out of trimming. Our customers frequently tell us that it's been a godsend and that the tool has helped them continue trimming when using hand tools became too hard and tiring.

As the tool does all the work, it makes trimming even the toughest, driest, and hardest hooves easier than ever before. It can be used on miniature horses, standard horses, and draft horses. We even have a specific set for miniatures that comes with the special Miniature Trimming disc, designed to gently buff away hoof material.

Many people have concerns about the safety of the tool, but we have never had a customer hurt their horse when following the proper instructions. You can see for yourself just how effortless and easy to use it is at www.Youtube.com/ElectricHoofKnife and you can read more about the benefits of the Electric Hoof Knife at www.ElectricHoofKnife.com

Please feel free to contact us through our website with any questions you may have about the tool - we're very excited about our new model as we've spent the past five years working with farriers and horse owner's across the US and the world to design and perfect a tool with the needs of hoof trimming in mind.