Old timer at the sale barn told me to ditch my nippers and just use a rasp
Honestly, I thought that guy was full of it back in 2018 when I was starting out in Kansas. He said I was overthinking it and ruining the hoof wall. Tried his method on a tough Belgian cross last month, and sure enough, it saved me a good 15 minutes and the hoof looked cleaner. Has anyone else had success just going slow with the rasp on heavy horses?
Man that old timer knew what he was talking about. I started out trimming in 2016 and was obsessed with my nippers until I watched a farrier in Wyoming just walk a horse through a creek for 20 minutes then hit the feet with a rasp. Softened the hooves up enough that the rasp did all the work. Never looked at nippers the same way since.