Old timer showed me a trick with a rasp I'd never seen before

I was at a clinic in Lexington last month, not even a full day thing, just a few hours. This older farrier, must have been 70, was just watching me work on a practice hoof. He didn't say anything for like 10 minutes, just watched. Then he walks over and shows me how he holds the rasp at more of an angle on the pull stroke, almost sideways. I always just went straight across. Tried his way and it took way less effort to shape the hoof wall. Felt like I'd been doing it wrong for 5 years. Has anyone else picked up a random tip from just watching another farrier work?

1 comments

1 Comment

carr.daniel16h ago

That reminds me of a guy I used to work with back in 2002 in Ohio. He was maybe 65 at the time and never said much, but one day he watched me struggling with a stubborn draft horse hoof. He just tapped my hand and flipped my rasp around backwards on the draw stroke. I had never even thought of using the other side of the file for that kind of work. It made a huge difference in how clean the cuts were. Those little tricks from older farriers are worth their weight in gold, I swear. You just have to keep your eyes open and your mouth shut sometimes to learn them.