Just trimmed my 500th hoof this month and the number really got me thinking

I keep a simple tally in my truck's log book, and when I added it up last night, I was at exactly 500 for March. That's a lot of horses, mostly from the big ranches out near Cheyenne. It made me realize how much wear and tear my nippers have taken, and I'm starting to feel it in my wrist. Has anyone else hit a big number like that and noticed their tools wearing out faster than they expected?

3 comments

3 Comments

grantl943mo ago

My old Diamond nippers gave out after about 700 trims last fall. The pivot got so sloppy I was squeezing twice as hard. Ended up switching to a stiffer pair of Mustangs, and I keep a tube of that blue Lok-Tite in my kit now for a quick thread fix every few weeks. It’s made a real difference in how my forearm feels by the end of the day.

laurabennett3mo ago

Yeah, that pivot wear is no joke! After reading what @grantl94 said about the Lok-Tite, I started doing the same on my nippers and even my hoof knife handles. It's crazy how just a little bit of play from loose screws makes you grip so much harder. I've also found that cleaning the grit out of the joint with a wire brush every few days stops it from grinding itself apart. My old pair lasted way longer once I made that a habit.

ivanl762mo agoMost Upvoted

My buddy's nippers got so loose last year, it was like @laurabennett said, he was basically squeezing twice as hard.