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Free To Speak

Am I the only one who got schooled by a client's 10-year-old kid? | Farriers - Free To Speak

Am I the only one who got schooled by a client's 10-year-old kid?

I was trimming a quarter horse over in Bend last Thursday, and the owner's son was watching me work. He just asked, 'Why do you rasp the hoof that way instead of the other way?' and I gave my usual answer about the angle. He said, 'But my science teacher says friction works better when you push...' and it just stuck in my head. How do you explain the basics of our work to someone who's just curious?

4 comments

4 Comments

paulw535mo ago

That part about the kid's science teacher is a gut punch. I've been doing this twenty years and a ten year old with basic physics almost caught me out. Explaining it is tough because our hands know things our brains forgot. You end up saying stuff like "the hoof tells you" which sounds nuts to anyone else. For a kid, maybe just show them how the rasp grabs and tears if you go the wrong way, like petting a cat backwards. Makes more sense than my old angle talk.

phoenix_bailey5mo ago

Wait hold on, the angle talk is actually super important though. You can't just feel it, you gotta build the muscle memory for why it works. A kid needs the rules before they get the feel.