Rant: Watched a farrier in Kentucky ruin a hoof with a cheap rasp

I was down in Lexington last month watching a guy work on a thoroughbred, and he was using some no-name rasp that couldn't hold an edge for more than five strokes. He ended up overworking the wall and left the hoof looking choppy and uneven. It made me wonder, why do guys risk their reputation saving 10 bucks on a tool that's literally your main line of defense? Has anyone else seen bad work come from cutting corners on gear like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.val1mo ago

@jamie804 hit it right on the head. Saw a guy in Tennessee try to get by with a worn out rasp on a draft horse hoof and he ended up taking off SO much sole the horse was lame for a week. Cheap gear just ain't worth the headache.

jamie8041mo ago

Funny you mention that, my buddy had a farrier trying to fix a crack with a rasp that looked older than my pickup truck. He ended up making the crack worse and the owner had to call in a real pro to fix it. Sometimes people just get STUCK in their ways and won't spend a few extra bucks.

roberts.leo1mo ago

Man I feel that @jamie804. I once tried to patch a leaky hose on my truck with duct tape and a prayer, ended up flooding my whole driveway before calling a real plumber. Sometimes you just gotta know when your own hack job is doing more harm than good, especially when the savings are gonna cost you double later.