The Stable Scene

by Kathy Sampeck (March 15, 2003)



There are lots of visitors at the barn these days - families bringing their children to see the horses, kids looking for lessons or wanting to be "helpers," and of course some "official" visitors like vets and farriers. A farrier is a blacksmith who shoes horses. Pete Cote is one of the farriers who visits the barn pretty regularly, and it's rather fascinating to watch him work, in part because his work is so interesting, and also because he's a bit of a "character." I thought I would introduce you to Pete by sharing excerpts from an article, called "The Blue Light Special," written by Bill Weisenburger. 

One of the things you discover early on as a rancher is that you need to learn lots of new things to keep costs down. I spent many an hour watching Pete, our farrier (a horse shoe salesman for you tenderfeet) trim and shoe our horses' feet. He did his best to show me the ropes. "With ten of these beasts you should at least learn how to trim their feet," said Pete with a smile. "Would save you a lot of money." Pete, a man of great wisdom and honor, was right. He charges $25.00 per horse, every six weeks. That's not a small piece of change.

I never missed a chance to learn at the foot of the master! I peppered Pete with questions about frogs (not the swimming kind), hoofs and proper angles. I bought the clippers ($17.85), the file ($20.00) and the cute leather apron ($75.00). The day came that I figured I had graduated from Pete's lecture series on the equine foot. I was already counting my savings. Excitedly, I grabbed my clippers, file, chewing tobacco and headed to the barn. I caught Mickey, my sweet-tempered little twelve-hundred pound "Paint." I made him comfortable in the cross ties and started at it.

The process is simple. I watched Pete do it a hundred times. You just crouch down, catch the horse's foot, put it between your legs and pinch your knees together to hold it solidly in place. Then you grab your clipper, nip off the excess hoof and file it smooth. Piece of cake! This all went pretty well for the first 10 seconds or so. Then it got more complicated. You have to balance on your toes like a ballerina, with your knees locked together and bent in a weight lifter's squat position. You have to operate the nippers with three hands and spit all at the same time. Now I know this is going to sound silly, but you also need to remember to breathe. Breathing is actually quite difficult when you are bent like a pretzel under a fourteen hundred-pound horse.

I managed the front feet okay - it took only an hour. OK, two hours. The back feet are a little different though. You pick the foot up, brace it under your armpit and across your lap - the lap that is formed by squatting under the smelly end of a sixteen hundred-pound horse. I got Mickey's foot up, and clamped it under my armpit. That took one of four hands needed to use the clipper out of service. Mostly, Mickey just slept and leaned on me. Except for the one time the goat woke him up and he punted me into next week.

I skillfully learned the tricks of the trade. I had to brace my leg, support eighteen hundred pounds of horse, breathe, spit and cut. And cut I did. My finger. I was pretty proud of my first effort though. In just less than four hours I had trimmed four feet while holding up a horse that weighed two thousand pounds, using cheap tools that were slick with blood, while high on nicotine, and suffering from oxygen depletion. Being the consummate lifelong learner, I learned a lot of things.

I learned that the smile Pete gave me when he said I should learn to trim feet was actually a smirk. I learned that Pete was actually helping the economy. His brother-in-law, the one who owns the farrier tool store and specializes in cute leather aprons is kept in business by guys like me who want to "save a little money." I learned that Pete never buys new tools. There are a lot of "once used" farrier tools on the market. I learned that by "teaching" me to trim feet, Pete was insuring himself of a long term customer, because the real lesson was that spending $25.00 per horse every six weeks was the BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL OF HORSE CARE. Yep, being the top hand at the Lost Shirt Cattle Company is a learning experience. I may just start hosting clinics!

Happy Trails!