18 September 2010
A few words about your rasp
If you want to know what a new hoof rasp is good for, the answer is, well, hooves. Yep, that's about it. Dead hoof rasps, that is to say ones that aren't useful for trimming feet are good for several hand grinding applications, but a new rasp, much like horse nails, are a specific use item, so again we should be thankful that someone is willing to make them.
The hoof rasp has evolved so much over the last 15 years since Simmonds first came out with the "Big Hoof" rasp. When I started twenty something years ago, you had a choice of manufacturers, but the length was a standard 14 inches and a cutting width of about 2 inches. Now you have Save-Edge Beasts that are 17 inches long and around an inch wider. But much like everything else in this business the cost of a rasp has increased quite a bit since when I started.
A lot about your rasp's life depends on how you use it. The more you have to rasp, the fewer horses you are going to get out of each rasp. So suffice to say the better you are at nipping a foot, the more humid your climate, and your personal views on hot fitting feet, you can lengthen the life of your rasp. Me personally, I'll get 15 to 20 horses out of a "good" rasp. At around $28.00 (tax included) I have about a buck and a half invested per horse So going with our formula that a person shoes six horses a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year, your annual rasp cost is going to run between $2,800 and $3,000 a year. Keeping in mind that the more horses you do the more it costs you.
So if we back track to our $80.00 horse shod with 4 keg shoes, I think we were up to around $10.00 give or take, so with the rasp we are now around $11.00 or $12. bucks just in basic consumables needed to shoe a horse. We still haven't figured in everything else.
The hoof rasp has evolved so much over the last 15 years since Simmonds first came out with the "Big Hoof" rasp. When I started twenty something years ago, you had a choice of manufacturers, but the length was a standard 14 inches and a cutting width of about 2 inches. Now you have Save-Edge Beasts that are 17 inches long and around an inch wider. But much like everything else in this business the cost of a rasp has increased quite a bit since when I started.
A lot about your rasp's life depends on how you use it. The more you have to rasp, the fewer horses you are going to get out of each rasp. So suffice to say the better you are at nipping a foot, the more humid your climate, and your personal views on hot fitting feet, you can lengthen the life of your rasp. Me personally, I'll get 15 to 20 horses out of a "good" rasp. At around $28.00 (tax included) I have about a buck and a half invested per horse So going with our formula that a person shoes six horses a day, five days a week, fifty weeks a year, your annual rasp cost is going to run between $2,800 and $3,000 a year. Keeping in mind that the more horses you do the more it costs you.
So if we back track to our $80.00 horse shod with 4 keg shoes, I think we were up to around $10.00 give or take, so with the rasp we are now around $11.00 or $12. bucks just in basic consumables needed to shoe a horse. We still haven't figured in everything else.
Labels: costs of shoeing a horse
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
Post a Comment