Some things are really hard for me to do by myself. Trimming alpaca hooves is one of those things. Yet, it has to be done periodically.

So this morning, Jesse Wilson of Texas Equine Hoof Care (469.247.9564) and his helper/sidekick, Jackson, joined me in the alpaca pen for a round of hoof trimming. I should have taken pictures of his tools, because he came packing heavy metal: very expensive, high quality nippers, and a rasp that would have given my arm a workout.

This was how I saw Jesse most of the morning — bent over double with a hoof in his hand.  Jackson helped me wrangle and stabilize the alpacas.

Some of them took it pretty well. Some of them gave us a lot of trouble. And some of them flat refused to stand up for their trim.

Jackson got pretty adept at sticking his knee under the bellies of the ones who wanted to lay down and hide their feet.

Nothing like holding an alpaca in your lap!

When it started getting really warm, we moved the operation into the barn. By this time, we were a mean team: Jessie with his nippers, and Jackson and I with the halters and leads. A veritable hoof trimming machine.

Of course the alpacas couldn’t have all the fun! I had two goats for Jesse to trim as well. Their hooves were harder than my hands or my clippers.  He made short work of them with his heavy duty nippers.

Only one animal got away, a small alpaca, and that was my fault for not having the right size halter on him. He slipped out of it entirely while he was waiting his turn in the barn.

In two hours, all 15 animals were freshly pedicured, each having been turned out into the pasture when Jesse pronounced him done. I was glad to have had their help.  By myself, I would have spent two hours catching the first animal!

Jesse and Jackson do good work.  Call Jesse if you need a Farrier. He has experience with many different kinds of animals, and he has really cool tools!

After Jesse and Jackson left, we had about 1/2 hour of down time before our next appointment with these little darlings and their mothers or grandmothers.

They had a good time petting the bunnies and chickens and goats. We walked all over the farm. I managed to get a few words in edgewise to their mothers over the kids’ exuberance about how fiber goes from the animal to being winter clothing, and there was lots and lots of touching of various types of animal fur. They also were able to feed alfalfa cubes to the goats which is always fun for kids.

Once they packed up and headed down the road, it was time for lunch.

What’s next? The wool has to come off all of the angora goats! Let the shearing begin!

2 Responses to “Hoof Maintenance & Preschoolers”