# Mule hooves?



## riccil0ve

Personally, I don't think mule hooves are that different. Have your normal farrier out. I'm sure you trim for the same things.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Endiku

I was told that mule hooves should/are more upright naturally than horse hooves, and that trying to form them into horse hooves will cause soreness... I was also told that the bars are thicker and the frog is in a much lower position than with horses, so forming the hoof where the frog is too high can also cause lameness. They're more oblong, too- and not so round. That being said, maybe her toes arent as long as they appear in my inexperienced eyes...Apparently the angles are very different and in some ways closer to a donkey hoof than a horse hoof. 

This was just coming from someone at a seminar and a few friends though. I could be hearing it all wrong.


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## Spotted

Technicaly the hoof should tell the farrier what to do. same as a horses hoof. Not the same ,but you know what I mean.
Do your own research, learn and talk with him about it, use your judgment and discuss whats going to be done, before it happens. So the 2 of you are on the same page.


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## princessfluffybritches

It's best when you follow live sole. You can't bring their heels all the way back, they don't go back as far. And you don't want a long toe. Their foot will be more upright, and not made to look like a horse. However, some mules tend to be more horse-like in their confirmation, and may end up looking more like a horse foot. 

When I trimmed my mule's hooves, guided by a good farrier that knew what he was doing, he said do not make them look like a horse foot. You can't bring the heel back, as it naturally doesn't go back as far as a horse. No long toe. Just follow live sole. It's not hard.

I have pictures, but they are all showing the wrong way and why I don't have those farriers anymore.


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## Endiku

I guess I'm just wary because I haven't had this farrier for long. He seems to know what he's doing...Sour's feet are a trainwreck and he's doing a good job of sorting them out and has a great plan of action from what I can tell. 

I'll talk with him some more about it and let him trim Honor, I suppose ^^ her feet look more like her mama's than her sire's, so I guess she tends towards the horse side of hoof shape, and I hate to let her walk around with long toes while I fiddle around.


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## princessfluffybritches

If he's doing a good job with your horse, he's probably thoughtful in what he does.

Here's some trim pics, I have to say that the finished product looks kinda short, but other than that, I like the pics.
http://waywardspark.com/?p=3877


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## Endiku

Thanks for posting those! I called my farrier and schedualed Honor for her trimming on Monday as well  she's so tiny (38 pounds) that I dont know how its going to be possible to trim them well, but he's the expert! xD


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## princessfluffybritches

I think at 38 pounds, I would just use a rasp and even them out, and get the toe back as appropriate. How old is she?


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## Endiku

She's a 7 week old miniature mule. With my limited experience it looks like she needs a bit more than a rasp, but we'll see what my farrier had to say. Hopefully her size won't bother him, as he's a miniature horse hoof specialist and trims horses like Honor's dam, Sour (34" and 225 lbs) often.


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## princessfluffybritches

You might have to put her up on a table! : )


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## Endiku

LOL, I can just imagine that!

As it is, she's a silly little girl. She has no problem with me messing with her feet- tapping them, cleaning them, holding them...whatever. If I take more than a moment though she just collapses over without warning and tries to take a nap while I give her a 'pedicure' XD


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## princessfluffybritches

Hysterical!


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## princessfluffybritches

Hysterical! Maybe you should get a picture!


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## Cherie

Mules feet can vary from mule to mule. We have had many saddle horse mules, but not any minis, so I guess they could be different.

The mules we have had all had more upright feet than a horse. They had higher heels and pretty short upright toes. Some are more upright than others, but all are much steeper in angle than anything but a club-footed horse. 

I have seen people cripple mules by trying to make them appear more 'horse-like in their feet.

There should be no 'dish' in a mule's hoof. If there is any, the mule has been allowed to get much too long footed.


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## smrobs

Like others have said, it's not that the hoof has to be trimmed differently, it's that the hoof is just shaped differently. Like Cherie said, on average a normal mule foot will look very similar to a clubbed horse foot. But, like another poster said, if he is sensible about trimming the hoof the way the hoof should be trimmed to maintain balance, then the mule's hooves should tell him how they need to be trimmed.

IMHO, if you trust him, go ahead and let him do a bit of reading and then give it a shot. A good farrier should be able to pretty well adjust automatically once they figure out the basic differences between the 2 hoof shapes.

That's been my experience with good farriers anyway LOL.


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## Endiku

Thanks guys! He came out yesterday afternoon and trimmed both Sour and Honor. Sours feet are looking great- we're working on one that had started to flare pretty badly and had a lateral crack (I had no control over her hooves until about two months ago) but its already drastically improved and her gait is actually really starting to smooth out again.

Honor did pretty well, all things considered. She tried hopping around once or twice when she got antsy after the second hoof, but stood well the rest of the time. Kept trying to take the farrier's tools though, the little goof >.>

He cut her toes back about 1/4 of an inch and rounded them a bit because he said they were beginning to square themselves. He said she probably should have been trimmed a week or so ago, so thats my fault. I'm going to have her schedualed for every 5 weeks with Sour, and if she doesn't need it when he comes out for Sour, we'll just postpone it a bit. For some reason she had fairly contracted heels in the back, likely because her toes were already getting long (she grows them FAST! O_O) so he worked on that just a bit and we'll watch them. So far I'm happy with what he did, she looks more comfortable now and he did a lot of observing before actually starting to cut. All in all it only took about 35 minutes for both horses, too.


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