Basic tools Blades, graters, sharpeners. gloves

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• Hoof rasps
• S-grater
• Brace-quarter arch
• Hoof Knives
• Grinder
• Gloves

Good tools are half the battle. Trimming hooves is hard work anyway; good and sharp tools make the job easier! Below are the tools that we use ourselves and that we recommend to our students.

These are professional tools that are also used by farriers and that you cannot buy just anywhere. For our Natural (*hoofcarecourse) course we purchase these tools in larger numbers and can therefore resell them for a service price.

Once you regularly update the hooves yourself, the tools below will suffice, although a hooded apron and hoof stand highly recommended. And for very advanced people/professional hairdressers, the hoofcutter highly recommended. If you have become handy with this, you can even cut very small edges of two millimeters from the hoof wall and also use the rounding in advance so that you do not have much work with the rasp (that saves time and your rasp lasts longer).

If the tools below seem expensive to you: The tools below are quality tools and therefore not cheap. We have chosen not to offer cheap stuff because the quality is simply not good enough.

The tools below are hand tools.

Hoof Grater

The hoof rasp is the most important tool for people who want to trim or trim the hooves of their horse themselves. Indispensable for flattening the underside of the hoof and applying the mustang roll.

We have selected these hoof rasps, Dick 14 and Dick 16, for their favorable qualities and good price/performance ratio:

• Many rasps have a coarse side and a fine side, the coarse side is the most important and hits the first bone. But this grater has two grater parts per side, for a total of four. Three of them are coarse: instead of half this grater consists of a coarse grater surface for 3/4. Compared to a normal grater, you get 50% more grater for your money.
• This grater has no handle and you can therefore hold it by the grater part. This gives you more control over the movements of the grater, which is a great advantage, especially for less experienced and less strong people. Unlike normal graters, with this grater it doesn't matter which side you hold it on, so with alternate use you wear off the entire grater part evenly, which in practice results in a longer lifespan.
• This grater is made of the better type of steel and therefore stays sharp longer than the cheaper graters that you find in the hobby and consumer trade and it is also very effective (little effort, a lot of effect!). The grater is not stainless, the manufacturer has chosen this because this is the best type of steel to make a well-functioning sharp grater. Don't put it outside in the rain and never put a grater on the ground anyway if you don't want it to get blunt. If you treat it right, it will last a very long time.

We know that there are several graters that almost look like an exact copy of this Dick grater, they are much cheaper, but unfortunately also much worse in quality. It really makes a significant difference. If you work with this real, not too old, Dick rasp, large flakes fly off the hoof wall, while with the cheaper versions it looks more like dust. Of course everyone has their own available budget, but most people who come to our course with a cheaper grater, still buy a Dick grater if they have tried it with us because they noticed that they have been busy grating for a very long time at home.

The graters come in two sizes: The Dick 14 is 35 centimeters long, the Dick 16 is 40 centimeters long and slightly wider. The smaller rasp is best suited for people who are not very strong and/or keep up with the hooves of smaller ponies, the larger rasp is especially suitable for keeping up with the hooves of larger horses.

S grater

This grater is especially for people who want to make a beautiful rounding (mustang roll) in an easy way.

With a regular grater you can really make a perfect rounding, but from experience we know that many people have difficulty with this.

Due to the shape of this grater, you only have to move it back and forth and you automatically get a varying grating angle, with a nice rounding as a result.

Since the beginning of 2009 we have been selling a new improved S-grater, which is specially made for us. No longer cast but forged, it has a wider curve that enhances the mustang roll.

Support and quarter arch grass

Good news for people who want to trim but prefer not to have a hoof knife on their hoof. Because of our experience in giving Natural Grooming courses for horse owners, we know that quite a lot of people find it difficult/scary to touch the hoof with a knife. You need a knife to update the supports, otherwise it won't work. At least, not with the tools available until now. However, we have developed something new: the support and quarter arch grass.

The support & quarter arch grater is a very handy small and handy grater that you can use very well and easily to update the supports. In addition to the supports, you can also easily apply any quarter arches with this rasp and remove the old layer from the sole.

In addition to normal hoof maintenance, the small rasp, thanks to its handy small size, is also very handy to take with you when you ride your horse for a trek. In the unlikely event that a piece of hoof wall splits, you can easily touch it up. Multifunctional.

Hoof knives

The hoof knives are used to shorten the supports, to make the quarter arches, and to shorten the hoof wall quickly and easily. The knives are made in a left and right cutting version; you need them both.

Hoof knives come in many shapes: An important feature is the width of the cutting blade. A wider blade cuts stably, but makes curves (for the quarter arches) very difficult. Too narrow a cutting blade makes the knife unstable. The curvature is also important: many knives are designed to hollow out the sole, something we don't do with natural trimming. Of course, Bekappers benefit more from a not too curved knife. The most important thing is the hardness of the steel: with hobby knives the steel is often not hard enough, which means that the blades bend and are therefore difficult to control, and also quickly become blunt. The sharpening angle is also important: a sharp angle cuts best but quickly becomes blunt, a somewhat blunt angle cuts less pleasantly but stays sharp longer. Cheaper knives are forced to use a duller sharpening angle because of the soft metal.

We have selected the knives below for natural trimming because the width of the cutting blade is an excellent compromise between stability and controllability, the curvature is just right, and the quality of the steel used is very high. In addition, the knives are very comfortable to hold due to the beautifully rounded shapes and beautifully crafted wooden handles.

We have two types of hoof knives in our range. Both are high quality professional tools and absolutely not comparable to the hoof knives you find in hobby stores.

Dick Ascot

We have selected these hoof knives,* Dick Ascot *, for the highest quality. The knife is made of a top quality sharpened steel, the handle of beautifully finished rosewood and the metal part of the knife is nice and short and has the perfect shape.

Only need a left or right knife? You can, order the set and put in the comment box that you would like 1 of the 2 knives anddo not pay for the orderbefore we have adjusted the price. The price is 1 euro more than half the set price. The picture of the knife on this page is the right knife.

Dick BASIC

These knives are cheaper. Compared to the luxury Dick Ascot knives, the metal part to cut with is longer and wider and the finish of the handle is less attractive. The sharpening angle, shape and quality of the cutting blade, on the other hand, is excellent.

Sharpener

Hooves are often very hard and there are always remnants of sand on them. Hoof knives therefore become dull and must be sharpened before each trimming.

This Swiss sharpener makes sharpening extremely easy. There is a five-year warranty on the grinding head, but it will last many times longer, it is practically indestructible. Besides hoof knives you can sharpen many other things with it. This is precisely the reason why so many people buy two: it is not only for hoof knives, but also ideal for making kitchen knives very sharp!

On the Natural (*hoofcarecourse) course we will teach you exactly how to sharpen the hoof knives with the help of this sharpener.

Gloves

Measure	1: (cm)	2: (cm)	3: (cm)
S	18	8	8.3
M	18.5	8.2	9
L	18.8	8.5	9.5
XL	19.5	9.2	10.5

Comfortable flexible gloves with extended wrist, specially designed for trimming! Also available in small ladies sizes (see table).

These gloves are specially made for us and are only available through our web store. They can also be purchased from us and our instructors during the Natural Hair Trim course.

Note: your cutting technique must be safe, no glove can prevent your well-sharpened knife from cutting through. A glove is intended to comfortably hold and protect a sharp rasp if your horse pulls its leg away, for example, not to protect against poor cutting technique. Be aware of this and work smart.

Interested in a cap apron , hoof stand or hoof stand ?