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The horse’s hoof is the most important part of the horses body beside the main organs. Without hooves, horses can not survive. The hoof needs to be taken care of much like finger and toe nails of the human with a few exceptions. A person should visit a farrier or have a farrier come to the home approximately every 4 weeks. The hooves need to be at least trimmed, and most of the time the horse should have shoes put on. When the farrier comes he/she will bring a few tools with them. The tools include: an anvil, a file, nippers, a hammer, nails and shoes. The farrier will first trim down the dead part of the horses hoof. They will do this by trimming the excess of with the nippers and then file them down so that the edges are smooth. Once this is done, then the farrier will start the shoeing process. This process is long and hard. The farrier will start by finding a shoe that is the approximate size of the horse’s hoof. Once the farrier is happy with the shoe, then he will start the bending and adjusting process. They do this by using the hammer and the anvil. They will hammer the shoe to bend the shoe to fit the curves of the hoof. This will take several trips between the horse and the anvil. After the size is adjusted properly then the farrier will apply the shoe to the hoof with nails. The are usually 8 nails per shoe. The nails are entered at an angel so that they exit the front of the hoof avoiding the nerve part of the hoof. The farrier will then remove the excess nail that is sticking out of the front of the hoof and bend them downward so it secures the shoe to the hoof. The last step is to file down any excess hoof that may stick over the shoe.Related Article : Taking Care of Miniature Horse Hooves