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My uncle told me to always use a rasp before the finish file on a quarter crack, and after a bad job in Boise last month I finally listened.
I rushed a repair on a warmblood's hoof without rasping first, and the patch popped out after two days, so now I'm asking if anyone has a specific rasp brand they swear by for that initial clean-up work.
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lunab9713d agoMost Upvoted
Funny how the old school steps exist for a reason, right? It's like skipping the primer before painting a wall (the paint just peels off). For rasps, the basic ones from the farm store have never let me down, the kind with the wooden handle. The key is just getting that surface clean for the patch to stick, nothing fancy needed.
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foster.patricia13d ago
Keith264 has a point about glue and dampness, but I'm with lunab97 on the old school steps. Skipping the rasp is just asking for trouble. I use a basic Heller file, the kind with the replaceable blade, because it bites deep and clears out all the junk in the crack. That clean surface is what gives the glue something to hold onto, and I haven't had a patch fail since I started being religious about it.
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That Boise job was a mess, but it wasn't the lack of a rasp. I've seen patches fail after perfect prep with a rasp. The real issue is the glue mix or the hoof being damp. Last week I did a clean job with just a sharp knife to carve the crack, no rasp, and that patch is still holding strong. Sometimes we blame the tool when it's the conditions or the adhesive that's off.
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