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TEN ATTENTION-GRABBERS
FROM THE SUMMIT
Here is a sampling of products farriers ranked as the most interesting at this year's International Hoof-Care Summit Trade Show

Each year, the International Hoof-Care Summit provides an opportunity for hundreds of equine footcare professionals to attend lectures and discussions to help further their education. Another draw is the Trade Show, giving attendees 9 hours of access to suppliers and products. Farriers and equine veterinarians are able to learn about what's new for 2010 and also share a new tip with a manufacturer about a product they use.

We surveyed 2010 Summit attendees for what products they found most interesting. Their top 10 picks are a blend of some familiar products, as well as others new to the market...

Easy Sharp Liquid
Easy Sharp, Summerfield, Fla.

For the most part, farriers are skeptical of new products. That skepticism is increased for many when told there is a liquid product that can sharpen rasps.

"People have to see it work to believe it," says Easy Sharp owner David Manuel. "When that product works and saves money in a bad economy, then more people are going to be interested."

Manuel estimates that farriers can save $2,000 a year by using Easy Sharp. He believes the big draw beyond savings is that the sharpening bath won't lose depth of the rasp teeth. The longevity provided to rasps will influence how farriers will use the tool, according to Manuel. For more info on this product, turn to Page 68 (reproduced below).

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“I think the economy definitely has
something to do with it,” says Manuel, a farrier from Oxford, Fla. “But the word about Easy Sharp also seems to be getting out there. We had distributors come up and talk to us at the Summit because farriers had come into the store and asked about it.”

Manuel started using the product himself in 2006 and liked the results so much that he first began selling the product and now is the company’s sole owner. He says he still uses some of the same rasps that he was using when he first began using the product.

“We sold out at the Summit for the second year in a row and we also had a lot of orders for more product,” he says.

Two-Step Process
Easy Sharp is an acid bath product that is used in a two-step sharpening process. An initial kit includes the liquid, a PVC container, plastic core sheets and rasp separators.

Rasps are first cleaned of debris with a wire wheel or brush. They are placed in the PVC container, which is then filled with the liquid. Manuel says it’s important that the rasps be kept upright. The kit has dividers that keep rasps from touching the sides of the PVC container or each other, which allows the liquid to act on the metal.

Plastic core sheets are placed over the rasps for the initial soaking. The sheet is removed for the second step. Manuel says the two-step process is important, because it allows “core shrinkage” to take place. Manuel says this cleans up the teeth of the rasp and keeps them in the proper proportion to the core of the rasp.

“In other sharpening processes, the teeth get smaller and you’ll get clogging instantly,” he says, adding that Easy Sharp sharpens a rasp to about 95% of brand new.

Two rasps can be soaked at once. Trimming rasps should be soaked for about 3 hours and finishing rasps for about 5. Once the process is completed, rasps can blotted dry with paper towels and they’re ready to use.

Do-It-Yourself Benefits
Manuel emphasizes cost benefits from the do-it-yourself nature of the product. Once the product is on hand, farriers can sharpen their own rasps and not have to pay to ship them out. He estimates that Easy Sharp can sharpen a rasp for about $1.50 vs. between $5 and $11 (including shipping costs) for some other services.

Manuel estimates that a full-time farrier going through a rasp a week can save $2,000 a year. He says the process also removes rust and prevents new rust from forming.

“One new client from Colorado told us he was using the same five rasps for a year by using Easy Sharp,” he says.
In person and on his Web site (www. easysharpliquid.com), Manuel empha- sizes the need for safety, noting that the kit should be set in a larger bucket and that it should only be used in open, well-ventilated spaces, such as garages or stables. He recommends the use of safety glasses and gloves, as well as proper disposal of the liquid, which can be neutralized by adding baking soda.

“One client told us that rasps can pick up a certain amount of magnetism from, for instance, a magnet on a hoof stand,” he says. “That means little bits of metal that are cleaned off during the sharpening process could be pulled back to the rasp and clog the teeth. So now we’re including a demagnetizer with the kits to keep that from happening. That was great customer feedback for us. We are always trying to fine-tune the performance of Easy Sharp. We know it works. We just want to make it work even better.”