Ok I was at this stable with my friend lookin at this yearling she wants. I saw this guy rubbing Vaseline on his horses chestnuts ... Why? I know I shouldve asked him myself but we saw this as we were driving off. Just wondering why ... does anybody know?
to soften them so he can pull them off ay.
there not actually bones, its a build up of tissue like hair and skin cells and stuff. they shed naturally but if they get dry and hard they wont shed and can get really long and ugly so he would have been softening them so he could pull/trim them off
Could have been to keep them from drying out. When they get really dry they flake and if the horse was a show horse, he probably wanted them to look good.
I've also seen people trim their horses' chestnuts. Now, I've personally NEVER done this. I really don't care about them. But a lady who boarded at the barn I work at used to trim her gelding's chestnuts because they grew and grew and looked quite odd if she didn't. My mare's don't seem to grow. But anyways, she would moisturize them until they were soft, then trim them a bit with a scalpel. Now, let me stress, I DO NOT do this, nor do I condone it. I honestly thought the whole thing was kind of weird. But, it may have been what the guy was doing.
Just to soften them up a bit ....
