A participant of a hoof trimming competition held in Mito trims a cow’s hoof.
Masaki Shimizu
Hoof trimmers gathered in Mito on Friday, October 25, to show off their skills at a national cow hoof trimming competition.
24 hoof trimmers of beef and dairy cattle representing 12 prefectures from five regions participated in the competition held by Japan Farriery Association. Tetsuhisa Fukami, 37, representing Kyushu, won the agricultural minister prize.
The participants from Hokkaido to Kagoshima had associates hold cows to keep them restrained and carefully trimmed their hooves, using hatchets and hoof knives.
Hoof trimming is necessary to keep hooves from growing too long and prevent disease, in order to keep cows healthy and remain productive. Hoof trimmers play a major role behind the scene, as disease prevention is becoming more important in maintaining the efficiency of stock raising business.
Ryo Kusunose, managing director of the association, said he especially hopes young trimmers will come up with innovative ideas and work on improving their technique to support the stock raising industry.
(Oct. 26, 2013)