Any local lady trimmers or Farriers to ask about which nippers they use? Maybe “finger” their tools to see how they feel in your hands? Most women have smaller hands, so long handles on nippers can make them harder to use.
Daughter is a Farrier, uses both 12 and 14 inch handled, GE nippers. She has average size hands, neither big or small. She started with the 12 inch, but found them better suited to foals and ponies, one-hand work. As she gained proficiency she moved to the 14 inch handles. The 14 inch handles let her cut easier with the leverage, work faster, very precisely, with less effort in her daily work. GEs are pricy, but hold their edge, stay very sharp, for a long time. They can be returned to the factory to be rebuilt, sharpened a couple times, giving you several years (heavy professional use) of service. Her dad built some of her other tools like the tongs for forge work. They are also smaller, MUCH lighter to handle the shoes or steel for handmade shoes than the commercially made tongs.
Take good care of your rasp by cleaning it after use with a file card brush, maybe wiping it down with a slightly oily cloth before putting it away between uses. Rust eats the sharp edges, making them rougher, losing sharpness. Use a good name brand rasp, they cut better, stay sharper if you maintain them as needed. Husband the Farrier says if you need to lean or press down on the rasp to cut, it is time to replace it. Pressing also will make hoof uneven at one end of the rasp. Have a comfortable screw-on handle for the tang so you don’t get stabbed. Depending on his schedule, he often got out a new rasp daily. His “work smarter, not harder” motto was to save his body in a hard job. Use the normal sized rasp, not the smaller ones. The wide, longer rasp will cover the entire hoof face to aid in keeping walls level, front-to-back. Sharp means less strokes needed. Use both hands on the handle of the rasp so horse doesn’t get “right-handed horseshoers disease” with uneven hoof sides.
He doesn’t care for the Nordics. He did say some of the ones he saw came back from factory rebuilds working better, sharper than the brand new ones! Diamond nippers make ok wire cutters.
