Hello, I am Jennifer D., and I am the owner/operator of Lean Not Trimming. I have been trimming dairy cattle hooves (and other breeds) for over five years.
My job involves pushing cows into my hydraulic chute, raising the animal up onto her(his) side, and chaining down their legs. Then I pick up my 4 ½ inch grinder with a cutting tip and free-hand trim the feet to their proper size and shape. I encounter “hairy warts”, festering abscess’, bulging granulation tissue, rotten flesh, maggots, plenty of cow “mud”, and more. My oldest son laughed at me when I smiled right after getting sploshed with crap in my face and I had some stuck in my teeth! Yuck! But I suppose that was his revenge from the time I unknowingly flicked a piece of dead hoof into his mouth when he was working on front feet! Barf!
The funny part is that I am really fastidious and cannot stand gunk on my hands or face. Which is not really practical. You would not believe the smell of death when my trimming wheel cuts into a rotted sole ulcer on the bottom of the hoof.
By the end of the day I have been well splattered with manure, necrotic flesh, and hoof chips.
I don’t know of another woman who runs her own hooftrimming business and travels to different states doing so, or brings her kids along to help.
I believe my job is one of the dirtiest jobs around. I cannot get a hug from anyone when I return home from a local job until I have taken a bath. The bank tellers are relieved that I usually use the drive through windows! I’ve had some pretty weird looks when I’ve needed to stop by the grocery store on the way home.
So consider my business for your next show, it is not the type of job that would see routinely. It is one of America’s Dirtiest Jobs!
