Racetrack farriers expect to deal with a certain number of temperamental animals. But Joe Trhlik has dealt with some that literally belong in a zoo.

Trhlik, of Oswego, Ill., earns the majority of his living as a track shoer at several Chicago-area tracks. But when a zebra at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo damages a hoof by stepping on something, or wears down its hooves, Joe Trhlik makes a zoo call. He’s been treating some of the older mare zebras at the zoo for a number of years.

Care Is Needed

There is a regular routine to working with the animals. For one thing, while they may appear docile when seen in zoo surroundings, the zebras are far from domesticated. Farriers who are asked to work on them don’t walk into their stalls carrying a shoeing box and a hoof stand.

Instead, a zebra that needs attention is run into a catch stall and taken away from the other zebras. It’s then tranquilized with a dart. A zoo veterinarian starts the animal on an IV and it’s kept sedated for the entire time that it’s being worked on.

ABSCESS SEARCH. Trhlik uses a small Dremel grinder to trim out the frog area as he looks for the abscess. This particular animal is a Grevy’s zebra.

SPECIAL STAND. Trhlik trims the zebra’s higher foot using a foot stand that he built for this purpose. This particular mare stepped on something, damaging her hoof. She also had an abscess.

Cool Weather Preferred

Trhlik…