The Hoof Trimmer hangs up his grinder, capping a 42-year career

Albert Cousineau’s career as a hoof trimmer spans 42 years, two provinces, three farming generations of clients and more than 200,000 cows.

On Dec. 7, he hung up his grinder after trimming his final cow.

“When I started trimming in northwestern Quebec, the farm I went to on Tuesday was the very first farm I went to in that area,” said the Englehart trimmer. 

To officially announce his retirement, Cousineau posted a photo of himself and the cow, both sporting Montreal Canadian toques, to his Twitter and Facebook accounts, much to the farmer’s delight. 

“The farmer had a good laugh,” he said. “He kept snickering to Joël (Cousineau’s son). That was pretty cool. It’s pretty special.”

With retirement on the horizon, Cousineau struggled with selling his business and permanently putting down his tools. He had a plan to retire at 70 or death, depending on which came first. Knowing The Hoof Trimmer brand would stay in the family has eased his mind.

“If I was to sell it to a stranger, Tuesday would have been a dead end,” he said Dec. 6. Albert’s son Joël will continue his father’s legacy. 

Cousineau expects to help with bookings, and after recovering from two knee surgeries, one in December and one in early 2023, he may tag along to trim a cow or two if Joël needs a hand. 

Ontario has 50 to 55 trimmers, and Cousineau is one of few with such a lengthy career, but he’s quick to point out that he presented two 50-year plaques to trimmers at the annual conference this year. 

Since 1980, when he began his career, Cousineau kept current on techniques via conferences, articles and courses. He said these investments were critical to evolving his skill set and hoof knowledge.

“There’s always changes. The way we trimmed 40 years ago is not the way to trim today,” he said. “If you don’t go to educational sessions, then you’re falling behind.”

During his first two decades, Cousineau trimmed three to four cows per hour using a hammer, chisel and a small bench to rest the hoof.

“I’d get kicked every day and, because I was working so close to the rear end, you’d get shit on your head a few times,” he said. “It’s always funnier when it’s somebody else, so the farmers always had a good laugh at that one.”

Once he invested in a tilt table, his numbers climbed to seven or eight cows per hour.

Transitioning to a grinder made it much easier to trim cows from tie stalls, but his technique needed refining so he consulted another trimmer for advice.

“Those are challenges I was able to overcome because I didn’t hesitate to communicate with someone,” he said, adding he views trimmers as colleagues, not competition. 

The advent of the hydraulic stand-up chute, married with a grinder, allowed him and Joël to trim 20 to 25 cows an hour between them.

“Hydraulics is a total game changer. You press a button or pull the lever, and the foot is right there. No effort whatsoever,” Cousineau said, adding that the technology doubled the length of his career. 

“When I was around 20 years of hoof trimming, a guy asked, ‘how many years are you going to put in, Albert?’ And I said, ‘I’m getting close to 25. I think that’ll be it, my body’s going.’ So I changed to hydraulics, and that changed everything. That’s why I’m still here.”

Cousineau said he loves trimming, connecting with clients and the challenge of recruiting new business. He’s the first to admit he’s rarely short of words and loves a good conversation. 

Covering southern and northeastern Ontario and northwest Quebec, Cousineau spent many hours eating with farm families and sleeping under their roofs. He remembers farm kids climbing on his lap for a chat and being privy to each farm’s triumphs and tragedies. 

“It was fun. Some of those kids are writing me a cheque today,” he said. “There are a few farms where I started trimming for the grandfather, and then I trimmed for the father, and now it’s the son I trim for.”

In 2013, Cousineau joined Twitter as The Hoof Trimmer and, over the next decade, racked up 4,700 followers and 35,000 posts about his life on the road, cows and ice cream. 

Initially, social media was a tool to connect with producers and trimmers and drum up new clients. However, as his reach expanded into a non-agricultural stream, folks began asking him about hoof trimming and discussing aspects of livestock and agriculture.

Still, he was overwhelmed when his retirement post garnered 106,000 views on Twitter and 600 likes on Facebook, and messages thanking him and saying he’ll be missed. 

“(My wife) said, ‘man, oh man, did you know people thought of you that way?’ I said ‘no, I didn’t’. I’m almost emotional telling you. When I posted on Facebook, I said don’t look at this like my obituary; I’ll be here for a long time yet.”

Many clients invited him for a visit, which touched Cousineau’s heart “because that means that they liked you as a person, not just as a hoof trimmer.”

The Hoof Trimmer social feeds will remain active because while he’s retired, there are new adventures to be had once he’s fighting fit after the surgeries. 

There might even be travel beyond Ontario and Quebec, a first for Cousineau and a dream of his wife, Pat.