Horses and wine … go together like … horses and wine. When I saw that Noble Outfitters made a hoof pick with a corkscrew and a bottle opener I became immediately curious. Even better, Noble Outfitters is giving away the Wine Down Hoof Pick for FREE with a $100 purchase with the code NobleRFD.

Once I received the hoof pick, I set out to test all three implements–hoof pick, corkscrew, and bottle opener. First of all, I was extremely impressed with the quality of this tool. It is so well made, and feels pretty heavy duty. Any reservations I had about whether or not it could work as a hoof pick melted once I had it in my hand.

Please excuse my barn manicure and smart phone quality picture. But this is real life, people.

As you all know, Eli is on a little break while recovering from tooth and sinus stuff, and that coupled with torrential rain that drenched Central Texas has kept his activity somewhat limited, so I pretty much only had to pick shavings other minor horsey muck from his hooves with this tool. But I’m sure I’ll be picking mud from his hooves with it soon enough.

The weight of this hoof pick is fantastic–it does not feel like I could ever possibly break it or bend it, like I can with plastic-handled picks made from weaker metal. This tool is steel, and it works like a charm. The one downside to the hoof pick is that you end up gripping the corkscrew itself while picking your horse’s hooves.

This didn’t bother me too much, especially since Eli’s hooves are looked after daily and he hasn’t had a chance to get mud caked in them yet.

But on to the more important aspects of this multi-tasking hoof pick–the bottle opener and corkscrew. Admittedly, I am more of a beer drinker than wine drinker, so the fact that this hoof pick has a bottle opener on it got me pretty excited, because I love beer. I love craft beer. Craft beer often doesn’t have twisty caps, and I can’t pop caps with my teeth, so … yeah.

Bottle opener.mp4 from rennikka on Vimeo.

Open beer = happy rider.

Next, I had to try the corkscrew. Okay, you’ll have to be a little more patient with this video, because I rarely uncork wine, and probably hadn’t opened a bottle of red myself for a few years. Apologies to any readers in the service industry for whom this video will be painful to watch. However, you may notice a little lurker in the bottom left of the video that I’ll explain …

Corkscrew.mp4 from rennikka on Vimeo.

So …. yeah, the corkscrew works, obviously. The botched uncorking is all user error. The Brea is a pretty nice cab, though, if you’re into wine. Now, let me explain why my dachshund wags his tail like a wino when I’m opening a bottle. You see, I usually pop a bottle of fizzy wine, and every time that happens Conrad gets a treat. I didn’t want him to be afraid of the loud pop, so he now associates champagne with freeze-dried boar liver. I think he thought the bottle would pop. He got a treat anyway.

Now perhaps you are wondering why I would be willing to pick my horses feet with the same tool I open wine with. To that, I say I am a horse person and have been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember and having a hoof pick and a corkscrew in the same tool is basically genius to me. Not to mention, most amateurs I know do well to have a little glass of wine prior to their rounds at a horse show to take the edge off their show nerves. Why wouldn’t every rider want one? I can see the Wine Down Hoof Pick tucked into a lot of stockings over the holidays!