My rasp of choice for years has been the Save Edge 14″. I’ve tried so many different brands over the years – usually prompted by the farrier suppliers getting a new brand in and encouraging people to give it a go. But every time, I’ve tried a rasp of two of the new variety and gone back to the old faithful, the Save Edge.
Using such a large number of rasps in a variety of conditions throughout the year and on various different types of equines – horses, draft horses, miniatures, donkeys etc the things farriers and barefoot trimmers often look for is consistency. There’s general acceptance that most brands of hoof rasp have variance in quality from one rasp to the next. From my own experience with other brands, I have often found with a box of 6 rasps, 3 may be excellent and long-lasting, 2 seem to be dull and ready to throw away in no time at all and the other somewhere in the middle. Historically, Save Edge I have found to be more consistent and of higher quality than some of the others.
Over the past couple of years however, there have been concerns from some farriers that the quality Save Edge has been compromised. This appears to coincide with reports that the Save Edge manufacturing plant has been relocated to a new location.
With some people raising questions about the quality of the rasp at that time, a marketing push by the Heller company with their Legend rasp was well received in many parts. Effort had been put into improving the Heller Legend and it seemed some real competition for the Save Edge was now available.
I tried the Heller Legend myself in late 2009 and was impressed. However as mentioned before, the importance with rasps is the consistent quality – each and every rasp needs to be of high standard to justify a loyal following from any professional farrier. In the first six months, I’ve been impressed – so far so good and no obvious variations from piece to piece. It’s also had a good trial in the dry Canterbury summer. With feet becoming exceptionally hard, the rasp has performed relatively well. Further testing will be made when we get periods of rain and colder weather to see how the rasp performs in those conditions.
Both the Save Edge and Heller Legend are 14 inches in length and appear to be of similar weight. I find this size of rasp to be most suitable for the various types of horses we see in our farriery practice.
Pricewise, the Save Edge and Heller Legend are similarly priced.
It seems Save Edge have ironed out some of their recent quality issues and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the rasp to farriers and barefoot trimmers. For those who haven’t tried it yet, the Heller Legend might be worth a go!
The verdict? Heller Legend for me at this moment in time although I doubt you could go wrong with either.
We supply farriers, barefoot trimmers and vets with Heller Legend Rasps and Save Edge Rasps from our online store farrier-shop.com
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Thanks for the review! One piece of information I would like to add is that the Save Edge Manufacturing plant has always been in the state of Ohio since the beginning of the company and rumors of the plant ever moving are false. We always appreciate feedback.
Thanks for the info Joseph, much appreciated.