Saturday, February 4, 2012

Weather 1 vs Me 0

Okay we go from nearly 60 degree days to a forecast of snow preceded by rain. I decided to stick to my schedule. The day was gray and cool, but I stayed positive.
Once the horses were fed, I pulled out my farrier stuff. Rosemary was up first. She has great feet, but they tend to get long in the toes.  We had our normal battle over her keeping her foot on the stand. She has gotten much better though. I could barely get her to pick her feet up when we got her. So with her toes nicely rounded, Rosemary went out with Dottie.
Next I decided to try and trim Roscoe. Normally I wait for mom to be there to hold him, but she has been working weekends. I put Roscoe in the cross ties and started with his front foot. I needed to trim his toe and a little heel. He has great feet too. After a tug a war over him keeping his foot in the cradle, I did manage to get the work done. His other 3 feet just needed toe trimmed. What helped is Roscoe has been clicker trained. When he relaxed and stayed on the stand, I clicked. By the end he figured out what I wanted him to do.
Good boy standing after his trim
As I put the boys out I noticed rain drops. Just a few. I grabbed the bareback pad and headed to Peggy's. There was no rain at her place so I thought I would squeeze a ride in. Between the two of us we got Comrade ready. When I went to get my helmet, I saw rain falling outside. My time had run out. So there was Comrade dressed with a running braid and no place to go. I tried leaving him dressed to see if the rain would stop but no luck. Off came the bareback pad. Peggy and I then tackled trimming chestnuts and ergots. I finally remembered to bring my nippers. Addie has ergots that resemble tree roots. I have never seen them get so big. Her feathers tend to hide them. These cobs have tough chestnuts and ergots. The dogs were happy cleaning up after me. When we finished Comrade, Peggy took out the braid. Of course the rain stopped. I did not bite though. I knew by time I got him ready again it would be raining.
Sure enough as I was loading the dogs it started sleeting.
Tomorrow shows more rain. Score will probably be Weather 2 vs Me 0.
Hope everyone else is having better weather.

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