Where There is a Will

 DaVinci has been maintaining so far. We will have to watch him once the heat sets in. I did manage to pull his shoes a few weeks ago. But I have not been able to trim him. 

He is the type to grow a ton of toe. He has not worn off much since I pulled his shoes. With his balance issues, long toes are a problem. 

So I kept looking at the area to see where he could stand while I trim. Could he stand on the edge of a raised mat and give me enough room? 

After work on Monday, rain prevented riding. I was determined to try to trim him while he stood.  How?

Step 1 Sit/Lay on the ground

Step 2 Dig the pea gravel out from around his hoof

Step 3 Begin hack job, put nippers under the toe and cut what you can.

Step 4 File the rough edges and avoid getting hit by his knee

This worked better than I ever expected and he only kneed me once. The Cob boys were racing around doing airs above ground almost the whole time and DaVinci stood still.

He is definitely walking better. 

Where there is a will, there is a way. Such a relief especially since we found out our retired farrier has not fully recovered from Covid. Treasure every day and make them as good as possible. That is where we are at.

Scary Realization

Sometimes things you see or read bring about scary realizations. I have been trimming hooves for almost nine years. It is an awesome thing to see changes come about from work you have done. You learn about each horse you work on and figure out their own quirks. During that time I have seen some weird hoof sights, but while some have worried me, only one has SCARED me.
Seven weeks ago I went to the old barn to trim Jenna, the appy mare, on a fairly warm day. Even after years of working on her hooves, I still feel like she is not where I would like her to be. Unfortunately, I have to battle her bad health and an owner who still feeds her sweet feed. Jenna has already had a laminitis episode and should be living on dry lot. Now that we are not living at that barn, I don't know how often she is out on grass, but since Winston foundered while wearing a muzzle, I think even a little time is too much. So I went about her trim like normal and soon became wary.
Her front feet soles were not a normal color. They were peachy once the dead sole was removed. I did not like it at all. That right there scared me. I had no idea why they were like that, but I had a feeling it was nothing good. I finished the trim and felt her feet. To me they seemed warm. So not good. I left a note telling her owner that she may want to keep her off the grass and watch her closely.

Not long after I saw this picture on Facebook.

Can you guess what came to mind? Yep Jenna. Her sole look like that on one front foot and has always bothered me. Add in the coloring and it hits all the points. Subclinical Laminitis, sounds about right.

I went back last weekend and hoped to see an improvement. I guess her owner kept her off grass for three weeks and now only lets her out with a muzzle once a week. I held my breath as I picked up her hoof... and found the coloring was more normal. Her sole is still a bit dropped, but that is something she has had for a while. I think she dealt with some pain, because she grew a fair amount on her back feet, which means she puts her weight back a lot. This is not a horse being ridden and working off her back end and she does not normally grow that much hoof in the back. So although her hooves were better, the signs of a continuing issue are still there. I told her owner to continue to restrict her grass time. If only she would stop feeding her the sweet feed, that would help so much. That is a battle I fought before and could not break through her archaic thoughts about feeding. This is the point where I have to do what I can and let God watch over her the rest of the time.

And to break the serious mode, so far one mare still has not come back into heat. Over the next week, two more will be due to come in and we will see what happens. Roscoe gets to have a break and just watch over the mares.

More Rebel Hoof Shots

Today has been a great, but busy day. It started with a trim appointment for Rebel and Jenna which is a week late. This time with the aid of a bag of carrot pieces, Rebel was much more cooperative and less tense.
I still have a lot of work to do on his feet. Here are some pictures:

Left front rear, He steps heavy on the outside

Left front bottom (before rounding)

Left front before and after. In the after shot you can see where I had to file more where some gravel caused a crack.

Left front inside before and after

Left front outside before and after

Right front rear

Right front bottom

Right front before and after

Right front inside before and after

Right front outside before and after

And here are a couple pictures of the actual horse, Rebel and one of Jenna.

Pardon my finger

Rebel

My other challenge, Jenna

More about the rest of my day later...

Show Prep Begins

As the rains falls we have started getting Roscoe and Rosemary ready for the show on Saturday. I took advantage of the holiday and used my day off to trim both their hooves. This way any file marks will have a chance to smooth. Of course it was just my luck, Roscoe had a lovely clover drool happening. My back was a nice towel for him to rub drool on. At least he did not drool down my neck.
Next we clipped them both. Neither even need a halter on during the clipping of face and whiskers. We still need to work on clipping around the ears, but it is easy enough to use scissors. It is amazing how a trim cleans the head up so much. I will probably have to touch up whiskers tomorrow.
All my horses have started shedding, so we are making sure to curry them daily especially the two cobs. Even dirty, they have an awesome shine to their coats. Gotta love flax seed. Roscoe is getting a great copper color to him that I hope he keeps. I almost hate to give them a bath an lose those oils.
As long as it does not rain, they will get bathed tomorrow. They at least need all their white cleaned. Darn chrome! Then they need a good curry and brush with a spray of show dust to keep them cleaner. I still have not decided whether to leave them in stalls or turn them out. I think Mother Nature will help decide.
Then it is on to loading the trailer and filling hay bags. I really need to make my list.

Rosemary's white show halter is cleaned. Plus her leather halter is clean and polished in case she is too much for the white. Not much stopping power with the white halter, it just looks good. I polished the brass and cleaned Roscoe's show halter for the last time. He just barely fits in it, which works out great because next year he will have to be shown in a bit. Considering it is a weanling size, we have gotten a lot of mileage out of it.

And best of all, I found someone to handle Roscoe. She owns a section C colt a little older than him, so she is familiar with Cobbie attitude. Roscoe will be all alone in his classes and Rosemary will compete against two other  mares. Then Roscoe will go against the two or three mares in the Grand champion cob class. Then depending on if either of my two place and the weather will decide whether we stick around the hours until the Supreme class where they will compete against the other sections' grand champions.
Keep you fingers crossed for a mostly dry day on Saturday. Rain could make our 4am wake up call much more depressing.

3 Years Work

I have written about trimming feet, my horses and the Appies, a few times. One of these days I will tell about the horse who started it all for me, but this will be about Rebel, one of the Appies. Rebel is an 18yr old 16h Appaloosa gelding who when I started trimming him was dealing with ring bone in both is front fetlocks. Pain caused him to be pretty violent in his behavior during the trims. After he nearly gave his owner a black eye, we began to use drugs to slow him down.
Over the last 3 years we have gone from doing 1 or 2 hooves at a time to being able to do 4 hooves every 4-5 weeks. It is still a difficult process that takes 3 people to achieve, but we are finally seeing results. Like many horses Rebel has two different front feet, a bit upright in the right and a bit under run in the left. Because I have limited time to work on him (patience is always and issue) I focus on bringing his toes back. I want him to have an easier time breaking over. Rebel also has an issue with landing flat. He tends, especially on the left to walk on the outside of his hoof. The problem I have is he has built up sole on that foot causing part of the problem. Each trim I take a bit off, but not too much because he has had a close call with founder recently. I know of horses, with previous founder, that were okay until their sole was trimmed and the coffin bone rotated.
His right front is the hardest to work on, because he gives us very little time to hold it in the cradle. Some days he is too lame to try anything. It can be frustrating to see what needs to be done, but being unable to do the job. Two trims ago, I had to leave the right front undone completely and with summer growth that killed me. Last trim, he cooperated and I caught up a little.
Saturday was his trim after five weeks. As we walked him in from the field, I noticed he did not slow when we went on the pavement. Normally the concussion causes him pain and makes him more cautious on pavement, so him moving well equals a very good sign. Rebel got his shot and we let it work while I trimmed his daughter. When it was his turn, he did not look very sleepy. Mom decided to help distract him by feeding him pieces of carrots. Plus his owner finally gave him bute for 3 days before the trim. We started on his right front, get the worst done first. Surprisingly I was able to trim his bars, some sole and toe. A major achievement for his level of patience. The left front still has too much sole, so I trimmed what I could and trimmed his toe. Pulling them forward, I rounded his toes and took some of his flare off.
This time after I finished his front feet, I actually felt like my work was paying off and helping Rebel. His hooves are not textbook, but if I had before pictures to compare the change is amazing to me. Here are a few pictures, only front and side view. Bottom view will have to come next time.

Stand Still and Sweat

That was the theme of this weekend. Of course just standing could not happen, so work hard and get drenched was also a theme.

We had a crazy storm on Friday night with insane winds. Power flickered at home, but stayed on which is more than most can say in the area. Driving to the barn the next day we noticed a few lights out. Luckily the barn had power, this equals water, the horses were all fine and there was only a branch down by the house and mom had to chase down her tomato cages.
The day was already getting hot and we had a farrier appointment. He showed up early so I did not have shoes pulled like I normally do. So I nabbed DaVinci pulled his 2 shoes and handed him off. Then I put Dottie in the cross ties and pulled her 4 shoes off. She cooperated as much as Dottie does on a good day. By that time after some chatting the farrier and I could switch horses. I filed, rounded and smoothed the toes, then clinched the nails. It is a system we have developed over the last few years which saves time and money for us. Dottie got new shoes and was not happy about the extra time it was taking. She was less cooperative by time I started finishing her feet, but at least she did not rip my pants like she did with the farrier. Even with a fan blowing, we were both sweaty. No dainty dewy look for me.
Once the appointment was finished, we settled all the horses with hay in their stalls. We decided to just go home and come back later to put them out. At home on the computer I found that Peggy's home took a big hit during the storm with trees coming down on fences and one stall flooding. Plus her trails were covered with debree and new downed trees. Hmm, maybe future jumps.

Sunday brought more hot weather and lucky me more hoof care. My barefoot guys were due and unless something comes up, I like to keep them on schedule. The girls were already in the barn since we give them access on warm days to stand under fans. Roscoe came in easy, but the grey boys decided to check out the girls sacrifice area. I was going to feed them first, but our wet beetpulp/alfalfa cube mix had an ice chunk that needed to thaw. The day was not getting any cooler, so Rosemary was up first. She was really good, standing and cooperating. The hard part was the sweat going in my eyes and causing my glasses to slip. I need glasses to see far away, but it is annoying to have a wobbly field of vision as I am filing. At least I am finally staying ahead of Rosemary's long hind toes.
After a break in front of the fan, I went to face Roscoe. We had to have our normal conversation about standing still in the cross ties and he had to check out my hoof stand. For 3 of his hooves, he is almost perfect, but just like his mother the 4th is always a pain to work on. The right front, he just can't seem to leave it in the cradle and tries to pull away. Rosemary does the same thing, I think even with the same foot. Who knows why? Anyway he was much better than last month. Considering that by this point it was near 100 degrees, I was thrilled with his behavior.
Well two down and one to go. Winston and DaVinci finally decided to come in and the beetpulp mix melted, so I put them out of there misery and fed them. I then took the poor starving Winston, HA HA, away from his hay to finish my trims. He does not grow as much as the Cobs, but he gets a few flares that I try to stay ahead of. Mostly he just needs a bit of rounding. He is probably the easiest horse that I trim though that could be that I have trimmed him the longest time.

So this weekend may have sweated a few of my extra pounds off, but not much else happened. And when I got home I found out that my work does not have power. Which means generators power the main retail floor and registers, but no AC anywhere and no power for my office or the upper floors. Ugh, that means I will have to figure out something to do without a computer. The audit I am working on was at the point of researching data which can't be done. Maybe I will go straight to reccounts.
Keep your fingers crossed that my work and all the many areas without power will regain service soon.
Stay cool and your animals too.

Touched

For about 3yrs I have been trimming a couple of Appies that share the farm with my horses. Like me their owner is part of the working poor. She pays me $50 for the two trims. My Dad and farrier constantly harp on me to raise the price. But I know how hard it is to make ends meet sometimes and she works hard helping me do the trims. She also pays the money for the drugs to make Rebel sleepy. Plus I am still learning and do not do farrier work for a living so I figure she deserves a discount for my learning curve.
Anyway Sunday was their four week trim and she gave us a check. This time though she said she had to explain the amount. Part of the amount was to cover hay she bought from us. Next she said that she knew that my work was worth more than she paid, so she added $10 more for the trims. Finally, since she refinanced her house she put an extra money as a thank you for our help with her horses. She felt like we do so much for her and she could not reciprocate. I told her that just knowing that she counts heads in our fields when she comes makes us feel better about our horses. She always watched out for my sister when she came to feed the horses. She also helped us when we bought Rosemary and dealt with a pregnancy for the first time.
This is what I love about my circle of horse people. They are always willing to help each other. So many people have helped me and any time I can pay it forward I do.

Preparing for Departure to Venice

Before you get excited, let me specify Venice, FL. In 4 days we will pack us and the dogs into the car for the 14 hr drive to my grandparents house.                                                                                   

  But first we have to get the barn and horses ready for Peggy to take care of while we are gone. So my To Do list was pretty full this weekend. It helped that Saturday it rained so no riding. All the horses were mud balls, but DaVinci was a horse of a different color.

 In these pictures he had just come in when it started raining again. As you can see he is very good at getting even coverage.

Once the horses were in snoozing, I started my list.
First up Setting up Food for eight days
Each horse has their own bags for dry food, 1/2 cup ground flax, 1/4 to 1/2 lb of balancer pellet and lysine for some.
For each day there is a bag to be soaked overnight with about 2 cups of beet plup and a handful of alfalfa cubes.

I boxed up all the bags and can check that off the list.

Next up, Trimming all the barefoot horses. By this time the horses had dried some, but they were still filthy. So I trimmed and then scraped some dirt and hair off. Roscoe was in no mood to cooperate. We did get the trim done though. During Rosemary's trim we worked on her ground tying. She did really well and needed only a few corrections. The boys were great. I was creaky by time I finished. Its been a while since I did four horses in one day. Now they got to go out. And the first thing DaVinci does is roll in the mud...again. Why did I even bother brushing him? Oh well, another check on the list.
I decided that I would do the next bunch on Sunday. On the way home, I stopped at Peggy's to drop of sawdust and carrots. We get a big load of sawdust at our barn then bag some to share with Peggy. The carrots were overflow from Dad's shopping. Her horses enjoyed them though.
At home I had to work on the written instructions. I never realize how much we do until I have to explain it all to someone else. Luckily my horses are flexible so I can simplify in some areas. I had to put special Roscoe instructions, such as:  Do not trust the cute face, he can be trouble. This will be the first time we have left him long term since he was born.
Today, no rain so it was tempting to ride. I knuckled down and went to work. First was Filling Hay Nets. We use landscaping mesh to make our own kind of Nibble nets. The mesh slows the horses down and is more like grazing. Given a choice the horses choose the nets first. I filled up our Overnight size nets, so that maybe Peggy won't need to change them while we are gone. Just in case I filled four of the smaller nets to have a back ups. Still need to drop some more bales for giving hay outside so no check yet.
Then I had to make sure there was fly spray made up and bug balm readily accessible. This led to cleaning and organizing the cabinets where grooming supplies are kept. It is amazing how things migrate from where they are suppose to be.
Once I finished there, I fed the horses, cleaned stalls and cleaned and filled the troughs. Then I thought about riding, but we only have a grass arena and I did not want to chance tearing up the ground. So I called Peggy to see how her sand arena was after the rain. It was okay so I set off to ride Comrade the last time before we leave. He had the greatest walk when we started. I was really enjoying the swinging walk when the dogs started running through the woods. Then I had a poofed up, snorting Comrade underneath me. Oh yeah and I was bareback. So I started doing quarter turn on the forehands and transitions. He started to listen and really work well, then those darn dogs started up again. This time I asked Peggy's husband to nab Shadow. Then I made Comrade work. I used what we worked on last week to get his attention. Two steps and move on and repeat. Today I felt the move on part. There was a noticeable difference in stride. He gave it to me both directions and ended with a great stretchy walk. Now I have to wait until we come back to ride him again.
3 days of a crazy work schedule and final preps for the animals, then I have to get my horse fix from the internet.

Mid Fifties February Day

This has been a weird winter so  far. I ended up dressing too warm for the day. At least I wear layers and could strip down.
Luckily for me there was a light wind, so I could put sheets on the horses and keep them somewhat clean. I thought about trying to ride, but I really needed to trim DaVinci and Winston's feet. Not long after I decided to be good and get my trims done, the kids that live on the property started racing the golf cart around and goofing off.  Nothing like crazy teenagers.
Since I had my tools out I decided to round up Rosemary's feet to stay ahead of her toes. Then I put the girls out and started on the boys. DaVinci was a perfect gentleman. His feet are new to me because he normally wears shoes on the front. For the winter we pull them so he does not get snowballs. Ha snowballs. Maybe tomorrow. Anyway he basically grows lots of toe, so I trim the bottom and file back from the front. Winston feet I have trimmed since we have owned him so he only needed a few touch ups. Of course as I start his trim the teenagers start screaming and running around. Winston had to see what was happening, which meant moving around in the cross ties. Eventually we both finished the job. DaVinci and Winston went out to watch the golf cart and crazy teenagers running after it. Just as I bring Roscoe out to round up his feet, some of the teenagers come to pet the horses. Roscoe was all for it and Winston was ready to check to see if they had any treats. "Watch you fingers and your feet" was my warning especially since one of them had on flip flops. They have short attention spans and left quickly. Unfortunately all the activity had Roscoe wound up. He did not want to stand still or leave his foot on the stand. Persistence and patience on my part paid off with four rounded feet.
After I tucked the boys out in the field with their flakes of hay, I left to go to Peggy's. Comrade was a mud puppy. No blankets to keep him clean :( As I was chipping him out, Peggy came out to tell me she was out of commission. A downed horse sprained Peggy's knee trying to get up. The things we do for the animals we love. Peggy is hobbling around, but her friends horse was lost. Such a tough situation.
Peggy was soon escorted back to the house by her concerned husband. Comrade and I headed off to the arena. Almost two weeks of no work and Comrade was ready to go. He had the best walk I have ever felt on him. At the walk we did some shallow serpentines, lead him in then leg yield him out. Then we moved on to the trot doing the same exercise. He was distracted by the dogs running through the leaves at the side of the arena. I was determined to work him through his "the dogs are going to eat me phase." My reward was a really great trot with push from behind and when I got his attention, connection. The best part was that it did not fizzle when the dogs stopped running. I just rode and enjoyed.  Onward to the canter. With the canter I ask for the depart then ask him to move on. We did well considering we had to avoid running over Peggy's German Shepherd. Then I added a challenge for Comrade, picking up the lead over a small fence or cavaletti. About 90% of the time he picked up the correct lead. Good enough for the first time. We ended out on trail jumping a few jumps. He waited for me and did not try to charge after the jumps so I hopped off and we walked back to the barn. Peggy sent her husband out for the after report :)
It was still in the fifties when I finished for the day. And tomorrow the forecast is 90% chance of rain in the morning and snow in the afternoon. Maybe tomorrows post will be Mid thirties February day. We shall see.

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.

Ah, Back in the Saddle

Today was a long day that started early. My mom had to work today, so we had to plan an early trim appointment for the appies. Luckily they decided to cooperate and their trims went smoothly. Then I had a little time to get my horses fed before my farrier came to do Dottie's shoes. While he was there, I had him look at Roscoe's feet to get guidance on trimming those baby feet. It is nice to be able to reassure myself that I am not messing up his feet. Hoof care done for the day.
Next, I just had to ride. 50 degree day and only a little mud meant riding was a must. But who to ride? I looked over at DaVinci, normally my first choice, but he had a leg cocked and was sleeping. Too windy to ride Winston. Dottie is still on R&R, so Rosemary it was. I chipped the mud off. Thank god for blankets she was clean underneath. Rosemary stood by the mounting block, a good start. Then we started walking out to the field we ride in. Rosemary decided that she wanted to go down a hill to a part of the farm she has not been to yet. Well she was not thrilled by the pile of old logs. We got bulge out the shoulder and ignore the rider each time we went by the pile. Not happening. I ended up doing circles by the piles until she decided to remember she has a brain. These are the times that I remind myself she is only 4yrs old and really green. It is always a challenge for me to find ways to teach her what I want. The tricks I use while riding DaVinci or Comrade don't work with her because she has no clue. Today I just tried to stay consistent asking her what I wanted, then just let her figure it out. We worked for about 45min with okay results. I at least burned some that crazy cob energy.

Then it was onto the next cob, Comrade. He was a mud ball. His owner and I double teamed grooming to find the pony. We were both amazed at how long his mane has gotten. If a horse can grow a great mane I am all for it.
I basically just put Comrade through his paces. Peggy, his owner, took a few pictures with my camera, then she played with her new camera. Comrade and I had to deal with Shadow the german shepherd. Shadow follows us and then decides to go in front. Someone really needs to tell him that Comrade is much bigger and can run him over.  So here are a few pictures from the ride.

After my ride, it was back to my barn to feed dinner and help my dad with the feed room renovation. We now have new walls and a ceiling. Next he has to put the counters and cabinets back in. I will post before and after pictures when it is all finished. Now  lets hope tomorrow goes as well.

Renovation, Riding and Ring Bone

Random, not quite.
We have been at our current barn for almost 10yrs. Over the years we have added a tackroom, adjusted stall sizes and put cabinetry and counters in the feed room. As with any barn we have our project list. Today my parents worked on renovating the feed room. The walls were a bit airy so they put new panels over the old walls giving it a bit of a face lift. End of day one has cabinets in the spare stall and feed in the tackroom. It is going to look great once it is all done.
While work on the feed room was being done, I was getting all our barefoot ponies trimmed. I also trim two appy's that live on the property. Those two are a challenge on the best of day. One of them has ring bone in both his front fetlocks. Drugs help but he still lives up to his name, Rebel. Last weekend was their scheduled trim, but just before they got loose and ran up to our barn. Normally, this would not be a problem but Rebel gets very sore when he is on hard surfaces such as the driveway. So even with drugs we could not get him to pick up his right front. We have learned that it is counter productive to fight him and in the end he went off with one long foot. Today we tempted fate and worked on him with only bute in him. Thank god he cooperated. One done, four to go. With dad banging away in the feed room, Rosemary, DaVinci and Winston each stood in the cross ties and let me get their feet trimmed. I love my ponies. Then it was Roscoe's turn. Well the banging combined with Rosemary running around outside was way to stimulating for a 7month old. So I issued a stop work on Dad and closed the barn door on Rosemary. Then I was able to give him his first complete trim. No more long toes, at least for a month or so.
And finally I had to enjoy the rare 60 degree January day by going for a ride on Comrade. After a year of riding him, he comes right into his stall ready to work. For time's sake I just threw the bareback pad on and headed to the arena. We warmed up with some walk lateral work to loosen up his parts. Comrade likes to cheat, but my mom ratted him out last week. When we moved onto trot work, he was really soft through his back. I was pleasantly surprised when even with a long rein he picked up the contact. Then we did a canter both ways. A short but effective ride. Comrade always goes to his owner for confirmation of his excellence, which she readily gives. I can't wait to see how he is tomorrow.
And that is how Renovation, Riding and Ring Bone fit into one  post.