He came out Saturday to trim the horses' feet. He's a big believer in bare feet and has been working on some minor issues that Dancer had due to previous poor hoof care. She's been a bit gimpy lately, not really lame but a bit tenderfooted on occasion - like she stepped down wrong and limps a couple of steps. Me being a worry wort, I was fearing the worst - whatever the worst might be.
We'd been treating her for a mild case of thrush - but that shouldn't have made her sore - or at least I don't think so. Farrier said pretty much every horse he's trimmed lately has had it because of the previous wet weather. When I mentioned that she was gimpy, he just kind of chuckled. "Don't worry, mama, we'll find out what's wrong." Turns out she must have had a hoof abcess in the making before he was out the last time, because he didn't notice anything then. He said he could sure see it now, but it was already drained and starting to heal. He recommended that we not ride her for a couple more weeks (we haven't been riding her because Rain is still a bit too young) but she should be fine. After she had her feet trimmed this time, she was a little sore, but he got really agressive with this trim because she had had something odd with her hoof that he wanted to grow out before putting all the correct angles on her feet. I have no idea what it was, he explained it to daughter a few tims ago and she failed to tell me what it was - but I knew her feet looked awful - she had terrible flares. Now she has beautiful feet. This morning she was up and running with Rain - no sign of a limp, so the soreness must have been short lived.
After all the feet were trimmed, he looked at Rain's feet. He said they would need to be trimmed a bit the next time he was out. She is really growing like a weed, and so are her feet. (no wonder Dancer's regaining her weight so slowly) Problem is, we haven't been able to get a halter on her to speak of. We had one on her, but it wasn't adjusted correctly. Dancer unbuckled it and it slipped right off.
While he was still there, daughter managed to slip a lasso on Rain without any fuss, but once Rain realized she was "roped," she went ballistic, and dragged daughter all over the back yard. Farrier nearly fell over laughing. However, he took pity on the both of them and picked up the rope, spoke not more than a dozen words to Rain, walked on up to her and slipped a loop of the lasso over her nose to make a temporary halter. This gave him time to adjust her foal halter so it would fit right, and he had no trouble slipping it on her and buckling it just right. He then worked the lasso off of her while she considered her options - and opted to stand still.
He used our cotton lunge line to make a butt rope, and within five minutes, pretty much had her walking along behind him with no fuss.
I LOVE MY FARRIER! He's not the cheapest in our area, but we're going to keep him!!!
Oh - and Dancer's thrush is gone, thank heavens!
We'd been treating her for a mild case of thrush - but that shouldn't have made her sore - or at least I don't think so. Farrier said pretty much every horse he's trimmed lately has had it because of the previous wet weather. When I mentioned that she was gimpy, he just kind of chuckled. "Don't worry, mama, we'll find out what's wrong." Turns out she must have had a hoof abcess in the making before he was out the last time, because he didn't notice anything then. He said he could sure see it now, but it was already drained and starting to heal. He recommended that we not ride her for a couple more weeks (we haven't been riding her because Rain is still a bit too young) but she should be fine. After she had her feet trimmed this time, she was a little sore, but he got really agressive with this trim because she had had something odd with her hoof that he wanted to grow out before putting all the correct angles on her feet. I have no idea what it was, he explained it to daughter a few tims ago and she failed to tell me what it was - but I knew her feet looked awful - she had terrible flares. Now she has beautiful feet. This morning she was up and running with Rain - no sign of a limp, so the soreness must have been short lived.
After all the feet were trimmed, he looked at Rain's feet. He said they would need to be trimmed a bit the next time he was out. She is really growing like a weed, and so are her feet. (no wonder Dancer's regaining her weight so slowly) Problem is, we haven't been able to get a halter on her to speak of. We had one on her, but it wasn't adjusted correctly. Dancer unbuckled it and it slipped right off.
While he was still there, daughter managed to slip a lasso on Rain without any fuss, but once Rain realized she was "roped," she went ballistic, and dragged daughter all over the back yard. Farrier nearly fell over laughing. However, he took pity on the both of them and picked up the rope, spoke not more than a dozen words to Rain, walked on up to her and slipped a loop of the lasso over her nose to make a temporary halter. This gave him time to adjust her foal halter so it would fit right, and he had no trouble slipping it on her and buckling it just right. He then worked the lasso off of her while she considered her options - and opted to stand still.
He used our cotton lunge line to make a butt rope, and within five minutes, pretty much had her walking along behind him with no fuss.
I LOVE MY FARRIER! He's not the cheapest in our area, but we're going to keep him!!!
Oh - and Dancer's thrush is gone, thank heavens!