First Hoof Trim for Seamus at Geek Acres

When I got Seamus he'd been in the pasture for several months and really needed a trim.  It seems that his shoes had been left on and let to fall off....these are just the assumptions of my farrier. In the first picture of a hoof you can see there were still some nail heads in the hoof.  This hoof also had a piece of hoof wall "notched" out.  My farrier showed me a scar that looks like he'd had a coronary band injury in the past few months.  Nothing came up at the vet exam but I remember noting those back hooves being longer and one I did a double glance at thinking it was club.

The nails were removed and his hooves were trimmed not long after I brought him home.  My farrier is a great barefoot farrier. Both my horses hooves have improved since I came to NC and found her.  She's the farrier I suggest to anyone who wants a barefoot trimmer.  She knows so much more than hooves too!

His back feet were the worst with big wall flares but they are strong since the wall didn't crack or break off.  I'm still working with him on picking up his feet easily.  I ask with poking his chestnuts but sometimes use the hoof pick as a hook to scoop up his foot from the area of the ergot....hope that makes sense.

His hindlegs are easier to pick up and each time he gets better.  Below you can see the trimmed foot on the left and the untrimmed on the right.  It's always nice to see freshly trimmed hooves.

The angles were off on all four feet, especially the back so my farrier got them trimmed up nicely.

Below you can see the trauma that had occurred to the hoof wall and the possible site of the coronary band injury.  We'll see how it grows out.

Freshly trimmed back feet from the far side below,

Freshly trimmed back feet from the near side below,

Nice rounded edges of the wall.  I'm sure his feet will expand some being 100% barefoot here.  It will be interesting to get some comparative pics 6 months from now and a year from now. I'm glad he wasn't one of those Tennessee Walkers with the big pads on their feet.  He just had been a little long between trims and my experience is that trims are different for a shod horse and I'm learning that there is still that old school thought that horses need to have long toes to gait.

It's so not true.  For the longevity of the horse their feet should be trimmed for their conformation and have the best angles to keep their legs aligned properly.  Too high a heel, too long a toe or compressed heels....these all lead to long term problems that don't just affect the hoof but the entire horse. Bad angles in the hoof and legs and add strain to ligaments up the leg and into the spine. Needless to say we have a chiropractor appointment soon so we can make sure he's not been thrown off kilter. 

Random Musings 'bout the Pony

 It’s hard when you are sick and the weather is nicer.  You want to play with your pony but the couple times you try you end up in coughing fits.  Ugh!  I haven’t ridden in a while and I know if I do ride I need to take it slow because a coughing fit in the saddle will not be fun.  I’m doing much better with my cough, it’s much more shallow but with the colder air I could easily make it worse again if I exert too much outside in the cold.

Dani is very cute.  I released her into the arena one day to roll and play.  She was full of bucks, snorts and farts!  LOL.  She was rolling then almost in one movement jumped and bucked a couple times and cantered off snorting and farting.  Oh if only I’d had my video on at the time.  It cracked me up! 

Lately when I’ve been releasing her in the “grazing” area she’s made a beeline for Daves hay bales.  He’s been buying a mostly alfalfa mix big bale….one of those almost 1,000 lb things from the local Prairie Springs Farm down the road.  That’s a nice facility with an indoor arena, expensive for what you get with no pasture turn out but nice full care right in town. 

Anyways, Dani can’t resist and I have to run up the hill, grab his practice rope that he leaves on a cow decoy and shoe her away.  She’ll eat the bits and pieces that have fallen when David has moved his hay in sections into his shed….I’m okay with that but when she starts digging through the tarp and trying to eat the bale I’m not okay with it.  I don’t want her eating his hay!  What a pest Dani can be!

David told me the day he brought the two bales there he had to fight off Don’s horses.  They are two mustangs that this guy doesn’t do anything with and has had the sheriff out a few times because of lack of feeding.  I think Don is missing a few screws in his head and really shouldn’t have horses but at least he seems to have been feeding more regularly.  The club alerted his family of the situation, brother, sister etc. and they have been assisting.  The older gelding isn’t looking so ribby anymore.  Anyhow Don had his boys out to graze and they were eating Davids hay.  David arrived with another bale and tried to shoe the horses away as he worked and took one bale apart to get into his shed.  Apparently Don just sat and watched rather than get his horses out of Davids hair.  How rude!  David said he doesn’t mind if Dani takes a nibble but I do.  She doesn’t need alfalfa or anymore food!  The mare acts like she’s starving sometimes!

Anyways, at least with my cough I can still love on my pony.  Her hooves are looking good, I’ve applied more oil to them and hopefully can get more done in the next week.  She has a pedicure next Saturday.  With the cold and mud I’ve been trying to keep an eye on her frogs for thrush.  I want to work on some of the gaps in her heal….I’ll do a post about just this soon.  No Thrush is a powder and on their website they tell you how to pack the frog and begin getting those gaps filled in.  Below is our usual hoof care area, it's on concrete so that I can apply the oil without getting dirt on her hooves right away.  Hopefully that means it absorbs into her feet for a few minutes.  My lighted hoof pick comes in handy with this shadowy light being what I have to work with.

Anyways, there hasn’t been much exciting training or riding because of the cold and me being sick.  I have the next two weeks off and the weather appears nicer so I will hopefully get some work done with my girl.  Perhaps I can even get my SLR out with me, my hubby too and get some Holiday pictures taken....been a slacker and haven't even gotten Christmas cards out yet this year!  Winter solstice was yesterday so you know what that means….the days will steadily get longer!  Yippeee!!!  Happy Holidays everyone!

Long in the tooth

I've been a bad blogger.  But my excuse is that work has been very busy lately.  I've been working on a major plan change and writing A LOT.  So blogging just hasn't sounded like fun to me after work!

KCRC set up a vaccine and floating clinic.  Perfect!  I got Dani all her shots and an updated Coggins test.  Then she got her teeth worked on.  Last year I had just bought her and she'd not had this done in many years.  She had long incisors and very sharp points.  This time she wasn't as bad.  They just needed to smooth out a couple edges.

The big mobile trailer was awesome but of course even a drugged up Dani had issues with wanting to walk into the trailer.  She eventually got in with encouragement.  I felt helpless but figured I'd let the doctor handle it, I couldn't exactly lunge her in a circle while drugged up anyways.

The holding stall looked supportive and she didn't seem to be too worried.  But when the filing started she jerked her head a bit.  She usually needs more sedative than other horses.  I find that interesting.  The doctor also mentioned to his new assistant that most horses aren't as difficult as her.  LOL.  My Daenerys of course is a difficult horse.  She's just a little redhead that let's you know her opinion on things.  All in all though it went well and I was glad her tooth health is good, it feels great to get her vaccines, coggins and floating all done with for the winter it's satisfying just like when I got all that hay!

All drugged up the assistant helped me guide her up the little hill to her pen where Dani just stood in the sun and rested.  With the extra shots she usually takes a bit to wake back up.  Her ears followed me around as I mucked the stall though.  She's so cute all sleepy.

There were more mules than horses that came to the clinic.  It was a pretty good turn out!  I hung out and just chatted horse stuff with everyone.  Talked to Jim about trailers, and met new gals and talked about trail riding.  Some of the trail ride leaders are always asking when I'll come out with them.  I sure hope to next year!  It was a great day, not too cold either.  Once Dani was more awake I took off for home to get things done there.  I returned that evening to feed her and she was back to her active self so I felt more than comfortable giving her the full evenings feeding.

The following week we had a hoof trim and her hooves were looking great my farrier said.  Sweet!  I've been using the riders rasp on her hooves to round them and using the hoof ointment more often even though our weather is getting more consistent now compared to the summer.  I'll keep on it.  Also with the addition of her hoof supplement in 6 months her feet will be stellar!!  Here's hoping!

The Hoof of It

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, Steve and I headed to the barn ready to ride.  I was gonna get Steve on Dani and do a little instruction and see how the two did together.  I'm contemplating a second horse come next spring and want him ready!  We started Dani in the round pen and I showed Steve how to direct her and explained the exaggerated body language I use to communicate. 

When Dani stopped and rested I noticed the tiny chip on her hoof had expanded.  She wasn't lame but I wasn't going to risk it, no more work today...  I put a call into the farrier and sent a picture of Dani's hoof.

She's been chipping in this same area for the last couple of trims.  I probably need to up how often I apply hoof oil (recommended by my farrier).  We've had a lot of wet and then dry weather and that's not fun for hooves.  It seems like Dani's hooves always flare a bit 4-5 weeks after a trim, mainly on the front hooves though.  I've started her on a new supplement in addition to her regular vitamins and minerals.  It's SmartPaks Smart Combo Senior.  Yeah she's not a senior but it was the best supplement for the price that included joint care and hoof care.  The main thing necessary for hoof care is omega-3, biotin, lysine, methionine, etc.  Hooves are built on protein so these key ingredients will hopefully help her develop stronger hooves and a thicker wall.  She doesn't have bad hooves but I think being on a hay only diet this will fill in the gaps.  I probably won't see much change for a few months, I'll be keeping my eye on her coronary band though!

I'm liking the SmartPaks, I decided to not buy the tubs and buy the pre-measured stuff instead, it was actually cheaper.  It's great!  Sand clear I will still have to measure and administer myself since the price is actually less at the local farm store.  I got a call while feeding and watering later that day from my farrier.  She was headed back to Colorado Springs from Denver and since she boards near me could easily swing by and check out my girls foot.  Yep, nothing major, she said after seeing the hoof in person.  All my farrier ended up having to do was snip the split and file it down.  It wasn't deep or much of an issue, I am still a worried first time mom!  I have a rasp and have tried to file the problem areas to prevent this from happening but I'm not good at using it.  Thinking about getting a Riders Rasp to help maintain the roll in between trims.  Anyone ever try one?

Glad to say Dani is doing well and so are her hooves!  Happy riding!

The First Farrier Visit

I've never been present when a farrier works on a horse.  The horses I leased have just had their hooves done unbeknownst to me since it wasn't a care lease just a set monthly fee to ride.  I was excited to see the process in person.

 

 

Dani was still a little sedated when the farrier came but she didn't have any issues getting Dani to lift her feet.  She answered my questions about hoof oil and recommended these two products.

 

 

Horseshoers Secret

 

 

 

Farrier's Fix

 

 

The top one is found in more convenient locations for me and she said both do a really nice job.  Farrier's Fix does a better job of preventing and curing thrush.

 

Dani didn't have too much hoof that needed to be trimmed but the trimming and filing that were performed helped round the edges of her hoof to help prevent chips.  I'd noticed a couple chips on some of her hooves but we'll get her on a regular schedule.

 

 

The farrier said that Dani seemed pretty sweet and I wouldn't necessarily have to be there to have her feet done but since she was still a little sedated I think I will be there for the next trim in 8 weeks just to make sure she is indeed a good girl for the farrier.  The farrier said her near hind leg was a bit stiff and that makes sense.  I'm sure she's still recovering a bit and perhaps starting some groundwork in the next week will help with that.  I'm just gonna keep a close eye on how she moves and get the vet out if I have any concerns.

 

 

I really liked this farrier and one gal at the barn was impressed seeing a female farrier.  She got her card from her.  I will definitely get a list going the next time I have her come out so perhaps she can do several horses.  Her price was $10 cheaper than a farrier that does a bunch of other horses here.  Full price for just a trim was $35.  Not too bad.  Look how nice Dani's hooves look now!

 

 



Just a tease...

OPEN WIDE!!  Lots to blog about coming real soon!!