In which our farrier comes early because he's a Morning Person

I love my farrier, but he is a Morning Person.
He showed up this morning at 7:30, half an hour early.  Yawn. 
 The mares are not Morning Horses!
 I've kept notes for all the horses' feet for at least 8 years.  The form includes the date of each appointment, foot angles before/after, and notes about what Ron sees when he watches them walk before he starts work and what he sees when he trims them--extra growth on the inside or outside, excess wear on a foot that might indicate soreness on the opposite side, or evidence of stress or old abcesses.

Sometimes we see something in a foot that doesn't make sense, but when we go back through the old records, we discover that a horse was lame or stiff earlier in the year, and the evidence shows up months later in the hoof tissue.

I also include information about what kind of work each horse has done since the last farrier appointment--lessons, trail work, rides, etc.  and the type of terrain they've been on during that time.
Fiddle's foot (above) after trimming.  She shows the typical flat-footed conformation of a Swamp-dwelling horse.  

 It's important for me to keep notes about the sort of work she's been doing;  I know that Fiddle has been doing a lot of miles on very rocky terrain, and her shoes showed the impact of that work: she lost two shoes this time, (very unusual) and the nailheads on her remaining shoes were practically gone, although they are only 6 weeks old.

In other words, she wore the nails out, and trotted right out of her shoes!

I hope I'll find the missing shoes some day, because, although the shoes were worn out, I can re-use the pads.   We use Shocktamer  pads on the front; I'm not convinced that they actually reduce concussion significantly, but the pads last a lot longer than normal pads, so it's money well-spent.

 Fiddle:  not a Morning Horse.
Also:  Me.  Not a Morning Person.

Yawn.

I'm off to pack the trailer for camp now....ummmm, maybe I'll have another cup of tea first.

Comments

  1. I'm definitely am not a morning person either, so that is why I schedule my appts for noon!! But back in the day when I did have to schedule early appts, the horses thought I was crazy for getting them out at 7:00 a.m! I don't blame them!

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  2. I've always had good results with Shock Tamers. They stay in place & hold up. Hope to see you in ridecamp & fly that new Flag!

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  3. You guys are ready to go!! I hope to see you there, I might be bringing Cartman, in which case we'll be doing the trail ride. Have fun out there marking trail and working, looks like the weather may be decent.

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  4. Yap. I'm a morning person. 7:30? Shoot, all of my horses (30) are fed by then, and I've readied the 3rd horse for the trainer to get on. ;)

    I LOVE the detailed noted on the horses!! I am going to start doing this...

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  5. Detailed notes on shoeing, brilliant. I'm going to take a page out of your book! Hudson has four white hooves: definitely softer/more porous than dark hooves. In the winter he had crazy water absorption issues, making it difficult to keep his shoes on. Now that it's dry, they're chipping out around the nail holes: the change from soggy to desert was too quick this year. He has strange rippling in the hoof, the kind that usually has to do with illness or nutrition issues. We think it's from our weird weather this year, as nothing else has changed, and he hasn't been sick.

    Would love to throw a hoof supplement at it and believe it would fix them. But suspect it would empty the wallet and his hooves would remain. Hoof notebook: duh. Priceless. Thanks!!

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