Tuesday, March 31, 2009

No more duct tape


Mike came and did his usual great work with Bar's feet, and we think we may be past the hard part of the year. You know, the annual wet-to-dry-to-wet-to-dry and back again. Hard enough for horses with great feet, a real challenge for Bar.

It's really a couple of different things. One, he has Thoroughbred feet with thin, flaky hoof walls. Two, in the winter, the hooves don't grow as fast, so in order to have enough hoof to work with, we were trying to go a little longer. If we didn't work him, it also wouldn't be so much of an issue, but not working him is NOT an option for a whole host of reasons--me not hitting the ground chief among them.

I think we're going to invest in a set of boots, too, like Old Macs or something along those lines. Duct tape worked great in a pinch, and we'll always have it in the trailer, but for trail riding, we need back up that's a bit more substantial. I just don't want to worry about being 2 miles out and losing a shoe--on either horse!

Mike was great at talking through options with me, and never once got defensive when I asked questions about treatments, ideas, etc. I've had that experience before with farriers, but Mike just takes it all in stride and gives me clear, honest explanations that help me make the decisions that are right for my horse. Reason #456 I'll keep him as our farrier as long as he wants to shoe my crazy horses.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Bar and his space boots


Bar and his space boots
Originally uploaded by spottyhorse67

Duct tape truly has many uses.

In this case, protecting Bar's hooves until Mike comes on Monday.
Looks like we'll have to go back down to every six weeks for him,
which is fine. Better that than missing out on such awesome trail
riding weather.

Jessica Boyd
Spotty Horse News
spottyhorse.blogspot.com

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Bad Blogger

I have been a bad blogger, I know.

Being back at work full time--a good thing, of course--has curtailed the energy I have for sitting in front of the computer when I get home every night.

I am getting to the barn and working Bar most nights after work, though, and he's continuing to improve, especially if I work him consecutive nights.

The other day I threw him for a loop and used a hackamore on him, after working him in the round pen and under saddle for an hour, first. I was curious to see how he would react to not having the pressure of the bit in his mouth, one less thing to fight against.

He didn't quite know what to make of it, actually. I picked up the reins and clucked him forward and his ears flipped back as if to ask, "Forward against what?" I got him moving and we practiced giving to the bridle, which we'd just done with the bit with no problem, and stopping. He actually did remarkably well, once he got used to it and figured out he could fiddle with the leather ties on either side of the hackamore (since there was no bit to chew on).

More later, we're headed out for the day.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

Happy Birthday to Lena



Today, Lena Rey turned eight! Steve took her out for a birthday lope around the big outdoor arena, and she got lots of cookies and smooches from Katie and me.

A lot has changed since August 2005 when she came bouncing into our lives for good. For one, I've lost the look of mild terror I was wearing in the picture below. For another, we have all grown and learned a lot with each other.



Lena is a pretty special horse and without her, life would be a lot less colorful than it is.

Happy Birthday to the horse that inspired my Spottyhorse persona!