Lena's Easter flat tire

Sometimes, even the simple things about owning horses happen at odd times.

Lena just got a new set of shoes on Friday, Steve rode her that day, then went back Saturday while Katie and I were at the mall picking up "The Prom Dress." He got home a little after we did and said he didn't ride because one of Lena's front shoes was bent away from her hoof in back. It wasn't loose, but had somehow pulled away from the buttress of her heel on one side.



So I called Mike, and he met us at the barn bright and early (7:30, groan) this morning to fix it. Easter morning! How can I not love this farrier?! Mike said she probably over-reached a little and caught the front shoe with her back foot, which happens all the time with certain horses. He even showed us the shiny part on the shoe that was the likely "impact" zone.

He flattened the shoe out again and bent it in a little more at the heels before tacking it back on her foot. He told Lena she was stuck with a little less freedom for that hoof, but better that than her pulling it off again. I think what he meant --based on a recent horse-shoeing refresher with Santa Rosa JC's Farrier Science guru, Stuart Greenberg--is that the hoof itself is dynamic and flexes with the horse's natural movements. Horseshoes by their very nature restrict that even as they provide support for the work the horse is doing.

She's all set and we'll probably head back to the barn this afternoon for an Easter ride.

Stay tuned for next Friday's day of horse dentistry. Bar and Lena are both getting their teeth done. Exciting stuff! My plan is to do Bar first, since he tends to be the more suspicious of the two and I've been through this with her twice already and know how she'll react.