Ground Driving, A Ladd Update, and Expanding Our Horizons

Sunday evening I ground drove Daisy for the first time in at least a month and a half. I wasn't sure what to expect, but. . . she was excellent! She was completely responsive to my voice commands, which is interesting because I don't really use them while riding (at least not the forward commands; I do use woah). I really want to get a cart and hook her up, but I'm leery. . . I was hoping I could find a cart in the area that I could borrow just for the first time to see if she could even handle it, but I didn't have any luck. So if I do it, it would require driving an hour or so away to pick up a ~$500 cart, in the hopes that Daisy even takes to it. So at this point, I haven't done anything more than think about it.

Monday morning finally left time for me to ride Ladd. He was full of it, as seen when he came cantering up to me full speed in the pasture and almost plowed me over. He had canter on the brain the whole time we were in the arena; I was trying to ride my PC dressage test with him, but the trot circles were turning into fights to see who would win; me at keeping him at a trot, or him at winning a canter. He was lathered up and sweaty after a half hour, and I took him out on the trail. He was surprisingly well behaved. I admit I'm a little anxious about riding him outside because when we canter, I always have the feeling that I'm on the edge of losing control, and I hate that thought. Not so on Monday; he was right in my hands the whole time, energetic, but disciplined. 

This is him and I before our ride:

Tuesday morning I took Daisy out for a ride Western. We headed out on a road we generally ride on, but we didn't turn back where we normally do. She was getting bored and lazy with the roads we always ride on, so we carefully crossed a busy road onto a new road. As I expected, she instantly perked up and was curious about her surroundings again. Love that!

The last time she was trimmed, I fear she was trimmed too short (in fact, I know; her sole was visibly too low to the ground) and as a result, she's been sensitive on stones. This aggravates me, because trimmed correctly, I know she (and all horses) can be sound, but being an advocate for barefootedness is not easy when my own horse isn't sound. I've been using her easyboot gloves for every single ride, which solves the issue and she's fine that way, but I still wish she could just go bare. 

Ah well. Onwards and upwards,

The Journey from Bare, to Shoe, to Bare Again

I'm all about hooves. It's something I'm passionate about. Which is why my 4H public presentation coming up in February will be about hooves-as it was last year, though that was an impromptu- and it's going to essentially be what this post ends up being. So here we go, my presentation.

When I purchased Daisy, coming on 4 years ago now, she was barefoot. I had her trimmed every 6-8 weeks, and she remained barefoot that entire first year I had her, all the way through a summer riding season, though I wasn't showing yet at that point. We road all over roads and gravel and she was pretty fine. There was one time where she went lame on a front, but it seemed to be from a deep cut in her frog. That was my first experience with treating my own ill horse, and though it was a barely noticeable lameness, it stressed me out. I ended up soaking her hoof in epsom salts twice a day for a week, and she turned out fine. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of her hooves during that first year, because I didn't know at that point that in the future I'd wish I'd taken those photos.


The following year (2008) started out barefoot. Early into the season, she went dead. lame. and I couldn't ride for at least a week.
This is what her poor hoof looked like.

 

You can imagine that, after seeing that, I no longer felt she could go barefoot. And I bought into my farrier's ideas. Now, I have nothing against traditional farriers. I just think they're mislead. And at that point, I didn't know any better, few people do, and so I agreed with everything he said. He said that because she had white feet, her hooves were very weak, because 'all white hooves are weak'. And he gave the whole "we've bred good hooves out of horses" spiel. 

And so on came the shoes on all fours, with barium. And pads and silicon on her fronts as well. 

I shudder looking at this picture. Can you imagine having steel on your foot? 

Gee, sounds comfortable.

So no, she was not lame with the shoes on. Of course, now I know she didn't feel much of anything, but that's fine as long as there's no pain right? Ummmm.....

Moving right along...

Christmas 2008 I received a copy of The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd by Joe Camp. And I was hooked.
The section that got me hooked went like this (copied from the Soul of a Horse website):
Have you ever crossed your legs for such a long time that your foot goes to sleep? It's because you have cut off the blood circulation to your foot. Essentially that's what's happening when a metal shoe is nailed onto a horses foot. The hoof no longer flexes. Which means a substantial loss of blood circulation in the hoof. Which mean the nerve endings go to sleep. And the ill health the hoof is suffering from lack of circulation is no longer felt by the horse. In other words, the "ouch" never reaches the brain.

That made a whole lot of sense to me. I kept reading. I learned about how it's not enough to simply go barefoot, but you have to have the proper trim. A traditional farrier trims a hoof flat as if they were going to apply a shoe. This puts pressure on parts of the hoof that aren't supposed to face that pressure; like (almost ironically) the sole.
It's all been completely and utterly eye-opening. I started Daisy with a local 'natural trimmer' July 2009. She took about 6 months to completely change over, but by 3 or 4 months she wasn't at all sore or visibly off anymore; I simply noticed that her conformation still improved even after the 4th month.  I wish I'd taken shots of her hooves pre-first trim, post, and monthly afterward, but I didn't. Now, it's been over a full year, and she is never. ever. lame. She prefers grass over stones most days, but if I truly ask, she'll walk on stones without being very careful about it, unless her hooves are soft due to particularly wet ground.


And so, I present, Daisy's current hoof. No wait! Go back and look at that poor bruised hoof. I'll wait.


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TA-DA! Is that not a gorgeous hoof? Nice wide heels too. Lots of flexing goin' on there.

When Daisy was trimmed with a traditional farrier or when she had shoes, our appointments were always two months apart. Now it's between 4 and 6 weeks, mostly 5 weeks. When we had the traditional farrier visiting to have shoes put on, Daisy always had to be held, with a chain lead rope. She hated. shoes. She would rear and hit her head on the barn ceiling, and rear and rear and rear up to avoid having them put on. I started truly dreading farrier visits.

Now? She likes my trimmer, no doubt about it. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that he bothered to learn her name and actually socialize with a her a little before even gets to her feet at each appointment. He brings her carrots, and gives her moments to rest while he trims. In return, he doesn't even have to touch her leg and she picks up her hoof for him already.

Traditional farriers are also hesitant to take any toe off the hoof, and often times hooves won't have the proper hoof angles and look like blocks standing upright. Depending on the season, you can pick up one of Daisy's hooves and actually pull them around the heels and see them truly flex. Pretty cool.

I know I've shared this thermograph before, but it just gets to me so much. Check out this page to see it:

http://www.thesoulofahorse.com/barefoot.htm

This is Daisy's hoof a few weeks after a trim...if I had to guess, I'd say about 3-4 weeks into the trim; her bars don't look as long as they do when she gets them trimmed. I make appointments that are flexible; Whenever I see that Daisy's hoof needs it, or will need it in the next week, I simply make an appointment.

This year, I purchased EasyBoot gloves for Daisy's fronts. Though she doesn't truly need them, and I don't use them every ride, she does definitely appreciate them when I do use them, and she steps confidently.

I've received a fair share of ridicule for going barefoot in the past. But the last few months, there have been no comments. Because what is there to comment on? She has beautiful, strong hooves.

Just like God intended. 

Obviously, the good hooves haven't been bred out of the horses.

I'm Back...

 

Hello, bloggers.

I was never really gone...just not at all motivated to post. Not for lack of things to post about, because I had a lot of stuff I wanted to post over the last month.

Here's a short overview (that really doesn't do it any justice).

I've been riding basically only bareback or with my new Abetta endurance saddle (see above) which Jean's sister sold to me for a very very generous price (Thank you!!). I love it! It's very light; I think Daisy enjoys it as well.

I've simply been enjoying Daisy, and getting back to basics. This month included a lot of work on stopping in the snaffle bridle. I regret not doing the schooling in the snaffle; she would have been fine. She's excellent in it now. I've been trying very hard to use all my aids when I ask for the stop, and my hands and reins as a last resort. She's doing well.

I've been trail riding often as well, and have taken her just in a halter and reins numerous times. She's been not quite as good as in the snaffle, but very close. One day I meant to only trail ride, so we went without a bit, and I ended up out on the road anyway because the trail was too wet. Once I got out there, I realized I only had a halter and reins. I took the chance anyway, and she was just fine, even on the road, cantering toward home, I had her stop right there. I've been riding carefully lately to make sure everything we do is a result of me asking her for it, not simply her guessing correctly what I want. Normally, in places where we canter, Daisy knows it and I just let her choose when we start cantering and that's all there is to it.  Now, I make sure she's at a very nice, controlled walk or trot and not anticipating the canter, before I ask for it. I've successfully gotten her to walk very calm in areas where before all she'd do was jig.

Daisy's hooves have held up excellently. This was our first full season on the 'natural' barefoot trim...if I wasn't 100% convinced before, then I'm 200% convinced now. She doesn't even avoid stones now; the majority of the time she'll walk/trot/canter over gravel without a flinch. Her hooves are never bruised (except a tiny spot that we found when she was trimmed yesterday from her bars being quite long) and she's a happy camper. I use her easyboots when time allows; she loves those as well. She seems to walk extra hard on the gravel those days, just to prove how awesome they are. 

I love my mare. She makes my life complete. I can't imagine what I'd do without her. She's my go-to whenever I need a picker-upper...and she always succeeds in making my day. Some rides start out sour, but at the end of it, I look at the little things we've accomplished that day and I'm always immensely proud.

I've ridden over 60 horses in my almost 12 years of riding. There are very few moments where I am afraid on a horse. I realize however that one fear I do have, and admit to, is my fear of being run away with. I'm not sure why it's such a fear of mine. The last time it truly happened (at the trail trial, on Daisy), I wasn't really scared while she was really running; simply angry that she wasn't listening. So I guess a better way to phrase it is, a fear of being out of control. I know they're big animals and I have a lot of healthy respect, and I never let them get away with things. But if they truly want to do something, they will succeed. I feel almost constricted when I ride Ladd or Bubba, because they are truly very strong, and I feel like I lose control with each passing moment at a canter (mostly only out on the trail). I hate that feeling. I know deep down if they took off, it wouldn't be that bad, they'd eventually stop, and I can always one-rein stop. But it still scares me.
I've resolved to fix this fear, at least on Daisy. I'm going to practice letting her go all-out, and then get her back to a stop. I tried it a little today...such a silly fear. She was going full-speed, and I had her to a walk in 10 seconds, tops. It all depends on the day, though.

 My oldest brother and I shared a trail ride together at Jean's. It was a lot of fun :)

 And last Saturday I had the pleasure of visiting my friend who lives about an hour away and I went riding with her, on a delightful draft-cross named Allie. :)

 

Random Ramblings

I don't have anything new to report, but I feel like posting...

I thought about posting pictures of Daisy and I at fair..buuuut...I'm just going to post one. I posted a lot of photos on my facebook and I don't feel it's necessary to post them here too. I am under the impression that people don't care that much.
This one is of Daisy and I during the reining pattern...I'm thinking of actually teaching her to do good rollbacks and spins this winter. May be fun! If I recall correctly, her mom went to state for reining quite a few times...maybe she has it in her ;)

Notice me, the loser, was so worried about the pattern and such that I forgot to pull the chaps down for that class :P

I did a spider weave pattern with her mane that day ("spider weave pattern"...is there a real official name for it? :P), used 57 rubber bands (one more then 2009 :P) and got a lot of compliments...and a lot of kids stopping and pointing "LOOK AT THAT HORSE'S HAIR!" like they thought it came that way. So cute :) It actually lay flat this year. Loved it.

Other news...I've been looking into Tipperary jump vests, but they were all super expensive ($150-$200). I put an ad on craigslist in the "items wanted" section for a vest for up to $80 or cheaper. I received the phone number of a lady 20 minutes away who has a used clothing and tack shop (equestrian clothing) and had a few vests. I went yesterday (she's only open 4 days a month... :P) and she had two vests available: a flexrider one (which looks dorky, but I would have taken it if I had to) and a tipperary that just came in the day before. The tipperary fit! And, as a bonus, it's red with black trim! Red is our club color, and one of the combos I thought of doing for cross country *some day*, and it's sort of ironic that the trim is black because Jean always does XC in black and red..pretty cool. :) I love it.

Otherwise, camp is one week from today (!!!) and I might be doing a schooling with Jean on Wednesday! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!) :)
I'm pretty excited. Daisy's such a good girl :))
I've been using the boots...without the power straps. (I put them on, but the boots were pretty much impossible to get on with the power straps, and even WORSE to get off...I felt like I was gonna pull her hoof off altogether!) I did 2 pretty serious road rides with them, and I love them. Daisy loves them too. She steps much more confidently, and she feels better too...like she uses her body more. Pretty neat.

The horse flies are back again (started on the 1st of August. You think they understand calenders?). I always say they come in August, and here they are. They are vicious beyond belief...I put Daisy's fly sheet on, but they are relentless on her exposed neck. The only good thing is that they are super easy to kill. :P

I received my school schedule in the mail. *Shudder*.... as of tomorrow...one month left. That's a lot though! A WHOLE MONTH! :)...but yeah. It's goin' down soon.
ANNDDD! I registered to do a trail trial in our area (Like ACTHA but not) and I'm looking into doing a hunterpace in September too. I'm happy not eventing as long as I still get to play around cross country. I don't need stadium and dressage :P Not now, anyway. :)

And so...3 days to schooling, hopefully....7 to camp.

Until my next post,

Boot Update, Fair to Start...TOMORROW. :D

Sooooo....guess who was on the front page of the paper today?! ;)
ABOVE the fold. Mmmmmhm. Moi. ;) It was pretty cool.

I took the boots for a real spin today once Daisy was at Jean's. One sounded loose as I was cantering, and it suddenly came off, stuck still to Daisy's pastern...she just sort of spooked, but I got off. It was loose...only on one hoof. (her front left). The trimmer came out 20 minutes later (he was in the area) and got me a 1/2 size smaller boot to exchange for that left boot, and some Power straps for the boots. Bright green :) (He had no black). Otherwise...I liked how she rode with the boots on the flat. She seemed to be stepping lighter.....

I'm going to enter Costume Class with Bubba tomorrow as a headless horseman ;). And Daisy and I will be biker chicks on Thursday. Should be fun!

Until...some other time,

Easyboot Gloves (....t-5 days)

My natural trimmer has become an official easycare inc. boot supplier...and I got me some boots today. I got two easy boot gloves for Daisy's fronts.
http://www.easycareinc.com/our_boots/easyboot_glove/Easyboot_glove.aspx
I cannot believe how great they are! Granted, I have not ridden in them yet. I only walked/trotted her over the gravel driveway...but...she...tracked up!!!! (Tracking up is when a horse steps so that their hind hooves land where their fronts leave off....) She is known to always trail in the hind...but she was floating. Over gravel.
Needless to say, I'm really excited to try them out. I hope I can harness some of that boot magic when I'm on her back ;) I'm pretty excited. She liked them, too. I let her out to graze a little with them still on, and she galloped to the grass so fast, didn't give the stones a second thought, and bucked like crazy (in joy).
Pretty sweeeet.
I will keep thee updated on the boot deal :)

Bubba, Daisy, and Western

Helllooooo....

I've been meaning to post but of course haven't had the time.
Daisy is completely fine; i took her out the day after I posted last time and she was fine; jumping a bit and galloping a lot. She felt amazing.
I also rode Bubba. Normally Bubba is a very tank-y ride; very strong, and my biceps KILL after a ride. Now that he's retired, Jean is trying to ride him long and low; sort of westerny/hunter horse, so that he'll do well in pleasure shows. Because she's used to him, he does great at it with her. But our last few rides together were awkward because I was trying to ride long and low, but I'm not used to him enough and it was hard to get him to do it and I ended up using a lot of contact anyway. Last ride on him on Friday was like riding on clouds though :). He felt incredible. We just clicked riding together with the new technique. My arms weren't sore at all, and he did everything amazingly. He stayed at a nice controlled, same speed trot and canter in both directions. I had to do nothing but balance; he controlled his speed and kept it slow himself. He felt amazing, best ride on him ever! So I'm quite excited to ride him again. I'm finally completely convinced that I can ride him successfully in county fair; we'll kick butt ;) (Unless we have some sort of unplanned disqualification again :P)

Anyhow, I rode Daisy western on Saturday. Note to self upon seeing the photos: I REALLY need to buckle down and get a new pad! I wanted to go western to test run my new boots :) like 'em?

And I rode her in the rain, bareback, with the western bridle on Monday evening. That's where I took the fourth picture. She was so great; at the end, with just very slight wiggling of my fingers to "run" the bit, she went down on the bit...with a loose rein and no contact. Very cool. :) I'm yet undecided about which bit to be using...her Tom Thumb or the curb...For various reasons, I can't decide. I may try the curb again; it's not as harsh, correct?

The trimmer came today and Daisy has no bruising and relatively hard hooves, and they look great :) they make me smile.

Question is, do you guys trim the feather-like things on their fetlocks? I never have, but lately I've noticed them...I can't decide.

That 'tis all for now. On Thursday I will indeed to go to witness the gelding operation :) should be cool.

And after looking at old posts, I want to point out that she never stands like this anymore:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3ISgC_pFR932DRkxk3gqJ_j0Z90blRb4oN3-X07Qzk-qYwJlzCD1nTBBQk_vdILUR7tHjHK72OEkU9QDs9hrKc5J94fBix8nkxr2CH-hnwMyeltvLyjEAsbXNM4GUNgsqoHOYgIXdkLU/s1600-h/groomed.JPG
Not sure why...better trimming...really because of more selenium? idk. But it's awesome. :)
Until my next post,

The Horse Taught Me Another Lesson...

I have way too much fun with Picnik. Isn't that about the cheesiest picture ever? :P And I love Daisy's expression.

I have quite the story to tell.
I'll start with before my ride. I groomed and tacked up Daisy and as I was picking out her left hind, I picked it up and within a few seconds she very persistently pulled it out of my grasp. Generally she tries, but I just hang on. That wasn't at all possible this time, she grabbed it from me. I took it up again and finished my work but she wasn't too happy; she still tried, though kinder, to pull the hoof from me. I took her out and went trail riding (it was supposed to be my warm up). She wasn't lame or anything, and rode well. At one point however, I we were riding through the woods (off the regular trail) and I was leaning forward to avoid branches. She shot forward suddenly like something hit her back leg, and once we got on the regular trail, I looked at it from on top of her and she had it cocked like she was resting it (only the toe touching the ground). I got off, keeping her reins looped over her neck and told her to "whoa" to ground-tie, which is something she normally does fine, and as soon as I got back to her leg she started walking. "Oh, yeah, very funny Daisy, come here!...Daisy....Daisy?"
Yeah. You guessed it. The more I tried to stealthily sneak up on her to grab the rein, the more aware she was that she was loose and i was trying to catch her. The walk toward home became a trot, the trot the canter, and my stealthy walk became a tripping, sliding (Note to self: Need new paddock boots with grip) running-jog as I tried to keep up. It was sorta pointless to chase her because OBVIOUSLY I couldn't outrun her so I couldn't catch her. But was I just supposed to say "Adios, meet ya at home" and let her take off and just follow far behind at a walk? That'd be stupid too. So I jogged. Soon she cantered around a corner and I only saw a few flashes of red on her saddle pad as we neared a big hill that went down. I was worried about that hill. I was praying "LORD, PLEASE let her walk down the thing!". I know horses, like us, are self-preserving, but you know...I had my doubts. Who knows what that new taste of freedom would make her do?! Luckily, I turned the corner and found that just before the top she went to a walk and slowly picked her way down the steep hill. And then there's me, huffing and puffing (NO KIDDING. I could barely breathe, my throat was so dry and scratchy) and now praying "LORD, PLEASE, please, PLEASE let her stop at the bottom of the hill and graze!"...Yeah. That didn't happen. I thought for an instant it did because at the bottom Daisy lingered for a second. But then I heard the telltale "clop-clop" of her trotting over the bride we have over our stream and I knew I was done for. Then I hear my mom "Why is she loose?! Daisy!" and other random stuff. Poor mother, out walking the dog, and here comes Daisy, with me running behind her shouting pointless words like "Don't you DARE gallop on the sloppy mud, young lady! Nooo! DAISY!".
It was actually quite humorous. I knew it wasn't that dangerous so i allowed myself to laugh as I ran. I finally ran the last stretch (which, by the way, I am not a runner at all so this romp through the woods left me gasping and I could barely breathe) and found Daisy calmly waiting to get in the barn gate. Ha. Nice try.

I got a drink, which at first I couldn't swallow because I couldn't breathe :P and then I got back on and made her ride the trail again to teach her a lesson. Needless to say, I didn't end up doing any road riding after our "warm up". (Haha.)
I learned never to assume she'll ground-tie each and every time. :P

Through all this, Daisy was not lame. I can say that. Perhaps she was very very very slightly lame in a way that I didn't notice, but noticeably she wasn't lame, and I did pay attention just before she took off because I thought she hurt herself.

So fast forward a few hours after graining. I went outside with Daisy at her stall and grabbed a flake of hay to throw in the paddock for her. Normally she comes trotting up to get it. This time she only went within view of me and stood pawing the ground, refusing to move. After a little bit of coaxing, she walked forward, but after maybe ten steps, just before an uphill to get to the hay, she stopped and pawed again and then looked at me all miserable.
So I assumed colic. However, she finally got up to the hay and she ate it; normally she doesn't eat when she's colicy. So I took her out of the paddock to either walk her or check her leg, and I watched her walk. She clearly favored her right hind (OPPOSITE leg she pulled out of my hand while grooming); landed toe-first when she walked, rested it when she stopped, etc. And she walked with a low head carriage; sign of lamness in a hind.

I ran my hands all over the leg but I didn't feel any real HEAT heat (just warmth). There was one spot on her hock that seemed a little bit extra warm, and below her fetlock but I still wouldn't say the spots were hot. So I cold-hosed the leg in case in was her leg and then I put her back in the stall with hay. I looked stuff up on google and from her symptoms, I think it's an abscess. I called Jean and talked to her about it, then called my trimmer. He said it sounds like either an abscess or just a stone bruise and I should call him tomorrow and if it's still bad he'll come look at it. Tomorrow Daisy gets trailered to Jean's. I'm going on a trip on Thursday and Daisy's staying there. I already have two riders lined up to ride Daisy a couple times while I'm gone :) So I hope she stays sound/gets sound.

I'm not too worried. I was so relieved that it wasn't colic (her frequent colic behavior (in spring and summer) scares me. I hate it when she gets that way. This way, yes I know she's in pain, but it's not gonna kill her.

Trimmer's Visit

(this photo is a few weeks old...it is NOT that sunny and pretty these days...taken at Jean's farm)

My natural trimmer came today. I was assigned all the evening barn chores, so I didn't get to chat/really look into Daisy's hooves, but I was informed (Though I sorta knew anyway) that Daisy has thrush in...a lot of her hooves. I'm not sure exactly how many, but I think all of them, to some degree. All this snow, and she STILL has thrush!

Daisy also has slight laminitis in the white line of a couple of hooves, because of the alfalfa hay she's on at Jean's...It completely didn't occur to me about the whole alfalfa=more sugar thing :-/. At my house, Daisy's on grass hay, so Daisy is (of course) loving the alfalfa, and now...yeah. Luckily, she's coming home in probably just a couple more weeks, and then she'll be on grass hay again. I just need to stay on top of spraying her hooves with tea tree oil/apple cider vinegar spray...which while I'm at it, I need to ask, does that stuff get "old"? The stuff I have is from December, and it wasn't kept in a fridge or out in the barn...so should I still use it or mix new spray?

Otherwise, there's nothing new to report...I have some videos of Daisy and I and a friend from the barn riding yesterday, and I'll try to fix them up and get them online...we shall see.

Until then, have a great night everyone! We have (I think) about a foot of snow on the ground...ohhh, fun. ;)

Watch 'er Go Video :)

It's done!
Sorry I added some extra, unnecessary stuff; I couldn't help myself. This was fun :)

And if you don't like the music, just turn the volume down. I just didn't want it to be silent in the back round :)
I like the ending, in case you want to know.
And if it says "still processing" check back a little later.

Musings on Shoe(ings)

Hello, Dear blogger friends!

Today I give you a quick (at least for me to write :P) post on the effects of shoeing.
Now that I know the truths behind horse shoeing, and how successful natural, barefoot trimming is, I find it sad that people don't know about it. (Or aren't willing to accept it...but moving right along).

I'm going to attach a bit of information from a book I read in a moment. First, I will show you this picture.

The picture illustrates how shoes hinder blood flow in the horse's hoof. And, when you read the explaination below, it's a pretty darn powerful photo.
At least, I find it powerful. (Photo found at www.thenakedhoof.com)

Can you guess which one of the hooves has a shoe on it?
*HINT* Look for the one with little blood flow.

Mmmm hmm. Am I the only one who finds that just plain scary?
I hope not. Or...if I am...I hope you'll change.

And now, without further ado, my information. Which I think is pretty darn cool...but I'm not sure how many regular horse readers I have on my blog anyway by now so I'm not really sure if this is worth it, or if this is completely pointless...but it's worth a shot.

Excerpt from the website of the author of "The Soul of the Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd" (Joe Camp). (AW
www.thesoulofahorse.com

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Did you know that a horse’s hoof is supposed to flex with every step taken? And that simple act of flexing is just about the most important thing a horse can do for good health and long life? The flexing provides shock absorption for the joints, tendons and ligaments in the leg and shoulder; acts as a circulatory pump for hundreds of blood vessels in the hoof mechanism; and helps the heart get that blood flowing back up the leg.

Without flexing, the hoof mechanism will not have good circulation and will not be healthy. And the heart will have to work harder to get the blood back up the legs. Without flexing, there will be no shock absorption.

And with a metal shoe nailed to the hoof, no flexing can occur.

...................and more........................

And one item I found puts to rest what so many were telling me: that the foot has been bred right off the horse, that the so called "domestic" horse no longer has the same foot as the horse in the wild. Nothing could be further from the truth. It would take a minimum of 5000 years to breed change into the basic genetics of the horse. I also discovered a study confirming that every "domestic" horse today retains the abilty of return to the feral state and be completely healthy. In other owrds, you do not really have a "domestic" horse. Genetically speaking, you have a wild horse in captivity. All horses on this earth are genetically the same.

"If all that's true, why does my horse appear to feel better with shoes on his feet?" I was asked recently.

I had no idea. Back to the experts I went. And quickly the answer fired back: Have you ever crossed your legs for such a long time that your foot goes to sleep? It's because you have cut off the blood circulation to your foot. Essentially that's what's happening when a metal shoe is nailed onto a horses foot. The hoof no longer flexes. Which means a substantial loss of blood circulation in the hoof. Which mean the nerve endings go to sleep. And the ill health the hoof is suffering from lack of circulation is no longer felt by the horse. In other words, the "ouch" never reaches the brain.

That's also why some horses are tender for a time after shoes are taken off. The hoof that has been unhealthy because of shoes now has blood circulation once again, and he can feel. Two of our horses were good to go right from the first minute the shoes came off. Two took a month or so, one about three months, and one took almost seven months. But all are happy campers now, with rock solid feet, on the trail, in the arena, on asphalt, wherever[..........]

Emile Carre, a past president of the American Farriers Association was quoted as saying "The (horse's) foot was designed to be unshod, Anything that you add to the foot, like a horseshoe that is nailed on, is going to interfere with the foot's natural process. Most horseshoes have six to eight nails, possibly one to three clips, all of which constrict the foot's ability to expand and contract. Add pads, packing, any number of alternatives to the shoe, and you create a gait alteration. It all interferes with the natural process of the mechanism."

Less than 5% of horses in the wild have any kind of lameness, and Dr. Jay Kirkpatrick (who has studied wild horses most of his adult life) says that virtually every case of lameness he's seen in the wild is related to arthritic shoulder joints, not hoof problems.

Arizona veterinarian Dr. Tomas Teskey says,"One of the greatest damages that occurs because of the application of steel shoes to the horse's hoof is the greatly reduced circulation within the hoof, and the diminished return of blood back up toward the heart through the veins of the lower leg. Shoes interfere with the hoof's natural blood-pumping mechanism. The natural hoof expands and contracts with each step, letting blood in as it spreads upon impact with the ground, and squeezing blood up and out of the hoof as it contracts when it is not bearing weight. If this sounds familiar, like the blood pumping mechanism of a heart, that's because it is--natural hooves perform a critical function as supplementary "hearts". This vital heart-like mechanism is greatly restricted by immobilizing the hoof with steel shoes."

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And now, a short paragraph from www.healthyhoof.com case studies BC Thoroughbred:

Many people assume that Thoroughbreds have horrible feet, and that having horrible feet is due to poor breeding practices. I want to challenge that assumption.

Consider this; a horses feet account for far less than 1% of the whole horse, right? So, how can TB breeders get 99.5% of that magnificent animal so damned RIGHT and get the only the feet WRONG?

I don't understand! These big majestic animals are marvels of animal husbandry... they have been bred for centuries for strength, agility, stamina, athleticism - and great looks! They aren't all Einstein's' in the brains department, but they are very sensitive and responsive.

So how do all of those many thousands of silly breeders manage to breed "bad" into just the feet???

What's particularly perplexing is why those same horrible TB feet become so wonderfully hard and durable once given a chance to shed their metal shoes... Yes, that's right, I connected the phrases "horrible TB feet" and "wonderfully hard and durable", because this is what happens when the shoes are taken off and the feet are trimmed and balanced by a knowledgeable barefoot trimmer / farrier.


My natural trimmer is coming tomorrow. :) Oh joy.
You know how many months I went through dreading farrier visits? Yeah, I'm glad that's over! :)

Thrush, Trimming, Updates, and, umm...More.

Hello!
Long time no post...I actually had pictures for both of the last Sunday Stills posts but just somehow...never got around to posting...

SOOO much has been going on with Daisy and I since the cross country schooling, and yet nothing has happened...

The schooling brought up various questions about Daisy's soundness and life has a barefoot horse that I really needed to sort out...I actually have each of the questions written down, and answers, but...I don't feel like sharing. Not today...maybe another day. Or maybe never. I can't decide...partially because the answers contain words that could be considered, um...offensive, I guess, to certain people...who will probably never read this, anyway, but I'd rather not share right now :).

ANYWAY, I need to say a BIG thank you to Mrs. Mom especially for being willing to email me, answer questions, look at my photos, give me advice on Daisy's thrush, etc...you were SUCH a help, I SO appreciate it! Thank you very, very, very much!

Daisy did have thrush...it's gone now, I'm pretty sure. It was still lingering in her right hind last Monday when my trimmer came, but I've been ACV spraying, and it's gone.

And now, DRUM ROLL PLEASE!
I TRIMMED DAISY'S HOOVES LAST MONDAY! FOR THE FIRST TIME!!!!!!!!

Yes, yes, you can stop gushing now. I know, I know, really, please be quiet...I KNOW, stop getting so excited!


(I'm not really sure what made me write that^^)

But for real, I did trim Daisy's hooves...my trimmer gave me one of his old(er) files, and showed me how to trim Daisy's hooves (I'm supposed to remember, BACK 45 degrees! Not in that order...) and next Monday (not tomorrow) I will go about, umm...*trying* to trim her hooves myself. He said I could go ahead and trim her hooves two weeks into the trim...which is cool. I got the whole trimming the edges down fine (at least, the left side, where I can use my right hand...I have yet to try with my left...that will be awkward :P) but I'm a little unsure about trimming her bulbs...that's where the "BACK" comes in...and I go to just about height of the frog...but not lower...and...yeah...we'll see. :P

High school is keeping me very busy these days...*thanks*. :P

I haven't been riding as much...and Daisy's showing it through weight gain (not totally because of lack of riding, though :P) and grumpy (er) attitude (grumpier than the usual grump than she is). I just call her Miss Grumpy these days and scratch her behind the ears more often...the pictures above were from a few weeks ago now.

I went to ride at Jean's yesterday, and am going again on Wednesday...she got some new horses at an auction, and they turned out quite nice. I like them a LOT! :))

Alrighty...well...the chickens got a new coop. So I will eventually be posting pictures of the build and finish on my other blog (Link at the side, over there ------>>> )

Post #193

Hello, all!

I ended up not riding in the parade on Saturday...Considering how Daisy wasn't completely fine with the last parade, my mom and I didn't have good "feelings" about this one, as it would be a much longer, larger parade, so I opted not to ride in it...turned out that it was fun, anyway, and I was glad I was there to help out.

Our club still attended the parade, and it was a good thing! Without us, there would, again, be NO horses! What a shame! :-P

I arrived and promptly started braiding tails with ribbon; I did one pony, and then another club member wanted it, too...then I did 2 or 3 forelocks. I'd just like to say, I LOVE our club; the majority of the members....well, actually, all of them, are younger then me, some a lot younger, but it's so fun that way. I never had younger siblings or younger relatives living near me, so it's kinda fun to hang out with the "little" kids. :)

The parade finally started, after getting everyone mounted on ponies and moved out of the way as our club's three trailers were taken away to the place where the parade would end, to pick us up.

We did a lot of waiting in the beginning because traffic was still going on down one side of the street, so we had some waiting to do to get onto Main street. One of our club members was riding Maggie, a Standardbred that Jean recently rescued. Maggie looks awesome now, and was a former Mennonite buggy horse, so she really shouldn't have been nervous at all, but her rider was a little nervous, so I stood with them for awhile...by the time we got going, Maggie was fine. She's a beautiful girl now....maybe one of these days I"ll so before and after pictures of when Jean got her; she's awesome now!

Once we got going, Scout, the pony I rode in a show in May, started getting a little excited, so I lead him and rider for a little bit...then they went alone again, then he got super excited as we passed by a mini-stage playing music, so Jean and I both held him...it's so...sad and annoying. We passed that stage playing music, and the music was loud and jumpy; no wonder Scout was nervous! I wish they'd have turned it down...

The rest of the parade was uneventful; I saw some friends of mine, and it was fun listening to the crowd "oooh and ahh" over the ponies; two of our ponies, Mouse (far left pony in the middle picture) and Biscuit (last little buckskin pony in the last picture) are small and ADORABLE, and you could people all of the place saying "Oh, look at the horsies! Look at the little ones!" :-). At the end of the parade we passed a McDonalds, and we joked that we should ride through the drive through...maybe if I ride next year, I will :-P.

For those who are interested in the horses, left to right in the middle picture are Mouse, Phoenix, and Mari (Samaria is her full name, I think)...Last picture left to right (that you can see; the three ponies) are Bella, Biscuit, and Scout.

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The GREAT news is, I got a natural trimmer!!!!! I'm SUPER excited! I found the name and number for one "through the grapevine" and made and appointment for yesterday afternoon...it was awesome! (did I already say that?) I'm completely thrilled. If you've read my blog from the beginning, you'll know that since I got Daisy I've had problems with her hooves; bruising, getting cut, her being lame, having to soak her hoof, not riding for a week or two at a time, etc. Last year, I had her shod. To put it plainly, it was horrible. She reared, she wouldn't stand still, she obviously hated it, and though I didn't admit it mostly because I thought there was no choice but to shoe her, I dreaded the farrier coming. I read The Soul of a Horse: Life Lessons from the Herd by Joe Camp (gifted to me by my awesome uncle :)) and was completely convinced. Shoeing is terrible.

What I realized yesterday was that the natural trimming gives the horse's hoof actual shape. Normally, the hoof is trimmed so that it's flat the way it would be if it had a shoe on. That's fine, if there's a shoe (which are bad anyway), but if they're just flat and there's no shoe, the parts of the hoof that are NEVER supposed to touch the ground do and that's what causes the horse to go lame and people to say that the horse needs shoes. I found it completely incredible yesterday to watch and listen to the trimmer as he explained the way the hoof should be shaped, and how many problems he's solved with his natural trimming. Horses that were lamanitic so bad that they would be put down were saved because of his trim. The trimmer studied in Canada with Lisa Huhn for awhile, and he said at the end of his studying he had to dissect 16 horse hooves. He said that it was terrible what he saw; the coffin bone in hooves of horses that had shoes was completely deformed and twisted because the shoes were SO bad.

All I can say is, PLEASE, read up about the natural trimming and try to find a trimmer near you; it's not simply having a horse go 'barefoot'. If you go barefoot but still have a farrier trim their hooves, they are still in pain because the hooves are trimmed wrong. Check it out, it's a fascinating subject, actually.

I mentioned to the trimmer that I have Daisy on Smarthoof, a hoof supplement, and he said right away that the supplement was a waste of time. He explained that there are so many excess ingredients in supplements that it really just makes a horse more anxious than need be, and it ends up not using half of the supplement. He said he switched his horses to just plain rolled oats and black oil sunflower seeds and that the sunflower seeds make the horse's coat shiny and give the hooves all the "supplement" they need, naturally. I'm SO going to try that! He also said that sweet feed, which I feed Daisy, is actually too sugary, and just increases the chance of thrush in a horse. I'm almost disappointed with myself for not having questioned feed and supplements before; it all makes so much sense. Really makes me motivated to question everything. Just because the majority of people do something and don't want to hear otherwise, does not mean that it's right.

Daisy evidently LOVED the trimmer; he patted her and even gave her a hug in the beginning, and was one of the few people to ignore her angry ears in the beginning. She seemed to like him from the start, and was so still and quiet, we barely held the lead; sometimes it felt like we could have dropped it right there on the driveway and she would have stood still. It was awesome.

The natural trimmer is holding a seminar in our area soon, and I'm hoping to go; I'm completely intrigued. Makes me want to go into natural horse care when I'm older! That would be a cool job!

Alrighty, sorry this was so long! Hope it gave you something to think about...