If y'all recall, I've been really fighting a good fight to keep Rachael's feet in good shape. She's been in shoes for the past 9 months, and she does wonderful on shoes. Well, a few weeks back, the farrier came out, and the walls of her hooves looked good and strong, so we decided to try and keep her barefoot. I prefer my horses to be barefoot, and my wallet also prefers it! :)
As I called her up out of the pasture she was walking fine. I got to the place, unloaded and saddled her up. Everything was looking good, then I cleaned her hooves. I was shocked. She is carrying all of her weight right on the sole of her hoof. The sole, with is supposed to angle upward towards the frog, was instead flat with the ground, and looking very worn. A friend from the saddle club took this picture for me. Here's what I'm dealing with. The orange area on the bottom of the foot in the picture is her sole. You can see the sidewall just beyond it, and it will not get long enough to hold any of the weight, it constantly chips up. The frog and sole are both flat with just two small gaps between them.
Front Left hoof. Toe at the bottom of the screen. |
When I tried to ride her, I got 50 feet away from the trailer before I noticed that Rachael was limping on both the front and rear end. I felt so bad for her. I instantly stopped, dismounted, and walked her back to the trailer. Looks like I'm going to have to keep Rachael in shoes full time, or any time I want to use her. :(
The good news for the day was that my good friend Anne brought an extra horse, so I got to ride with the group on her mare Sugar. Sugar is a real fun ride. It felt weird to be on a small horse, but I really had a good time. I really enjoy riding with this club. Everyone is just fun to be around.
What a great group to ride with! |
Another thing I did this weekend, was to visit my friend Bev. She had a new filly a few weeks back (last 4th of July her stallion taught her that he can clear a 5 foot pipe fence when the mood is right). As always, the baby is fabulous. The stallion is Vegas, and the mare is one of Bev's awesome bred Belgian mares. The result of these two can be seen in the pictures. Seeing this filly really made me excited about seeing how the Vegas foals I'm due to have next year turn out.
Sin - 2011 Double M Warhorse Ranch Filly |
Another shot of Sin |
Mark McGowan and Sin |
Love the updates, Tim! I sure wish I had horses again. I miss them an awful lot.
ReplyDeleteI can't get the sign-in to work right, so it says I'm anonymous. Oh, well.
-Papa Bear
(Criss)
Hi Tim,
ReplyDeleteSorry to see your mare's feet. You're right, she should stay in shoes. Even though I don't like to see a horse shod with 'leathers', with that low sole, I would also consider shoeing her with pads as well. I would talk to your ferrier and see what he thinks. From the picture of her hoof, it looks like she's walking straight, but she definitley has some low soles. Good luck,
Bob (the Wagonteamster)