# Happy Feet



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I have some good news to report! Some of you know that I have been struggling with healthy hooves on both of my mares for quite a while now. In addition, the "professional farrier" I found was doing me no favors. Within the past few months I chose to go back to a former farrier and I felt like we were starting to turn a leaf and make some progress. The last two trims have left me feeling...unsatisfied I guess. The actual trim on each horse wasn't terrible, in fact it was a far cry better from what they were getting, prior. But I started learning more about healthy hooves (thanks to you wonderful forum members!) and it made it possible for me to start asking my farrier questions. And the last few times he's been out he just hasn't been able to answer my questions. For example, CoCo has significant flaring at the quarters by the time her trim is due. It causes significant chipping, and I thought there was a bit of an infection in in that white line area on the sides of the hoof. In addition, I felt like her heels were too far forward. I realized it was going to take time and some good trims to get this corrected, but I just wasn't seeing much improvement.When I asked him about it this was the response I got (keep in mind CoCo's previous owners used this farrier since she was just a little thing.) He said, "She's always had wide, throughbred-y feet. She's always going to have that flaring, since she keep most of her weight on her front end. We can put shoes on her if you want." :? No. Sorry, but I don't buy that. Her genetics MAY cause her to have a wide hoof, prone to flaring, but instead of throwing shoes on her can't we adjust her trim schedule to say, 5 weeks? And even if she has a wide hoof, can't we still achieve a balanced hoof? 

So, this last trim happened on Friday, the 2nd. A week ago today. I have a new boarder and I was expressing some of my concerns to her. She suggested I talk to her farrier, which was scheduled to come out yesterday. So she gave him a call, he was fine with seeing my horses. Honestly, I wasn't that excited about it. I knew there wasn't much he would be able to do since mine were just trimmed, and I figured this farrier would give me the same "information" as all the others. 

TO MY SURPRISE...this farrier pulled up and the first thing I noticed was the ELPO (Equine Lameness Prevention Org) emblem on his shirt. This was a GREAT sign for me because the majority of my reading material over the last few weeks has come from that website! So...a little glimmer of hope right there. He looked at CoCo first and immediately answered my questions. 

1) It's to early to know if she is genetically susceptible to flaring. Her heels were too far forward. And overall, the hoof looked stretched all around. 

2) He mapped her hoof for me and then with a rasp cleaned it up as much as he could. 

3) He showed me that she had very thin soles, by explaining the relationship of the depth of the grooves to the frog. 

4) He asked what I fed, how I fed and gave me some suggestions and how that correlated with healthy hooves. 

5) Suggested I go to a 5 week trim schedule

Then he moved over to my oldie, Ragtime and did all the same with her- hoof mapping, cleaned her feet up a bit, told me she too had very thin soles. There was a lot of info givem. I wrote it all down so I wouldn't forget it...but naturally I don't have it in front of me :icon_rolleyes: 

I WAS SO HAPPY AT THE END! This is the first time I've REALLY felt...relief, I guess (kinda like the last time! Ha!). He offered to take us on and I'm really excited about it. It sucks that I have to explain to another farrier that I will no longer need his services, but I feel like I would be foolish to not use this guy. 

So the whole point of this post...I'm going to try documenting the progress of their hooves in this section. Because as we all know, it's a long process! Also, Coco is pretty out of shape and I am wanting to start some new things with her (new for both of us!) And what better way to keep track of it all than here, on a public forum! 

And thank you, thank you, thank you for those of you that have given me such great advice! I hope I can do the same for you one day!


----------



## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

yay!!!!!!

I'm so happy for you!!!!! And your horses

Subbing! Would love to see pictures


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I intended to get some pictures of each horses hooves this weekend, but it just didn't happen. My goal is to get those done tonight. 

I feel better than I have in a looooong time about everything, really. The events of this past weekend are what I really needed. Over the last few months I've been considering taking CoCo to a trainer but I've been hesitant because I wanted to get her feet healthy first. I've only put a handful of rides on her in the last 6 months, and it's starting to show. It shows with her, and with me and my confidence level. She's fat and out of shape and I feel like I'm not riding to the best of my ability. I would REALLY love to get in some ranch shows next year and build on sorting and penning. But I'm going to need some help getting there. I've had several people refer trainers to me and I've talked with them all and checked them out. Nothing really fits, yet. :shrug:

I picked up a new boarder last month. She's in the process of moving between boarding barns at the moment and she's staying with me until the end of the month until her new place is up and running. She's a good friend of mine, and much older than me. She's got over 40 years experience with horses and I've really been enjoying her and her horse being out here. I've been discussing trainers with her for a little bit now and she's been telling me I need to try out this one guy. I'll call him Mr. Trainer. Well, long story a little less long...my boarder and Mr. Trainer invited me out to a ranch sorting Saturday. I tagged along and took CoCo just to ride around in the arena and give her some exercise. I was able to talk to Mr. Trainer and discovered he's actually ridden my horse in team penning events when she was still with her previous owners! I had my people watching glasses on (sunglasses) and watched him ride all day and I was very impressed with how he handled his (and other rider's) horses. Very, very patient and quiet. A far cry from the other "cowboys" around here. I am meeting with him later in the week to work on a plan for CoCo...I'm excited to say the least.


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I've decided I'm going to wait until the day before trimming to do my "before" pictures. I pretty much came to this conclusion because every evening I intend to take pictures, so I start cleaning up their feet and before I know it, I've cleaned up their feet, then tails, then manes, then this and that and suddenly it's 10pm. I did, however, find an awesome brush to get all the gunk out. I have a brush on the back of my hoofpic, but it just doesn't do much. I was looking for a wire brush and ended up finding a slightly larger nylon brush that takes the crap right off! Literally.:wink:

CoCo was pretty tender after her trim 2 weeks ago. I lunged her the day after and she seemed really stiff on the front, not like herself. I've been applying Durasole to the fronts. I lunged her last night and she seemed A LOT better. 

I was starting to worry...I want to put some training on CoCo but I didn't want her to leave me until the feet issue was taken care of. Well, that could take MONTHS and I don't want my horse out of work for that long. I text my *new* farrier about it and he put my mind at ease. He let me know that while her feet are a work in process, there are things we can do to keep her comfortable while working. He spoke to me about pads and glue on shoes and all the pretty things.  He then said he wanted to talk to the trainer I would be using so that the two of them could be on the same page. I like this guy. 

That's about all for now. Barn cats are happy doing their job catching mice. Dogs are happy chasing barn cats. Horses were happy watching the combine take down corn!


----------



## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Haha I can totally relate to the 10pm thing. It's so easy to be caught up with maintaining your horse to shining status. 

Your farrier sounds like a decent pick, I am looking forward to pictures before and after he trims


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

It's been a busy week full of good horsey things!

Mr. Trainer came out to "assess" CoCo and left with an open invitation to come out any time he wants to deer hunt. :think: Basically, he met my husband and now there is this oh so cute bromance going on. I'm like, "Hey...over here!:wave: You can't be hunting because you're supposed to be training my horse! Whatever. Maybe this new friendship will lure my husband back into riding. Anyway, he did look at CoCo. Checked out her feet. Rode her for about 30 minutes. And of course, she acted like a perfect angel. Didn't show him any of her bad habits. He said he might feel bad taking my money because she is going to be a fun horse to ride. He noted that aside from her being out of shape, she doesn't need much "learning" but just some refreshing and then he can move her on cows and work on her explosiveness while working the gate during sorting. We planned on me bringing her to his place on Nov. 14th.  

So onto feet...

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks since their last trim. Ragtime's hooves are starting to look bad. They are starting to chip and are beginning to flare out at the toe. No thrush, which is good, but shes's still got that ugly toe crack. Been cleaning it daily. I don't think it's going to improve until my new farrier gets his hands on her. But, with all that being said, she doesn't seem too uncomfortable. 

I'm feeling...happy I guess about CoCo's feet. While they still are unbalanced, she has NO signs of thrush. I've been spraying the soles with Apple Cider Vinegar every day this week, just to keep it away. (And we learned that CoCo loves vinegar!) By this point they would begin chipping like Ragtime's and flaring out at the quarters, but their CONDITION is still really good. No chips, no cracks, no flaring. They feel really hard and solid. I haven't seen them look this good in a long time. 

Indiana Ranch Horse Association is having their midwest classic this week just a few miles away from me. I think we might stop by Saturday (sans horse). I have a few friends showing, in addition to Mr. Trainer. 

So many things happening in November. I'm so excited!


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

*Sigh*

I'm having a hard time doing this. It's been 4 days since Ragtime passed and I still can't stop the tears. 

Coco is supposed to leave for the trainer on Sunday....but now I have this irrational fear something is going to happen to her. I don't want the barn to be empty.


----------



## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

It takes a while. Be patient with yourself. Just a day or two ago I got to crying over my boy who died over a year ago. I really miss him. ((( Hugs)))


----------



## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I'm so heartbroken for you! I had not seen the news until I read your post this morning... lots of hugs


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

Thanks Sky. I have a thread in "horse talk" explaining what happened. Just miss my girl.


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

Today marks one week since I let go of Ragtime. The tears have started to slow down, but in all honesty there is an overwhelming...feeling that is constantly with me. I just feel off. I'm one of four women at work and I am a supervisor to about 30 guys. I've always been tough as nails in their eyes, so I've really thrown them all off by being so weepy all week. It's kind of funny to watch actually. Most certainly don't know how to handle a crying woman. 

Ragtime taught me so much in the short 8 years that I had her. She lived a whole life before I knew her. She was another woman's pride and joy for 18 years. That woman taught her well, with compassion and love. One day that woman became to old and frail and had to part with her dear horse. The woman knew Ragtime had more to give and decided to give her to a therapeutic riding facility. The same facility I was working at. I remember the day she arrived. A little round thing that had clearly never missed a meal. She walked into the barn with her ears up- I stuck my hand out to greet her and she pushed her forehead against my palm and started using my hand as a scratching post- something she did up until the very end.

After her short evaluation time she started in lessons. We paired a teeny tiny 8 year old girl with cerebral palsy, Addison with her. Once the lesson started her rider started to become unbalanced. Ragtime just stopped. Her leader started tugging on the lead rope, trying to get her to move forward, and she just stayed planted. This gave her rider a chance to balance herself. Once balanced, Ragtime moved forward. Those first few weeks Ragtime only had the one rider. At the end of the season they got to go to compete in the equestrian special olympics. I remember the girl's dad saying to me, "My son can play football, my other daughter does gymnastics and Addison can't do either of those- but she can ride a horse now, which is something the other two can't do." 

Ragtime's success of a therapeutic riding horse was short lived though. She learned that when a rider became unbalanced she was going to have her face pulled on since she would always stop. This came to an abrupt halt one afternoon when she stopped, waiting for the rider to center themselves. The leader pulled on her halter and Ragtime reached down and bit the leader on the arm...hard. Hard enough to draw blood. This sealed her fate. She was now considered 
"dangerous" (lol) and would no longer be a lesson horse in the program. 

A few weeks went by and the staff at the barn was having a hard time finding a home for Ragtime. Not many people in that area wanted a "dangerous" 19 year old horse. The barn manager came to me one day and just said, "Do you want Ragtime?" I immediately said, "yes" not really knowing what I was getting myself into. At that time I was very much, do I really want to do this whole horse thing anymore? A week later we were going to our new boarding facility. And she re-ignited my passion for the horse. 

Early on when I had her we trail rode all over the place. She was as bombproof as they come. We joined the local search and rescue team and she and I both really enjoyed it. She had a stubborn streak in her though. If that horse didn't want to move, she didn't move. She taught me a LOT about patience, forgiveness and kindness.

I rode her up until 2 years ago. She was arthritic and we were managing it the best we could, but her off days were happening more than her good days. She was so funny- she never liked rocks. I would walk her in the grass and we would start to head over to the gravel driveway and she would stop. I'd get her moving forward and she would be limping with her bottom lip stuck out...long before we ever got to the gravel!

Her retirement consisted of hour long grooming sessions in which she would fall asleep, and daily walks to the pond when the weather allowed. When she was in the pasture she would seek out any and all mud piles and roll around until you didn't know what color she was. When it was time to go to bed you could open the gate and she would take herself to her stall. She would always greet me with a nicker when I walked into the barn and she would always run up to the gate tossing her head. She wouldn't stop tossing until you stuck your hand out- then she would push her forehead up to your palm and rub and rub and rub. Every day. 

















































































The joy she brought me will always be in my heart, along with the grief from losing her. I wasn't the only one to love her and I didn't have enough time with her. I am grateful though for the time I did have with her. 

Ragtime, I'll love you forever and miss you always.


----------



## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

I hope you have this one framed:


----------



## elle1959 (Sep 7, 2015)

She was beautiful. I am so sorry for your loss


----------



## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

What a grand tribute you wrote for her. I hope you print it all out and keep it in a scrapbook.


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

knightrider said:


> What a grand tribute you wrote for her. I hope you print it all out and keep it in a scrapbook.


That is a really good idea. I think I will do that. Thank you.


----------



## Bondre (Jun 14, 2013)

There's something about senior grey horses that melts me! That look of kind wisdom they have. Ragtime's face is so like my 19 yr old Flamenca.

I'm glad you enjoyed her senior years together. She looks very content in those photos. Sorry for the empty space she has left in your life.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I'm starting to feel a little better. I enjoyed a horse- packed weekend and I was reluctant to do so, but I'm glad I did now. It definitely helped keep my mind off of things and I enjoyed myself immensely.

I'll start with Friday. My farrier came out to trim Coco. He was happy to see that on her right front and back there were some parts of sole beginning so slough off. He explained that her foot is beginning to function properly and it's beginning to "take care of itself." On her front hooves he drew a line around the hoof wall. Everything above the line was nice, healthy new hoof growth and everything below the line was weak, brittle and unhealthy. You could feel a grove along the line he drew. He explained to me that if we were to take off the healthy hoof, we would take everything below the line. He said that mother nature might start helping out and if I see any chips in that area to not be alarmed. Overall, her heels are still not where we want them, especially the right front. He informed me that while she looks sound walking on the concrete and in the pasture she might favor that right front in a different setting- such as a sand arena. I took some photos last night and will share those when my attachments decide to cooperate. 

As soon as the farrier left, I called Mr. Trainer. Told him exactly what my farrier had told me. We made a plan to bring Coco out on Sunday so he could evaluate her and make a plan. There was a big ranch sorting show Saturday and he suggested I go and ride one of his horses. It was super last minute but I agreed. I haven't ridden in ages and I immediately got that, "oh crap...I need to brush up on my riding skills first, not jump right into the pen." Well...I ended up NOT regretting it. I had a blast. There are usually around 35 teams but since it was the last sort of the year there ended up being 85 teams there. There was no warmup area and horses were standing shoulder to shoulder around the entire arena. I really didn't want to ride after seeing all of that, but the horse he had me ride was a dream. Very responsive and quick, but I think the horse recognized my initial uneasiness and really "babysat" me during that first sort. I saw a lot of old friends and just had a really great day on the back of a horse. 

Sunday. I loaded up Coco and heading towards the trainers place. After the bumpiest ride of my life we finally got there. We took her to the arena and he started having her trot on the lunge line. Immediately we both saw she was off on the right. He checked out her hooves and had be walk her up and down the drive. I got nervous because I knew what the problem was and I was afraid he was going to say, "Well, lets just throw some shoes on the front and then start working her." But, he didn't say that. He pretty much mirrored what my farrier had told me. He said we shouldn't do anything until these heels come in a bit more. He said that we would be flirting the line of bowed tendons and sore shoulders if we try working her in the sand arena. He wanted her to wait at least another trim cycle, if not two before we did anything. I was disappointed, but relieved at the same time. Disappointed in that we have to put work off even longer, but relieved in the fact that I know a lot of people that would have taken her and started working her in the condition she was in, and he didn't do that. It made me feel even better about finding him. 

He wanted to see her papers. He had a look at them and then said, "when you are ready to breed her let me know. I'll pay the stud fee." That's always good to hear! I've never considered breeding her because that is a whole world that I know nothing about...but my interest is piqued. 

So now we are back to waiting. And I know not to be impatient because if I become impatient she will just do something to push it off even longer.


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

I completely forgot I had this journal. Lot's of things have happened in the last 6 weeks too. I never did get those hoof pictures of Coco. I don't have a real good excuse either, other than I just didn't do it. Coco was lame for about 2 weeks after bringing her _back_ home from the trainer's place. I continued treating for thrush with No Thrush and padded her fronts with diapers. It kept her comfortable. I noticed that practically overnight she developed a huge toe callus on the right front-the one she had been lame on. With that callus there, she didn't show any signs of discomfort. I had never seen anything similar to that before, but I had heard of it happening. My farrier told me it was the hoof's natural way of dealing with whatever issue she was having. He came out right before Christmas. He was a bit concerned. She hadn't grown practically any hoof in the 5 weeks prior. He needed to take the toe back to get the heels longer, but there just wasn't enough toe to take back. Frustrating. He tested her heels and she showed no signs at all of pain. She did react in the toe though. He trimmed just a smidge off and you could see the bruising. She had significant toe bruising on the RF and a little on the RL. He advised me to put shoes on the front. I was _very_ apprehensive to this. I felt like we would be going backwards with our progress. We were very much in a catch 22 though. Her body condition needed to improve. She needed exercise. Those two things aloe would help her hoof condition. He told me my only other option was having her sit for another 5 weeks, in hopes she grew enough hoof to trim back. I chose to go with the shoes. 

I waited 2 days before working her at all then I started lightly lunging her. After that I rode her at the walk for about 15-20 minutes. She showed no signs of lameness and actually acted better than she had in a long time. I called the trainer and we arranged a time for me to drop her off. 

Taking her to the trainer has made a _world_ of difference. For her and me. She's a broke horse. Broke broke. So I really just wanted her refreshed. He's been using her to work some of the colts and she has done SOOO well with it. He's told me on several occasions that he doesn't want to give her back. That always makes you proud  She's started to lose a little bit of weight and she's starting to show that nice muscle definition. My trainer and I agreed that she really didn't lose as much conditioning as I had though. She's so much more well behaved too. If all mares acted like she has been acting- everyone would want one! She's the type that just needs a job. Having her there has also helped me in the fact that I'm around people again. Having horses at home, you forget the camaraderie that goes along with riding. You also forget about all the fun you can have riding with others. My trainer only has 2 boarders at his barn. Both of which are my good friends. The one boarder is my friend that boarded at my house before she moved out to his place. I feel excited again to interact with my horse. That's been missing for a while, so I'm happy to have that back. 

I still have one boarder at my house. Our teenage-family friend with her feral mare. Poor thing hasn't been trimmed since August. I'm at my wits end with that girl...but it's a very complicated situation. Right now, since Ragtime passed it is working in my favor- as in I have a companion there for Coco. But the girl is supposed to get rid of her mare when she graduates school, which is in June. I'm not sure that will actually happen because I honestly think the only way she will be able to get rid of that horse is to have the meat wagon come pick it up. It leaves me with some unsure planning that I need to do though. Should I board again??? Should I offer boarding at my place for one or two more horses? It's tough to decide since we rent. If we owned the place it wouldn't be such a difficult decision. I just don't know. My trainer has already offered to let me board at his barn if and when that time comes. The option really does appeal to me right now. The only part that isn't attractive to me is that the place is 45 minutes away. But what good is having your horse in your backyard if you don't do anything with it? Lot's to think about. 

I'm starting to have an easier time dealing with the loss of Ragtime. I think about her everday, still. The tears don't come as often as they did, but boy, when they do come- watch out. I just can't control it. I'm pretty sure my husband thinks I have completely lost it. LOL. Oh well. I don't expect him to understand, and he knows that. 

We've been spoiled this winter. 48 degrees today! "Winter" is going to smack us in the face though...highs in the lower 20's next week. I'm off to go find my hats and mittens...


----------



## jenkat86 (May 20, 2014)

Update time! My squishy, fluffy, tubby mare is starting to turn into an athletic tank! On day one of training, Mr. Trainer had to use a 36" girth. Last night he was riding her in a 30" girth and she's just on the edge of needing a 28. She's also gained 2 holes on the flank cinch. Teeth were done Saturday. Chrio came out last night and said she was all sorts of out of wack. Her right shoulder was really out. It's going to take a few sessions to get it where it needs to be. But she was moving MUCH better after he adjusted her. 

The best, most exciting thing is that my trainer did some digging. He contacted her former owners to find exactly about her foundation training. I thought that after her initial "breaking" that she just had penning and sorting training. It turns out she has had 90 days reining training and 60 days cutting training in addition to the penning/ sorting training. This is HUGE news for me! 

I'm ready for the spring so we can start getting some shows under our belt. Right now we are practicing for Ranch Reining, Ranch Cutting (my trainer will show her) and Ranch Boxing. We have a lot of work to do!


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

This journal has been closed due to prolonged lack of participation by the author. Journals that have no active participation by the author for a period of time greater than 18 months will be considered abandoned and will be closed until the author asks for them to be reopened


----------

