A Hoof Hoopla

I have the World's Greatest Farrier; I've mentioned this a few times before. Currently, he does not think I am the world's greatest customer. It all started when Sydney and I parted ways ...

Speedy was due for new shoes a week or so after Sydney left. I knew he was feeling a bit stressed about losing his neighbor, but he was coping well. My farrier didn't mention it, but I guess Speedy gave him a little attitude during his visit. Speedy has always been a perfect gentleman, so my farrier chalked it up to whatever. 

When my farrier was out a few weeks ago for Speedy's next shoe job, Speedy's attitude escalated into no way, ain't gonna, and you can't make me. He got so bad that my farrier left the job unfinished, went and did my best friend's horses, and then came back hoping Speedy's reset button had been activated. Speedy still wasn't having any of it so my farrier left him with three nails short in a hind foot. The shoe was on snugly, but with only three nails, there was a chance it might get knocked loose.

By the time I got there that afternoon, Speedy was over his snit. I whacked holy hell out of the bottoms of all his feet with my hammer and rewarded his compliance with lots of cookies. I have been hammering and doling out cookies daily since the hoopla began. The only thing to which we can attribute his change in attitude is that Sydney was gone and the gardener was doing something out of the ordinary.

So imagine my frustration when Speedy pulled a shoe on Tuesday afternoon. Seriously? I need to start selling broken horses ... I've got two for a bargain price. Anyone?

Fortunately, I found the shoe, and to make up for my misfortune, the hoof gods left Speedy's hoof perfectly intact. Not a single nail hole was ripped out or chipped. The hoof was so clean and smooth that I was tempted to nail the shoe on myself.

Since my farrier comes from out of town, and I have caused him more trouble than I am worth lately, I called Tyrin, the cowboy trainer/farrier who was/is going to work with Izzy. He was pretty busy, but he said he'd tack the shoe back on if I could trailer up to his place on Thursday afternoon. Could I do that? Uh ... YEAH!

Where we goin' at this weird hour, mom?

While I would much rather have my own farrier tack on a shoe, there was no way I was going to call him and make him drive all the way into Bakersfield to do so. Besides, I wanted to give Tyrin a try. I liked him immediately when I met him a few weeks ago, and he came highly recommended, but it was nice to see him in action.

He pulled his truck around to where I had Speedy waiting and quite professionally replaced the shoe. And then, I decided to press my luck and asked if he wouldn't mind putting in those last three nails on the hind foot.

While I've been hammering Speedy's hind feet diligently, I didn't know if he had gotten over his issue from a few weeks before or whether I was about to tick off yet another farrier. To my utter relief, Speedy was his regular old self and happily let Tyrin add a few more nails to the shoe.

I snuck in a few photos before I asked his permission, so I didn't get a photo of his very friendly face.

Tyrin's ranch is only 10 minutes from my barn, so Speedy was back in his stall within 40 minutes. The shoe tacking on deal turned out to have a very beneficial side effect: Izzy got to watch Speedy load and drive away and THEN COME BACK! He whinnied and paced around as I pulled out of the driveway, but as I drove by the barn, he had already quit calling and pacing. He watched us drive by with a puzzled look.

When we got back, I saw Izzy before he realized it was us in the truck and trailer; he was standing in his paddock quietly. Of course, once he realized it was Speedy in the trailer, he started hollering, and Speedy hollered right back. As soon as Speedy climbed out, the hollering stopped and life resumed it's normal rhythm.

Ah ... horses. 

By the way, if you're local and looking for either a new farrier or a trainer, give Tyrin Prince a call. He can be reached at 661-632-6163 (permission was given to share his number).