Both of My "Cinderellas" Needed the Farrier

That's no joke. They have Cinderella feet for sure.  Good thing I have a good farrier. Both of my boys stand very patiently for the farrier, so he just comes and does them whether anyone is around or not. As someone with a full time job, this makes my life so much easier.

Since I was on vacation last week, I was hoping to catch him in action so I could talk to him. I didn't have any major concerns, but there were a few things I wanted to ask him. ​He was pulling out as I pulled in, so we had a chat through our windows.

It looks worse than it is!

A year ago this past October, Speedy injured his coronary band sufficiently enough to put him out of business for several months. Ultimately, it has healed well except for one little thing. He's had a very narrow crack running from the ground up. That was the first thing about which I wanted to ask my farrier. When I mentioned it, he called it a line and said not to worry.  

Bottom of the same hoof.

To address the line (it's a crack, am I right?), my farrier scooped out some of the hoof wall to keep it off the ground to prevent dirt from getting up inside. I am going to be honest here - while I recognize a decent shoe job and know when a foot looks horribly wrong, I leave the finer details to my farrier. That's what I pay him for. If he wants to call it a line instead of a crack and dig some hoof wall out to prevent dirt from getting in, go for it. If he says not to worry, I am worry free. So there was that.

The front right hoof.

When he finished with that clarification, he threw in a buuuuuttttt ... Well crap. I knew there had to be something. Right away he had noticed that Speedy's front feet had some unusual wear, especially THE RIGHT one. Oh, wait, you mean the one he had recently been lame on from WHIRLING AND PACING? That one? Yeah. Farrier noticed it and did some creative rasping to balance Speedy's hooves. My farrier was relieved to hear that there was an explanation for the wear because it wasn't normal for Speedy. I was just as relieved as he was. 

Looking good!

Izzy, also known as Cinderella number two, got a good report for once. Instead of any problems, he got moved into a bigger shoe! This was great news since we put shoes on him this summer because he had worn his feet down to tiny little nubs and had gone lame because of it. Hearing that he had grown enough foot to be able to go to a correctly sized shoe for his body was great news.

Same good looking foot.

Both of my Cinderellas are now good to go for the next month or so. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Speedy settles into the winter routine with no more pacing. My toes are crossed in hopes that Izzy will keep these new, bigger shoes firmly on his feet.

​Farriers are certainly worth their weight in gold, and mine is no exception, but I don't want to pay him in gold for repeated visits!