Category: Farrier

What Does the Other Guy Look Like?

12/11/2015

I work really hard to avoid afternoon appointments, but lately, they've been hunting me down. I rode Izzy on Monday afternoon, but then I've meetings on Tuesday and Thursday that kept me away. The farrier was out, so I was eager to get there on Wednesday to check out how Izzy and Speedy's feet looked.

I have to be the luckiest gray horse owner alive. Not only does my nearly white horse keep himself impeccably clean, but he has the hardiest white feet I have ever seen. I couldn't even tell that they'd been trimmed. Speedy rarely has chips or flares of any kind. For this go round, I think my farrier shortened and buffed them a bit to make them look pretty, but I bet he spent all of ten minutes and not a second more. There simply wasn't much to do.

Speedy's feet are so lovely that I didn't even hesitate to take him on a hack around the neighborhood on freshly trimmed feet. He is never sore after a trim and doesn't care whether we choose the dirt shoulder or just mosey right down the middle of the road.

As I was photographing his toes, I looked up at his left eye and was shocked to see that he had clearly gotten in a brawl with someone. I hope the other guy looked worse than he does!

Poor guy!

I usually notice stuff like this much more quickly, but when I haltered him, I was focused on his feet and didn't even look at his face. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it looks like he scraped his lower lid. It's all dried up, and it wasn't particularly sensitive to touch. It's just swollen and unsightly.

Before I saw his eye, I had planned on doing a regular schooling ride, but after I saw it, I ditched that plan. I've had some eye issues myself over the past year and know how irritating it can be to try and focus (mentally) when you can't see well. Given our limited light anyway, I was happy to just swipe a brush over his back and throw on my riding halter.

I didn't even change out of my muck boots to ride. We were both bootless as a matter of fact. And I know I've shared this a million times already, but Speedy has the world's most awesome bareback space upon which to lounge. His back is so wide and flat that even a non-rider would have trouble falling off.

A bit of the Haner Family Farm

We did our regular neighborhood loop which included a stop at the apple tree for a few late fall apples. If there were apple trees in a dressage court, Speedy's leg yield would earn a 10 every time. It's amazing how well he moves sideways when it comes to sidling up next to a treat!

We also passed by the Haner's farm. The turkeys were gobbling and the goats were making all kinds of noises. Speedy gave them an interested glance, but he knows his job by now and didn't do much other than flag his tail in salute and blow a bit.

This is why endurance riders use rope halters and long reins - dinner on the trail!

We stopped for some obligatory grazing; Speedy expects it. He knows that trail rides are about relaxing and enjoying our time together. As we continued on past the corner of our property line, we spotted Izzy in Laurel's turn out. When I called to him, he trotted about three steps towards us, but then he froze. He's still too nervous to use the length of the turn out alone. We continued on while he whirled and galloped back toward the barn. Silly boy!

Yes, that's my big chicken of a horse - too nervous to come down to greet us.

When we finished up, I gave Speedy's eye another check. It looked the same. I am not worried about it as it was just a slight scrape. We're going to the cabin this weekend, so I won't be able to ride until Sunday at the earliest. I am sure it will be all healed up by then. I can't speak to the other guy's condition though. Hopefully Speedy gave as good as he got.

Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday.

1 Comment

Pony Pedis

8/2/2015

0 Comments

The farrier was out a few days ago, which is always interesting. I don't get to see my farrier very often as I am usually at work when he comes. This was the last time I'll get to see him until Christmas at the earliest.

The first thing Paul wanted to know was how Speedy was doing. Going barefoot is a new strategy for us that is turning out to be far more successful, not to mention cheaper, than we expected. We have very dry footing here that is either rock hard or sandy. We weren't sure that Speedy's hooves could hold up to those kind of abrasive conditions.

Paul was really pleased with how Speedy's feet looked. Not only was there no new bruising, but Speedy had actually managed to grow a fair amount of hoof that Paul could trim and shape. Our worry had been that he would wear off more hoof than he could grow. It seems we worried over nothing.

Izzy getting his feet trimmed.

Paul's assistant, Walker, pulled old shoes and trimmed Izzy's feet while we were busy with Speedy. I didn't ask how his feet looked. I was more concerned with how he behaved. He wasn't naughty, but he did do some wiggling. Rather than get upset, Walker just stood at his head distracting him while Paul finished shoeing the front feet.

Paul's method is kind and gentle which the horses seem to really appreciate. Both men work quietly and confidently with the horses' happiness in mind. They realize that happy horses will ultimately make their jobs a lot easier.

Having been able to watch them work for the last three visits has left me feeling quite confident in their ability to do their jobs with my horses' best interests at heart. Next time they come, my only job will be to leave a check. How nice that a horse related expense is actually getting lower!

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Cinderella

5/15/2015

2 Comments

Hey hey, Cinderella, what's the story all about
I got a funny feeling we missed a page or two somehow
Ohh-ohhhh, Cinderella, maybe you could help us out
Does the shoe fit you now

- Suzy Bogguss

Speedy G has definitely decided that his alter ego is Cinderella. I've owned this horse, or rather he's owned me, for more than seven years, and we've never had so many shoeing issues until this past year. He's clearly pining for some glass slippers.

Does this come in a narrow web bar?

The neighbor told me that Dr. Tolley had stopped by last week for her old man and that he had popped over to check on Speedy while he was there. When I didn't hear from the vet, I assumed that he hadn't seen anything other than what we had already been seeing.

When I called the vet hospital to talk to Dr. Tolley about Izzy's leg on Monday, Dr. Tolley shared what he had found with Speedy's feet. He agreed that Speedy was quite footsore on the left and that he had a strong digital pulse.

After poking around a bit, he realized that there was a fair amount of dirt packed between the rim of the shoe and Speedy's sole. Once he scraped the dirt out, Speedy was "60% better."

This is a hind foot, but you can see where Dr. Tolley would have found dirt wedged under the edge of the shoe. While I pick out my horse's feet daily, this dirt would be hard to get with a hoof pick.

I shared with Dr. Tolley that the front shoes had already been pulled and that Speedy was to be re-shod in mid-June. He liked the plan but suggested my farrier shoe Speedy with a narrower web bar shoe so that the dirt can't pack in under the shoe and put pressure on the sole.

I hopped up on Speedy bareback on Monday afternoon to see how he felt. There's a show coming up in a just over a week that I really want to do. I haven't shown since November, and I really miss it.

I walked Speedy over the poles, and he felt sound. He also seemed very happy to be working again. When he was focused on the poles, I urged him forward into a baby trot and continued working on the four poles I had laid out in a circle.

I am not sure that he was 100% sound, but he felt pretty good. I kept the trot very tiny, but he stepped over those poles nicely. And did I mention that he was bareback? Even without a saddle, he lengthened his stride where he needed to, and he was pretty good about not diving forward over the poles or rushing off to the next one.

I worked him to the left first and later to the right. I sent in the entry yesterday; it's due today. If he still feels sound this afternoon, I'll give the show a try, and if not, he'll have until mid-June for any soreness to heal.

2 Comments

New Hypothesis

5/9/2015

4 Comments

Unfortunately, Speedy came up very foot sore again last weekend. I could tell immediately that it was the same thing we've dealt with over the past fifteen months. I won't say that I am not terribly disappointed, but boohooing over it doesn't fix anything. So rather than get too upset, I put in a call to my farrier and let my vet know. And then I just waited.

My farrier was able to come out yesterday and take a look. He noticed a few things which have given us a plan of action. I love a plan of action, so I immediately felt better.

Here is what he saw ...

Look at the pink area to the left of the nail holes.

Both of Speedy's front feet have bruises on both the inside and outside along the hoof wall. My farrier thinks these bruises are the result of Speedy's hind feet coming up and whacking the inside and outside of his hoof.

Seven weeks ago, he was also forging pretty heavily which we know contributed to the foot soreness as well. With the corrective shoeing that my vet's farrier did, combined with Paul's work, the forging has been taken care of, but something is still causing Speedy to be sore. This may be it.

After discussing it pretty throughly with my new farrier, we suspect that Speedy has been hitting the sides of his foot because of the work we have been doing over the past year, especially the work we've done in the last few months. I have been asking Speedy for more collected work which includes stepping deeper and deeper with his inside hind. It's the insides of both front feet that are the most bruised!

Not a great photo, but it shows how close he gets.

We may be simply grasping at straws, but it does make a lot of sense. His stride is quite long in the back, so by sending that inside hind leg deeper underneath him, he very well could be thwacking the insides of those front feet.

So here's our plan. We've pulled his front shoes so that he can level himself off the way he wants to in the front. This will show us how he wants to wear his feet. We're going on vacation in three weeks and won't be back until mid June. When we get back, we're going to re-shoe the fronts but leave him barefoot in the back.

Paul, my farrier, thinks that he might not bruise himself so badly if he doesn't have a steel shoe whacking the walls of his hoof. I am also going back to full time bell boots to help protect the hoof when he does strike it.

Again, this is a just a theory, but at least it's something that we can test. We've also done x-rays, nerve blocks, corrective shoeing, and several lameness evaluations. There isn't anything structurally wrong with Speedy, so this seems like a good next step.

As ever, onward and forward ...

4 Comments

A New Farrier

4/4/2015

8 Comments

Izzy got new shoes this week. I was beyond delighted with how good he was for his new farrier. If you'll remember, the WGF ended our working partnership last month. I was saddened to see him go, but having an out-of-town farrier did make things challenging.

My new farrier, Paul Mullins, is very local and available to tack on lost shoes or simply come by for a check with just a day's notice. I really like that aspect of having a local farrier.

When I first bought Izzy, he was barefoot all around and living in a lush, green pasture. His feet showed the effects of what soft, moist ground can do to hooves. He had large flares and his hooves were pretty splayed out. The trainer to whom I had entrusted him found that after just a few days of work, he was pretty foot sore, so she had her farrier put shoes on all around. It was only the second time Izzy had been shod.

According to her, he was so violent that the vet had to administer a tranquilizer. The farrier work was also quite shoddy (haha - pun intended), but I knew that as soon as the WGF got hold of Izzy, he would be able to take care of it.

Farrier work with me - drug free!

WGF's work ...

I need my horses to stand quietly for the farrier, mostly because they should, and partly because I am rarely able to be there for the work. I spent weeks working with Izzy, showing him how to pick up his feet and hold them and also how to rest his foot on a stand (the mounting block was good for this). When the WGF did him the first time, Izzy was very well behaved, although a wee bit short on patience. We didn't need to use the dormosedan that the vet had prescribed as a "just in case." That's what a little time and patience can get you.

Enter Paul Mullins and his apprentice/assistant, Walker ...

Walker at work ... (farrier butts are all the same, aren't they?)

Walker's job was to pull the old shoes and clean up Izzy's feet. Izzy stood like a veteran. I was particularly pleased because I had to pull him out of his stall just after he'd been fed. Even though he was probably a bit hungry, he was completely relaxed with Walker and even spent as much time as he could nibbling Walker's neck and hat.

Paul Mullins doing the more technical work...

I really admired Paul's professionalism. He asked a few questions about my former farrier's work, like how long Izzy had been in these shoes, but he didn't have a critical thing to say. In fact, he admired the workmanship of the custom made shoes that Izzy was wearing and felt that it was quite appropriate to re-set them (they had almost no wear).

He trimmed and shaped Izzy's feet and talked about the crack in the left hoof. He agreed with the WGF that it was superficial and would grow out with no problem. He nailed on the shoes and left the last bit of finish work for Walker to complete.

When Izzy was tucked back in his stall munching on his breakfast, Paul looked at Speedy's feet so that we could formulate a plan for the future. Speedy grows a lot of foot really fast which changed Paul's thinking about when he would be next due. We would ultimately like to get both horses on the same schedule, but it's going to take a month or two. Speedy will get his next set of shoes in three weeks and then again five weeks later. By that time, Izzy will be at 8 weeks, longer than I like, but if it looks like he can go that long, that would put both boys on the same schedule.

I really liked that Paul was open to coming out at different times for my horses. If Izzy can't go that long, Paul is happy to make separate trips until we can get them both on the same shoeing cycle. I think (hope?) this is the start of a very productive relationship.

Welcome to Team Speedy (and Izzy), Paul and Walker!

8 Comments

A little Off the Side, Please

3/21/2015

4 Comments

Speedy's feet have been adjusted, and I have to say, they look, sound, and feel better.

The appointment went even better than I could have hoped for. When I arrived at Brad Allen's facility, Rosedale Farrier Supply, both Dr. Tolley and Dr. Gonzalez were already there to supervise the corrective shoeing of an older mare. It was a relief to see Dr. Tolley because I didn't want to try and explain to Brad what needed to be done. I shouldn't have worried.

Dr. Tolley explained to Brad that he thought the horse was high on the outsides of both feet. He also very succinctly summed up Speedy's lameness history, including our trip to Alamo Pintado the year before. Brad had me walk Speedy out and back a number of times while he and Dr. Tolley consulted. After much discussion, Brad felt that while Speedy was a bit high on the right side he was only a little high on the front quarter of the left side. But overall, he felt that Speedy was fairly well-balanced.

right front after trimming

left front after trimming

He thought that the main problem was in Speedy's conformation. While Speedy is vey well put together, he is no Secretariat (as Dr. Tolley likes to say). He's narrow at the chest and the bony structures in his front legs don't line up exactly straight and level. This all has the effect of making him a little "toe out." As a result, the angle of his foot flight is such that he wants to land outside to inside.

Another discussion ensued. Changing the way a horse lands rather than shoeing the horse the way he wants to land is a polarizing topic. For every vet and farrier who says don't do it, there are just as many who say it needs to be done. Both Brad and Dr. Tolley felt that in Speedy's case, there was enough wiggle room that they felt getting him to land flatter was the best course of action.

Photo from September, but you can see how he likes to toe out.

Since Speedy only had three and a half weeks of growth on this shoeing cycle, there wasn't a lot that Brad could do to level him off. He did take off a fair amount of toe, which surprised me as I've never thought Speedy looked long in the toe. He also snipped away the high edges on both feet so that Speedy will land with a level foot.

Once he goes through another six weeks of growth, the goal will be to actually take off even more from the outsides which will in effect leave the insides high. What this will accomplish, we all hope, is that Speedy's flight angle will still be outside high, but with nothing to land on, he will actually land flat inside of falling onto the inside heels. My husband called it a "track bar adjustment." Only the NASCAR fans will find that funny.

Jeff Hammond explaining a track bar adjustment. And seriously, the green line is exactly what Dr. Tolley drew to illustrate how the outside of Speedy's hooves will ultimately function.

I took pictures of both finished front feet, but they simply look like freshly shod hooves. There's nothing remarkable in how they appear. When I rode Speedy the next day (at a walk on grass and dirt) his footfalls had much more of a clip-clop sound, and he was definitely breaking over more quickly. Even better was that he was very sound.

Besides trimming him more level, Brad also put on a much lighter weight shoe that is also slightly curved on the bottom to encourage quicker break-over. It's fairly typical to use heavier shoes for dressage horses (according to the farrier) as it encourages more action in the knees. Lighter weight shoes, on the other hand, encourage a more forward motion.

Both Dr. Tolley and Brad remarked on the long stride length that Speedy naturally has in his hind legs. With the heavier shoes however, Speedy was having a harder time getting his front feet out of the way of that long stride. That was one reason for the constant forging. The lighter shoe should allow him to pick up his front feet more quickly and stride forward.

I have a great team: left to right ... a farrier "hopeful" observing Brad work, Dr. Tolley supervising, and Brad Allen working on Speedy's hind foot.

Brad also did some adjusting to the hind feet. They were balanced laterally, but to give those front heels a break, Brad squared off the toes of the hind feet to reduce the forging. I didn't get a photo, but they look really good. During our twenty minute ride the next day, I listened very closely for the ever-present clack, clack, clack, and was delighted that the constant thwacking was gone.

Working on the hind feet.

Unfortunately, the WGF decided to let me go as a client. I am sure the long drive played a part, but it could also be that I am harder to work for than I think. I am sad to see him go, but I certainly wish him well as he practices his craft on other ponies. The news isn't all sad however. Dr. Tolley recommended a very fine replacement.

In fact, he spoke so highly of the new farrier that he offered to give a reference for me as a client just so the farrier would take me. I called the new farrier the day before our appointment with Brad Allen and left a message. The new farrier called me back the next morning and agreed to stop by Brad Allen's facility if he could squeeze it in. While he wasn't able to do that, we did discover that he was shoeing one of the horses next door to the barn.

We quickly made a plan for me to walk Speedy over when I got back from Brad's place. It was the perfect arrangement, and one that my previous out-of-town-farrier could never have done. The new farrier listened to the long string of adjustments that Brad and Dr. Tolley had made, and then he chimed in with a few other ideas for next time.

He was knowledgeable, intelligent, articulate, and clearly experienced in the craft of shoeing horses. He's coming back to shoe Izzy in a couple of weeks. He'll also look Speedy over for changes, and when Speedy is due again, he'll re-shoe both horses so that they're on the same schedule. Izzy will be a week or two early, but he'll have enough hoof growth to re-shoe.

Quite the handsome fellow.

So for now, we are all hoping that this addresses Speedy's recent lameness. And if not, we go back to Dr.Tolley and dig some more, but Speedy sure looks like he is moving great.

4 Comments

Cracking Up

2/22/2015

4 Comments

Nothing funny here, just working on the crack in Izzy's hoof. When I wrote the post about the custom shoes my farrier created, I forgot to show how much better the crack in Izzy's hoof looked just by trimming and shaping the hoof.

Nothing done yet ...

Trimmed, shaped, and rasped.

If I hadn't taken these photos myself, I would not believe they were taken just days apart. How has the crack sealed itself closed at the bottom? I am amazed at what a farrier is able to do to clean up a hoof.

I don't have a way to measure, but it even looks as though the hoof is the same length from top to bottom in both photos. The flaring from the photo on the left has been removed, and the surface of the hoof wall has been smoothed by the rasp in photo two. So what happened to the crack?

My farrier returns in six weeks. I am wondering if the crack will be gone by then. I'll be sure to do a follow up post.

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About the
Writer & Rider

I am a lifetime rider.
I began endurance riding in 1996 where I ultimately completed five, one-day 100 mile races, the 200-mile Death Valley Encounter, and numerous other 50, 65, and 75 mile races. I began showing dressage in 2010.
Welcome to my dressage journey.

Photo by Lori Ovanessian

Email Karen

About Speedy G

Speedy went from endurance horse to dressage horse. We're currently showing Third Level for the 2019 show season. Speedy is a 2004, 15'1 hand, purebred Arabian gelding. His Arabian Horse Registry name is G Ima Starr FA.

August 2018

About Izzy

Izzy was started as a four-year old and then spent the next 18 months in pasture growing up. I bought him as a six-year old, and together, we are schooling and showing at the lower levels. He is a 2008, 16'3 hand warmblood gelding. His Rheinland Pfalz-saar International (RPSI) name is Imperioso.

March 2019

Bakersfield Dressage approved!

FOR THE SMALLER EQUINE ATHLETE

I love her stuff!

National Awards

USDF Second Level Rider Performance Award - 2018

2nd Level Rider Performance, 2018

USDF First Level Rider Performance Award - 2015

1st Level Rider Performance, 2015

USDF Training Level Rider Performance Award - 2013

Training Level Rider Performance, 2013

State Awards

CDS Ruby Rider Award - 2018
CDS Second Level Horse Performance Award - 2018

Ruby Rider Award, 2018

2020 Show Season

Show Rating
(***) CDS/USDF/USEF
(*) CDS
(s) Schooling
(c) Clinic
(r) Ride-a-Test Clinic
(Q) Must Qualify

2020 Pending …

2020 Completed …
10/26-27/19 SCEC (***)

Qualifying Scores for 2020

Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC)
3rd Level Qualifying
3 Scores/2 Judges:
Score 1: 60.405% Atkins
Score 2: 62.432% Atkins
Score 3:

CDS Championship
3rd Level Qualifying
5 Scores/4 Judges:
Score 1: 60.405% Atkins
Score 2: 62.432% Atkins
Score 3:
Score 4:
Score 5:

Working Towards:

CDS 3rd Level Horse Performance Award
3 Judges/3 Shows:
Score 1: 63.514% Lindholm
Score 2: 62.105% Lindholm
Score 3: 63.243% Wadeborn
Score 4: 60.405% Atkins
Score 5: 62.432% Atkins
Score 6:

CDS Sapphire Rider Award
Third Level: 63.514%
Third Level: 62.105%
Fourth Level:
Fourth Level:

USDF Bronze Medal
First Level - 70.179%
First Level - 72.600%
Second Level - 62.879%
Second Level - 61.970%
Third Level - 62.432%
Third Level -

What Does the Other Guy Look Like?

Pony Pedis

Cinderella

New Hypothesis

A New Farrier

A little Off the Side, Please

Cracking Up

About the
Writer & Rider

About Speedy G

About Izzy

National Awards

Stuff I Read

By Topic

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What Does the Other Guy Look Like?

Pony Pedis

Cinderella

New Hypothesis

A New Farrier

A little Off the Side, Please

Cracking Up

About the Writer & Rider

About Speedy G

About Izzy

National Awards

Stuff I Read

By Topic

Archives

About the
Writer & Rider