Farrier Friday on Thursday

I love farrier day; it's almost as good as filling up the barn with hay. Or leaving the feed room stocked with feed bags. Or even walking away from a clean stall. Taking care of our horses provides plenty of opportunities for feelings of satisfaction. That's what I love about Farrier day; it's a fresh start.

My boys are done every six week without fail. And sometimes I try to get them done at five and a half weeks. Whether it happens or not, I don't like the thought of dramatically changing my horses's hoof angles. I am pretty sure it takes more than six weeks for them to feel the difference, but I am not taking any chances. Silly, I know. Even so. 

Freshly shod in the front, fresh trim in the back. All four were dirty already.

Izzy's feet aren't at all complicated. Not much happens to his feet. Speedy, on the hand, is a bit trickier, although my farrier would disagree. Speedy is barefoot all around, and frankly, he almost doesn't need to be trimmed. He keeps his feet pretty evenly worn down just by walking around his paddock every day. With his proclivity for abscesses though, I like my farrier to keep a close eye.

When the farrier texted yesterday morning that he would get my boys done that morning, I asked him to check out Speedy's left front for signs of an abscess. He assured me that they would dig it out if they saw anything (he always has a helper). He agreed to text me if they found anything. I completely forgot about it until I arrived at the ranch later in the day and saw hoof trimmings on the ground. No text must have been good news.

Freshly trimmed and also muddy.

I scraped out all of the mud from Speedy's hoof, the one that had had an abscess, and saw that it looked good with no drainage hole. I took him into the grass to graze (and clean his feet on the wet grass) and then I trotted him out on the long dirt track just outside the pastures. His trot out was big, bold, and too quick for me to keep up. As he dragged me along, I tried to watch for a head bob, but he was simply too eager to move out for me to keep up.

I ended up trotting him out several times, and not once did I notice even the slightest of a head bob. Until I see something that proves otherwise, I am calling this abscess resolved. It only took seventeen days. 

Speedy should be good to go for a lesson this Saturday.