Good Feet, good weather

Friday was another farrier day, so I left work early to make it on time for the appointment. It was sad not to have Rose and Kahlua join us, but Cinder's person Meredith was there. She gave Bonnie a framed photo of Kahlua--it was very sweet.

The whole gang. Gobie was very good at being trimmed. He probably doesn't need it every time, but I keep it consistent because he really is getting better at standing politely with all the practice. Plus the farrier is such a patient fella. I remember how dry and chippy and cracked Gobie's feet were before. Now they're looking beautiful, if I do say so myself.

Fancy! 

A horse barn in autumn is the best thing in the world, and Friday night the weather was perfect. There's nothing like being greeted by some furry friends:

Oreo the cat, and Furby the dog being pals. 

And watching nature embrace the changing seasons:

Halloween spider. 

I'm hoping for more excellent weekends in the future!

Feet, Part Two!

I'm happy to report that Gobie's feet trimming went better than I could have expected! What a good pony I've got.

I took a half-day off of work so I could arrive at Bonnie's in time for the farrier appointment. All of the horses were getting trimmed and wormed that day. When I pulled into the drive way I saw another of the boarders was already there.

So I got to meet Kahlua's person, Rose. She was very nice and we chatted for a while about our horses and how much we like Bonnie :)

I was in no hurry for Gobie to be trimmed. My plan was to keep things low-key and if it looked like he wouldn't be too much of a baby about getting trimmed we'd do it, but if he was having a fit about it I'd work with him more and get him the next time.

When the farrier, Ben, arrived we had Kahlua go first. She has shoes in the front so it took a little while. Bonnie showed up soon after they got started with Kahlua, but as they were nearing a finish Bonnie and I got Gobie from the field.

Bonnie thought we should try deworming him first. Surprise, he did NOT like that idea at all. He threw up his head and did everything to back away from us. But by that time Ben was ready for trimming so we abandoned that for the moment.

Ben introduced himself to Gobie with some scritches on his withers and some soothing words. We put some feed in a bucket and Gobie dove right in. He barely noticed Ben gently asking for his front right leg. He gave it up like a champ and before you knew it he was on to the next leg. We put a little more feed in the bucket as Gobie cleaned it out and before we knew it he was all done and trimmed! He tried taking his back feet away a couple times but Ben was firm and patient and Gobie was a willing pony.

Being the nice guy that he is, Ben offered to deworm Gobie, too. I'm not one to turn down help, so I said sure! Like the pro he is, he stuck with Gobie as he backed away from the paste. With patience and persistence (and some speedy footwork) Ben won him over and got the deworming paste in that pony's mouth. Perfect!

We turned Gobie out into one of the grassy mini-paddocks with the rest of his friends. His feet look beautiful!

His girlfriend Honey was next to be trimmed and he made an idiot of himself, pacing the fence line and calling after to her as she was lead to the trimming area.

Looking handsome and tragic.

Honey was a pro at getting trimmed, of course! She was done in no time and Gobie was happy to have her back.

A great day all together!

Feet, Part One!

There's an old saying that goes, "No hoof, no horse" and what it means, basically, is that hooves are important to a horse's wellbeing. In the wild horses rely on their feet to be in good shape for helping them escape from predators, and for walking miles and miles for food and water. In the domestic setting horses spend nearly their entire lives on their feet: they stand to eat, to drink, to socialize, and even to sleep.

So an essential part of horse care is making sure their feet are healthy. And because horses hooves grow continuously they need to be trimmed on a regular basis, kind of like human fingernails.

But remember how horses need those feet to run away from predators? That also means they aren't crazy about having people mess with them. After all, somewhere in their instinctual make-up, horses know that being able to run at any moment on those feet can save their life. Horses must be trained to get their hooves trimmed, and go against all those instincts to let humans do it.

On Friday Gobie and the rest of the horses at the farm are getting a visit from the farrier--the professional that trims horse hooves. But today we had to do a little prep work! After all, my heroes at the rescue cautions that I may have to have Gobie sedated for a hoof trimming. I decided first thing was first: better find out if he would even lift his feet!

After work I drove out to the farm (almost two hours! traffiiiick!) and found all the horses munching hay together. As soon as Gobie saw me he moseyed over to say hi. I came into the paddock with him, and he was soon abandoning his hay to come follow me into the work area. It was pretty cute, I have to say. We started right away--a lead rope and a little socializing. I started with his front left foot and that was a piece of cake. I itched him on the fetlock and he lifted his hoof up with no hesitation. I scraped out the little bit of muck in it and put his foot back down and gave him a treat. Then it was on to the front right hoof. Also no problem--though he did try to put his foot down sooner than I wanted. He didn't put up a fight when I held on to it, though.

So, emboldened, I went for the back feet. First itching down his back and down his right hind leg. He didn't really want to pick it up, but when I leaned against him he leaned away so I could lift it. He seemed more willing to pull it back then lift it up. Regardless, when I held it in my hand he started to try to snatch it away and put it back down, but I held on and kept my hand on his leg. I won the disagreement and at no time did he try to kick me or run off! When I went for the left back leg there was a little hesitance but he was way more willing than the previous leg. All in all a great first experience!

Of course, picking your feet up is one thing and standing there patiently while someone clips and files them is another. We'll see how Friday goes. It's not high stakes or anything--his feet look okay so if we have a wait a little while to get a good trim he'll be alright. But this experience confirmed what I already knew about Gobie--he's not looking for a fight, is pretty easily convinced, and has a great mellow temperament. Good pony!