Just thought I would document how the farrier visit went...
First up was Melody. She's been doing good with picking up her feet for us most days so I figured we would start with her since she would probably be the worst one of them all. I needn't worry because she did excellent! Stood there patiently while the farrier did his work. The only thing that surprised me was when he first approached her she did a big spook away from him. I think he must've looked funny to her with his chaps and tools in hand. She settled down and he was able to get her done.
Star was no issue...never is!
Gunner stood like a good boy. Sometimes he pulls his feet away but this time he waited until his feet were given back before he put them down. Good boy!
Tyson also was a good boy. I was particularly interested in what the farrier thought about his feet. Ever since Tyson's accident at my brother-in-law's house (which was why he came to live with us), he's never been sound. He's been getting around pretty good in turnout but I like to hear from a professional what they they think about him. The farrier said Tyson's feet looked surprisingly good! He said if he seems comfortable that we should start riding him again! Seriously? I haven't given that the all clear yet but I think I will saddle him up and give him a schooling in the round pen to see how he goes. I'll decide after that if he can be put back to work after that.
All in all, it was a great time with the farrier. It's been too long since he was last out so it was fun to catch up with him again - he likes to talk a lot so he (and his wife) stayed for 2 hours! Good people!
Well, that's all for now!
Until next time,
Lynell
Showing posts with label Feet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feet. Show all posts
Friday, May 22, 2015
Thursday, May 14, 2015
A Visit
I got invited to see Zoe in June...CAN'T WAIT!!!
Ok, actually they invited me to their daughter's (not T) graduation open house but still...I can see Zoe!
In other news, the farrier is finally able to get to our house on Friday to trim. He got sick over the winter (a bad case of pneumonia) and has been playing catch up all spring. So Friday is our turn!! I hope he's able to stay healthy and keep us in his schedule!! Along with playing catch up, he's moving right down the road from us...how convenient!! ;-) So needless to say, he's been very busy this spring.
Melody has been feeling great! So great, in fact, that she has decided to try biting people again. She got my youngest on her little wrist! My youngest was at her pen and had her hands resting on one of the boards when Melody put her head down to "sniff" and ended up biting her! I'm thinking that she was looking for treats so we have put a stop to feeding her treats. Plus, whenever I lead her out of her pen, she stops (with her butt only half way through the gate) and puts her head down to eat. What a pain!! I need to break her of that habit ASAP!!!!!
Star has been doing so well! She's been prancing, playing and kicking out while in turnout with Melody. Acting like a 2 year old! But her age caught up with her yesterday because after her little playful bout with Melody, she ended up getting sore on her back leg. This morning she was fine again...no swelling or heat. So we will chalk it up to a mystery injury while playing....
Not much to report on Tyson. He's in turnout with Gunner and the two seem to be happier without Zoe keeping them in line. They zoom around with each other a lot more than they used to, Zoe must've been a tough lead mare!!
I took the pictures for T's dad of Gunner. He's one of those horses that I just couldn't find a good angle on...so we had a lot of outtakes. It didn't help that it was extremely windy so he was feeling frisky and didn't want to cooperate! Grrr...you be the judge...
Well, that's all the updates for now...
Until next time,
Lynell
Ok, actually they invited me to their daughter's (not T) graduation open house but still...I can see Zoe!
In other news, the farrier is finally able to get to our house on Friday to trim. He got sick over the winter (a bad case of pneumonia) and has been playing catch up all spring. So Friday is our turn!! I hope he's able to stay healthy and keep us in his schedule!! Along with playing catch up, he's moving right down the road from us...how convenient!! ;-) So needless to say, he's been very busy this spring.
Melody has been feeling great! So great, in fact, that she has decided to try biting people again. She got my youngest on her little wrist! My youngest was at her pen and had her hands resting on one of the boards when Melody put her head down to "sniff" and ended up biting her! I'm thinking that she was looking for treats so we have put a stop to feeding her treats. Plus, whenever I lead her out of her pen, she stops (with her butt only half way through the gate) and puts her head down to eat. What a pain!! I need to break her of that habit ASAP!!!!!
Star has been doing so well! She's been prancing, playing and kicking out while in turnout with Melody. Acting like a 2 year old! But her age caught up with her yesterday because after her little playful bout with Melody, she ended up getting sore on her back leg. This morning she was fine again...no swelling or heat. So we will chalk it up to a mystery injury while playing....
Not much to report on Tyson. He's in turnout with Gunner and the two seem to be happier without Zoe keeping them in line. They zoom around with each other a lot more than they used to, Zoe must've been a tough lead mare!!
I took the pictures for T's dad of Gunner. He's one of those horses that I just couldn't find a good angle on...so we had a lot of outtakes. It didn't help that it was extremely windy so he was feeling frisky and didn't want to cooperate! Grrr...you be the judge...
Well, that's all the updates for now...
Until next time,
Lynell
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
A Patient Farrier
As I've mentioned several times, the farrier came out last week Thursday. I brought him Zoe first, then Star, then Tyson and then Gunner. I saved Melody for last because I knew it wasn't going to be easy (Melody Update).
He started with her front foot on her right side. Of course she did perfect. He went for her back foot and that's when it hit the fan. She flew over sideways as soon as he picked her foot up (which she picked up willingly when he asked her) and held it there for more than a split second. Around and around she went. I had positioned myself so that she could only go one way and that way the farrier could keep up. He did great!
When she stopped, he made quick work of trimming that foot. He went around to the other side and I warned him this side has always been harder for her. He didn't think it would be much worse than the side he just did and boy was he wrong! When he went to pick up her back left foot she kinda kicked out trying to take it back from him. He asked for an extra lead rope to work with that back foot so he wouldn't get kicked. He picked her foot up using the lead rope and held it there while she danced around trying to take it back. Once she finally gave her foot, he released it. Then he asked for her foot without the lead rope and she did more dancing and when she gave in, he quickly trimmed that foot.
He moved on to her front foot on the left side and she did fine with that.
The thing I really appreciate about our farrier is that he never, not even one time, got upset. He just stayed with her and was very patient with her. If he would've gotten upset and got after her about her behavior, the next time he came out or any time we tried to work with her feet she could relate it as a bad experience and could become awful. We will just have to keep working with her and her feet so that the next time the farrier comes out it will go better!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."
He started with her front foot on her right side. Of course she did perfect. He went for her back foot and that's when it hit the fan. She flew over sideways as soon as he picked her foot up (which she picked up willingly when he asked her) and held it there for more than a split second. Around and around she went. I had positioned myself so that she could only go one way and that way the farrier could keep up. He did great!
When she stopped, he made quick work of trimming that foot. He went around to the other side and I warned him this side has always been harder for her. He didn't think it would be much worse than the side he just did and boy was he wrong! When he went to pick up her back left foot she kinda kicked out trying to take it back from him. He asked for an extra lead rope to work with that back foot so he wouldn't get kicked. He picked her foot up using the lead rope and held it there while she danced around trying to take it back. Once she finally gave her foot, he released it. Then he asked for her foot without the lead rope and she did more dancing and when she gave in, he quickly trimmed that foot.
He moved on to her front foot on the left side and she did fine with that.
The thing I really appreciate about our farrier is that he never, not even one time, got upset. He just stayed with her and was very patient with her. If he would've gotten upset and got after her about her behavior, the next time he came out or any time we tried to work with her feet she could relate it as a bad experience and could become awful. We will just have to keep working with her and her feet so that the next time the farrier comes out it will go better!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"No person was ever honored for what he received. Honor has been the reward for what he gave."
-Calvin Coolidge
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Melody Update
We've been thoroughly enjoying Melody! She's such a sweet heart and takes every lesson in stride. She's been doing so well with leading and picking up her feet that last night when we (hubby and I) were cleaning out her feet we were surprised when she wouldn't give her back feet. Like at all. As soon as she picked a back foot up she would lean all the way back and almost fall over! She did this with both of her back feet. Only once did she pick up her back foot nicely out of the multiple times trying. And we couldn't duplicate it. I thought maybe she was lacking confidence in her ability to stand with only three feet so we put her next to a fence where a pole was for extra support. At first it worked but it quickly went back to her putting all of her weight on her back feet.
Apparently the feet lessons need to be repeated. This happens with young ones...testing out what they can and can't get away with. Which, did I mention that she started biting again? She got be good on my shoulder but I told her that was not acceptable in no uncertain terms. She hasn't tried biting me since. Anyways, back to her feet. Because we weren't making any progress we thought maybe we would get her mind off it and give her a new lesson to think about - round penning.
When I first took her off the lead she immediately was more interested in her friends across the driveway. There was no interest in moving...lol I got bigger and more intense with my request for her to move out which she finally obliged while charging after the dog. Dang dog...I didn't see him come in with me and I don't allow him in the round pen with me while working horses. The horses usually try to run him down and I don't want him or me to get hurt in the process. I got the dang dog out and got back to work. She actually was getting the hang of it rather quickly. Changing directions was a bit sticky but we got through it and called it a day. She was perfectly calm and had no issues with me hooking her back up to the lead (Zoe always got nervous in her younger years, but she's quite a bit more high strung than Melody is).
Farrier is coming out tonight so we'll see how she does with her back feet...could be interesting!!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time."
Apparently the feet lessons need to be repeated. This happens with young ones...testing out what they can and can't get away with. Which, did I mention that she started biting again? She got be good on my shoulder but I told her that was not acceptable in no uncertain terms. She hasn't tried biting me since. Anyways, back to her feet. Because we weren't making any progress we thought maybe we would get her mind off it and give her a new lesson to think about - round penning.
When I first took her off the lead she immediately was more interested in her friends across the driveway. There was no interest in moving...lol I got bigger and more intense with my request for her to move out which she finally obliged while charging after the dog. Dang dog...I didn't see him come in with me and I don't allow him in the round pen with me while working horses. The horses usually try to run him down and I don't want him or me to get hurt in the process. I got the dang dog out and got back to work. She actually was getting the hang of it rather quickly. Changing directions was a bit sticky but we got through it and called it a day. She was perfectly calm and had no issues with me hooking her back up to the lead (Zoe always got nervous in her younger years, but she's quite a bit more high strung than Melody is).
Farrier is coming out tonight so we'll see how she does with her back feet...could be interesting!!
Until next time!
Quote for the day:
"We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time."
-Vince Lombardi
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