Of Hoofcare & Winter Riding

Despite my every intention to write more this month, I, uh, haven't. But I have been riding a fair bit and generally tackling all sorts of horsey to-dos. I finally feel like I'm getting back into the swing of things with the horses for the first time in awhile.

Hoofcare

I'm keeping up with the horses' feet regularly for the first time in a Very Long Time. I am SO PLEASED with them all. Each is a work in progress, but I'm really happy with where we are at this point. Every horse is happy and free in their movement and relatively comfortable on gravel, which is always a true test of how well they're doing.

Griffin side views

Griffin

Q; from this photo on, all hooves are in their representative blocks per the labeling on the sole photo of Griffin's

Q

Stan. They're weird AF, but he is moving SO HAPPILY with them so I'm just letting it be

Stan. So much development to come for the caudal hoof on his fronts. The backs are pretty happy!

Q has always had amazing hooves. She's the one who is the most reliably comfortable on rough terrain barefoot and is generally an easy-keeper so far as her feet go. Grif falls in the middle of my three; he tends to have tougher feet than Stan, but not as bomber as Q. He's best when we ride more often and tends to be more tender if his movement is less. (Which makes complete sense.) Stan though? Stan has always been the difficult one.

Gah, he has the most narrow chest

He's also a touch pigeon toed. 

Stan lived in front shoes pretty exclusively through much of his life before me. Even with me, he's often been shod. He's just more comfortable that way. But since bringing him home, I've been more determined to get him comfortable barefoot and develop his caudal hoof. While he's still got a ways to go, he is the most comfortable that he has ever been barefoot. I'm completely amazed at how comfortable he is on gravel!

With time, his feet will continue to improve. I'm so happy to see him happy and am looking forward to working with him through this process. I cannot wait to see where his feet will be by this time next year.

Winter Riding

Aside from general horse care and barn chores, I have enjoyed several rides on each horse so far this month. Since DST hit on the 3rd, many of those rides have been in the dark. But I have fit a few in during the daylight hours, too.

Climbing up our mountain on Miss Thing

Sunset rays on Staniel

Winter woods color palette 

Uh, yeah. This was interesting. Could not see a gattdam thing. I DID use a headlamp because I wanted to have SOME semblance of where I was. Didn't help much beyond keeping me un-dizzy by helping me see Grif. The red dot is one of the dogs' LED collars. 

The arctic blast that swept across the country last week left Canaan Valley with 5" of fluffy snow and single digit temperatures. After a long, hot summer complete with a lengthy drought, I was pretty psyched about the weather. In fact, I've decided I'm jumping full-bore into winter riding this year. Finding ways to be excited about the cold makes it so much easier to deal with!

On Wednesday of last week, I rode not once, but TWICE. Both times in the dark. The first ride was a 4 AM full moon meander in the snow on Stanley before work. The second was a 6-something PM ride on Griffin, once again in the snow beneath the full moon. Both rides involved a taste of w/t/c with a short gallop near the end. Both were a total blast!

A 4am Staniel. Note the 5" of snow against the back door

What a moonlit snow ride looks like per my cell phone

Stan was so happy

The full moon as viewed from the back of a moving horse lol

The sunset that preceded my evening ride on Grif. You can see my Stan tracks from the morning just right of center.

Sweet boy post-ride.

I settle more into life with the horses at home with every passing day. It is a total and complete dream come true. I have already exceeded my annual riding mileage from 2017 and 2018 and am looking forward to finding more and more time to ride in the future.

Power Trimming

Since 2012, I have been the sole hoof trimmer for my horses. I like to keep my horses on a short trim cycle of 3-5 weeks depending on the time of year and, from a financial standpoint, this is much more easily managed by doing it myself. Trimming is hard work and it can be time consuming, but I plan and manage my time well and it's never been too bad.

The only time my horses' hoof care isn't completed by me is when Dan is shoeing them. Even then, he uses my trim job and just preps the foot for a shoe. In fact, Dan stating matter-of-factly on a ride a few years ago that "he'd put a shoe on that" was the reason I moved away from the frustrations of boots and into shoes for competition. Prior to that, I always figured I'd have to learn to shoe myself one day because no local farrier felt comfortable shoeing my "short-toed" horses (despite complimenting my horses feet every time they see them).

Healthy barefoot herd for at least half the year; grateful for horses with good hoof structure!

With the introduction of Stan to my little herd in July 2016, the time it takes me to trim has only grown - as one would expect. I don't use nippers when I trim, only a rasp and a knife because such a short cycle negates the need for nippers. I'm happy with this method, but it can be time consuming if life gets busy and I go 5-6 weeks between trims instead of 3-5. Thus, I began to throw around ideas of trimming with power tools more seriously. 

I sat on this idea for well over a year because I knew it would be costly to get a nice tool that could do the job. The workout that comes with hoof trimming isn't wholly awful after all, and it was a nice addition to my week. Except, well, taking time to trim so many feet takes away from riding. Even if I am only doing one horse a day, doing this over multiple days detracts from riding each of those days!

My time is more valuable than ever since introducing a daily commute to my life. Trimming was the last thing I want to be doing with my limited time. And so, I finally bit the bullet and ordered a cordless angle grinder.

Power tool for the win

And I don't regret it one bit.

Grand total time to completely trim 12 hooves with the grinder? 25 minutes. And that will only get quicker as I hone my technique and skill. Previously, if it was a rainy day (when their hooves were softer and easier to trim) I could do 4 hooves in 15 to 20 minutes. To do 12 in nearly the same time? That is priceless to me!

Disclaimer

I have been trimming my horses successfully by myself for 5½ years. I know my way around a hoof, especially my own horses' hooves, and I'm very well versed with my tools (rasp, knife, stand). I've never lamed any of my horses in the time I've been trimming. Additionally, I check in with local professionals from time to time, and I routinely get compliments on my trim jobs from professional farriers both local and out-of-state and vets.

Additionally, my horses are very accustomed to loud noises. None of them cares one iota about clippers and all are tolerant of being dusted off by a shop vac vacuum/blower in the winter. The noise an angle grinder makes is nothing compared to that!

So, lest anyone think otherwise, I absolutely do not advocate this solution for everyone! I hold no liability if you go out and commit some horrible error. I simply wanted to share a unique approach for others to learn about because it isn't that common (at least not in my area). I don't intend this post to be an end-all, be-all how-to, because your mileage may vary!

Mostly? I struggled to find similar experiences when I was striving to learn a little more about the utility of the tool for trimming hooves. EasyCare had several blogs that vaguely mentioned it, I found one video on a strange site, and Karen Chaton's blog had some casual mention, also. By sharing my thought-process/experience, perhaps I can remedy that for future someones like me curious about the utility of a power tool for hoof trimming. 

Why I Chose This Tool

The market for angle grinders is a little intimidating for someone not fully versed in the world of power tools. I'm very capable with certain tools, but my expertise doesn't range far from those I use for certain projects. Angle grinders are not a tool I have needed before in my various creative pursuits.

I chose this angle grinder because

1. My SO (a general contractor) recommends Makita over other brands.
2. I wanted cordless because I didn't care to have a cord in the equation - in my mind, that's just asking for an accident. Also, I'm lazy and don't want to drag out an extension cord every time. 
3. This model also has a paddle switch with a "safety". This means that once the safety is pressed into the larger switch, a mere release of pressure on the switch will turn the tool off. That's a great feature to have around horses.  
4. And finally, I chose this model because, with the battery, it's only 6 pounds. That's pretty friendly to handle one-handed and even easier when using two.

Acclimating the Horses

Everything I read and all discussions with professionals who trim with a grinder said the same thing re: introducing it to your horses: Act like it's business as usual and you'll have minimal issues. So I did just that!

Clearly stressed out about the noise of the angle grinder....not.

While I initially introduced Griffin to the tool alone first (knowing he, above the other two, would have no issue), I made a point of bringing Q and Stan into the barn shortly thereafter. I wanted Q and Stan to realize that my new toy wasn't going to hurt them by watching how much Griffin DIDN'T care. Seeing is believing and whatsuch.

To introduce the noise of the tool, I held it up for all of the horses to see and spoke aloud, "Okay. This is going to make noise. But you'll be okay. On the count of three, one, two, th-ree!" I said, giving a sing-song voice to "th-ree". Q and Stan balked a bit the first time, but Griffin (who flinched his first time but nothing more) stood with a hind foot cocked in relaxation.

Adding a mustang roll to his hoof. 

I then proceeded to walk to each horse with the tool running in one hand and a brush in the other and brushed them while the tool was running. Each horse immediately calmed with the association of brushing with the noise. I then touched each horses shoulder with the butt of the tool (still running), stroking down their legs with it. None of them reacted. Perfect!

From there, I dove straight into my normal trimming routine -  business as usual! The only thing I did differently from my typical routine to introduce the horses to the grinder was to hold their hooves between my knees as farriers do instead of putting them on the stand as I normally would. This was to allow for easy release of their feet if they didn't like the sensation of the tool on their hoof. It also allowed me to begin to figure out my technique with the grinder as it's a lot easier with two hands instead of one! By the time I finished with one foot on each of my horses, they allowed me to put their other feet on the stand to trim each remaining. (Below's video is Griffin's second session with the tool.)

I'm still working on technique, but I'm really pleased so far. The time saving is amazing, and I really feel like I have more finesse with the angle grinder than a rasp, despite my current rookie status with it. It's a lot easier to take "just a little more" off with the angle grinder than with the rasp.

For inquiring minds, yes, the angle grinder could absolutely result in "too much too quick" but only if you are leaving the tool stationary on the hoof. If you keep it constantly gliding over the area you're working on, it can be gentler than even a rasp can be.

Conclusions

The upfront cost of the grinder + battery (no charger because my SO already has one I can use), was moderate-high ($233.20), but the time savings afforded by trimming my horses with an angle grinder instead of my former non-power tool approach makes this endeavor more than worth it to me. I will still have a rasp on hand, but it will be nice to only replace it once a year or so instead of once every few months!

Before and after the roll touch up. You can see an old abscess growing out on his heel.

My approach definitely isn't a common one, but I wanted to share it for anyone similar out there who is also considering this approach. When I scoured the internet for stories and experiences trimming with power tools, the results were few and far between. Finances aside, if I'd been able to find an account of another horse owner pursuing trimming with power tools like the story I've told here, I would have jumped into the fray a lot sooner than I did! I gain a lot from hearing others stories; I know mileage my vary and different solutions exist for everyone, but it's nice to see what is possible. Remember, I'm a scientist! I love building up observations and evidence on various topics so that I can reach my own conclusions based on that evidence - and a large sample size (many observations) is much more beneficial in this quest.

: : : : :

So, I'm curious, I live in a rural, remote part of West Virginia, my readership is by and large NOT like my area. Have any of you encountered hoof care professionals (or amateurs) who use power tools as a part of their routine? The only power tools our local farriers use routinely are dremels. I understand the difficulty of guaranteeing a client's horse will take to a power tool safely, but I'm sure some professionals have a short-list of clients they could trim this way. I feel like the practice may be more common among amateurs like me who don't have to worry about the liability of others? Anyone have a story to share on the topic?

Q's Hoofers

Her feet look better than they have since I've owned her coming out of this winter - except the medio-lateral balance of her front hooves is really altered from what it used to be.

Casually resting a hind; she swaps
steadily back and forth between
both hinds as she waits for me.

I've been watching her movement a lot lately (another benefit of Mike riding her while I ride Griffin) and suspected that I really needed to look at medio-lateral balance in her feet a bit closer. Her landings on her front feet are a bit off from what they once were. She's landing a titch *more* laterally than she used to. I know that hooves should land a bit more lateral than medial at first, but Q's is more exaggerated than what it had been prior to winter. On the level surface of the rail trail over the weekend I was really able to observe how her landings have altered. The imbalance is obvious - her lateral heel is more developed than the medial; this is very atypical for her front hooves. Her way of going behind has always led to a slight imbalance, but its what she needs for her conformation.

One of the few drawbacks to where I keep my horses is the lack of level surfaces. The only concrete pads in the barn are the tack room (can't trim in there for obvious reasons) and the wash stall. The wash stall area would be a great and obvious option for trimming on a level surface (so I can better see her stance and the balance of the hoof), except that it has pallets full of fertilizer and lyme on one half of it! I plan to move these sometime soon, but its going to be a good bit of labor and my time at the barn is so fleeting currently that I would rather spend it with my horses.

As a result, all of my trimming is done in the barn aisle which isn't perfectly level and isn't a hard surface. This creates an obvious hurdle for accurately assessing my horses hooves pre and post trim. I suspect this has lent itself poorly to my trimming through this winter. Shame on me for not paying more mind to things.

Hmmmm.
Fronts. Beefier development
along the inside (medial) heel areas.

At any rate, I modified the medio-lateral balance of Q's front hooves mildly on Tuesday night; I don't ever do tons at once with things like this. I like to see what she's going to do with her feet from a series of smaller modifications over time. Ultimately, the amount of riding we have coming up should help to determine how she wants her feet to be.

It was quite obvious to me (once I really paid mind to it) that the medial half of the hoof (if you imagine the hoof split down the middle through the frog from toe to heel) is indeed much higher than the lateral side. Her movement on the rail trail and her stance when standing still really suggested to me that she needed more on the lateral side, but she can't exactly get that if she's constantly wearing away the lateral side more than the medial from the current imbalance.

I hope that with time, miles, and minor modifications through trimming here and there she will get back to where she was. I really feel shamed for not noticing things sooner. Medio-lateral imbalances in the hoof and trimming for them is a weakness for me. I'm thankful at least that I am observant enough to notice things, refer back to older photos and videos, and now do what I can to try to get her feet back to how they were for the first nearly 2 years I had her.

And, No, I don't think her feet "want" to be where they are now. These changes have occurred through winter months when she wasn't in a working schedule like she had been so many months before. I've just been trimming and putting her through mild work in a soft environment that hasn't challenged or applied much wear to her feet. I know that ultimately it will be the increase in miles over varied terrain this upcoming season that will "fix" her feet, but the way she's moving now has made me concerned that if I don't give her feet a little help at the beginning then the imbalance will increase because her footfalls are pretty far from the "correct" she'd been at for so long.

Slight filling in hinds due to
standing at the fenceline immobile
as she flirted shamlessly with the
geldings on the other side.
I do love that she very often stands
squarely wherever she is.

Another hurdle Q and I were able to start to overcome Tuesday night was with her hind feet. I reallysuspect that someone may have been overly harsh in handling her hind feet at some point in her past because of her sensitivity about them being handled - it's always been more of a challenge than I ever expect it should be.

She's always let me put them on the stand to apply a roll around the hoof or bring back toe (bringing the hind foot forward under the body and resting it atop the stand). Bringing the hoof backward to rest in on the stand in a manner to work on the sole and bars of her feet has always been an issue though. She hops and skips away from me, doing all she can to avoid it. And when I do get her to stand still, she is very reluctant to let her leg be placed on the hoof stand. She'll let me do hind leg stretches with her, but if that hoof stand comes out she's not interested in me being near her.

Part of her distrust with her hind legs has also developed from two hefty cases of scratches since I got her in 2012. Treatments were NO FUN for her or me. Its the only time she's ever kicked me - and even that was delivered after she'd warned me at least a dozen times! She was hurting, I don't blame her. But I had to treat it. So, poor lady has a lot of negative associations with her back legs.

(Aside: Yes, I've also considered sensitivity in her hocks as an issue and my vet and I are looking into this. We're planning to do radiographs later in the spring. Tests from last month's vet visit demonstrated that she is tender and is more sensitive on the left than the right; and, no, the injury to her left stifle from last spring is not a contributing factor. My vet confirms that that injury was purely superficial; a lesion of the skin with no association in the soft tissue/joint/bone.)

I was very calm and patient with Q Tuesday night though. She was calm in return and allowed me to stretch out her hind legs and place them on the hoof stand on both sides long enough for me to touch her back feet up more thoroughly than I have in months. I kept talking to her the whole time telling her how good she was, shooting multiple glances at her facial expression to see if there were any signs of distress. Completely calm pony, ears on a swivel, eyes bright and alert, lower lip loose and hanging. I hope this is demonstrative of what future hind feet trims will be like!

We'll see where things go with her feet this season. She's definitely in a better place than she's been and I'm learning more all the time. I'm optimistic!

Trimming 8 Hooves

I was surprised and amused at the number of comments about trimming 8 hooves in one evening when I shared it both on the blog and Facebook last week. While I thank those of you who think I'm superwoman for doing this, I have to reveal the truth: I'm not! (Well, duh.)

What I am though, is organized about my trimming schedule. I have my guys on a 2-ish week schedule for maintenance trims. That way, when I have to trim its always minor. Just a tiny tweak here and there to modify small things. It saves me sweat and it saves my horses from a potential horrible error on my part that lames them up. (Also, guys, its WINTER. Everything trimming-wise is easy with the cold temps! No sweating! YAY!)

But two weeks is, like ALWAYS! You shriek. Eh. Yes. Kind of.

But its not, too bad, really!

Sometimes I do completely skip doing anything. I'm fortunate that my horses (especially Q) do a lot of self-trimming through their turn out situation and their work schedule - I try to work my horses barefoot as much as possible! I still set a time every 2-ish weeks where I plan to complete a full trim/assessment. If I note that they'd be fine waiting until the next time. And sometimes, especially with Griffin, I'm guilty of passing things off as "okay" even when I could probably stand to bring his toes back a bit. (Though sweating through it later when its more work has taught me the lesson of NOT doing this often!)

This schedule/timeline works so great for me and the horses. It lets me let their hooves dictate what I should do without risking some huge crazy issue later. I observe and learn. I modify a little at a time and see if my modification was appropriate or if what I did is replicated by the horse in a short time because they really NEED what appeared to me as trim-worthy.

I'm still learning so much about trimming and hooves and their function for each horse vs. horses as a whole, but tell you what: I've got my guys pretty well figured. The one area of mystery for me is just how their hooves want to change size as time goes on. The best I can do for now is just to continue with my slow, steady maintenance trims and frequent observations. With patience, all will be fine.

A Myriad of Updates

I had a list of many mini-posts to write. But then that was gonna lead scheduled posts so far into the future that I'd never get current things documented. So instead, you're gonna get a list of bullets with a myriad of updates and random things I want to have documented.

• I had a GREAT first ride back (since I the day I was hucked off) on Griffin on Dec. 4. I put a big, heavy (30#) western saddle on him that I'd never had on him before. I figured this would slow his thought process for bucking since it is such a burden! I worked him at liberty in the round pen for 15 minutes. Five minutes were warm up, 10 minutes were further warm up with the side reins. He never once offered a buck with that saddle on. He was weirded out by it some, judging from his movement. He had to figure it out. But he adapted well. I took him to the indoor round pen for riding. He stood solid for mounting and dismounting. He was forward and happy. He responded well to all of my requests. Awkward body position through small circles and turns to reverse. The combo of big saddle + Liz confused him, I think. He was clumsy walking over ground poles, but he tried. He was a champion at backing up. And while he was a little tiny bit angsty about the trot, he quickly (very quickly) got over it and focused on his job. We mostly walked and worked on walking and halting transitions. I added the trot at the end a little in each direction. We ended on a beautiful note with a wonderful trot-halt-back sequence. I love him!
  
• I ordered side reins a week ago. They've been a huge hit with both of my horses. Griffin learned them quickly, as he's been exposed to other gadgetry of late and solves the mystery quickly. His first session with them I really asked him to work. Not much above a trot, but kid was really breathin' hard (for him) at the end. Not very sweaty, but OH did he have to really use himself. He did better with the side reins than previous gadgetry, but I don't think he'd have had such a great first session without prior work on Fauxssoa and briefly with the chambon. --- Q's first session? Oh dear. THAT was entertaining. I let her warm up with them loose for awhile so she could become accustomed to the additional swinging things while she moved. Then I put them a setting tighter than where I hope to have her eventually. I did this because I had a very good feeling she would fight, brace, and generally dislike them at first. And then, when she figured out that bracing wouldn't work, the right solution seemed even more rewarding. I sent her around and around and watched her fight with them. Bracing against them with her head as high as she could get it and trying to get it higher. Then she realized they would stretch and release depending on her intensity with making her head high vs. HIGH. Then she found some release. Only for a second. Back to HIGH head and high head. And then back to the sweet spot. Again and again with quicker and quicker transitions between comfortable and not comfortable. Within 5 minutes she had it. I didn't ask for her to move fast or slow. I just wanted her to move forward. I wanted to see if she could figure them out. Proceeding sessions I've added further requests to drive her forward into the contact (is that the proper term?). She's getting better each session, but is still slightly resistant about it all. Still, this is a HUGE change for her and I'm really excited to continue the progression.
  
• Q's calmness of late and behavior overall is so much better. I've really taken special note of my emotions/mood whenever I'm around her. I'm re-routing my behaviors to be better for her. You know how if a horse gets a little out of it while focusing on something not you and then they step on you or bump into you or do a myriad of things if under saddle? So then you pop them in the shoulder or neck with your hand to give a small smack that says, "SNAP OUT OF IT, DUDE!" and then they come back to the present (I'll do this to Kenai, too, when he's being a snot, just a small pop on his rear end or his side to say HELLO!)? Yeah. You can't do that with Q. You can, but if you do she gets more upset and nervous. I'm teaching myself to reroute my tendency to do that with Q and replace the gesture instead with, for lack of a better term, aggressive petting. Just dig my palm into her and pet her hard and, maybe in a mean tone at first, snap at her for being off in space and to please get with it. I may scratch at her neck harder, too. Don't they say the act of petting released endorphines? Either way, Q calms quickly and returns to the present if I rub her as described (I'm trying SO hard to not make this sound sexual...failing...failing...so many jokes...). The re-teaching of myself is quite a process, but its really helping out this mare. (The things we do for our horses!) The aggressive petting (giggle) coupled with lots of peppermint treats the other night, was enough to keep Q calm in the smaller (than typical) area where our cross ties are while I trimmed her feet. She was so good and tried so hard. I was very, very proud of her. We're getting there!!!!
  
• Hooves. I trimmed them. All 8. 40 - 50 degree weather makes for perfect trimming weather! My winter goals for both horses feet are as follows: Griffin - get his feet to a good, steady state. Working more will do this. Q - keep up small maintenance trims to allow her to really tell me how she wants her feet to be now. I have a feeling this little girl is gonna end up in size 2s in the front and 1s in the back. 14.1hh, but little girl has some big, solid feet!!
  
  Here are some photos of the bottom of their feet to accompany the videos from a week ago of all other parts of their hooves:
  
  

  

  Q's (excuse the dirt. I barely touched her feet for this trim)

  

  Griffin's.

  
  
• Instagram. I've been pretty regular about updating and posting photos lately. I remember some of you sharing yours and your favorites to follow earlier this summer. My username is estout18 - follow me and please comment on here with YOUR usernames so I can follow you! I really would love to get more horse folks into my feed on there!

WW: 360° Hooves

Q fronts and backs:

Griffin fronts and backs:

Self-Trimming hooves

Because we have another boarder's horse rehabbing from a soft tissue injury in the indoor round pen and the outdoor one lacks lights, I opted to just take Griffin on a walk on abrasive surfaces the other evening.

We wound our way up the gravel drive, past Dee's house, and onto the blacktop for 100 feet or so to the gravel church drive. We mosied up this, turned, and backtracked. When measured in ArcMap off aerial imagery, its about 0.6 miles. Not very far.

Despite the short distance, look what I discovered upon our return to the barn when I picked up Griffin's feet:

Left hind

Left fore

Self trimming! I hadn't TOUCHED this foot with a rasp and yet you see the wear. In all the areas that need it.

This is both interesting and comforting.

Interesting in an exciting way because I've read so much from Rockley over the past few years about how important having a farm setup that promotes movement over varied surfaces is for hoof and horse health. Additionally, you hear all the time about how movement is best for hooves and hooves will trim themselves to proper form for the function of the horse. It was very cool to observe this first hand.

I can only hope that I'll have the ability to provide a living setting one day to allow my horses to self trim. Most likely though, I'll be in a situation where riding bare and often will help achieve the same end.

It's also interesting from the standpoint of hoof protection because you can see how abrasive surfaces like gravel/blacktop can be to the hoof. It helps one to better recognize the importance of hoof protection for extended work on surfaces like these!

Finally, it was comforting for me to observe the areas that had self-trimmed in our short walk. They were exactly the areas that I always focus on trimming. The areas I was about to trim down when I discovered the self-trimming from our walk. Areas his movement wanted to naturally fix are what I focus on each time I give him a maintenance trim. VERY COOL.

I hope to get his feet to a better place by summer. I think more movement on varied surfaces (i.e., NOT the field) is going to do it all coupled with maintenance trims. Gotta get this guy out on the trails in a few months!

A Case of the Crazies

My new girth arrived mid-week last week. Of course I had to go out to the barn and try it out immediately.

So much fluff! Woolbak errythang.

Q loved it.

How do I know this? I tacked her up, tightened it up, and then she proceeded to stand licking and chewing for many minutes.

Licking and chewing

Yes, the pad is overly large for the saddle. It was purposely ordered ages ago to be this way so that the cantle pack I use can rest on the pad and not on the horse.

On this day, as exhibited above, she also wore her newly re-tied (had to tweak a couple things) halter-bridle I made for her. Blaze orange, of course.

Sooo unamused with this photoshoot

The design is a rope halter with a rope bosal over the nose that - when reins are attached - will be tighter in response to pressure. Its much like the bridles I've seen used in many South American riding culture and some others around the world. Q adores this, too.

I'd planned to do hill sprints this night, but figured I'd best put on the Wintec for this as it has a crupper attachment and D-rings for breast plate. Additionally, I'd have to put her bridle on - with plans to use the corkscrew snaffle as she completely ignored the full cheek last time in her efforts to return home! However, once I saw her all set up in the new tack I just had to get on and ride her in that instead. I just figured we'd tool around for awhile and see what came of things.

Well, before I knew it we were sprinting up our hill in the treeless saddle sans breastplate/crupper/bridle/bit.

She. Was. Amazing.

She's so much more content without a bit. It surprises me more and more how well she does in this halter-bridle I've rigged up. We've done many miles on the rail trail in it, jumped in it, and now hill sprints - the thing I figured we'd never do because she gets all fire-breathing-dragon on me during those.

Instead, in a bout of craziness on my part to let her sprint in this get-up, she proved me wrong. She listened better than she ever does in the bridle. We didn't fight about things. Sure, the saddle did slide a bit, and I do plan to resolve this issue with some d-ring rigging, but the bridle? Not unless we're flatting and doing dressage work and perhaps on occasion with some jumping.

I know the bitless, treeless, barefoot crowd trends toward the crazies of the world, but damn does it work for this little mare of mine. Do I advocate this trio of methods for everyone? No. Well, the barefoot I do. But I will be the first to admit when in discussion about barefoot methodology that it IS time consuming and it DOES take effort on the part of the owner to keep up with it. To me though, these efforts are 110% worth it. The bitless/treeless? Not for everyone. Not for every discipline. Not for every horse. Kinder? Perhaps. I truly think it depends on the rider/trainer though. As those have said before, if it was the next best greatest thing everyone would be utilizing it. All that matters for me though is that all of this works terrifically for my wonder-mare and I.

8 miles

Yesterday Dee and I did an easy 8 miles on the road near our endurance ride.

Q was pretty eager when it was all said and done.

Her feet looked pretty good, too. Fronts were booted because of the gravel road. She showed a little tenderness in areas where the gravel was new with her hinds, but it wasn't very often.

Strong feet on sturdy legs

Right font; her soles are finally beginning to go to a better place

Right hind; all I do with her backs is buff her toes back; the rest of the wear is all her. Not too bad being predominantly
in a pasture since April 27!

Left front, the better of her two front feet as far as quality of sole is

Left hind; once again, she does most of the work with these hind
feet.

This week she'll go back into "full" work. I quote this because so many folks in the showing community seem to consider full work to be 5-6 days a week. NO. Rest is just as important as work. "Full" to me is back into riding 3-4 days a week. She'll enter into her training regimen that consists of a day of dressage or jumping, a day of trails entailing hills, and a day of distance. If we do lighter flat rides (30 minute sessions), she may work 4 days a week, if I have time to do a lengthier session, she'll only work for 3 days.

In the past year of owning her, she has seemed to hold her baseline of conditioning really well once it was developed. I'm not in a HUGE hurry to put that base on her right now. The biggest difference in her workload now vs. these past couple months is that I will no longer be hesitant to ride her thinking "oh she should heal more". I'll heed caution for crazy things, but she's back! As long as she's fit for the end of October and the Fort Valley I & II rides, I'm happy. I've got months to get her there.

Ideally, I'd like to get a good base on her by September though and then just be steady with what we do, tapering beginning in October.

I'm very excited to get her back out on the trails working bare as she was before. It was amazing for her feet and for me. I didn't have to trim her often at all. As is, I do both my guys about every two weeks so that I don't ever have to do a lot at once. Q's gone up a whole boot size in the back. She wears size 1 Renegades all the way around, now. I think she might be able to bump up a size in the front, too, but time will tell. Hoping to hold out for some Vipers.

As usual, time will tell. Its great to be back in the saddle with those brown ears in front of me.

Q's hoofers

Or is it hooffers? Hoofers. Hooffers. I like the one "f" better.

Annnyway...

Here is a photo documentation of Q's hooves. PLEASE EXCUSE THE SCRATCHES TREATMENT. It looks like she's got an oopy-goopy diseased leg. That is not true. Okay, well, its partially true, I suppose. Scratches is a bitch to treat and Q hates me messing with it. Just ask the bruise the size of an orange on my quad where she kicked me [I deserved it]. But seriously, the pink salve is a miracle product so far. Unsightly but oh-so functional.

So without further ado, photos of Q's hoofers.

No contracted heels here!

Right front. Frog still hasn't come back as full as it was, but with more and more work it returns.
Still trying to determine if the flaring she develops on her fores is necessary for her and where the happy balance is.

Left front.

Right hind. Helloooooo beefy frog.

Right hind with scratches treatment. This frog has some catching up to do with its neighbor.

My "mustang roll" efforts are far from beautiful and she could use a touch up trim to polish up her edges. What I'm doing it seems to be pretty damn functional for my horses. Additionally, check out the return of her frogs! Get this girl into full work and those frogs beef right up. She still has a lot of false sole, but wow, her soles and overall hoof horn is in SO much better condition than when I got her a year ago. She still doesn't have beautiful glossy sole like Griffin does, but she's got some right tough feet that truly crunch some gravel. They're very, very functional for her. What more could I ask for?

Kickin' it

Had two more fair rides on Q pony over the weekend.

The wind was steady at ~21 mph and gusting ~34 mph Friday. Rain was forecasted for the whole day, but even after a lazy morning of pancake eating it hadn't begun. I decided to risk it and head out to try to slip in a ride torture the horse in the wind.

Pancakes with prickly pear syrup
(what up S. Cali?!)

Q can be jumpy as hell. She has spooked at: butterflies, chipmunks, twigs, cardinals, shadows, piles of snow, piles of earth, gravel, rocks, leaves, trees, buildings - to name a few. I decided that it would be a great exercise to get her out into the woods when the world was blowing around to see if she could handle the chaos.

She wasn't perfect, but she did do pretty well. She didn't know what to be upset about first. Trees blowing? Leaves blowing? Branches waving? Trees creaking? That rock on the ground? The whitecaps on the stream (yeah, seriously windy)? She was tense the whole ride. But she did move forward.

We only did a short 4 miles, but it was enough time for her to calm down. The whole ride was on the haul road, so that really helped to strengthen up those tootsies of hers more. She's 100% sound and free moving at a walk on it. At the trot/canter she doesn't gimp around by any means, but she doesn't move out so freely. She exerts a lot more caution. But she improves daily.

---

Upon return to the barn, I trimmed up her front hooves up. I tried to put her renegades on, but discovered, oh hey, those feet really need trimmed! I didn't realize quite how far I'd let her toes go until trying those boots on and discovering the poor fit. I was a little surprised and ashamed of myself for letting them get away from me. There was some flaring and her toes needed to be brought back.

I did all of the above, put her foot down and ogled at how much better it looked. I didn't think they'd been very bad before, but damn. THAT looked a lot better (shame be upon me for not taking pictures). Tried the boot on again and presto! perfect fit.

She was standing so nicely in the barn despite the roaring wind so I stopped after finishing her fronts and let her out, vowing to tackle the hinds Monday or Tuesday.

: : : : :

Saturday morning I got out to the barn EARLY - like 7a. - and it was COLD. I was really second-guessing why the hell I wasn't still in my warm bed. I pulled Q from the field (Griffin tried to come, too, his urgings to do something are getting really desperate), brushed her, tacked her, cleaned hooves, booted her, and she, Kenai and I headed out on an exploratory mission.

With full leaf-out about 2 weeks off, its a brilliant time to explore and discover trails. The adjacent ridgeline and slope from where I ride has many trails criss-crossing it that I wanted to try to tackle. Every ridgeline I've ever been on in WV has a trail on it as well, and more than anything I really wanted to traverse the adjacent ridgeline.

Ominous skies above the haul road

The three of us wound our way along the haul road (despite Q's numerous attempts to turn home), up through the old hairy section (despite Q's continued attempts to head home), and finally came even with the ridgeline. I trucked Q off-trail and wove through the woods (where Q decided okay, now this is fun), keeping an eye on the topography to keep myself on track to meet the ridgeline.

We passed through the biggest patch of ramps I've yet to discover (*SCORE*) and then the ridge trail appeared. We followed it up and down and I was able to eye up a few other spur trails to explore later. Q was a superstar (again), weaving around crazy stumps and fallen trees, jumping and weaving at the same time, and taking delicate steps to maneuver tricky steeps. I called it quits and turned around when we reached one particularly steep downhill section; Q repeated all of her well-executed maneuvers.

I'd noticed one very well-kept trail downhill on the far side of the ridge from home. We popped down on it for a bit and I followed it long enough to discover that it linked up with another trail system I was familiar with. *SUPERSCORE* I've always loved that other trail system because its so well maintained, but its been such a bitch to get to before now. I was so psyched to find a quicker way to it. Hurrah for more trailage! Super successful exploratory mission - even if it did snow for most of the ride...on April 20.

Q was a pony with a mission on the way home. Both good and highly obnoxious. We clocked 8 something miles in 1h:40m. Not too shabby. Now for several days of rest before the No Frills 30.

Kenai was the best dog ever for the whole ride, too. He stuck right with us. Stayed visible throughout his side explorations. And he didn't chase any deer. I love my puppy. =) Who says huskies can't be off leash dogs?!

Not so ouchy

Q is more than not so ouchy actually, she's back to where she was when I bought her end of last May and brought her home and pulled her shoes. She's happy to walk - chooses to walk - on the gravel instead of the grass. She'll trot on it, but you can tell it doesn't feel awesome.

We worked for a good 30+ minutes in the outdoor round pen last night. Its pea gravel. She moved out wonderfully in pre-ride lunging. I hopped on after a few minutes of lunging to work on my own posture and on keeping contact.

We worked on everything at the walk for a little while. Then we trotted a little. Then I decided, oh, what the hell, tossed my stirrups to the ground. Self-inflicted torture.

Trot. Trot. Trot.

Sitting trot for a long time. I forced myself to really engage my core and sit deep with her movement. I could tell when I did a good job because she'd move out more freely and get choppy and agitated when I did poorly. We did a small cloverleaf pattern at the walk and trot.

I'm very dressage ignorant currently, but I can honestly say that I'm 99% certain Q was finally "on the bit" or whatever the term is. It was really nice. I can't wait to get some lessons this summer...

I did a while of posting trot (sans stirrups), too. I tried prior to sitting the trot for awhile - but I was all out of sorts. I remember the backcountry cowboy this summer noting that you're forced to ride correctly when your muscles are fatigued some (or warmer in my case, probably). Riding fences and trails all day will make you sore for a bit until you give in and ride with the horse. So I did sitting trot for awhile. Once I was warmed up (and in a mild amount of pain, haha) posting the trot was very easy. My core muscles aren't as established as they once were, but they're definitely still there. Its a huge help.

At the end of the session when I gave Q the loose rein she's accustomed to she stretched long and low - just like in photos I've seen. Hurrah?

After our ride I check out each of her feet again. Her sole is so much better from what it was last June. Still not perfect, but so much better. I think there is lingering thrust still in her front hooves, so I plan to soak more tomorrow while she's still sedated from getting her teeth floated. My hope is that she'll be much more apt to stand still for awhile. I've got a copper spray and tea tree oil + cotton balls to apply intermittently throughout the next few weeks, too.

I'm so relieved she's bouncing back from shedding her frogs so quickly!

All is well in the world of animal

• Q is sounder by the day on her ever-growing frogs. The walnut-sized gravel gives her no grief at a walk now and she doesn't act as ouchy at a trot on it either.
• We had two great rides on the rail trail this weekend, both were booted rides and she moved out beautifully. (Apparently I had the zoom on in the below video.)

• Apparently snow that has been modified by man (shoveled or plowed) is evil and a reason to spook like a mad-woman. My horse is absurd, seriously.
• Also, snow that is not modified by man but exists by its lonesome in small patches intermittent along the trail is reason for spooking like a mad-woman. Really, my horse is absurd.
• And snow that is consistent with random bare spots of *gasp* the ground is reason to freak-the-hell-out. Yep, absurdity. Contrasting colors make life more fun, I suppose.
• My little cat isn't so little anymore.

HE is rocking a pink tag because I can't get a silver one in a small size around here.

 

• Kenai is finally figuring out that staying in the kitchen isn't awesome. He respond to my "GO" cue to leave, but lately has been acting on his own and will leave the kitchen and lie just outside the door to wait on me. Good boy!

• Kenai and Cheat have taken their manic playtime outside some as of late.

• Q hates that I've added a new probiotic to her feed. She was very offended at the miniscule change (seriously, its like a tablespoon maybe), but is slowly coming around to it. Slowly.
  
  

YUCK!

In an effort to drop new vocabulary,
Dom, do you see the beginning stages of snowbroth in this photo?!

• The maintenance trim on Q the other day has made a world of change in her stance. She's almost always perfectly square as she stands around now. She didn't stand poorly before, but she's never seemed this balanced and comfortable!

Sleepy sunning pony. (Modeling a saddle I'm trying to sell)

• Renegade boots work well in snow.

• Griffin was a huge star this weekend. One of my friends I've known since kindergarten who has been along as a fellow horse-lover, rider, etc. finally got to meet my horses and ride with me. She was duly impressed with Q as far as manners and basics go. She knows I'm an able and adept horseperson, so Q's behavior was no large surprise. She didn't realize how far I'd come with a baby horse though. Griffin isn't much to look at right now with his scraggly winter coat, but he's a really terrific little fellow for a 2½ year old. My friend didn't realize the amount of work we've done together until I showed her. I hopped on bareback with halter/lead and circled him around the barnyard for a few minutes moving him with only leg pressure. I then hopped off and had him follow me around as I jogged around the barnyard and hopped myself over a little cross rail - Griffin followed suit. Then we went inside to the round pen and I put him through his paces. Other than being a mud-covered beast, he was perfect and my friend was incredulous that body language could do so much in terms of conversation. Love this little horse! I can't wait to start doing more work with him in coming months.