Week of 4/15/14

This was a week of new things for Calvin! The most exciting part was that he got to have visitors this last Wednesday. My boyfriend, his mom, his grandmother, and family friends were able to come visit and play with Calvin.

My two favorite boys :)

The twins were also able to groom Calvin and give him delicious treats, he was in heaven.

 The boyfriend's gma bonding with Calvin.

Here is my new saddle thanks to my lovely boyfriend :) I'd sold my English saddle years ago since I physically outgrew it. Ever since I've been mooching saddles off friends, but now that I have a horse it was time to saddle shop again. This my new Bob Marshall Sports saddle, which is an endurance saddle. This just means it's a comfier western saddle without the horn to stab you in the stomach and it's much lighter. As someone who came from English saddles, I can't quite handle the western saddle "bulk." This was a nice compromise.

 Here he is in the saddle, it actually looks very good on him and fits him perfectly. I'm trying to bridle him in this picture, not necessarily how one should bridle (i.e. standing in front) but I didn't want to interrupt the picture :)

 After I rode him for a short while, I decided that since Calvin was being so good that the twins could sit on him and walk and trot around a bit. They seemed to really enjoy it and wanted to keep going. Calvin didn't seem to mind shuttling the young ones around and their mom even got to ride too (she was also the one to take all these great photos).

 

Enjoying a well-earned roll after a long day of riding. 

Yesterday I met the new farrier that I found to do Calvin's hooves. I know in my last post about trimming I said I really liked the last farrier who did Calvin. While he was very patient and kind, the more I looked at healthy hooves, the more unimpressed I became with the previous farrier's work. Also, he never came back to do his back hooves and never discounted my rate...

Anyway, I found the new "trimmer" (word I will now use, as barefoot horses don't need shoes, just feet trimmings) from asking Endurance people in Southern California (thanks to a facebook group I'm part of!) if they could recommend any barefoot trimmers. They recommended the website pacifichoofcare.org that hosts reputable barefoot trimmers and I found someone locally. This trimmer only does barefoot horses because he believes all horses can be barefoot and/or use hoof-boots for strenuous rides. This is healthier for the hoof as it can expand and contract, increasing blood flow to the hoof. This topic, though, is a discussion for another day because I have strong feelings about going barefoot. This trimmer that saw Calvin was concerned about a few things, mainly the stress rings hoping that it isn't an illness. Also, he said he needed to fix some things about his hooves so I'll refer you to the horse hoof diagram because I'll be using a lot of hoof jargon below: 

These rings on his hooves are actually pretty bad...they're called stress rings that horses can get from stress (obviously) but it may also be diet related. Let's hope his hoof grows out ring-free from now on which will tell us that it's only stress...because changing diet is a pain. It makes sense that he would be stressed, I mean he was captured from the wild, gelded, and then trailed to 2 different places in less than 6 months.

 

I like how the new farrier did what's called a "mustang roll." If you look toward the front of the hoof, or the toe, it's filed down so when they walk they roll their toe to prevent flares. 

Here are his two front hooves. As you can see, these hooves are closer to the "ideal" hoof I posted a picture of toward the top. The sole is callused and strong and it's a pretty nice shape. However, he had a fungus growing in his frog that needs to be treated (it's very common with horses) so I'll have to treat that soon. There's also a lot of space between the bars and the frog which will likely go away with regular trimming, but those deep grooves aren't ideal. He said he didn't smooth the sole down because of the rocky terrain our horses are in, they will naturally wear down some of the sole and "exfoliate" it themselves.


Here are his glorious back hooves! They were so long and outgrown, they look much better now. The trimmer said that his heel bulbs are uneven, which if you look closely one side (depending on the hoof) looks more compressed than the other. This is due to being 3 months without trimming and will likely even out now. The trimmer also said that his hooves have "too much toe" meaning that the front pointy end is too long, but it can't be fixed in one day.

Calvin was very good for this trimming! We've been practicing holding his hooves and while he was slightly nervous with this trimmer, at the end he was very calm and stood nicely. This was the first time his back hooves have been done without drugs (before I owned him). The farrier thanked me for practicing with his back hooves, I guess he could tell that he'd had some practice!



I also met this trimmer's other clients at my stable since their horses were being done the same day. Their horses' hooves looked fantastic, so that also made me very hopeful for Calvin. In fact, one lady's horse had early stages of laminitis, this is when the coffin bone inside the hoof rotates to where eventually the bone will protrude through the hoof (warning: gore). This is very, very painful for the horse and they often have to be put down. Although this lady's horse wasn't that bad, this trimmer was able to correct the early stages and now her horse is completely sound. I was also happy that he didn't say "your horse's feet are perfect" since no hoof is perfect and they all need work, some more than others. Finger's crossed his hooves improve with time!