Another hoofcare provider...and Baasha's hair on Mara

Thursday I had a new lady come by to advise me about Mara’s hooves. I liked her but I don’t think I’ll have her out again.

The first thing she said was, “You shouldn’t hose down hooves as a general rule.” I said, “I wanted them easier to rasp.” She said, “That doesn’t help….but, oh well, whatever.” (She realized the first thing she said was kind of argumentative and backed down.)

I find that in Summer soaking the hooves for 10 minutes really helps, and I’d never heard a trimmer say, “Don’t get the feet wet.” Interesting.

The second thing she said was, “My her hooves are short!”

It had been 2 weeks since I trimmed her and there was ¼” wall growth over the sole level. I don’t consider her feet short, I consider them normal. Often what I consider normal, others consider long.

Then she showed me how the left front was smaller than the right, which is often the case. She also pointed out some things I knew – the hooves try to grow straight down, but then flare out at the halfway point. She says it’s because the horse came from Hanover where it’s flat and sandy (!?) and now she’s on hills and rocky trails.

She nipped a tiny bit off the toe of the RF, and had me show her how I rasp it. She said, “Most owners who do their own trimming tend to do too little.” I thought to myself, “Way better than taking off too much!”

She said, “This horse has no mustang roll.” (And you should hear how Germans say the word "Mustang" - *snicker* ("Mousse - tong") I didn’t know what to say to that, except that her feet chipped up terribly 2 days after the last trimmer I tried was here because he did not do a mustang roll. Since I’ve been trimming, I do a slight mustang roll and no more chipping. Perhaps she wanted to see more of an extreme roll – I’m not sure.

She had me take down toe on all 4, but leave the rest. In other words, she did not have me do a mustang roll around each hoof. Perhaps that goes back to her original opinion that Mara’s feet are too short.

When I asked about the bars, she said it’s a matter of opinion whether I do anything to bars or not – I should decide. I said, “I’ll just touch them up a little then.”

Mara was very bad, and it was good to have someone else there assessing her behavior. Mara doesn’t like to give her feet for very long, she gets bored and will try to rip it away from you. It’s extremely rude and I’ve been working on this. Remember, when I got her, I couldn’t pick up her rear hooves at all, and only after a lot of urging would she give a front hoof, even. She’s much better now but still decides when she wants her feet back. Also, she leans and moves her head all around so she’s constantly unbalancing herself. She’s a baddie. I’m actually thinking of installing some break-away crossties somehow just for hoof trimming, to keep her head at least from offbalancing her.

This trimmer really let her have it the first time Mara fought her over a hoof. She poked her with the rasp and called her a spoiled princess, yelling and hissing at her. Then she spoke softly to her, praising her, when she lifted the hoof again.

Mara was so intimidated by the lady she pooped twice while being scolded. The lady said, “This horse is completely dominant!”

I remembered the time Mara fought me so badly over a rear hoof, and I whacked her with my hand and yelled at her, and she immediately gave up the fight and let me pick it up peacefully as long as I wanted. I thought it was a fluke, but maybe it’s true that Mara responds to punishment in this scenario.

The lady only charged me 20Euros which is really nice – she mostly gave advice so I was hoping to not have to pay full price.

Also I asked for help fitting my saddle. She stood Mara up square and showed me how her left shoulder is overdeveloped, and her right atrophied. She said that the saddle fits perfectly on the atrophied side, but the muscle bulge is pushing the saddle’s panel away from her body at the shoulder, causing a gap along the front (that you can see in my photos). I showed her the shims that came with my saddle and she seemed very surprised at such a system. She threw up her hands and said, “Good luck with that!”

But armed with this knowledge I contacted Aarene and Dave, the saddle’s manufacturer. They both say I need to rasp that panel down (the panels are neoprene). I have no idea how to rasp a circular cut-out area…any ideas what tool I could use? Sandpaper? A hoofrasp will not make a circle, I don’t think. Oh, unless I fold the pad over somehow? Man I can’t wait til I’m an experienced SS user!

It’s exciting to move toward the goal of fitting this saddle perfectly to her back, even if it means “destroying” one panel. Aarene says that’s the beauty of it – you just order more panels when you need them as your horse changes shape.

I wonder how Mara will change shape as I start really riding her.  Will that shoulder become more pronounced? Will she even out slightly? Curious! Only time will tell.

Overall I was hoping for more information from the trimmer about hooves – more expertise, so to say. I’m used to taking notes like crazy with all the knowledge that comes from real, qualified barefoot trimmers. They are so much more expensive, but I think I’ll call one of them up, because overall I need more information about my horse’s feet.

Update: I took some photos today after I trimmed Mara. I rigged a set of cross ties to see if it helps her not fidget so much when I work on her hooves. It really helped, but it was funny how grouchy Mara was about them - she was like What The Heck I Can't Move At All Here! I had one side set up to break so she doesn't pull our barn down - I don't trust anything around here to hold a horse. The other side is up in that plum tree, which I totally trust not to break. Since the rope has lots of stretch to it, there wasn't much to fight against, and since there's a wall directly in front of her, I think psychologically it works and she didn't fight it. She did try to figure out how to get out of it, seeing if she can duck under/around it, seeing how far back and forth she can go, etc, but she never sat back on it. I won't leave her unattended tied.

This is, by the way, the first time I've ever tied her here. So that was also something different for her to deal with - not just being cross tied, but being tied - at all.

At one point it was pouring rain today so I covered her.  That was Baasha's travelling blanket. When I knew he was gonna die, I ran for it. He had to have his traveling robe*. I got all choked up when I removed it, and she had Baasha's long Winter hair coat sticking to her.

The hoof photos aren't that great - mud and gunk don't give a clear view, but it's something.

Help? Do you see the way she stands? It's unbalanced. Even at rest in the pasture, she always has her front legs tucked under her. I've heard this could be from heel pain, so I'm especially conservative with her heels. I wonder what it is that makes her stand this way. Ideas?

I thought it might be interesting for you to show you her hooves in April, when she arrived. What's up with the color of the white hoof? How odd! Please click to enlarge. I am amazed people sell horses with hooves looking like this. Just like I wouldn't dream of selling a car without detailing it first. But I guess I'm just Type A. I need to point out that her hooves were much tougher when she arrived than they are now. She'd been on a concrete/geotile stall/terrace all Winter. Her hooves sounded like she was shod on pavement. It took only 2 weeks for her hooves to become soft and sensitive, in this wet area. But like Aarene said, "I'm not gonna keep my horse confined  (in the wet Northwest), to keep the feet dry, and sacrifice quality of life for quality of hoof." I'm paraphrasing. Perhaps she can comment to elucidate.

* - Travelling robe - As much as I love horses, sci-fi is right up there, and for me, the one that tops even Trek, is Babylon 5. I called it Baasha's travelling robe, I ran upstairs to get it, knowing the relevance at that horrible night... Despite his best efforts, the parents still refuse to allow the surgery. Franklin goes to Commander Jeffrey Sinclair to convince him to order the surgery, but Sinclair refuses, as the cultural neutrality of the station must be respected. Eventually he performs the surgery against orders, saving the boy's life. Unfortunately the parents now consider the son to be a soulless demon and at first abandon him. They eventually return for him saying that they have brought his "travel robe" and are going to take him "to rest." After they leave Franklin checks Hernandez's notes on the species in the medical database and realizes that the boy was wearing a robe used in spiritual journeys, not physical ones. He runs to the family's quarters fearing the implication that "journey" in this case provides, but it is too late. The parents have already murdered the boy.