1st trim and too much excitement for me this week

I got my good trimmer, Claudia, to come out today, exactly one month since Mag's last trim. I hadn't touched his hooves with a rasp and was happy to see them once she started working, they are much healthier than I thought. She said to definitely stick cotton into the heel cracks to keep the medicine in and the mud out (for at least a few minutes).

Mag was very good for her because she took the time to cuddle with him and let him sniff her for quite a long time initially, and between each hoof.

When she first arrived I intercepted her on the way to the horse and said to come in the house and have a coffee with me, because Mag had just kicked me and I needed to calm down.

I had been spraying Mag's legs free of mud so she could actually find his hooves and he was pawing and dancing around a bit, but I kept the water low and stopped whenever he stood still. For some reason he decided it was too stressful today (we've done this twice before). He suddenly flipped in a circle, slid on the slippery geotiles, his hind end went out from under him and he crashed into the concrete block wall, scraping both hocks. His first injury here, *sigh* but thankfully the wounds are not deep, just a tiny bit of blood seeped out of one.

I did the donkey's legs and then moved back to finish his, and he was fine. I got him perfectly clean and then washed each hoof with vinegar, admiring my work. Clean hooves!

I wanted before pictures because I feel like his hooves were changing even before today. That's when Mag decided he didn't want to give me his RH hoof and he started jerking it away from me. I said "Hey, give me your foot!" and held on. He resisted and then BAM he kicked out and hit my camera and the thumb of that hand. The camera went flying through the air, hit the side of the barn, and landed in the muck a couple meters away from the barn. I slapped Mag and scolded a little bit, then I went in the house to get J.

I said, "He kicked me!" Then I thought about it. I don't think he kicked me, per se. I imagine if he had wanted to kick me, he'd have gotten me in the leg. He kicked out directly behind him, which is where the poor camera was.

J came with me and we told Mag everything is fine, and I went for the back legs again with J holding the camera this time. Mag gave me his hooves perfectly politely as if nothing had gone wrong, and J got some nice photos.

I feel bad for getting mad at him, but at that moment I honestly thought he had kicked at me, and I couldn't let that go. I need to remember that if he's trying to take a hoof away from me, it's most likely he's off balance and needs it, and perhaps needs it desperately (in his mind). It's unfair to ask him to stand on unlevel ground on a slippery surface. (Our driveway might be a better option.)

Claudia listened to my story and we went out there and I observed how she first made friends with him, and then asked him to pick up his hooves by simply bending over and putting her hand next to his leg - not touching it at all. Interesting. I realized right then that her bending over was the request to lift a leg.

When he got off balance and was standing on two legs, I said under my breath, "You strange horse, can't you stand normally" and Claudia scolded me, "You expect too much from him! He's young, have some patience!"  Later she said, "This horse is really well started."

Then she trimmed the donkey and recommended an x ray to see the internal structures because she's not sure how much she can safely remove. That sounded familiar from the other trimmer, so we'll do that. Mag felt left out while she trimmed Bellis, reaching over, picking up her hoof pick, biting his blanket that was hanging on the door...

Claudia said the donkey's hooves look better than last time, and I said I'd been trimming them when I had no horse. I acted surprised that they were better and she said I need to have more confidence in my abilities.

Before she left, I asked her to help me medicate his hocks and she saw the Neosporin and said, "You really shouldn't be putting antibiotics on yourself or your animals, there's a resistance epidemic."  Is is so old-fashioned of me to like my chemicals?

She hugged me and asked me if I love Mag. I said, "I fell for him when I first saw him in his stall, I didn't want to see any other horses."

I realized how much I feel for Mag on Thursday, when he coughed suddenly just standing there, 6 times in a row. I panicked; I was shaking as I called the vet to please come out. I couldn't stand it, I was home alone and had no one to talk to, I was so scared that Mag's infection had never truly healed, despite the bill we just got saying his entire respiratory system is healthy.

The vet came two days later and listened and listened, and even plugged Mag's nose to auscultate a deep breath, and said at that point he heard a little something, but very slight, so he gave me an expectorant to give him twice daily.

The vet said not to worry, he's fine. The vet told him how pretty he is: )

And finally I got the answer to a question I've had for a while. Why does the State Stud in Poland purposefully breed horses to be born in early January? I looked and they had 10 new babies this year in January alone, and Mag's birthday is the 1st. My vet said they do this because a horse born in January is 4 or 5 months more mature for its age group than those born at the normal time. And for a 3 year old race horse, these months make a huge difference in their maturity.

Is this true? Does anyone know why breeders would plan for January births?

Oh, one more thing in case you missed it. My camera is fine. Next time I'm home, I'll test it by dropping it off the Space Needle, cuz it must be indestructible.