Yesterday was her appointment to have her shoes reset and her hind feet trimmed but we had a sudden change of plans. I've been to some rocky trails recently at a brisk pace and that combined with a longer trim cycle that normal left her back feet in pretty rough shape.
When I rode her Monday night she felt a little unsure behind and I wouldn't have been surprised if the farrier had found an abscess.
As it turned out he actually did, but in a front foot! She hadn't been lame at all (although she had been cranky but that's not exactly out of the ordinary for Stella!) so I was very surprised.
He ended up having to put shoes on all around, much to the disappointment of my now empty wallet. There just wasn't enough hoof to get a good shape that wouldn't lead to more chipping and with a couple shows coming up I didn't want to chance her being off. He had to get really creative getting the nails in, and you can see just how much foot is missing but she's sound now and the feet will grow out safely.
I will probably end up pulling her hind shoes at the end of October and seeing if she can continue to go just in fronts with a shorter trim cycle and minding our speed on rocky trails. You can see just how much foot was missing in this picture, and how nice of a farrier I have to get shoes to stay on!
Her front feet look much better and are getting a better shape, the nail job is a little different as she does flare out naturally as she grows and he wants to make sure the shoes stay on. She got her bell boots back on as soon as this photo was taken!
ugh that's frustrating. it's always those white feet too, so problematic. i tend to hope that a horse can be happy and sound with minimal shoeing efforts (and was very appreciative of isabel's ease with just fronts) but mostly i'll do whatever the horse needs to be comfortable in its job. hopefully Stella feels that way now with shows on the horizon!
ReplyDeleteI've had such a range with feet I was hoping Stella would have nice feet like Annie who did a 15 mile ride barefoot but alas it is not to be. Nikki went in shoes all around and pads up front, Stanley had shoes up front, I'm hoping Stella will be back to just shoes up front soon.
DeleteShoes are so pricey, but you gotta do what you gotta do! :)
ReplyDeleteThey are pricey! I watched a lesson just poof into non existence when I saw the check!
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