Fridays are Barn Day

Fridays have become Barn Day, since I usually don't work on Fridays and rarely have anything on that day besides the occasional appointment. Yesterday Dude and Bestie had a farrier appointment at 9 a.m., so I got there around 8:45 and brought them both in, then spent a few minutes fussing around with some little things as I waited for the farrier. Got Dude's saddle cleaned; it was looking pretty dusty after all the reno work in the tack room.

Their feet were a little ragged. The fields have pretty light snow cover right now and the ground is frozen, so they are walking around on frozen clods of dirt, snow and some ice, which takes a toll on their feet. No soreness from it though. Dude's feet are in their usual ugly state, with poorly defined frogs. I've been scrubbing them out every other day with a Betadine/water 50/50 mix to keep them somewhat dried out. He doesn't get many shavings in his stall and he tends to poop and pee all over the space, so once it gets wet, he's standing in a thin wet layer of sawdust most of the night. It's a constant battle and we've been dealing with it for as long as we've owned him.

I had another nice lesson. We worked on getting him to bend (he doesn't) and the posting trot again. His "go" button just wasn't on yesterday as much as it was the week before, at least until another horse came in for the next lesson and he started enthusiastically following her around the arena. It was good though. I've been using the wool quarter sheet with him to keep his hind end warm since he's pretty stiff back there. It feels really good on my legs too! (Even though yesterday the temperature in the arena was a balmy 30 degrees, probably the warmest it has been in there since November.)

After my lesson I ran some errands then stopped back by the barn on my way home to make sure they were all tucked in for the night. I tried the 78" fleece sheet on both of them. The sheets can't be returned if they get dirty, but I knew the 78" would fit one of them. It was a little snug on Dude but fit Bestie well. I had ordered an 80" for Dude, so he's all set. It'll be a nice layer to have under their turnout sheets once it gets into the low 30s, or even under their blankets outside if we get back to single digit weather.