A perfect fall afternoon

I rode Bestie yesterday, and decided just to graze Dude when I got to the barn today. After a gray morning, the sun had come out, and the afternoon was really pretty. Dude was totally intent on steadily consuming as much grass as possible along the pathway to the outdoor ring, which gave me an opportunity to take a few photos while holding the lead rope tucked under my arm.

The line of rain clouds was pretty defined as the front moved through.

The hills beyond the hay field were lit up in the afternoon sun ... the leaves are starting to turn.

This shot is of the hills across the road. The white tape is the edge of our pastures; the field beyond is just scrub. Then there's the road, and the field that Larry hays, then the treeline. A couple weeks ago a hot air balloon that was touring landed in that hay field.

Looking back toward the barn. A new indoor arena is getting constructed right in front of the old one. One arena will be for lessons only. Funny, Dude was in between me and the construction and the curve of his back is just visible in the bottom corners of the photo.

New farrier

A few months ago, in a sort of convoluted way, I found out that farrier Scott had bought a farm in Tennessee and it seemed as though his plan was to move down there. Permanently. He said that he was going to keep traveling up to Vermont to shoe his clients, and he did, for a couple of appointments. I told him I'd stick with him as long as that remained the plan, but if the plan changed, to let me know and to please suggest a farrier that he thought might be a good fit for Dude and Bestie. I pretty much expected that the end was coming, because after all, who buys a farm in TENNESSEE and commutes to VERMONT??

So one day, he came to trim them, and I unfortunately could not make that appointment, and I arrived at the barn to find his bill with another farrier's name and phone number written on it. And that was the end. I don't even remember when we started with Scott - it's been that long. He's a fun guy and very nice and I certainly wish him the best.

However ... I was completely stressed out about finding a new farrier. I didn't know the farrier Scott recommended, and neither did anyone else I shared his name with, except for someone who thought they had heard that a friend of theirs didn't like him. So I started asking around, to see who was happy and whether their farrier might be a good match, all the while keeping one eye on the calendar and the next trim date. Some were just too busy, some were too expensive, some specialized in things that I don't think Dude and Bestie need. 

I decided to try Justin, who had left his card on the board at the barn. He's new as a farrier, and has been in training with his dad Jim, who comes to the barn to do barn owner Julie's horse. I was also familiar with Jim because he used to come to Meadow Run to shoe a couple horses there.

We're now into our second cycle with Justin. At the first trim, Bestie, Miss Textbook Hooves, was a non-event - a quick trim, no issues, feet in good shape. Dude, on the other hand ... well, no surprise that his feet were cause for consternation. He's always been in a perpetual state of mild to medium thrushiness, and his frogs are u-g-l-y. Justin, in consultation with his dad, trimmed Dude right up. In fact, he took a lot off. I was pretty worried about the amount trimmed, but they kept hoof testing him, and he was fine. His feet afterwards were beautiful, probably the best I've ever seen them. So good, I took a photo to send to Katie as documentation of the fact that, oh my gosh, Dude Has Frogs. Not textbook, but way better than usual.

The problems developed a few days later. Dude has to walk along a gravel path to get to his turnout field, and he got ouchy. I had the vet x-ray him to be sure that it was sole soreness and nothing more serious. It was good timing for the x-rays as he hadn't been looked at in a while. Diagnosis: thin soles. Luckily Julie and Larry at the barn were flexible, and switched Dude and his friends to a field where they don't have to walk on the gravel path.

And I got him sneakers. They're pretty cool, a fairly substantial rubbery bottom with a bootie made of heavy duty nylon and velcro. I don't think they'd hold up to day-to-day turnout, but he wears them when I hand graze him and when I ride him, which is when the gravel path is unavoidable. They are easy to get on and off, much easier than some of the other boots I looked at. 

The game plan is to see how he goes over this second cycle and if he is still footsore, I'll put front shoes back on him. I really can't expect him to get special treatment forever in terms of fields, and I'm not expecting the whole boot thing to be a long term solution. He's got another month until trim #3, and we'll just see how it goes...