What a weekend!

OUCH! I'm so sore all over, I did a lot of hard work on the weekend... well mostly Saturday.

I started at around 10 am... My goal was to trim all 4 horses, including Misty, which I had planned pretty much all day to do. I started with Dandy, she desperately needed to have her hooves rebalanced. When I bought Dandy, her hooves were in bad shape, mostly long but her front feet were the worst. Her walls on both feet were broken on the inside quarter, it made her feet tip inside, just like if your horse was standing with its legs wide apart, but her legs were straight. I don't know how long she was allowed to stay like this, but I think that the bone column in her leg adapted to the shape, so her hooves always use more on the inside quarter and heel than the outside. Makes it hard for me to rebalance, but I will keep a close eye on them and keep rasping the outside overgrowth as soon as I see it. The bone column may realign, but I wouldn't count on it.

Peg and Pearl needed adjustments to their hooves, I didn't trim all that much since their hooves don't grow fast... I just made them more comfortable by taking the longer bits off and rebalancing the hooves. Peg also has some rebalancing to do and I will be watching over her too.

We took a break for lunch before undertaking the heavy task of trimming Misty. My goal with her was only to nip and release, I would only take the lenght off and leave her as she had never been handled, especially her back feet.

I went and got Misty out of the field, she still leads after a few weeks off (we are busy with hay and oats) but she walks so incredibly slow, at least she's not dangerous! I took her out of the field, I think it was her third time out and she was good. I trimmed her front feet while my sister held her in place, it went well, I had practiced taking her front feet before. Then, I tied her to the fence post and didn't leave her too much slack. It was her first time tied so I kept a real close eye on her and was ready to pull to knot free anytime. She didn't move, stood like a champion. I had to trim her back feet and I would need all the help I could get, so there wouldn't be anyone to hold her lead rope. I was 100% sure I didn't want to take her back feet. I've seen her kick before and I wasn't ready to put my head there.

We discussed (my sister and I) on the best way to pick up the feet... then she said: "I'll try to pick them up and we'll see after that"... Right then, I was convinced that I would have to call 911. So I watch closely while rewarding Misty (with ear scritches) everytime she did something right. Next thing I knew, my sister was holding Misty back foot up without much problem! I was floored. Then she proceeded to lift the other back foot without much problem at all. She told me to bring the nippers.... I wasn't convinced that Misty would hold her foot without the scritches, but I went anyways. While my sister held the hoof, I nipped. Misty pulled her foot back about 2 times and the rest was perfect. I think I had more problems training Dandy to give her back feet when I bought her!

This leads me to believe even more that she was handled as a yearling, then she was probably sold to people who didn't know anything about horses that wrecked her and left her doing nothing for 2 years. There are some things that Misty takes in stride and some others that you have to really work to get her calm and accepting. She is much more trusting than she was and can be touched all over except on her udder but we are working on it. My next step is to put a saddle on her and have her walking around wearing it, and putting a bit in her mouth, although I don't think I will start her with the bit right away. After a few sessions of wearing a saddle, we'll try a rider on her, those will be short sessions of maybe 5 minutes or less, as soon as she accepts the rider, the rider will get off, give her a break, then get back on, if she stands still, get off again. Get on maybe three times and if she is quiet, the session will be over and she will be free.

No whip and no harsh punishment, just practice and work and treats! She is a sweetheart and comes when called... or when we say "Cookies!".

After the trimming of the four horses, I managed to throw about 100 small square bales of hay out of the barn to get them on the elevator and in the hay loft. I had to throw the bales about 20 feet... after all that hay, I was burnt... and sore all over... still sore today.

Sunday, I could hardly get out of bed, but my sister got home and she wanted to ride... so I dragged myself out of bed and off we went, then we washed the horses and let them eat the grass just out of the pasture until they were dry-ish... they still rolled in dirt, but hey, at least they were comfortable. Then my SO and I had to put the hay elevator up in the hay loft and open up the lean-to and the small pasture to the horses... who had been patiently waiting in the large pasture all along. That thing weighs about 500 lbs... I could hardly hold it and my SO was helping... My sore muscles got another hard work out. Thank goodness it's all over... I took a day off Friday and we have a statutory holiday on Monday, so I have a four day weekend planned! HOORAY, I'll try to rest this time!