Pedicure day!

Today was pedicure day for the horses. Duke’s feet were absolutely perfect, and in no need for a trim. Yay for the checkbook! Piney is still trying to get his feet back to where they were. He’s by no means a horse with great feet. His right front flares out pretty bad especially when he isn’t kept on schedule, which due to miss communication last year at adventure camp happened. We’ve been working to get him back to where he was, and it’s slowly getting better. The farrier thinks that by September/October he should be looking normal again. Ugh. He has bad feet. He’s never been lame since I’ve moved him home but he just has bad feet. The farrier is happy with how his feet are starting to look since he’s been here, which makes me happy.


I was pretty nervous with how Pistol was going to do. I’ve given him some time off… so I can do some thinking about how to handle him. Dumb? Yes, very. But I want him to settle into life at the farm. I interact with him every day and he’s been doing great about me rubbing on his face and ears. I hadn’t tried haltering him in a few weeks though. Last night I realized that I should probably have him haltered for the farrier. It wasn’t a fun process. At.All.  I walked all over that pasture last night. Duke thought it was great fun to trot around with Pistol avoiding me at all costs. Piney well he’s a great boy, he ALWAYS comes up to me in the pasture. Love him.  I kept them moving until at one point they stopped and came up to me. I loved up on Duke. And then reached over and loved up on Pistol. Then back to Duke, then back to Pistol. I had the halter in my hand. Each time I raised it up, he would tense up, so I would lower it down, I kept lifting it up until he finally relaxed when I lifted it up. I even lifted it up and dropped it by his head, holding the crown piece. When he didn’t tense up when I dropped it, I went for it. I put my arm around his neck and he even dropped his nose down into the halter. I don’t know if I’ve ever loved up on a horse as much as I did right then and there! I wanted him to know that he was awesome and the last thing I wanted him to think was that I would ever hurt him so I made him feel like a champ. Small victories. I moved him up to the small north pen for the night so that he would be a bit easier to catch when the farrier showed up. He seemed happy and not too stressed out over the fact he was separated from his best buddy Piney. It’s funny watching those two. Pistol just loves Piney and is always trying to be as close to him as possible. Piney can’t stand him. It’s funny seeing Piney be a grumpy old man.


hooray!

Pistol made it through the night without his buddies and when the farrier showed up bright and early this morning, he was easily caught. We trimmed him in the pen, I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he got loose and was roaming all over the countryside. The farrier was amazed at how well behaved Pistol was for his trim. He didn’t once jig, pullback, stomp, kick, nothing! He was a rock! I was amazed at how well behaved he was!  Such a good boy! My farrier thinks though that Pistol might be older than 13. He was thinking that he was closer to late teens. Could be true, I’m still working on getting the vet out for a full checkup, and get his teeth done. Time is a major factor in this…trying to find an appointment that works for the vet and myself is HARD! But the farrier thought that if Pistol rides well under saddle, that Pistol is definitely a keeper. He probably said that because he was a champ to trim :-)
Kitties spent their first night roaming the barn free last night. They were all snuggled up ontop of their kitty condo when I got to the barn this morning. They are loving their freedom! I just love the little darlings. Even if one accidentally scratched the heck out of my hand last night.
Jumps are paid for :-) and my friend is picking them up for me today. The auction was actually in a place down by the twin cities. I happened to have a friend who lives near the auction site and happened to have this afternoon off, and will be coming up to this area next weekend! HOORAY!