Laura the trimmer came to do Beauty’s feet today. We had tried to get them done a couple of weeks ago, but we took so long with TigerLily that it was dark by the time we got to do Beauty. Laura therefore had to use a head torch – which Beauty clearly decided looked like a Dalek and had a big freak out over.
I think what actually happened was that the head torch interfered with Beauty’s night vision, so she got scared when she heard something in the forest but was blinded from seeing what it was by the head torch. In the end, I had to let her go because she was dancing round me and threatening to bolt off. Even that wasn’t easy – I had to try and hold her still whilst Laura came round the side of me and undid her headcollar. She then fled down the field. We just heard a thunder of hooves and a rather beautiful silhouette of black beauty against the lights of the hotel’s spa.
Fortunately, today we were doing her feet by the easy light of the afternoon. Nonetheless, fortune found other factors to throw our way…
She was great for the first half hour or so. I have noticed that – she is the quietest horse in the world for half an hour when you have her on a head collar and are having to do something with her, then she turns into a racehorse on speed! So she started having a little paddy. I walked her around a bit and tried to get her to take an interest in the hay I put put down for her. This was semi-successful. She wasn’t a nightmare, just fidgetty and unsettled.
Then things started getting a little tricky. In the space of about 30 seconds, she suddenly got stressed out by a crab fly (which are very prevalent in the New Forest and tend to upset horses that haven’t got used to them yet), then the Red Arrows did a low fly-past overhead, then the heavens opened and the angels tipped baths of water on our heads…at least that’s what it looked like, the rain was so sudden and extremely heavy!
The crab fly upset her, she wasn’t at all interested in the Red Arrows (even though they were very noisy and there was about 13 jet fighters in a big V formation! – but the heavy rain was more than she could bear!) I let her go and she tore off down the field whilst we took shelter under her rug, which was on the fence at the time. Laura had been trying to get it off the fence to put on her, but I knew we didn’t have time to get it on her properly before she was going to go.
After a while, the rain stopped, I caught her again and Laura was able to finish her trim. She had to plug 3 holes/cracks with cotton wool and purple spray, to prevent grit getting up into the hole and into the lamina, where it would cause abcess and potentially laminitic attack. These holes/cracks will apparently grow out, so it is just a matter of keeping them from doing damage til they do.
There was a scary moment when Laura said “Oh – she’s got a double sole! Oh…no…she is losing her sole!”. My blood ran cold, assuming this was a terrible thing. Losing body parts never seems like a good idea to me. She had cast the frog on the same foot (front right – the one she has had the massive abcess in recently) during the last trim. This time she was casting off her old sole – to reveal a fresh new sole underneath. Laura assured me this is quite normal after a big abcess like she had. So Laura trimmed back about 2/3rds of it to relieve any pressure and assure me the rest will just fall off when it is ready. I don’t need to do anything about it.
Her heels are still compressed, although may be decompressing a little. As her foot forms into the right shape, there will be less pressure compressing the heels and that problem will resolve. Also, the compressed heels are more prone to thrush, so that is making her heels more sensitive and uncomfortable too.
Bare foot is a fascinating subject. Every time Laura comes, I learn a little more. And every time I learn a little more, I get a bigger appreciation of how much I don’t know. One thing I am realising though is that there is a heck of a lot that can go wrong with a horse due to bad foot care. So it’s worth making the effort to get a good bare foot trimmer and get them to visit regularly. Also, when a horse is lame, it is a good idea to speak to the trimmer before speaking to a vet. I don’t get a fraction of the sense I get from Laura from a vet!
I have to say a big thank you to Laura who refused to take any money for her trim today – insisting that this was her contribution to Beauty’s rescue and rehab. That was so lovely of her!!!
Boyfriend is laughing as I write this because I have managed to spend half an hour and nearly 900 words writing about Beauty’s feet. Huh! Some people just don’t understand!!!
