A Trim Horse

Chief has been shod for most of his life, his teacup feet were  thrushy and he had severely compressed frogs.  A farrier, who had already been paid to care for his feet prior to his adoption, was instead tasked with removing his shoes.  The farrier put out by the suggestion that shoes weren’t the best option for a horse informed Chris’s that her other horses were living in pain.  Rather than asking about horses in the wild Chris declined to get into a debate.

Shoes for humans evolved out of necessity, whether it was to simply keep them warm, to make them faster or to protect their feet from uneven terrain.  While barefoot running movement may be taking hold in the western world we forget is that there are people in the world who still live their lives shoeless, from the plains of Africa to loamy jungles of South America.  Just like there are horses that have never had metal against their feet.

Chief received his first pasture trim last week, probably the first time nothing was nailed into his foot he didn’t seem nervous about the prospect of being barefoot.   When I lifted his feet this Sunday there was already improvement, I could actually find his frog.

After a standard grooming we entered the large arena for some ground work. I didn’t have plan for what I was going to do on the ground other than matching feet.  We started out walking with me on both sides.  His right is still iffy, if he loses momentum he questions if it’s ok or not for me to be there.  Not wanting to have him actually think too hard about it I keep him moving for several feet then switch sides so it doesn’t become negative.

On his back, I decided I wanted to practice turning, doing diagonals and making circles.  Chief can easy walk a five meter circle without feeling unbalanced. He can change direction easily and hug the rail without much effort on my part.  

He did however return to the gate several times and I had to insist that it was not ok to attempt to walk through it.  He told me several times that he was done but I made him do just a little bit more each time and he would forget that he was ready to stop and he is starting to relax more, his lips are still a bit tight but he is actually expecting stable mix as a treat instead of the coveted apples and sugar.  

Next week we will work on some dressage patterns and I want to work on getting him to cross his legs on the ground.  

For information about the painting go here: Some Like it Hot