Hooves, trimming

            Well, I don't know what it is, but we seem to have a hard time getting people to call us back in this household. I've had trouble getting hay for this year, even though we started calling around in July. I've also had trouble getting ahold of a farrier/trimmer to take care of Talana's feet. I thought I had someone lined up before her arrival, but apparently not.
            But, I was already inclined to learn more about how to trim hooves. As usual, I have been reading and reading about subjects that interest me, and horse feet are fascinating. Talana has been kept barefoot most of her life, and doesn't seem to have any issues with it. In fact, I just assumed that horses always go barefoot unless you have a very specific reason to shoe them. It turns out that there are many very different opinions on the matter, and that means that there is plenty to read.
            I am inclined to think that the horse's hoof is a naturally sturdy thing which has evolved to hold up the horse and absorb/distribute impact appropriately. Now, the question in my mind is, how can we manage the horse's environment and use our trimming to help the horse's hoof do what it naturally wants to do - i.e., comfortably support the horse? Do we want to artificially force the hoof into a shape that we think makes it sturdy, or do we want to facilitate growth of the hoof so that it makes itself into whatever shape is most helpful for this particular horse, on this particular terrain? I suppose the answer is, some of both.
            Most folks aren't able to provide their horses with terrain that allows the hooves to manage themselves. There is a certain amount of wearing away that needs to happen, balanced by a certain amount of growth. We want our horses to be comfortable all the time, not just in a soft pasture. But since the soft pasture is what we keep them on, we have to help the hoof maintain an appropriate shape. Thus, trimming.
            Talana had long toes when she first arrived. She was 2 weeks out from her last trim. I noticed a few other things that concerned me about her feet, which didn't necessarily have to do with her previous farrier.

            See these growth rings? When I started reading about them, I began to find them a little alarming. I thought this was normal when I was growing up, but it's not. Well, it's "normal" in that you may find a lot of horses who have these, but it's not ideal. Hooves are supposed to be pretty smooth and even. Unlike tree rings, they are supposed to grow evenly all year long. Growth rings like this are a sign of missing vitamins/minerals, and thus, of poor or inconsistent nutrition. Often you'll see a ring that becomes apparent several months after spring, in response to the rich, sugary grass that suddenly pops up in everyone's fields. Rings like this can also be a sign of a laminitic episode. Eek! It made me wonder if some of Talana's "arthritis" may actually be sore feet.
            However, she walks and trots with proper heel-first landings in all four feet, and doesn't appear lame, only stiff. Nor is she reluctant to move around. So I held my panic at bay, and continued reading to see what I could do about it.
            The supplements I have been giving her are step number one. I was able to determine that she's likely had too much iron, and not enough copper and zinc in her diet. So I sought out a supplement with no iron, but appropriate levels of these and other needed things. Hooves take months to grow out, so I am just now starting to see the effects of the supplement. I think her hooves are growing in more smoothly. I will be more certain by spring, when the current hoof wall has made its way further down, and I can compare pictures. Her glossier-than-normal coat is another indicator that I have done a good thing by adding this supplement to her diet.
            Another thing I noticed after looking at lots of example pictures is that her frogs are contracted, particularly in the front hooves. I looked further, and noted that her front hooves aren't just long in the toes, but all the way around. Her heels were starting to run forward, which is a bad thing that comes from the hoof wall being allowed to get too long. This, and the wet grass that she often stands in, likely accounts for the contracted heels. However, I'm seeing no thrush, just a less than ideal cushion for the back of her foot.
            The last thing I noticed was that she had a deep groove between her hoof wall and sole. Lots of dirt and little stones got packed in there, and it seemed like maybe it's not supposed to be that deep? Well, I was right. The hoof wall pulling away from the sole like that is worrisome. Not only can stuff get packed in there that shouldn't, that's supposed to be a tight connection that holds her feet together. This groove that is now growing out is a sign that about six months ago when this part of her foot was first growing in, she may have had some laminitis-type stuff going on, resulting in a weaker connection between the wall and the sole.
           Golly! And I thought all along growing up that these were strong, happy feet! I guess not, so much. However, Talana herself has never complained about trotting over gravel, sand, pavement, or grass. So, perhaps things aren't ideal, but I decided that getting too alarmed was not a good plan. Instead, I read more about how to mend these problems, to see if there are things I can do myself. Meanwhile, given that it had been a couple of weeks and I had not heard from the trimmer, I began to seek out resources that could help me learn to trim. I know that there are many people who trim their own horses' feet. Perhaps I can learn, too.
            I read a lot on Pete Ramey's website about how hooves are put together. He also has what seems like sound advice on which bits of the hoof are best to leave alone, and which bits can be safely trimmed. I decided that I'm not going to mess with nippers, which take a lot of hoof at once. It seems to me that I could easily make a mistake with those in a hurry. So I started with just a rasp, and a plan to bring back just Talana's toes. Then I thought I'd observe her for a few days, and see if it helped, hurt, or had no obvious effect.
            It turns out that holding up a horse's foot while rasping it is hard. My back gets tired. Talana gets tired, too, so we take a lot of breaks. I do either the fronts or the backs, but usually not all four on a given day. Sometimes I have someone hold her for me, because she doesn't like to stand on three legs very much and I don't have the energy to chase her around with the rasp in addition to using it on her. She stands very nicely when she knows she's been captured.
            Well, I worked on her feet and shortened those toes. Immediately, within five minutes, she was walking more smoothly without tripping. I hadn't noticed the tripping so much before, but I noticed when she stopped doing it. Clearly I was doing some good. This emboldened me a little, and I became a little braver about the idea of trimming her feet myself. I knew that I hadn't taken very much the first time, and more needed done.
           I have settled into a routine of working on her feet about once a week. They still aren't perfect, for sure. Perhaps a professional could fix them up more quickly. But whenever I trim, she looks better and moves better. I have decided, as per Pete Ramey's recommendations on his website, not to mess with her sole, bars, or frog. It sounds like it may be ok to adjust these areas if you are a professional with lots of experience, but I am not. I look very carefully at her feet before I work on them, and then I rasp the hoof wall where it is too long. I use her sole as a guide for the shape of her foot, and I don't take a whole lot at a time. Then I watch how she is moving for the next few days. I once felt a little heat in her rear hooves, and after I trimmed them the heat went away within a day. I must be doing the right thing.
            That groove is slowly going away. It is already much less deep. I think soon it will be gone altogether. Her frogs are still contracted, but that takes time to overcome. I have noticed that her soles are getting more concave, particularly near the frogs. I am slowly getting rid of the flared part of her right front hoof wall.
            I like being able to work on her feet myself. I wouldn't mind having someone check my work, but I can also see that I am doing good things. I look forward to Talana's feet in six months, when they have grown in all new and I am maintaining them in a more ideal way. I'm betting she'll feel better.

Paddock Paradise for my horse

            I haven't been riding much lately. Talana and I have been doing other things instead. She has been working on growing in her winter coat, and is moderately fluffy now. What I find remarkable is that she is staying shiny. She's not quite as glossy as she was during the summer, but her coat has not turned dull like I am accustomed to. Sometimes when the angle of the sun is just right, I can still see some dapples in her saddle area.
            I can see that she's been laying down to sleep during the night. It leaves muddy spots in certain places on her tummy and her legs. I am glad that she is comfortable enough here to sleep so soundly. She seems to generally feel comfortable and peaceful. Most often when I look out the window to check on her, I see a relaxed horse who is either grazing or snoozing in the sunshine. On some windy days, she is more alert and will trot around. But I haven't seen her be upset here. If she smells other horses - I know there are some nearby, she must smell them sometimes - I have seen no sign of it. She doesn't call for them. She does, however, call to me when I have her breakfast.

             I love this view, where I can see her out the window when I sit at the computer. Keeping her down in the meadow, which is past the trees in this photo, was good in that she got access to more grass. However, I really missed seeing her from the house. I didn't expect that to affect me so much, but I found it really irritating! I like to be able to just look out and see what she's doing.
            I thought at first that this was something I couldn't do anything about. But, as always, I have been reading. One of the things I have been reading about is how to keep a horse on small acreage. The amount of land I have available for my use is adequate, if I manage it carefully. But it's not expansive. It would be different if I had access to the whole meadow, of course - but I feel that it would be rude to push for more access at the moment when the land owners have already been so kind. So I am interested in keeping the land I have in good shape, not just for Talana's benefit, but for everyone who enjoys it.
            There is a system of land management called the "Paddock Paradise." You may have heard of it. There's a book about it, by Jamie Jackson. The basic idea is that horses are supposed to move around, not just stand and eat in one spot all day. To create a Paddock Paradise, you reconfigure your fence so that the horse has a "track" to walk around, rather than a rectangle or circle that encompasses the entire area available to them. Maybe they have access to the whole area, but they have to walk on the track to get to everything they need. Water is over here, salt is over there, grazing is spread out in different areas (or hay is spread in little clumps all over, not big piles). Other obstacles are included, too: rocky areas, graveled areas, a log that has to be stepped/jumped over or maneuvered around.
            One of the things that makes me re-think what I can do for Talana is the inclusion of these obstacles. Someone who has land that has been used for horses for many decades - say someplace in the rolling hills of Kentucky or Virginia - would have to build in rocks and rough areas. Those huge pastures of bluegrass have been carefully manicured for a very long time to not have any hazards: No boulders, no rocky areas. Steep areas have been landscaped to be nice and flat, comparatively. But here in Maine, I have the opposite situation. About fifty percent of the land that belongs to the house I live in is rocky and hilly. Those scrubby bushes you see are actually part of the backyard. I had assumed that this area was not worth anything to Talana, because it is "too steep" and "too rocky." But look at where these horses live: http://thesoulofahorse.com/blog/our-paddocks-paradise-2/
            That's nothing but rocks! My rocky backyard is no worse than that. It's just covered in bushes and weedy things. So I went for an adventure into the bushes to see what I really have back there. It turns out that there is even grass growing between the rocks, wherever the bushes don't block all the light. If I were to take down the chest-high undergrowth, Talana would be able to navigate around the rockiest areas just fine. And, furthermore, I could connect the yard up here to the meadow down there. She would then be able to make her way down to the meadow to graze. I could keep her water and salt up here, so she'd have to come up and down the hill. I could still move the fence around down in the meadow to manage which parts she has access to at one time.
            In the winter, I don't think this would work well. I don't like the idea of encouraging Talana to attempt a rocky hill in the snow and ice. It's just too dangerous, even for a sensible horse like her. The best scenario would be that she chooses not to go down there. So I think she will have to be satisfied with the area around the house, as I originally planned.
            I don't know if I'll have time before the snow comes to get this area opened up for her. It may depend on how early winter arrives this year. But I've already started work. Anything I can do now will help when things begin to thaw in the spring.

            This pile of rocks marks the edge of the yard before the hill slopes down. This particular spot may not be the place Talana wants to use as a path. Off to the right of this picture, there is a more gradual slope that is less rocky. These rocks were likely taken out of the yard to make it flatter and easier to mow many years ago. They are stacked quite loosely, and I will probably re-stack them so that they don't turn underfoot when stepped on. I may move them somewhere else altogether. It wouldn't be difficult to roll them down the hill to some muddy spot where they are needed, for instance. All I'd have to do is jiggle them loose and give them a push. The way they are right now, I wouldn't ask Talana to attempt to traverse them. It just seems like a sprained ankle (or worse) waiting to happen.
            I didn't realize just how much space there is here until I began taking down the tansy and wild roses that have grown up. It's actually taken over a third, maybe half, of what used to be grassy yard! And having my own pile of rocks to use for landscaping feels like a windfall. I am glad I have such rich resources to use right in my backyard. Who knew I'd be so happy about having lots of rocks?
            I have been doing battle with the tansy ever since I moved here. The tansy is the stuff that leaves all those woody brown canes behind. It's a truly nasty weed. It's poisonous, so nothing eats it. It smells bad, so no one likes to touch it. It grows five feet high, so you can't walk through it or see over it. It spreads incredibly rapidly with thick roots and millions of seeds yearly. Blech. A monoculture is not beautiful, or wildlife-friendly, and that is just what the tansy creates. I really dislike the stuff. Also, once it's grown up, it's hard to cut it down. It tends to kill weed-whackers because it's too woody. It takes a lot of muscle power to knock it down with a sickle. And it grows in places you can't take a lawnmower. But it turns out that a hedge trimmer works quite well to knock it down! So that is what I have been using. I'm still left with the stubbly canes sticking up, and I'll have to do something about that. But at least I can see the ground now. Honestly, I'm a lot less concerned about leaving the roses and raspberries alone. Talana doesn't mind them at all, and they spread slowly enough that they can be managed with a once-a-year trimming.
            It feels good to work on things that will help Talana. I find that I enjoy the chores I do to keep her comfortable, and her areas clean. Reclaiming the yard is a big project, but I feel very motivated to do it. I know Talana will like it when I am done. That makes it worth the sore muscles and punctures from thorns. It's also worth missing out on a few weeks' worth of riding. Riding is fun, but we can do that most any time. This nice weather will only last so long, and I want to use it to work on things that will have a lasting impact on Talana's comfort.
            Here she is from my window again, enjoying the afternoon sun.