Slow Beginnings....

Just a short update.... I have finally gotten my hands on the horses for a significant amount of time (defined as: longer than the couple of seconds needed to push past them to put feed in their bins!). I had the horses' feet trimmed exactly 8 weeks prior to my son's due date. So, obviously I could not have the shoer out due to my inability to help him. Unfortunately I cannot boast about having horses that will stand tied while being trimmed or shod. They have been off work and not exercised since February and so they don't act as if they have manners anymore! I couldn't have my wonderful farrier, Russell getting hurt and refusing to come shoe for me. So I decided that after I had the baby, I would be in a better position to help Russell keep the horses in line.

Well, turns out that Russell is either very busy, or he is hiding from me and my unruly menagerie of horses. Hmmm. So, I decided to trim Savannah and Bailey myself. A lot of my horsey friends wonder why any horse lady would actually do farrier work (it is back breaking and somewhat dangerous if you are working on horses that are prone to naughtiness), but I have always felt that hoof care is such an essential part of horsemanship, that I wanted to know how to do it myself if I needed to for financial or other reasons such as if the farrier is in hiding until I can train my mob. Sigh. Special thanks to Danny, Jack, and David who mentored me. One of whom said, "Hey, that's a pretty good job... for a girl!"

Savannah was the first victim. She stood quietly in the crossties while being groomed, and then I trimmed her feet. It was painless and she was a very good girl...hmmm could they have missed me and now are on their best behavior?

Then came Bailey who I expected the most trouble from. Bailey decided that he too could be a good boy. Despite being a little snorty and spooky, he let me trim his overgrown hooves in record time. :) Now I REALLY want to start riding. I forgot what nice horses I have.

Tokaj is next, but I am hoping to coax Russell out to shoe her so that I can get going on some under saddle training and jumping with her.

Arena update: The arena is going to get some work done on it on Monday. Hopefully this will be the last week and all will be complete until the base cures and we need sand for riding!

Happy trails!
P~