Transitioning to barefoot

Clair seems to have really good feet. I'd like to have her barefoot if possible. Eight weeks ago I had the farrier pull all four of her shoes. Since then her hind feet have been doing great. Her fronts, however, really got beat up in the hoof wall, especially in the front of the hoof. It all chipped away -- the crazy wet weather over the last eight weeks didn't help. Her soles stayed hard has a rock, and she showed no lameness at all, so I talked to the farrier before her latest trim last week and told him if she needed shoes on her fronts, that was fine with me. He said he'd really like to keep giving barefoot a try. He trimmed her while I was on the road, and her feet looked really good when I returned, but I could tell that Clair was footsore in front. Yesterday she minced her way across the gravel driveway, and she looked hesitant when I lunged her, even though the arena footing is lovely and soft. Today she seemed at least 50% better -- striding out better over the gravel and more willing to move out on the lunge. I think in a day or two more she'll be back to normal and I'll be able to get back on her.

I haven't ridden her since the saddle slipped (except I quickly hopped on after the accident for W-T-C. which went fine), but the more I think about it, the more I think the whole thing was entirely my fault. Clair has gotten quite fuzzy in the past couple weeks, and it's really slick fuzz. I think I was just too blase about getting the girth tight enough with her slicker coat. I'm also using a short-billeted dressage saddle for the first time ever, and I read that because more of the "grip" comes from the girth rather than the saddle, it's extra important to get the girth tight. You just have less surface area to provide friction.

Back to work in Texas

Hi there! "Saturdays with Suzanne" has been keeping this blog going while Ted and I plus three dogs and one horse made our way from Oregon to Texas. Dakota stayed behind in Oregon at a lovely private barn for about six weeks before I was able to get him scheduled on Equine Express. He needed to put on weight anyway, and he sure did! He looks lovely now. We had no problems with the shipping until the very end, when on the Saturday night he was supposed to arrive, a huge thunderstorm blew through. The barn I have him at has a dirt road leading to it, and when it rains hard, the road turns to sticky soup almost instantly. There was no way a big rig could get through. We called around frantically and found him a temporary stall at another barn with paved roads, and he stayed there five days until the dirt roads dried out.

Through it all, Dakota has absolutely impressed me with his temperament. He is not a spooky horse. You can just walk him around a new place, let him take it all in, and then he acts like he's lived there all his life. I can't wait to start competing him.

Here's some video of our first lungeing at the new place. If you're wondering why it looks a bit apocalyptic there, it's because the property was built in an old, abandoned pecan tree orchard. It's a great location just outside town; there's a beautiful big arena and even some cross country jumps are available. Plus there are miles and miles available for trail riding. Oh, and the black pitty mix that gets rolled in the second video is ok -- no injuries, and now he gives us a wide berth when we lunge.





Last night I had the farrier out to give Dakota an early trim. The switch from wet climate to extremely dry climate was rough on his feet -- lots of chips and beginning cracks. The farrier cleaned him up and said all was well -- just to keep an eye on him and we may do some extra filing in between trims for the first couple months.