First, here are the removed shoes, front and rear. People have been telling me lately that Katie's hooves are so narrow BECAUSE of the shoes but I know that'snot true - when we got her she had just turned four, had not been shod long, and her feet were narrow and oval then... her heels are somewhat contracted which IS the shoes, but her narrow feet are just Katie's feet... and this causes me concern because most boots are round so fitting her will be hard.
On to the hooves themselves: First picture is before we even start, front feet
A comparison shot taken mid-trim - the left front is done, the right front is not. And that's HER left and right, so opposite when you are looking at the photo...
A closer look at the right front BEFORE
and AFTER
Since Sherman didn't get a birthday ride yesterday I brought him along, and of course all attention was on Rusty...
This will be the most interesting hoof to watch - the left rear. Katie got herself caught in the fence years ago, although several of the other horses had done it before hers was really bad. She must have done it early in the day, and we were gone all day at work, the kids at school and unfortunately visitation day so they didn't come home... anyway I walked out back and she was down, ALL FOUR legs caught in the fence, and she had been there struggling to get up long enough that she had worn a depression into the dirt, AND worn the hair and skin off her hip and shoulder and cheekbone! In fact to this day she still has a small scar on her hip where the hair won't grow back... thank God it was late October and NOT AUGUST or we'd have lost her, being without water all day long! As it was, when I got the neighbors to come help (had called Randy and he was still way too far away to wait for him) and we got her out of the fence and up on her feet, she was staggering like a drunk. Scared the living daylights out of me several times that night, Katie did - first seeing her down, then how badly she was caught, and the staggering... but we carefully got her drinking a little at a time, gave her some bran mash, and later her dinner, and except for her wounds she was fine. The worst of the wounds was that she had almost sliced off the outside heel bulb on her left rear, and it took a good four months of treatment to heal. It still looks nasty but she has been fine ever since. However it caused Rusty to NOT trim the frog on this hoof, because the hoof wall had broken off on that side - with the shoes she had an even sole, but with them removed, IF he had trimmed the frog she would have been lop-sided. It's hard to see in the pictures and I don't know how to edit them to draw on them and then print those - I'll try to learn soon though. Anyway you if you know where to look you CAN see the injury site on the outside heel of her left rear...
...and the missing chunk of hoof wall.
Just as I suspected, I have 6 pairs of boots now and not one of them fits Katie! Sabrina was kind enough to dig in her "bucket of boots" {and yes I am well on my way to having the same} once again... 2 of my 6 pairs are hand-me-downs from Sabrina already! Anyway Rusty had given her an Easyboot Glove size 0 at the Resolution Ride, and it's too small for any of her horses - and too big for Feathers the wonder pony. Although she could use it to trade for another size, she contributed to the cause... AND she loaned me an old-style "regular" Easyboot, also size 0, until I can get a matching Glove... so we were safely booted for our trial trail ride even though my fashion-conscious mother would cringe - THEY DON'T MATCH!!! And although I would have if I'd had enough boots in the right size, we did NOT boot her back...
And Katie did AWESOME, she never hesitated, took right off wanting to go, and was several horse lengths ahead of Savannah and Patch {grin}
There were a couple of little flinches when she stepped right ON a rock but not nearly as many as I expected... especially considering how Glory tiptoes on rocks after a trim! I also noticed that it seemed easier and smoother for Katie to gait already, which gives me hope that her pacing will abate once her tootsies get in REALLY good shape...
All in all, YAY I am excited, things are looking great so far!
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