My Left Foot

                                                               

Blue and Nikita...I know he's a little chunky but we're working on slimming down

Summer is officially over, although you certainly can’t tell by the weather we’ve been having.  It feels like August with high 80’s and some 90 degree days with the added bonus of high humidity. I’m waiting for autumn to kick in with some cooler temps.  In the meantime I’ll update on what’s been happening around the farm this summer.

Blue hasn’t been doing as well as I would like.  It all started when the farrier couldn’t make it for an extended period of time to shoe him. His toes got longer than they normally would. He was lame and favoring his left front because he had developed a painful abscess so we pulled his front shoes.  When the farrier did come we suggested he leave the shoes off all around and just trim him.  We put him in boots to help cushion his foot.  Eventually, the abscess blew out but was quickly followed by another abscess in the same spot.  The hoof cracked and broke off in pieces from the abscesses so there was no way his hoof could hold a shoe anyway. 

This is Blue's hoof initially

"How about a treat, my foot hurts ya know"

Some improvement

For a while he was on limited turnout wearing boots.  He got to wander around up by the barn, with access to his stall with hay and a fan plus a small paddock to graze and the lawn around the barn to explore but he was missing his friends. 

" Hey guys I'm over here"

When his foot seemed to not be bothering him too much we let him reunite with his buddies wearing his boots, which he promptly lost.  Luckily, we had another set so he wore those for a while until he lost them too.  I did search for them but couldn’t find them. Every time I spotted something black lying in the grass I’d drive over to it only to have my hopes dashed discovering it was a pile of manure.  So somewhere on forty acres are two sets of boots waiting to be found!  Blue loved his boots, some mornings he would refuse to leave his stall until his boots were put on. You’d think he would have taken better care of them. 

Blue showing off his new "kicks"

I had to buy another pair and this pair stayed on for the duration.  He’s not wearing boots and he’s not lame anymore, his hoof and sole are hardening and growing although he’s still walking slowly.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before but Blue is sort of a big woosie when it comes to injuries.

This is where we are as of now, so much better but a ways to go yet

Needless to say I haven’t been able to ride all summer and that’s okay because I don’t get along with heat and humidity very well.  Blue should be able to be ridden for a limited time at the walk when he’s ready. So fingers crossed we will be able to enjoy some cool autumn weather in the saddle soon.

Quote for Today
Give a horse what he needs and he will give you his heart in return.