Fingers and hooves all crossed

Blue: Marchwood Perky

Cheyenne (Korbutt-Brown) came to see and trim the horses and ponies today. She has always been impressed with David's ability to trim but we felt that it was important for her to double-check his work and this appointment couldn't have been better timed. 

Blue had a small area of seedy toe and this was cleaned out, sprayed with sole cleanse, and packed with Red Horse Hoof Stuff which can be left in for a while before rechecking. 

These Red Horse products are fantastic for hoof repairs and recovery.

Theoden was an excellent patient for Cheyenne, especially considering he has been on box rest for two weeks. 

It was good to hear Cheyenne confirm the vets thoughts about Theoden, Dave and Jack. She agreed that the degree of laminitis and the changes in the big boys' hooves were very mild but that they had very thin soles. She was very clear that David's trim had unearthed an underlying problem rather than contributing to it. "It is impossible for a trim to make a healthy horse lame," she said. 

I felt a lot more positive having received her comments and she helped us move out all of the ponies so that Theoden and Dave could have a couple of hours of turnout. This period will be extended over the next few days/nights while we monitor them carefully. Both are wearing hoof boots but we couldn't put any on Theoden's fronts as yet because his hooves have become so much bigger than when he first went barefoot. I now have a pair of size 14 Equifusion All Terrain Joggers on order from Urban Horse to arrive tomorrow. Dave, who is one size smaller than Theoden, was able to have one pair of his hand-me-downs. Our shopping list also included some 7lb and 4lb hoof pads from Equine Podiatry UK, Thunderbrooks grass nuts and Progressive Earth minerals. The credit card has taken quite a hammering!

The additional ponies I had hoped to have as lawnmowers did not turn up in the drift yesterday so we will have to wait until the end of October for them. One set have not been seen for two years!

And finally, I heard that the New Forest Hounds, clean-boot bloodhounds, would be in our area on 7th October. The meet is at Janesmoor and will be all around Fritham. A simple, polite request, and they have agreed not to lay the trail in close proximity to my fields. That will be a relief to David who will be Chief Horse Keeper then.