(OMG-I'm pointing my toes. The equitation police are sure to arrive.) Oh, those wild and crazy barrel horses....
Stereo-types exist for a reason ya know...LOL.Today it was cloudy and cool, so Meg's and I headed to the desert to ride. We actually ended up UP on the bluffs... (I know, I know...again with the crappy cell phone pictures. I swear I need to staple that camera to my hip or something.)
Meg and Turk are doing amazingly well together...
Meg rode the hair off the poor horse over the weekend and he was not one bit sore or lame. The new shoe is working. I still don't know if he will hold up for competition or not, but I at least see him having a future. He's turned into a really pleasant horse to ride out in the open. All of his staring off and random spooks have disappeared. The only thing he did spook at was this 'rock'...
See the little brown spot in the middle of the picture? Kinda? Sorta?
It's actually a bird. A nesting bird...
Megan and Spooks were walking along and it scared the be-gezus out of both of them by hissing at them. I guess it wanted to make sure they didn't step on it. LOL.We had really only intended to go for about an hour's worth of hill work, but ended up riding over 3 hours and the ponies got some massive hill climbs in. Up and down. It was kind of rocky out there to be riding Moon with no shoes, but as long as he paid attention to where he put his feet, he could avoid them. There was only a couple spots we got off to hand-walk them over.
I dang sure don't want to stone-bruise Moon or anything (and Turk only has shoes on the fronts), but I still think it's good that they occasionally have to pay attention to where they are going and where they place their feet.
I'm still on the fence about putting shoes on Moon. I have to take Turk back to the farrier this week and may just haul Moon along and see what the farrier thinks.
8 comments:
You and Moon both are pointing your toes, so it doesn't count;)
He's a pretty mover, that wild and crazy racer. Don't tell him I said that.
What a way cool place to (what us pansy arse english riders call) "hack". Nothing like real terrain to tone up those arena legs.
Have you thought about using boots on Moon? At least for trail riding? That would take care of any accidental stone bruises.
You know Shirley-I have. I paid attention to what the bloggers who use them have to say and think they would be a worthwhile investment. Shoes aren't exactly a guarantee you won't get bruises and even the top barrel racers who have shoes on their horses generally keep a set of boots for their horses as well. They put them on for traveling as well as use them for cushioning when the horses have to stand on cement or asphalt. They are also good protection against slipping when they have to walk them across big asphalt or cement parking lots to get to the arena.
I really do like having Moon barefoot. All of my horses actually. I save so much money trimming my own horses and like being able to touch them up as necessary. There's not many farriers I trust to put a set of shoes on my horses. I have a good farrier now, but at $100 a set...and competing barrel horses need to be reset about every 4 weeks....It gets spendy when you have multiple horses.
I guess I just don't know where to start when it comes to shopping for a set of boots. But I suppose I had better start looking into it more seriously.
Oh and GL...I HAVE to tell Moon you said he was a pretty mover. That would be the first time anyone has ever said that about him.
.....
No...that's not true. When I was showing him in HUS, he usually placed and judges critics were always, 'He's a nice mover. He just needs more impulsion from the hindquarter.' (sigh) If he just had a little better hock set, things would be much easier for him in that department.
He is gorgeous ! Sounds like a great way to "farm him out" after the excitimant of the weekend
You don't need to staple the camera to you, you just need a little better phone with a decent camera! I have a nice camera and I never use the damn thing - the phone takes good enough pictures, and it's always nearby.
Boots - if you want boots to go over shoes, I think you have to go with classic Easyboots; nothing else is designed to go over shoes. I like my Renegades quite a lot, for various reasons, but there's a ton of Easyboots to choose from too. The high-performance type Easyboots seem more fiddly to me.
Stone bruises - I just don't think shoes alone provide great protection from stones! You need shoes + pads, boots over shoes, or just boots, IMO. Anyway, email me any time if you want some boot chat!
I really like my easy boots, and since I only use them occasionally the set has lasted for 4 years. They really did turn out to be less expensive than shoes, since I'd have had to set shoes and then remove them each time. They came in really handy when old horse had an abscess, just medicate and there ya are.
You do have some beautiful horses girl!
I argee with Funder- shoes alone are no guarantee against stone bruising. For a small break on the cost- how about shoeing only the fronts? Our farrier is $75, fronts only, $100 all the way around. Not much of a 'discount' but they need to make a living too.
Those crazy barrel horses look sppooookkkyyyy. You only have your toes pointed so that if you should happen to come off, you are sure to stick the landing! LOL!
Getting out for a change of footing and scenery does you all some good. You and them.
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