Star attraction! But seriously, this farrier comes prepared for everything. He brought his own LIGHTS. |
The Farrier came out yesterday morning to do Suzie’s feet and I
must admit, I was a bit nervous and apprehensive to begin with, given my bad
luck the last few days. While he set up, I spoke with him and told him my
concerns; namely the way her hoof hung over the edge of the shoe and how she
already lost one of her fronts in the span of 2.5 days. I felt like I must’ve
blabbed on for a while, because Farrier gave no input or otherwise. I know this
Farrier is pretty cut and dry – he doesn’t really say much and didn’t really
give any inkling or indication as to how he felt about the previous trim/shoe
job. When I could feel myself unable to hold back any longer and asked his
opinion on it he didn’t really give a straight answer. Somewhat of an annoyance
but at the same time I can appreciate his silence because this isn’t a pissing
contest and perhaps being a male he is wary of females and their gossiping ways
[especially horse women!].
To start out, I unwrapped Suzie’s ouchy foot and Farrier
used a hoof tester on the length of her hoof and frog and only once did she
show any kind of discomfort – which was along the left side of her frog up by
her heel bulb. It was mentioned that there may have been a nail that had gone
“rogue” and had hit her in a sensitive spot, but she did not test any
discomfort in this area when he probed it. She was less lame than she was the
day before, but I could see she was still dull and ouchy feeling.
After the initial foot was done, the rest of the feet went
well – there were some moments that Farrier’s brow furrowed as he examined some
of her hooves, but other than that, he gave nothing away and did his job. I
can’t fault the guy – he certainly did not want to get “involved” in any
politics and to be honest, I didn’t want to either. Suzie seemed to give a sigh
of relief when all was said and done, and although Farrier mentioned that he
wouldn’t be able to do much in the way of shaping her feet (as most of the
‘useable’ hoof was already filed away from the previous job) but he did do some
shaping where he could.
I also confess that I left some information out on the last
blog post about Suzie’s feet. When the Other Farrier (OF) did her back hooves
she was downright bad. Pulling her hoof away, yanking it out of his hands, etc.
Just being a general bad donkey. I have a feeling that she could’ve been stiff
in her pelvis, but at the same time, I think she was also playing OF. The OF
let her be naughty, despite me giving her a smack or two to smarten up and
would cater to how high she’d allow him to lift her foot – and to be honest,
any height he held it at offended her. And in my mind, she started to become
less pain responsive and more vengeful. It was less of an “ow ow ow that hurts”
as it was a “because fuck you, that’s why.” And with Farrier, when we got to
the back feet, Suzie was being weird about them again. The hind left was
decent, but she yanked her foot away several times. It seemed less malicious to
me, and more of an “I don’t wanna!” After Farrier got mad at her, she quit and
behaved but on her hind right, she was BAD. Farrier dealt with it pretty well
and once he “fought it out” with her, she admitted her defeat and let him
finish shoeing… but not before she threatened to kick him! I wasn’t sure what
was up her butt, because she never has done that before, but again, she was BAD
for the other farrier.
After Farrier left, I took her for a little walk up and down
the driveway and she already seems 90% sound instead of the 0.5% sound she was
on Saturday. Hopefully this will be my last blog post about this ordeal - I still have to figure out what to do with OF, as he wants to come and "fix" her feet since I had called him on Saturday to let him know she was already losing a shoe. I think I already have it all figured out though, thankfully. Onwards and upwards.
I would tell the other farrier that someone else has taken care of it. And leave it there! Hope these "new feet" help :) 90% sound is a huge improvement!
ReplyDeleteI think that is what I'm going to do, just say "Yea, I already had someone come up and fix her foot since she was lame" or something to that effect.
DeleteI know I just changed hoof care professionals recently and I was worried about cutting ties, as I've had a third previous one get upset. I think what was said was, "Thank you, but we're cancelling our next appointment" and because they asked why, I added "We've decided to try someone else. Sorry and thank you". I think it turned out okay now though. Luckily the last one seemed quite mature about it (extra lucky because they do other horses at our farm and we've run into each other a couple times since).
ReplyDeleteThe horse world is a bit finicky, because in the end, you don't just piss off one person - you piss off a chain reaction! LOL. I'd rather "go out" quietly.
Deleteglad she's feeling better (despite her naughtiness!!). good luck getting it all sorted with the other farrier!
ReplyDeleteIn a weird way, I don't know if it was /true/ naughtiness to begin with. I know some farriers really hike up horse's back legs and with Suzie being older and less supple, I am wondering if Farrier #1 unintentionally hurt her and she became resentful. Once Farrier #2 fought back with her [he wasn't hurting her, he was just trying to do his job!], she was just fine to be shod on her hinds.
DeleteGlad you're on the right track now!
ReplyDeleteMe too!
Delete