Okay. One last thing on feet (for now…)
So many of our beginner students are afraid to clean the horse’s feet. Some are simply afraid to be that close to the hooves. Of course, they always gain confidence the more often they do it.
But many are afraid that the tool they are using might hurt the horse’s feet. This makes them so tentative about cleaning the feet and that often means that they leave a lot of muck and debris behind.
I think I mention this more than once in the video but I’ll say it again here…If you can hurt your horse’s foot with a hoof pick, you already have a problem. If you’re not sure why your horse flinches, you should get your farrier or vet to assess things as soon as possible.
You should talk about ‘snowballs’ on the hoof in winter and how to avoid them. Great topic!
I’m trying to remember but I think we did one about that but if we did, it was quite a while ago.
I will check. Thanks for the suggestion! Hope all is well and that your New Year is off to a good start. Take care,
Pat
Another great video – I always remember you saying “no hoof, no horse”.
And thank you for the insight regarding the patella and giving the horse a moment to bring his hoof down gradually – it hadn’t crossed my mind and I automatically went to the notion that the horse was being cheeky about having his feet picked out. And in reality, it doesn’t really take a lot more time to pick it up and put it down more gently.
I recently had the loveliest flashback – The Aurora Nursery school kids visited the farm and you had Chuckie in cross-ties. You passed your demo baby teeth around to the the kids, and one little boy assumed they were Chuckie’s and asked you if Chuckie had put them under his pillow for the Tooth Fairy.
Soooo, can you do a video on teeth –
– baby teeth and when they get their second teeth (are they born with teeth??)
– floating teeth,
– other dental issues and ideal frequency of dental care
– signs the horse has tooth issues etc.
Thanks Pat!
Thanks Catherine…I had forgotten that story about the little boy and Chuckie…that warmed my heart!
I will put the teeth video in the hopper and plan to put something together! Thanks for the suggestion.
I can’t stop watching her tongue so expressive.