Lucas' feet

Well it didn't load the pictures the way I wanted it to but here it goes.

Left Hind

Left front

Right Front (Bad one)

And yes you are seeing that right, his right leg is longer than his left and his foot is what the farrier can keep under control so its kept shorter than the left.

He really should have a shoe that is longer to provide heal support, but he rips his shoes off too often as it is.

Right hind

Shoes!

I've been following R Lil Bit Of Cash's progress with Lilly and going barefoot. Although I'm not a complete barefoot addict (trust me, around here the barefoot converts are NUTS, but I like the progress Lilly is making!) I do like the way Lucas' hind feet look after 4 months of being without shoes. I'm not so sure about going shoeless with his front feet, that right front foot is going to be the death of me.

He's a bit late on his shoeing/trim cycle and now were paying for it. So he's on a bit of a vacation until he's completely adjusted to having his feet shaped differently again.

So about my ride last night...

Lucas and Tanker having a reunion after being separated for months!

Lucas got to go back out in a herd situation for the first time since last year at this time (due to his shoeing issues we had to keep him in most of the winter last year, then he was only turned out alone so he would keep his shoes on). It should make him a much happier horse, I really think it makes a big difference in there attitudes if they can have horse contact on a daily basis.

My ride was good, we had a low pressure ride, mostly just walk/trot. I dragged 2 poles out and set them up so I could either jog over them or ride though them across the diagonals of the ring. So we did that, and practiced stopping within the poles and backing out, and a bunch of different exercises. It kept both our minds busy. We ended up doing some one handed work which is something I have to keep practicing if I want to show some western this summer.

I also managed to get on him without issue, and without having someone to hold him! I need to use a huge mounting block to get on (thanks to a lack of mobility) and its hard to move around and Lucas learned that even moving a bit foreword or backward would result in me having to move my mounting block and try again. It usualy resulted in me having to find someone to stand next to his head so I can get on him without issue. Its something that I want to have under controle for when we go to shows next summer. Last night he was very good and waited until I had gotten situated on his back and asked him to walk on before he moved.

I seriously think hes trying to be good so I wont send him away again!

I just sewed on my first ever button!

I just sewed on my first ever button!!! I kept waiting for my mom to do it because I didnt think I could do it with my hands, but I did! Oh yeah and Lucas is doing good too, he got to go outside today for the first time since Wednesday. We did a little walk/trot on the lunge line just to get his legs moving, and he had a great roll outside, so back to some light work tomorrow and hopefully riding on Monday!

So far so good (and happy Canada day!)

Lucas's farrier came out this afternoon and fixed his feet. He was hoping that he would be able to clean up the foot and put a shoe back on, but decided it would be easier just to do his re-set a week early. He did have a bit of a nasty bruise where the clip had gotten stuck in but he was able to nail the shoe on without putting anything near the bruise. He didn't think that it would cause an abscess but to be on the lookout for one and to call him if it did become an issue.

Lu did trot off sound once he got his new shoes on. Well sound for him after having new shoes put on, I say its like him getting his 'sea' legs back. He weebles and wobbles while he gets used to the new feet for a day but then hes ok. Having a special needs horse can be interesting at times! Hes better in our barn, the old owners had to put him on bute for a couple of days to get him over it, and kept riding him. We've put him on a good hoof supplement and he gets a good day or two off afterwords and we avoid the drugs and unnecessary pain.

We did have a good laugh about Lucas and his behaviour. Our farrier was telling us about how when he first came to Canada, the trainer told him "don't get after this horse because he will make you regret it". Well Lucas jerked his foot away once too often and pushed the farrier at the same time, farrier got mad and got after him..... and in his words "I had to leave him and go back the next day to get the shoe back on him" Apparently Lucas wasn't going to let him anywhere near him again that day! You have to wonder what kind of nasty horse he was back in the day! Although even now he'll push the limits every once and a while, but nothing to the tune of what he pulled with the other owners and trainers.

Now I'm sitting at home watching re-runs of the Canada day celebration from Ottawa this morning. Have a great night everyone, and have a great 4th of July to our American friends.

Lucas tossed another shoe

I finlay got out to the barn tonight only to find out that Lucas was so pissed off this morning because he didn't get to go outside (he's been on limited turnout due to the snow/sleet/rain that we've been having) that at some point after his stall was cleaned in the AM and when they put him out for an hour he ripped his hind shoe off.

D is going to tap it back on in the morning, thank goodness it was a hind shoe! At least his back feet are somewhat normal and easy to shoe!

So instead of riding I spent an hour brushing him. Managed to get 2 shovels full of hair out of him, I hope hes done shedding soon. Its very rewarding to see a big pile of hair come out but its hard on my hands and wrists.

No shoes yet

And Lucas is really pissed off!!! Normaly I leave his door open when I clean out his bucket, and today he actually walked out of the stall, and was on his way into the indoor when I caught up with him! He then pretended that he had come out to casualy smell the horse across from him but he was on his way 'out' when I caught him! Hes really really bored. Does anyone know of any tricks to teach him to keep both of us occupied? He'll "smile" if you press on his front lip. And he now nickers for treats :) For a horse thats lived in trainer barns for the past couple of years its an improvment in his social skills! We did streaches for carrots today, but hes always a step ahead of me sometimes.

The shoes are on there way, the farrier had to order them in (as normaly he doesnt carry them in the winter) so he's hoping that they will be in tomorrow. So far no heat in his bad leg, and not alot of stocking up from being stuck in his stall.

I had posted Lucas' playing outside video on my facebook, and Lucas old owner from NC commented that he looked like he had adapted well to the snow.

In2Paints gave me a very nice award (and my very first one!!) but its going to have to wait untill tomorrow for me to talk about as I have to go teach my mom (the teacher) how to send an attachment in an email!

grrr

Well drove Lucas again today for about 20 min and he was great. Was able to use the entire ring and did a whack of transitions and long trotting on the long sides of the arena.

Then he finally got to go play outside in the new paddock that the owners built for him. He was out for about an hour, and managed to pull off the shoe on his right front foot... yup that's right the foot that's been causing us all of the problems! AHHHHHH!!!! Anyways emergency phone call into the farrier (who was coming next week anyways.) tonight and hopefully he'll come as soon as he can. We couldn't even find the old shoe to tack on until then. And I didn't have any wedges at home because he usually wears them out....

Cross your fingers it doesn't bother him too much and the farrier comes soon!