Cire’s feet are not in the best shape. She came to me front shod, with long toes and over under on the right front. Id love to get her barefoot but its not clear yet if that can happen or not. Unfortunately its kinda an experiment. Her feet will eventually tell me what they need and luckily I have the best farrier in Maryland so eventually I will get her balanced and in our out of whatever is best for her. I’m a fan of having a horse barefoot, Jezebel is barefoot and has been since i got her. I’m also a realist and not every horse can handle not having shoes, some just need them.
So step one, we pulled Circe’s shoes, took off some of that long toe and rebalanced her with a proper barefoot trim. My farrier pointed out that there were nail holes in the backs about six months old. She had back shoes and they were pulled some weeks back, so the question begs… Did they pull the backs because of her back pain or did she have back pain because the backs were pulled? I don’t know, I sent the question off to the After The Races farm and they are going to see what they can find out. Circe also has some pretty clear back hoof bruising on both feet. Its older bruising but it was a lot. In looking at her shoes once they were pulled its clear that that were not shaped for her, her front feet are not exactly the same shape but the front shoes are… exactly. Oy Vey! I was left with instructions to Durasole her feet every day and to keep my awesome farrier informed of how it was going. I was to expect some soreness while her feet toughen up the degree of which was unknown.
Day two and Circe was pretty foot sore, the right more then the left and she really gave me trouble about lifting the backs. She was very ouchy on the pavement and a little less so on the gravel but even on soft surfaces she was tender. After consulting with my farrier we decided to boot her for turn out and I gave her some Bute to help ease the pain a little. This is the hardest part for me, waiting to see if the feet toughen up. You cant really do too much about it, its a bit of a waiting game.
Day Three and Circe came in from the field missing a boot. Motherfucker! She’s less foot sore which is good news. She let me pick up all 4 with ease and Durasole them. She walked less ouchy on the pavement and even less so on the gravel but a boot is missing. Bonus they are borrowed boots, ugh. I searched all over the field but to no avail, the boot is missing. Theres a small side pasture that belongs to the two cows who are turned out with the group Circe is with, the horses have access to it and it has some mud in it, though i looked there im going to look again cuz its possible the missing boot stuck in the mud somewhere in there. Meanwhile, I will need to replace the borrowed boots. I gave Circe some Bute with her evening meal to help with the pain of ouchy feet.
Not sure what today will bring, im not the most patient of people but i will just have to suck it up and wait a bit to see what Circe’s feet tell me. They will tell me what they need and all i have to do is listen.