Pumped Up Kicks

Guess who got some new kicks today? Yep! Spirit! Farrier came out today and his hooves were just looking horrible, it reminds me of a cavity, they just keep getting worse. We're putting him on a supplement and put shoes on him. Farrier said he thinks he foundered due to a ring around the hoof. We were thinking that awhile back but he never acted like he felt bad other than limping..hmm. Anyways, he was absoloutly horrible. Reared, bucked, kicked, the works. Our poor farrier wasn't in good shape from a rodeo the other day. Had quite a few injuries plus a spider bite, probably a brown recluse, on his arm. We had to use a twitch. We were going to do him before Red but he started acting up the minute he saw C-the farrier-so mom lunged him while I got Redman done. I went to his stall to get his halter on and he was sleeping.

 

While C was getting his stuff ready, I brushed him out and picked his hooves before the work started.

He stood like an angel other than not wanting to keep his hind left up for a minute but he got over it and did well.

Halfway done.

It was incredible how much he trimmed. The hooves have grown so fast.

Once he was all done I took him for a walk around the front and did some work. Got him to trot/canter with me leading him a few times. Got the trot down but need to work on the lope. Let him graze for awhile as Spirit was starting to calm down a bit and C started working on him!

First things first-Spirit needed a trim, obviously. Got him trimmed which he did a lot better with than the shoeing, but still bad.

 

We ended up having to tie him to do the rest. Got the two fronts shoed and going to keep the backs barefoot unless we need to shoe them as well. At the end, he was already walking better.

 

On another note, while mom was talking to C about everything, prices mostly, I took Spirit back in the barn for some groundwork. Did some backing, walking, following and stopping. He has a fear of crops so I took one out and just ran it across his body so he relaxed a bit. By the end he was much calmer!

 

Don't get me wrong, he has good ground manners, but he is pushy. Have to work on that!!

 

Picking up the saddle tomorrow. Yippee!