Tag Archives: hooves

How Are You Doing?

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So, how are you right now, truthfully?

What has helped and why do you think that it has helped? What are you struggling with? 

 

 

2020april

What lies behind the smile?

Here’s where I’m at right now……

I’ll be honest, even before COVID-19 came along, I was struggling! Between this 3 year marathon house build, and not doing any riding, it has taken a toll on my psyche and my waistline. I’ve gained not quite 30 pounds back and it’s taken a LOT of effort to not get thoroughly discouraged in life in general. I’m exhausted! Folks complain about this show / rodeo season being cancelled, but mine has been cancelled for the last 3 years! It’s coming on 4 years since the last time I ran and that can get a horse girl down. 

Then when you add worrying about your health, your finances and then read all the conspiracy and end times stuff floating around out there right now, you really do feel like jumping off into the deep end, especially when you’re someone with a vivid imagination and writer brain that thinks WAY too much! By the way, the jury is still out on the conspiracy theories – I can’t help it, I’m researching. 

Honestly though, how do you get in a good place mentally in the middle of all this craziness, when you really can not do any of the things that bring you joy and that make you feel healthy inside and out? 

I think the answer to that is different for everyone, and you have to make an effort and a decision to feel better, be better. For me personally, in a nutshell it has come down to faith, and focusing on the future to get me through right now. 

Let’s talk about faith a little bit…This is one of those times where rubber has met the road in regards to faith. I’ve been through some very dark trying times that have made me question my faith and made me want to wash my hands of the church community. But you know what? I’ve always made it through – with God’s help. Always. He’s always had favor on me even during the times I most definitely didn’t deserve it. So why wouldn’t He do the same now? If He’s done it before, I have faith that He’ll do it again. Letting go and taking that mindset has given me some rest. It’s not my job to fix everything or save everyone, or even save myself. That’s God’s job so I’m letting Him do it. Besides, there’s not a lot I can do about it anyhow. 

We’re on the downhill side of the house and coming up on a deadline, which I’ll be honest I have worried over. Ask my boyfriend, he’ll tell ya I’ve had quite a few meltdowns over these last 3 years! (He’s been a trooper through it all really and has done such a great job.) Then I look back at where we’ve come from… 

And I get this big sense of pride and hope of what’s to come. I imagine what it’s going to be like when we finally get to move in. No more taking cold showers in 20 degree weather, riding out storms rocking back and forth, finding ice on top of the dog bowl in the kitchen, or making trips to town to do laundry at the toilet chained down laundromat! We’ll have a home that we can enjoy that will have room for what we need that will feel safe. I also remember how fortunate we are to have a place that’s ours to call home and put the horses. There’s a lot of folks that don’t have that so I’m thankful.

The last two years we have gotten record relentless rains. Having 4 horses and a donkey out on a bare lot without a barn has been a big source of stress. Between wading through knee deep mud daily to dump hay with a pair of rubber boots that have a hole, and battling multiple rounds of scratches in every single one of them, it’s been a real source of stress. It’s also been a proving ground and motivator for me. 

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If nothing else, I’ve proven to myself that I’m not a fair weather horse owner. I’ve hung in there even when I’m not getting anything tangible from owning them. It’s also made me learn and figure out things I wouldn’t have if they had been in a better environment. If they had nicer turn out and and barn, I would have kept doing what I had always done with Fireman especially, and Cool. I wouldn’t have figured out what they need nutritionally to be sound, and I wouldn’t have figured out what they needed in a trim either. I’ve learned that works in a barn doesn’t necessarily work in other environments. What works in certain parts of the year may not work in others as well. 

Because of these hard times, I’ve learned so much and I’ve wound up with horses that have healthier feet that will come back stronger than they ever would have before. I’ve also changed my philosophy on horse keeping and that will benefit when we finally have a barn. 

Progress on Cool
Progress on Cool
Progress on Cool
Progress on Cool

While I’ve gained some weight and gotten soft, the good thing is I know for a fact I can – and will – get back to where I was as a rider when we left off. My last few runs with Fireman were the absolute best they had ever been in my whole entire life – and I was 47 at the time. I know what I need to do and what it takes, which is strength and mindset. I also know that I’ll be hungry for it! That keeps me going as well. 

Motivation & Memories
Motivation!
Motivation!
Motivation & Memories

One thing about it, even after all this my heart still skips a beat when I watch the horses play and run. There’s just something about them that can’t be explained that has always had that effect on me. I just love horses, no matter what. My ass, well he makes me laugh! I make it point though to get some joy out of them daily and that helps as well. 

2020oscar

Oscar & Toad

If you’re struggling financially to keep your horses fed, Fleet Of Angels and the ASPCA both have mentioned that they have assistant programs for folks that need help right now. 

One of my previous blog posts from a few years ago also has some tips on how to cut your feed costs. Being on an extreme budget with building the house and dealing with hoof issues, here’s a couple of things I’ve learned since that post  – 

  • While they are more expensive, feed balancers are less expensive to feed in the long run. The better the balancer, the less you have to add. You can use a feed conversion tool to figure out how many mg of nutrients are in the feed.  
  • Beet pulp can definitely help cut your feed bill. That said, I have seen an increase in thrush in all of mine even when it’s dry. 
  • If you have hoof issues, Pete Ramey is a good resource to research to use a guide. He keeps cost in mind. 

So, what’s behind YOUR smile? What are you struggling with? What seems to help?   

You CAN and WILL get through this!! 

 

 

Is Going Barefoot Really All That?

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When we decided to buy the property and build literally from the dirt up, I decided to give my horses a break while we were building and let them sit. I couldn’t justify the cost of monthly shoeing on a horse that wasn’t doing anything, and I couldn’t justify the cost of running barrels when my horses didn’t even have a roof over their head. So I took a deep breath and pulled Fireman’s shoes.The other two were already barefoot and I had trimmed them for years, but Fireman was different – he had issues with thin soles and low heels. He was a classic case of what is ideal doesn’t always work, and what works isn’t always ideal. We tried everything from pour in pads and rim pads to rocker shoes. The shoes and pads that kept him sound didn’t stay on in turnout and often encouraged his heel to become under-slung, but what kept him upright didn’t keep him comfortable. So, pulling shoes and starting from scratch, especially since we were sitting anyhow seemed like a good option.

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When I first pulled Fireman’s shoes, even though he was long he was definitely sore. Fortunately, although our ground at the new place has a lot of rocks, the ground itself is soft. I studied different theories online and the first year I focused on trim and attempting to get the toe shorter and moving the heels back where they should be. I was always conservative with trimming, trimming less more frequently.At first, I listened to the (bad) advice that I needed to trim the heel in order to help the heel to come back. Needless to say, he didn’t improve. Only later after I read Pete Ramey’s theory about when you shorten the toe, the heel moves back on their own, did I realize taking heel wasn’t the answer in Fireman’s case.Not to be deterred, I started researching nutrition and learned that a deficiency of copper – usually caused by an overload of iron – kept them from growing much needed heel. So, I began tweaking Fireman’s nutrition and trying supplements. Again, another lesson in what’s ideal doesn’t always work, and what works isn’t always ideal. What works best for weight and for your budget doesn’t always work for feet, and vice versa!My budget was already maxed out between building the house and trying to figure all of this out when one of the horses I had re-homed due to the divorce returned to me after a severe case of laminitis. Now I had TWO horses with issues to figure out and work on!

With the extreme wet weather resulting in record rains and continuous mud, and trying to stay within a budget, and meet nutritional requirements to grow feet and avoid starch, it’s been a lot to figure out. I’m still tweaking the diet – learning what works and what doesn’t – and learning where my limits are with the trims. Even with the failures, there have been small stretches when Fireman was sound enough to ride, and I’ve been able to maintain the other horse Cool without shoes when he was too sore to eat without shoes, so I don’t feel like it’s a total loss.

“Is your horse really sound if he is tender without shoes?”

That question really resonated with me and makes sense, which is one reason why I have stayed the course this long. I know in the end if I can figure out what works for these two I’ll have a healthier horse.

Fireman was always a little tender right after trims, but other than that there weren’t any blatant signs that concerned the vets. I had one of the best farriers in the country that has worked on top horses and good vets to go with it. It wasn’t their fault. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I believe Fireman was borderline laminitic but we didn’t know that at the time.Fireman was on a low amount of the best low starch feed, good grass hay (from Kamps Farms) but it wasn’t enough. He was still getting too much starch and iron from the feed, and not enough copper and zinc. I’ve had to totally revamp the mineral portion of his diet, and although progress has been slow it’s still progress.

As I often say, you can’t out trim bad nutrition and you can’t out nutrition a bad trim – it takes a whole approach. It’s not as simple as feeding a good feed and adding a great hoof supplement. It takes a whole lot more than that. It takes figuring out the right balance for your horse, and all the while working with your supply, your budget, and your storage set up. At the same time, it takes the right trim and aiming for a heel first landing to get the circulation needed to heel the hoof and grow sole depth.Truthfully, in the end, it all comes down to what you’re willing and able to do, and what works for your horse.Since we’re still building, I’ve got time to still give this whole barefoot thing a try. By the way, if you run barrels barefoot with a horse that used to have issues with shoes, contact me — I’d love to hear from you! In the meantime, if you’re looking to do some research, Pete Ramey is a great resource, as is Dr. Kellon .

Wrapping Up The Year

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The last part of 2017 has been incredibly busy and good! My latest children’s book, Pedro’s Problemo came out on black Friday. It promptly hit Amazon’s Best Seller’s list. The book is ilustrated by the very talented and fun ten year old Brady Ballard. I’ve been working on edits for the movie script for Lost Betrayal. As of today, I’m about halfway through the edits and hope to get some more done this afternoon. They do say that what you do on New Years is what you’ll do the rest of the year, so I’m not taking any chances!

Horse N Ranch Magazine published my article, Training Tips- If You Can’t Afford A Trainer, in December. A few weeks ago, I was asked to be a guest on the Whoa Podcast. I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with John Harrar and his wife Ranae about writing, and staying fit for riding as we get older. I still think Kettlebells are the best bang for the buck! On the personal front, we’re back out at the new farm. These last few months, we were able to get water, electric, and septic hooked up as well as a house and camper pad graded out with gravel. We also got a run in shed built for the horses.

After losing my old dog Dillon, my OTTB Dynamic Host, and our young dog Chubby, we needed some good breaks. When you lose animals that make you ache with loss in the pit of your stomach every single day, you desperately need something good to happen to just keep you going.

We ended the year right with great friends and fabulous food at Smokin F BBQ. Yes, I enjoyed every bit of the foods I normally steer clear of! By the way, they absolutely do have THE best BBQ in the world, no lie!

Now that 2017 is over, I’m focusing on 2018 with a new lighter attitude and new goals.

In 2018, I want to let go more and worry less. At some point, if we really are what we say we are in regards to faith, we have to let go. It’s those times when the rubber meets the road as far as faith and believing.

I also want to let go more in regards to regrets and life and quit taking things so seriously. I’m not a surprise to God – He knows me inside and out and He still loves me. Even when I fail, He’s already got it planned out. He’s the one that’s in control.

Aside from a lot of self reflection, getting the tiny house finished is the main goal for the year. At 648 square feet, it fits right in line with a lighter attitude. Another goal is to have healthier feet on my horses. I figure it’s a great time to work on this as they’re not being hauled right now. For years we’ve struggled with Fireman’s feet and soreness. Early last year, I pulled his shoes and we’re working on a natural trim approach. It’s been a slow process and there’s been some trials and errors, but I think I’m finally starting to see some better heel.

Another goal is to do more book signings this year. I love connecting with readers and so often I’m reminded why I started writing in the first place. Although I enjoy the process of writing and creating stories, I love making an impact even more. It’s not my job to write a story I love to read, it’s my job to write a story others need to read.

My writing goal for the blog is to write more articles on horse training and plus size resources for riders. I want the blog to make an impact and be a catalyst for change in how women see themselves with their horses.

There’s always a writing project in the works. Of course, the main one at the moment is to finish the Lost Betrayal script. I’ve also got plans for another picture book, Beauford The Patriotic Donkey that my boyfriend Tab Bouk came up with, and trying my hand at self publishing some short stories. We’ll see where all that leads!

In the end, I’m very hopeful for 2018. As I’ve said before, if you want to change your life change your thinking. That’s exactly what I’ll be working on all year.

What are your goals for 2018? How are they different from last year’s goals?