Red has a manicure

Red had his two front shoes put on today. I had the farrier out today for the first time since I bought my horse. It has been years since I watched a farrier work!

He was so nice and patiently answered all of my questions and explained hoof structure with me. He said that Red's right hoof was slightly atrophied and he wasn't putting the same amount of weight on both hooves. He did some corrective shoeing on his front feet. He said that the hooves were a little long and were rolling under at the heels and he corrected that.

He explained about the white line in his hooves and how weight is distributed. Red stood there so patiently while he worked. He is such a sweetie.

He pointed out an old abcess that he said was from long ago and he drilled it out and put a black sulphur type salve on it.

I spoke to his former owner and she said (I had been told about this) that Red had stepped on a nail several years ago and injured his hoof. As they knew as soon as it happened it didn't get out of hand and healed up.

I did tell him that while Red is nearly perfect in behavior that he sometimes is not as easy picking up his back right hoof. He wants to put it back down! He turned and ran his fingers on Red's flank and pressed. Red reacted immediately to his fingers and he humped up his back. He said he was sore in that area and he showed me how to massage it. He said to massage it every other day for 3 minutes or so. He is doing a seminar in 2 weeks on flexation of horses and I am going to go. The more I learn the better.

I gave him a tip today remembering the old adage

"$$ for work. $$$$$$ if you help" LOL I made this layout of Red's farrier encounter!