Answers!

Darnitall, I've tried THREE TIMES now to get the pictures to load for this post, and do you THINK they can? Uh, NO. *grumble growl gnashing of teeth*

Another attempt will be made later on to load the adjusted images. For now though, here is the link to the post: What Do You See?

ANON- you came the closest to the actual answer: an abscess did indeed blow out, and it weakened bar tissue. Instead of snapping the bar off as most hooves would do, this one had enough elasticity in it to simply.. fold over.

Shockingly enough- that horse trotted heel first landing sound before the trim, and after the trim. Only difference was a lower headset, and a bit more driving up under himself with his hind end. I do not unfortunately, have after trim pictures of the hoof. Why not? Because my services were otherwise engaged in entertaining a colt in the stall directly across from where we were working. The colt, whom I dubbed "Clyde", was a Total Trip, and I had a blast keeping him occupied, so that he did not reach out and "play" with the colt Dear Husband was working under. (That was the day it dawned on me--- the recent shampoo / conditioner change I'd made? REALLY made horses happy to play with my braid.)

(Oh-- yeah... a *thing* with me: male horses, gelded or not, are known as "colts" until they are 5, and the ladies are of course, "fillies" until THEY are 5....)

There was concern over the frog in this horse. While it was small, it was all there, and is continuing to gain in health. When you have an abscess blow close to the frog, often times there is bar involvement. Is this bad? Well, it's not great, but it's not the end of the world either. With proper treatment, exercise and time, tissue is generated and all is well in a short amount of time.

Leah- (and everyone really) please don't ever hesitate to shoot me an email and ask questions. The whole purpose for this blog is to help horse owners be better owners, to understand what you may wind up looking at somewhere along the line, and to give you tools to deal with know it all "professionals" who seem to absolutely delight in talking down to "mere owners". (They forget we "mere owners" pay THEIR bills, dammit! I can't stand that. I know, I know, they had to work hard in college and internships to get their education, but you know what? Education or not, they still put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us do. Lording it over owners in a condescending fashion is no way to conduct business in my ever present opinion...)

Good grief, rant anyone?

Now: a word to those out there who wish to enter the trade of hoof care. You will catch more clients with proper, calm, quiet, polite handling of their horses than you will with being rude, obnoxious, and forceful. You do not need to prove your "manliness", leadership skills, or toughness to the horse. You need to prove that you can be trusted, that you can communicate your needs to them, and that you are not out to hurt them.

Case in point:
Older (20 something) mare, who had not been handled much at all her entire life. New to present owners, who adopted her out of a sincere desire to take her in and help the old girl out. Had not had hoof care in over a year, possibly better than a year.

This was a spooky mare, who tried her best to just get away from what was going on. She had not one ounce of mean in her old body.

Now, most hoof care providers (read: iron hangers around here,) would have done one of two things: A) had a tantrum and roughed the horse up, or B) had a tantrum and walked off from the horse, after roughing the horse up, and refusing to return calls from the owners.

Instead, calm, quiet consistent handling ensued, and by the last foot the mare never moved, her head was lower, she was licking and chewing, and one of the Golden Rules was seen in full display:

First Golden Rule:
Do No Harm.

Second Golden Rule:
Leave the horse calmer at the end, than they were at the start.

Think sideways folks. Don't just automatically reach for the rough edge, because that is what has been taught endlessly. I'm not saying that you have to dive into a "natural horsemanship" cult or any such thing: I'm saying that you need to THINK about things, and READ the horse. Listen to the horse, and base your communication in what you see and hear there.


There's a mouthful to chew on... ruminate on that, and let's hear your perceptions....