Monday, July 2, 2012

Air Bruces and happy feet!

So we left off with the sad tale of Charlie's too small shoes and me having to call the old farrier to plead for him to take us back.  Well, much has happened between now and then.

First the vet came out last Wed to give Charlie his bi-annual shots along with his rabies shot.  He then proceeded to tell me Charlie had arthritis in his left ankle.  I won't go into the details but let's just say I now have some serious doubts about this vet's credibility.  I suppose the really ironic part of this whole farrier/vet drama is the county I live in has the highest horse population in the state behind Aiken county.  There are a lot of horses around here but the area seems to be seriously lacking in quality equine care.

Ok, moving on.  I brought Charlie to Aiken bright and early Thursday morning to Bruce's (the farrier) house.  He doesn't have a barn yet so we had to make do with the shade of the trees but honestly, it was really nice.  Even though it was a bit warm, the breeze was really nice and kept us nice and cool.  So the plan was to put glue-ons on all 4 feet.  Bruce was really excited to be able to trim the foot exactly the way he wanted.  Before, he had to be really careful to not thin the hoof wall or he was unable to get the nails in.  Then he shaped the aluminum shoes and we gave Charlie a little cocktail to make sure he wasn't super antsy and even more mellow than usual.  Once the glue gets put on the hoof and the shoe goes on, the foot needs to stay up so the glue can harden before Charlie can put weight on it.  It was pretty cool to watch.  Bruce mixed the glue with some fiberglass fibers to strengthen the hold then put some glue on his foot and fit the shoe on top of it.  Once he was satisfied with the placement, the whole hoof was wrapped in plastic wrap to help the glue cure.  And voila, Charlie has glue-on shoes.

 
Bruce showing off his handiwork.

 
A close-up of said handiwork.

Charlie felt so much better after he got his "Air Bruce's".  I rode him on Friday and to me, he felt great!  But more importantly, *he* felt good.  He was trying so hard to not be a hooligan - I could feel him wanting to throw in a few bucks to show how happy he was but he contained himself.  He doesn't love being ridden first thing in the AM.  He typically runs around after breakfast to get his funnies out but when I ride in the AM, he eats after being ridden.  That's the other way I know he feels better - it's been awhile since he ran around after eating.  I rode him on Sunday as well but it was so hot we didn't really do a whole lot.  The air quality has been bad and then mix in the heat and humidity and neither of us are super enthusiastic about having to work very hard.  No shenanigans on Sunday other than him saying "I'm hot and I'm done" - perfectly understandable given the conditions.

 
From last friday after our ride.

Like everywhere else on the east coast, we've been suffering from a major heat wave.  It's been ridiculous!  Temperatures have been in the 100s well into the evening hours.  Typically it starts cooling down around 7ish but it's been over 100 at 8PM the past couple of days.  We had a bunch of storms last night so it cooled off into the 70s over night and first thing this morning but the humidity was out of control.  I hate the summer!

 
Charlie looking out his window - he looks thrilled...

Because his isolation field doesn't have any shade, he stays in during the day under his fan.  He doesn't love it but is tolerating it well.  I'm going to try and keep him in during the day for the rest of the summer to 1) keep him out of the flies, 2) keep him cool and his coat looking fabulous, and 3) the water in every field bakes in the sun which means it's as hot as the air if not hotter.  Speaking of his coat, it's finally starting to look nice.  Charlie is shiny and super soft.  He still needs to finish shedding out but otherwise he looks really good condition-wise.  I just need to build his top line back up after all this time off.

 
Begging for treats which he of course received.  There's not much he doesn't get!

Hopefully, we'll have a dressage lesson with Carolyn on Thursday.  If not, we should have one next Wed.  Janna's out of town for awhile (I can't keep up with her schedule) for pony club stuff (she's a national examiner).  I may try to take a lesson with a jumper person in Tryon or maybe someone else in Tryon but we'll see.  Wish us luck on not melting!

2 comments:

  1. I don't have the option to keep Cuna in right now, but I have kept him covered and hsi coat looks amazing. I didn't realize how much a chestnut could glow!

    Glad the new shoes are working, but between the cost of hauling, the drugs, and the magic shoes, I don't think I want to know how much they cost you. Ouch.

    ReplyDelete
  2. So i saw something on facebook about freezing jugs of water and then putting them in the water troughs ... then as they melt they keep the water cool- just thought of it since you were talking about hot water :)

    Hope the shoes work out for your boy! Such a good mom! :)

    ReplyDelete