Trim time: Ruffian

Well I am pleased to say that Ruffian did VERY well today. It took me about 2 hours [give or take a minutes ;)]. I had to stop and let Ruffy move his feet once. He was getting a little..... playful. After that though he was all set to trim the last three feet :) I ran into a new situation today....ice. It is really hard to rasp through. It was so cold outside too that if I hadn't used my rasp in a while it would get stickly.... good thing I was wearing gloves ; )

Well I have another week off until I have to trim Knightly.

~Keri

Trim Time: Prince

December 23 2009

I trimmed Prince today [December 23rd]. It took me 2 1/2 hours this time. I was really proud of Prince. Last time it took me 4 hours!!! So that was a huge imporvement on both of our parts!!!!! Prince did really well 80% of the time. I can't wait to see how he keeps improving over the next months!!

Next week I trim Ruffian. Hopefully the weather will cooperate

Well better go!
~K

Twosox trim

Today I trimmed Twosox. Wow 4 weeks has gone fast!! He did pretty well. He stood the best for his back feet but all in all it only took me 2 hours so that isn't bad.

I didn't have to trim a lot of because it was a 4 week trim. It will be interesting to see how he progresses on being trimmed every 4 weeks. Should be interesting!! His back feet were good foot wise. I didn't have to take much heel down, his bars were a little long but not to bad, and he only had a little flare on each foot. On the front feet the bars were longer than the back feet but now overly long, heels weren't to high, I had to take a little off but nothing major, of course he still has wall separation but that is to be expected for a little while longer. His quarter flares weren't nearly as bad as last time so that was good.

It just started snowing as I was finishing up so that was perfect timing!! So all in all it was a good trim!!

~K 

Finished!!

Yesterday I trimmed Ruffy!!! He did a lot better then I thought he would be. I didn't think he would be bad but he did REALLY well!!! It took me about 3 hours in total. I only got a little sore near the end but other then I was fine!!!

So now I have two weeks off until I have to trim Twosox!!! I will have lots of time to play with the horses!! Hooray!!!

~K

3 down 1 more to go!

Well three of the horses are now trimmed!!!!! I did Prince yesterday and Knightly this morning. It took me 4 hours to trim Prince yesterday but it was a great lesson on taking the time it takes so that it takes less time. By the end of the session Prince was offering to pick up his feet for me. I was SO proud of him!!!

Knightly only took 2 hours to trim. He was a real gentleman!! His feet weren't nearly as bad a Prince's though. This was the highlight of this morning for me......

Gotta love those LBI!!!! He stood like that for the longest time and was perfectly happy to hold it for me!!! My wonderful father put the board on the bottom of my stand so that it wouldn't be so wobbly. We just need to cut the board to the perfect size then it will be just right!!!  And all four under $30 bucks!!!! Can't beat that!!!!

Anyways. I felt even more confident today then I did yesterday, I was confident yesterday but today I had an even better idea of what I needed to do and watch out for.Well I better go. I am hoping to get Ruffian trimmed on Saturday. Should be interesting.

Well that is all for now!

~K

Hoof trimming session!

Hey all!!

Very exciting stuff happening!!! Yesterday I had a one on one lesson with a Professional Barefoot trimmer!!!! I learned SO much!!! We were hoping to get all four horses done but it took a while to get Twosox done so we only got one done in the end. That is okay though because I am confident that I will be able to trim the other horses by myself. It is all exciting!!!

I will post some pics soon [once we get out high speed internet back again]

~K

Things happening...

Sorry for not updating this sooner. Things have been busy. What with getting ready for winter. Time really does go fast!! I can't believe it will be November tomorrow!!!

I am outside my comfort zone right now but that is where the learning happens so I know I have to be here. I know that once I start I will gain confidence. I also know that with God's help I can do it.

The horses are doing really well. Prince has taken leaps and bounds with what he will let me do with his feet. So has Twosox. I am really happy with there progress. I am still reading through the Jaime Jackson book "The Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care" Sometimes it is so brain boggling. I have been reading through the articles on Pete Ramey's website [www.hoofrehab.com] That have been helping too.

It has been so muddy here that it is really nice to have chaps!! I don't mind picking up the horses feet now when they are covered in mud!! :)

That is all for now!
~K

Tool arrived!

Well at least some of them!! The rasp, chaps, and nippers came in today!! We had to sent the chaps back though because they had some parts missing :( They were really cool though!!

I can't believe this is actually happening!! I am planning on watching more of the Pete Ramey DVD's later today. Right now I am learning about Laminitis!!!! Really rather interesting! :)

Well that is all for now!
~K

P.S. Today I was looking at Twosox's feet and on his back right foot he has literally NO collateral groove near the apex of his frog!! So I that means that his sore it really thin so that will have to grow a lot more!! On his front feet though he has a good depth on his collateral grooves.

Tools ordered!

Well yesterday we ordered the tools that I will need to start trimming. It is kind of scary but I know that God will help me through it. I am still watching my way through the Pete Ramey DVD's. Plus reading the Jaime Jackson book. Things are really making sense. There is a lot to read, watch process etc but it will all come together... hopefully ;)

On Friday I got a pair of gloves. There were a lot of different gloves to pick from but these ones seemed to be the best choice.  Here is a pic.....

Prince has gotten A LOT better with me handling his feet. The other day he handed me his back foot and let me hold it, pick it out, put it down and pick it back up again etc and he was perfect!!! I was so proud of him!!!!!

I am not sure what horse I will end up trimming first. I guess I will have to wait and see how each horse progresses.

Well that is all for now!

~K

Brain overload!

I have been watching the Pete Ramey DVD's and reading some of the articles on his website. Talk about brain over load!!

To tell you the truth before today I didn't think I would be able to make it! It was confusing and sounded difficult!! But this morning my mom and I sat down and started watching more of the DVD's. Things started to make sense and come together. We had to take a short break so I read another article off the website and that was really helpful.

I am started to see things in my horses feet that are interesting. I am now excited about it! I can hardly wait to learn more!! I ordered a book written by Jaime Jackson called "Horse Owners Guide to Natural Hoof Care" or something like that. Well it came in today!!!!! It looks AMAZING!! I flipped through it and am really excited about reading. Not that I need another book to read but it will be worth it.

 Anyways. That is all for now.
~K 

The picture says it all.....

          

Well the Pete Ramey "Under the Horse" DVD set has come. It arrived yesterday. I have watched the first two DVD's. It is a little bit confusing at parts but the articles on his website have been really helpful too. I am looking forward to watching more!!

Prince and Twosox have been doing really well with there feet. I have been able to pick up there feet. There is still a long way to go but they are a million times better already!!

~K

And so it begins...

Well today my dad ordered the Pete Ramey natural hoof trimming DVD's. So my journey begins. I am excited but at the same time a little scared. I just have to keep telling myself that God is in control and He will help me do a good job.

I worked on picking up Prince's feet today. His front feet are coming a long really well. He will let me hold them longer and let me pick them out, move them around etc. His back feet are worse though.We will get there. I took about 1 hour and 30 minutes today to work with them. It is a huge trust issue for Prince and I can understand that.

I am excited though. It should be fun and a new learning experience!!

~K

Progress!!

All four of the horses got their feet trimmed this past weekend. They all did really well!! Even Prince, who is normally a problem was almost perfect!!! So it was really nice to see that the work I did was paying off!!!

I was able to ask some questions to the lady that trims our horses and so I have a really good idea of what I will be doing when I start trimming them. She showed me what she was doing and why she was doing it. So that was good!!

Anyways. I am still trying to do something with the horses feet everyday. Some days I don't make it because it has been really rainy but they are getting so much better!!!

~K

With in the near future I want to learn how to trim my horses feet. So I have started getting them ready so that they will be really good with handling their feet. All four of our horses are pretty good with there feet but each one of them have "issues" [for lack of a better word].

So Lord willing I am going to go out every day for the next while and spend time with each horse, picking up their feet, rubbing their legs, and just getting them used to everything.

I have done this for two days now. I pretty much know each strategy that I am going to use with each horse.

- For my Left Brain Introvert I am going to hold his feet for a short time then let him have a rest and maybe some oats or something. Prince [my LBI] will pick up and hold his foot really nicely for a little bit but then he starts struggling and wants it back. Now with his back legs I have to play more friendly before I pick them up and then do the same thing, hold it for a little bit then put it back down. Each time I will hold each foot a little bit longer till he will let me hold it for a long time and let me move it around with out him struggling and pulling his foot back.

- For my Right Brain Introvert I am just going to spent a lot of time massaging his legs even before I pick them up. Especially his back legs!! As soon has I pick them up he gets worried and freezes. His front feet are pretty good but he still get worried after a while. So Twosox will probably be the easiest because once he gets more confident then he should do really well.

- My sister's Left Brain Extrovert will be a little more tricky. I have to be quick at first then gradually lengthen how long I am holding his feet. He gets bored SO easily so that should be fun!!

- My mom's Left Brain Introvert is really good with his feet. So I have to keep it interesting and advance it before he gets bored. His back feet are a little harder to pick up then his front feet but one you are holding it he is fine. With Knightly I have to work on the pick up of his feet. Once you are holding his feet he will let you hold it no problem but it is when you ask him to pick it up he can be a little more difficult.

So I have my work cut out for me but even though I have only been doing this two days I can already see a change!!! I it will be interesting to see what they are all like after 4-7 days.

~K