I'm Really Getting the Hang of This

I trimmed Cherry again today, and I'm proud to say that the whole thing took less than a hour! Including scrutinizing her feet and walking her out after, it only took about 50 minutes. This is less than half the time it took the first time! Progress!

One reason it's taking less time now is that I'm trimming every two weeks instead of four or five. It appears that two weeks or just under that is the right time to trim. I base it off of where the hoof wall is in relation to the sole, as I want to keep the wall off the ground until all the flares have grown out. As soon as I notice that the wall is longer than the sole, out comes the rasp.

So shorter trim intervals means there's less there to trim. Today I barely scraped at the seat of the corn, rasped a tiny bit off her heels and re-did the mustang roll. I think next trim it'll be time to back up her toes again, but we'll see.

The other reason things are going faster is that I'm much more comfortable with the tools now. At first, I was so afraid of taking too much hoof off that I barely scraped at it. Kind of like a timid child will barely brush the horse with their legs and whisper "walk" because they don't want to hurt the horse. Well, it's a horse, it takes a lot more than that to hurt them, just like it takes a lot more than one pass with the rasp to damage the hoof. Now I'm more confident and rasping goes much faster.

One thing I've noticed lately is that Cherry's stance has changed. She used to stand with her feet kind of tucked under her body, usually not squared up at all. Now she stands square more often than not, and her legs go straight down to the ground instead of being angled underneath her.

That was a big realization for me, and now I look for it. Sometimes she stands funny just for the heck of it, but most of the time she stands square now. I also note how some of the other horses stand, and one in particular never stands square. She doesn't look particularly comfortable, and usually has her front legs splayed out. It's interesting because I've never paid that much attention before, but now it just screams at me.

There's something else I've noticed too. Cherry seems much more relaxed lately and more, I don't know, "dopey" under saddle. It's actually been freaking me out slightly, because I'm used to her being very "get up and go!" In the past, being chill usually meant that something was wrong. But I can't find anything wrong. Perhaps it's age, perhaps it has to do with the changes in her hoof care.

Under saddle she's been different too. I'm not sure how to describe it, just very relaxed and not in a hurry to do anything. Well, besides get back to the barn at dinner time. Again, this worries me a little. Thinking logically, though, I feel better. She evades and communicates displeasure by going up. Head up, shoulders tense, back hollow, gaits very bouncy and uncomfortable. If she gets agitated enough she'll either rear or bolt. None of this is happening. Head is low, back is relaxed (not exactly engaged, but not tense and hollow), gaits are slow and smooth. I'm not used to this at all. It's rather nice.

Maybe some of this is due to age. She is 20 after all, it's not like her body isn't slowing down. I'm hoping that with consistent work she'll be ride-able for several more years. But I also think this is partly due to her "new feet" and the fact that she's much more comfortable now. Whatever it is, I like this new Cherry!