The good news is first. We sent an application and video footage of my trainer on Riley to the Hassler Dressage folks to be a demo rider for the Linda Zang clinic. I heard from them on Wednesday --we're in! To the left is the Web page describing the clinic and you see Ri-Ri's name as the first horse in the order of go.
Bad news follows soon after. On Thursday, Riley lost his left front shoe. It was muddy, but he's been in worse mud. I don't know quite what happened; I'm told he wasn't running, and the shoe was found in a relatively un-muddy part of the pasture. His turnout buddy lost a shoe -- found within ten feet of Riley's. Those two boys are quite the active pair in the pasture. They act like two weanlings.
My farrier was in Florida but another reputable farrier was coming out to the barn Friday. I knew Ri's foot was torn up, but when I saw the look on the farrier's face I knew it was bad. He initially told me he preferred my regular farrier reshoe him.
I don't know guys. I hope this stays on. I'm not sure if you can see in these photos, but the area below the nails is pretty much gone -- the area under the clip is sort of gone. Riley is not being turned out till after the clinic, and his days of mud/wet turnout are over. He'll be ridden in the morning and I'll lunge him lightly in the evening. My regular farrier will check it before we leave. Cross your fingers.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Linda Zang Clinic? Maybe. Crossing fingers and toes
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
Way cool!! The clinic sounds wondreful and Linda Zang has quite a good reputation.
ReplyDeleteAs for the shoe...I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. If he's kept in, there's a geed chance it will be fine.
I have a friend who was supposed to take her horse to some big competition and they day of, she positively swears her horse deliberately stepped on the shoe to get it off. You didn't by any chance, tell Riley about the clinic, did you??? *LOL*
Rats! They seem to just know, don't they?!
ReplyDeleteRats! They always seem to know, don't they?!
ReplyDeleteOh no! I hope he is OK for the clinic! :-(
ReplyDeleteI was chosen to ride with Linda Zang in a symposium back in 2009. I had a great time and would love to ride with her again!
Jesus lord, he's fucking FINE.
ReplyDeleteI think he'll be okay. Maybe talk to your farrier and see if he can put a "patch" on Riley's hoof. My horse tore out a huge chunk of his hoof a few years ago, and if the farrier hadn't filled in the area with either hard plastic or silicon (I forgot which), I wouldn't have been able to ride him for months. His hoof finally regrew back after about nine months.
ReplyDeleteI wavered on whether to post the last anon post -- I'm not fond of seeing the f-bomb thrown around. It's just kind of ugly, and over such an innocuous topic.
ReplyDeleteThere, there. I know Ri's okay. I am, however, wondering about you.
I had to giggle when I saw todays post! Yesterday afternoon after a relaxing sleep-in and brunch I bring my pony in to find that his front left shoe is being held on only by the clips! So instead of a ride in the outdoor, and cooling out on the trails for a nice clear afternoon I got to play the shoe pulling game and the try and get the farrier to come in on a sunday game! Both my favourites :)
ReplyDeleteGood luck! I used to shoe my old horse with clips and he'd throw shoes and peel a piece off his hoof each time. Looked ugly, but I never remember having to take time off for it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Is that a misprint on the site? Wasn't Riley a '06 baby?
Yep, he's 06!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Mr. Riley will be ready to go on Saturday for the clinic! Can't wait to see video and read updates. You have got one heck of a horse. I love following the two of you. Plans for Dressage at Devon again this year? If so - we'll have to meet up! I'm making the trek from Florida:)
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being accepted for the clinic. That is way cool!
ReplyDeleteI'd certainly check with your farrier about filling the voids with epoxy. Pippin ripped out a shoe when I first got him and that was the only way we could keep it on and keep his hoof whole. The stuff was amazing!
Congratulations on the clinic! How exciting! Shoes are a pain! All my horses are now barefoot except for my big warmblood, & I did try with him, but my shoer mentioned that he was so unbalanced after 5 weeks without shoes that he had to build up his feet with filler, so he has to have shoes, but its really nice to be able to go out for a ride and not have to worry if your horse has lost one.
ReplyDeleteI would expect you to overreact about his hooves after what you've been through! No, you don't want to go without a shoe and have him be uneven, and right now there's a question of a shoe staying on - but I'd expect more of a panic note to your blog because of his past. He will be fine, though, I agree. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope he's able to stay fully shod and make it to the clinic! It's amazing how different things can affect them - my horse cast himself last summer and had three elephant-like swollen legs... without ever going lame. As his hoof grew out he had a horizontal crack, and the outer part of the hoof wall just broke off below it. Still sound, and it's more on the toe so it's not even affecting shoe stability. In the fall, though, it rained for three days and I couldn't ride him for several more because his shoes wouldn't stay on.
I only wish we were all lucky enough to have horses with hooves like my mom's Warlander, who has never had shoes and goes trail riding across sharp and pointy rocks like they're nothing!