[jen judkins]

Jeremy, Rolling and lying down are very natural and healthy for horses. Your friend has made an incorrect association..that of a horse with colic who is rolling or flailing violently. The rolling doesn’t cause the colic…the colic causes the violent rolling.

Its a common misunderstanding.

[jen judkins]

Sounds perfect, Ed! Send your daughter over to my place when she is home from college and has the riding itch…I can keep her busy!;)

[jen judkins]

😀 😀 😀 Awesome!

[jen judkins]

I agree with Carl. I have learned to do my own trimming and if I decided to shoe my horses regularly, I would learn to shoe as well. To me, its part of my responsibility as caretaker, not necessarily about saving money.

I understand why some don’t want to take on the responsibility and there are some quite frankly who shouldn’t. The care of the foot, is extremely important for a working animal. As they say, ‘no foot, no horse’. While, it may not be rocket science, it is a craft that needs careful attention and some education.

[jen judkins]

George, Easy Boot makes their whole line including the Epics up to size 4. I’ve got an order in with Renedage Boots (http://www.renegadehoofboots.com) for a custom pair of Ice boots for Reno, but I probably won’t see them till spring:rolleyes:. I had to build a cast of his foot to get these built, and I’m still not sure how much they will set me back.

[jen judkins]

@Joshua Kingsley 16728 wrote:

Jen, I was doing alot of road driving so I was worried more about them wearing down on the blacktop. That was the motivation for shoes, I wouldn’t need shoes being on all sand here on the farm otherwise.
Joshua

The question is…are they really wearing too much? My experience (and I do alot of riding on black top) is that the stimulus supplied by the harder surface and the hoof growth in response outweighs the wearing effect. Meaning, the hard surface actually produces a harder, more durable foot which wears down more slowly. Just something to consider.

So shoe them if they are indeed getting foot sore from wear on the pavement, but not because you are afraid they will.

[jen judkins]

I don’t shoe my horses very often. I had my saddle horse shod for skijoring season this winter…shoes, studs, pads…the works and that cost me 140.00. I think you will expect to pay at least 100-120 bucks per horse, depending where you are…and that fee assumes your horses stand like rocks for shoeing.

Do they really need shoes? I haven’t found too many situations where mine do. Even in snow and ice…unless they are hauling a really heavy load (or need to go really, really fast:D)…I don’t find they need shoes.

[jen judkins]

@goodcompanion 16589 wrote:

I do worry about the suction on the clay bottom but it’s worth trying.

I hadn’t considered footing in my previous post. In my experience, horses do not like sinking into deep mud…for many obvous reasons. So if the below water footing is really spongy and likely to be deep, I would hesitate to use a horse. The risk of injury is much higher in that situation. If I did, I would at least pull their shoes if they wear them.

[jen judkins]

Diesel and Duke….perfect!

[jen judkins]

Erik, I disagree that horses are averse to water. They may be initially, but once they understand water, they love it, in my experience. I have a saddle horse who would jump a mile to avoid a mud puddle. Once I got him used to wading in water, he loved it. He would drag me to the nearest swimming area when on trail rides. As long as they can touch the bottom, you have the same steering you do on dry land. Sounds like a fun enterprise. I might have to drive up and take a look… Jennifer.

[jen judkins]

@Tim Harrigan 16581 wrote:

Yes, they have a way of humbling you just when you think you are getting pretty good.

Yeah, thats about the size of it, Tim! Humble pie…all around tonight!

[jen judkins]

Haha! This is so perfect…the laugh is on me! I’ve been following this thread as a ‘junior teamster’ thinking…I’m good, Reno stands good for me. I can leave him for minutes and come back and find him in the same place. I work at it after all. Like Carl, I don’t have time to tie my horse up everytime I have to go do something! I don’t work in the woods with horse AND chainsaw, so I generally don’t have to think about tying my good boy to anything. I just measure the likelihood he will leave, and wager wisely.

Today, while twitching a log, he walked off. Blew my mind. I caught him…dove to my knees in the mud to catch the lines and stopped him. Too funny! That’s the first time…you guys are a jinx!

[jen judkins]

@Joshua Kingsley 16567 wrote:

Now the issue is getting another set of collars as they have sweated out of the ones I was using.

Haha! I sure hope Reno ‘sweats out’ of his soon….its getting a tad snug:rolleyes:

Another gorgeous day and I have the afternoon to play with horses…

[jen judkins]

Welcome to spring fever!

[jen judkins]

@Theloggerswife 16539 wrote:

I can see Reno out there dragging your pasture and all the neighbors stopping to watch what you are up to NOW!

What do you say I just strap the thing to him while he is out grazing! Kind of like that robot vacuum thingy…he gets exercise, and the crap gets busted up without me lifting a finger 😀

Totally kidding…

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