Looking on the bright side

Riley is officially barefoot until further notice. After a frank conversation with my farrier he said, "if he was my horse this is what my plan of action would be" and we followed it. He came out, scolded Riley for pulling another shoe, was not devastated by the damage he did removing said shoe, and trimmed him all around. He did remark on what fantastic back feet he has. So that's something... which brings me to focus of this post. Looking on the bright side.

I am generally an optimistic individual. I have been known to cheer lead for those around me during hard times, I am excellent at seeking out silver linings and clinging to them as a source of hope when everything seems bleak. I've had a significant amount of diversity in my life and it's this characteristic that has helped me persevere. However, I am not immune to feeling sorry for myself and I definitely get the-whole-world-is-working-against-me-why-can't-I-get-a-break kind of feeling. Especially regarding Riley.

He's my first horse. I've waited 30 years (I took my first lesson when I was 4) to finally have a horse of my own and he's been more or less un-rideable since May. I didn't want to look at my Google calendar to confirm this, but I did yesterday and discovered that I've sat on him maybe 12 times since his PPE. The calendar is checkered with "lame", "almost sound", "NQR", "pulled shoe" notes. We've hardly made any progress due to all of these starts and stops and it's hard to see those around me (near and far) out having a great time on their horses who seemingly never have these issues! I know that 90% of this is out of my control, but it still makes me feel like a less than adequate horse owner. I question myself daily if I am actually doing everything I can to make sure that he'll improve.

Monday, when the farrier was there and my horse stood like a complete angel dozing off in the cross ties, I had a moment of self-awareness. I've been tunnel-visioned regarding his soundness and hoof issues which has blurred my thinking about him. I was so focused on not being able to ride and how my life wasn't fair and I forgot about all of the good things about him (not completely, they just weren't in the forefront of my mind). So with that in mind, I wanted to make a list of positive things about my horse, after all horse ownership is a lot more than just riding.

Riley's positive qualities:
*he's cute
*despite not being in steady work, he paints a nice picture conformationally
*he has terrific hind feet (hey, 2 out of 4 ain't bad!)
*he's a kind horse
*he's not spooky (he's no dead head either)
*he's a good role model (seriously, put a naughty horse out in the pasture with him)
*he's a good sport (if you're going to be my horse you have to be willing for me to do a lot of stupid things around you)
*he's a nice mover
*he's game (he's never said NO to anything I've asked of him -- okay, maybe the right lead canter)
*he's a great helper for young/green horses (ie, he doesn't get worked up when other horses are losing their minds)
*he loads like a champ
*he comes to me when I call him (I love this)
*he settles quickly
*he is friends with everyone (even though he gets a little beat up in the pasture)
*he loves going to new places
*he's tolerant (he's only ever thought about being naughty)
*he's easy to handle 98% of the time
*he's uncomplicated to ride
*he's willing (I've always said the most important quality about a horse is that they meet you half way)
*he's young (our journey has only just begun)

chowing down on his bute mix

**I'm sure there are more things I could add here, but I'm not sure a list of all the reasons my pony is the best make for good reading. I guess I've just been feeling really low about all of this lately. I've been hiding it a little, but honestly when he pulled that RF shoe on our gorgeous ride the other day I wanted to burst into tears. I felt so utterly defeated and no amount of talking me off the ledge was going to change that. But, after a day or so to reflect, I decided that I have to be proactive about his hoof health and start to look for positive things instead of feeling sorry for myself (which to be honest, is not a good look for me). I gave up all authority to my farrier who I trust implicitly and together we decided that barefoot was going to be the best thing as long as we could a.) keep him comfortable and b.) keep him in work (not necessarily for my agenda, but to keep circulation and to stimulate hoof growth) -- he simply said the hoof he will have 6 months ago will look and feel so different that it will be worth watching him gimp around for a little bit. He liked the idea of using boots (he has another sport horse client that swears by Cavallo boots) so I don't just have to stick to arena footing for work. I picked up some over the weekend (they were too big so I exchanged them) and he fitted them on Monday to make sure they fit perfect (and they did!). We'll start slowly as the boots take a little while to break in, so we'll keep the sessions around 20 minutes and I'll try to mix up the work. I think I'll do a little on the lunge line at first to let him get his bearings with the new footwear and then we'll start hacking around the property at the walk and build up from there. My short term hope is to get him comfortable enough without shoes before the ground hardens for winter.

A few comparison photos:

Fronts (I know, terrible comparison photos -- I'll get better ones) The top image is post-trim after he had his shoes pulled on July 7th. The bottom photo is pre-trim September 16th. Not tons of change here, but at least he doesn't have saucepans for feet anymore, slightly less flare to be seen, but I'll have to get better photos to truly decide that.

I see a lot of change here. Same order for photos as above. The angles of his hoof wall are much different and his heels are starting to look less contracted. It's crazy to think that he was standing so much on his heels before! The one this he has going for him is that he grows a good hoof wall! P's theory is to continue to bring back the toe, but obviously he has to go as slowly as the hoof tells him. I think they look much improved after just 2.5 months.

You know, the craziest thing about hoof problems is being patient. The progress and change comes so slightly and in such incremental amounts that you can make yourself crazy looking for it. I'm hoping that his soles will improve and I'm happy to hear suggestions for products that you guys like! We're using double strength Farrier's Formula and Venice Turpentine already.