The first picture is of one of Arnold, the worlds most handsomest donkey ever, well, (that is what we call him) hooves. It shows my farrier using his knife to trim.
The second picture is of a hoof on our Mustang aka The Dragon!
The third picture is of our Rocky Mountain mare Pewter's hoof. She is very prone to laminitis ( which is an inflammation of the hooves and can be deadly if not taken care of). Pewter is on a very strict diet to make sure she doesn't have another bout of laminitis. At the end of this blog I will explain what laminitis it.
This is Pewter and Joe my farrier. Pewter is such a good girl she stands there like a lady and lets Joe make her feet all pretty.
This is AJ aka The Dragon. She is good girl and stands there, but as you can see she is not a happy camper. AJ is also on a very strict diet because she has a weight issue. Heck, she can look at a picture of grass and gain weight. She is what is called a very easy keeper.
This is Arnold, the world's most handsomest donkey ever. When we first got him as a rescue he was underweight and did not want his feet touched in any way shape or form. It took a lot of hours, patience and committment to get him to where he is now. He is so good now that he knows if he just stands there quietly and get his feet trimmed, the sooner it is over. My farrier is very gentle and showed Arnold that getting his feet trimmed is not a bad thing and that nothing will hurt him.
Arnold's front hoof getting polished up. Arnold's feet were very bad when we got him. And with the help of Joe, my farrier, his feet have come such a long way. In fact, Joe has kept a picture log of Arnold's feet from the first time he trimmed them and the progress those donkey feet have come. Arnold's feet will never be normal, but they sure are close.
This is Joe. He is in no doubt the best farrier around the valley ( in my opinion). He is gentle, caring, knows hooves inside and out, has a great sense of humour, etc.. Joe has been trimming all of our horses and donkeys for years. As long as Joe is a farrier and as long as we live here in the valley, no other farrier will ever touch any of our horses or donkeys feet. ****Laminitis is inflammation of the laminae, sensitive tissues that connect the hoof wall to the coffin bone and other structures of the hoof.
****The blood supply in the foot is reduced or compromised in the laminitic foot. leading to cell death.
****Lamintis can strike any breed of horse but mostly occurs in mature horses.
A little side note about the acorns. We have over fifty Oak trees on the place. Fifty oak trees drop a lot of acorns. Guess what we do when the acorns start dropping? Yup, we rake them up and get them out of the pastures. No, of course we don't get all the acorns, but we do get quite a few.
Until next time.......................
What fun to see your BIG animals up close. And this makes my nail trim the other day seem like a day at the spa. I love, love, love what you did with your blog page. And you got Rachael's blog on there too. I have to try again.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love that your farrier has kept a photo log of Arnold's feet and their improvement. That's a guy who takes pride in his work *and* loves animals, huh? You're very lucky to have him.
ReplyDeletePewter is GORGEOUS! She literally takes my breath away.
Are you able to ride AJ and Pewter?
p.s. I like your new header format and photo!
Thank you. Pewter is rideable. She is gaited so riding her is like sitting in a rocking chair. She is amazing. And she is the absolute sweetest horse ever. AJ is not rideable. She has an old injury that prevents her from being ridden. And yes, Joe ( farrier) is very caring and he does love his work. He takes a lot of pride in his job.
ReplyDelete