Barefoot Jedi - Day 3

Jedi has now been barefoot for 3 WHOLE DAYS, and he's getting a bit more used to it. We had our first ride today and all. He's still quite sore over the gravel or any rocky ground (that will take months I imagine), but he's getting better all the time. I took him for a walk down the end of our property yesterday to catch my son's Shetland, and he coped really well. He's still walking a little short, but seems way more comfortable than the first day.

Jedi spends the entire time in a large-ish paddock with Tux (who hoons around and makes Jedi move, bless him), where there is a wide variety of terrain, from soft grass to rocky clay. It's perfect for Jedi at this stage.

I called up Michael at Easycare Downunder to ask about boots. He advised it would be a complete waste of money getting them until after the first trim cycle (4 weeks!!) as the foot would change shape so much. Also, Jedi's front feet are wider than they are long by more than 2cm which means no boots will fit him at this point. Sheesh.

But I wanna ride, dammit! So, given Jedi's discomfort, I dug out an old pair of Cavallo boots I'd bought Assegai, a warmblood I first got introduced to barefoot with. They fit Jedi's hooves quite well, but were a little loose around the pastern but they stayed on and would be just fine for me to lead Jedi over the road to our friend's arena with.

All went well, though Jedi was still choppy in the trot on the arena and very Pepe Le Pew in the canter. For the 3rd day, though, I was pretty impressed. I think this will be a shorter transition than I imagined. Fingers crossed!

Luckily, it's quite dry and windy out here today and there's no rain in sight for a little while, giving his hooves a chance to harden up and fight that seedy toe. He's quite stoic, as are most TBs, so he's giving it his best shot.

Pics below of his hooves as of today:

The clunky clacky Cavallos

Off hind that had the very nasty crack, it's now been re-sected to remove seedy toe

Near fore re-sected to remove seedy toe. Very boxy shape but good integrity to the hoof wall

Underside of off fore. Looks pretty good really. Heels will let down and frog will grow a bit.

Near hind that had the big chunk out. Still does!

Underside of near hind. The chunk missing has encouraged flare on that side to compensate. Great frog though.

Frankenfoot. The off hind up close.

But underneath it's not so bad.

The good hoof, near fore. Still boxy, but no major cracks or chunks out of it.

That integrity is borne out underneath. Some sole to flake off but a good sized frog and wider heels than the other front.

From here, it's just a case of doing what we've been doing. Exercise over varying terrain, low GI diet, regular trimming every fortnight or so (I do the touch up trim in between Kirsten the Wonder Trimmer.

I've asked Kirsten to keep the wall a little longer than she normally does on other horses to minimise this issue of soreness post-trim. I have a real issue with it and certainly the majority of trimmers today seem to see it as acceptable. I vehemently disagree and have found that asking for a longer wall (most trimmers will take the wall back to even with the sole and trim the sole too) means my horses are never sore post-trim. Which I think is essential to from an ethical and riding point of view.

I'll take some more pics in a week or two to document the changes. Next blog will be about Uno - he's getting an assessment from the vet next week to see if he can get parole. Fingers crossed for us!