On Tue, Nov 27, 2007 at 09:24:41PM -0500, Cherie Mascis wrote: > >>what do you think of changing stjarni's barefoot trim so he can trot? > > If he naturally trots and didn't after a trim, I would think the trim was > done incorrectly.
i guess the question is, how do we know what's "natural"? few of us have the opportunity to turn our horses out in the wild for a few years, and i'm not sure stjarni, with his fetish for tuna salad, would even enjoy that. (the actual history: stjarni had shoes. stjarni trotted (and tolted). farrier did not show up for the nth time. stjarni threw a shoe. vicka got peeved and said "just trim him barefoot". stjarni lost his trot. vicka got more peeved. vicka hired barefoot trimmer. vicka put stjarni on hoof supplement and topical hoof hardener. stjarni's trot returned.) (now vicka worries about oncoming ice and lack of borium, but holds grudges against nastybad farriers and so far merely continues to worry :/ ) i practice aikido (and have for many many years) and the more i work with beginners these days, the more i find myself saying things like "just stand there, like a normal person" and "don't PUSH, just let your hands fall to your sides, where they usually go". it's incredible just how hard it is to "act natural", let alone "move correctly". i suspect that hoof-trimming, which comes even less naturally to most people than standing or having their hands by their sides, must be even harder to learn to somehow get "right". my hat's off to whomever can do it. i did buy stjarni a pair of boots, but aside from a few times in the ring to get him used to them, we haven't actually used them -- the assorted other adjustments over the last three months seem to have taken care of most of his pain issues (and we have rocky, gravelly trails around here). it's nice to be comfortable galloping over those trails again, though; i like ring riding as much as the next person, but it is lovely to be out and about again :) --vicka
