Posted By purdylady on August 13, 2012
Life has been busy all summer. I have trimmed more horses this past July in one month than ever before. I have heard that several farriers in the area have quit or retired so my work load increased a lot. So new clients and new horses with new problems because of the drought and hay problems. So I went from trimming about 100-120 horses a month to 158 in July. I think its just crazy! I keep my calendar to where I don’t overbook and try not to rush from client to client but I am full every week day. I try not to work on the weekends because my family really does need to see me every now and then. Its exciting to see that barefoot trimming is appreciated and sought after. The word of mouth is really fanning out to other counties besides the regular Sedgwick, Butler, Cowley, and Sumner counties. I’m now going up to Harvey Co and down by Conway Springs area. I’ve always gone out to SE Kansas but now have to stay overnight to get all of them done. Usually its 7-8 clients and 24-28 horses in two days.
The kids went back to school today and the house was empty except for me, the kitty and Scott asleep. It was kind of weird. My morning client rescheduled so I didn’t have anywhere to go so I sat on the couch and watched a movie with Kitty. Kind of nice to relax for once. But once afternoon hit it was back to work. I trimmed for a new client with two foundered ponies. I’m doing a case study on one of them because of how rotated his capsules were. I will post more about it on the website but the toes were very long and the heel was so high that it was actually taller than the dorsal part of the hoof… it was negative hairline angle about 5 degrees. Then I got to the second one and one of his front hooves was so diseased that when I went to rasp just even a little bit I opened up an abscess that bleed a whole bunch. My stand looked like a prop from a horror show. I told the owner to use some No Thrush in the abscess hole as well as the frog to get it to healing before I could really remove any more hoof. I guess the farrier that came before me hit that same spot and it bled a whole bunch that time as well. He put an iodine poultice on and wrapped it with duct tape…four weeks ago. The hoof was very soft and spongy when I took the tape off. So I’m hoping the No Thrush will harden things up and get him going in the right direction.
And I think we survived another hot summer. The heat was bad but I just kept on…but occasionally had to stop because the client looked like they were going to pass out. I can always come back another day when its not so hot! I had to do that a few times since it got up to 110. As long as I’m in the shade with a breeze I do fine…its the client I have to worry about. 
This week has been great with the highs in the mid 80’s!
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Posted By purdylady on June 9, 2012
Here is what a poster put on Craigslist today… (I see farrier ads all the time but this one just really rubbed me the wrong way..)
“Trims - $25
Why should you pay barefoot trimmers that have never had formal education
More than a farrier that spent a lot of money learning how to take care of your horse
Would you go to a doctor that learned to take care of you from his brother
Or one who when to school. I have references to put behind my word just ask for them
When replying please include name and address as I have being having trouble with spam
Thanks”
So I thought about it for a while and decided to post a reply…
“Most horse owners who chose to have a barefoot trimmer are doing so because they are tired of farriers who don’t show up, don’t answer their phones, hit their horses, don’t finish the job, do an otherwise shoddy job trimming or shoeing their horses, and are overall rude people who gripe the client out for not having horses that don’t stand like statues.
Barefoot trimmers have not learned the bad habits of leaving high heels, long toes and carving out sole before putting on a shoe that doesn’t fit. Many clients complain that a week out from a traditional farrier trim their horses’ walls are cracking already. The attention to detail is lost and the communication with the client is nonexistent even when a veterinarian has said how the hoof should be trimmed. The farrier will all but ignore the pleas of the client and still leave a hoof that has heels that won’t allow the coffin bone to be placed in proper ground parallel position.
I don’t know what is taught at the horseshoeing school in Oklahoma but it obviously does not focus on proper bony column alignment or even how to run a successful business. Hitting horses and yelling at clients certainly looses business and passes along the word that horse owners don’t want to use such a person.
The proof is in the pudding and I personally wouldn’t have the client base (100+ clients/300+ horses) I do for the past six years only by word of mouth unless there was something about it that people liked for their horses.”
I’m waiting for my post to either be flagged or a few replies. I left it anonymous since I really can’t advertise because of my client load. Those reading it will immediately know who has written the reply and most likely agree with me.
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Posted By purdylady on February 14, 2012
Well, yesterday I found that Bossy had aborted her foal. He was three months too early. No real reason why this would have happened but a few days before this I saw her laying down a lot out in the pasture so I decided to put her in the round pen with Rain and Panda to keep an eye on her. I gave her some Probios paste to settle her stomach since she had what looked like the runs. She still layed down from time to time but didn’t seem to be in distress. Then yesterday I saw the foal laying on the ground off away from the mares and went to investigate. Nothing seemed grossly wrong with the foal. It was a tovero colt with really nice markings. Just born way too early to live outside the womb. So this is the last time I will breed any mares. Not only because of my heart break but because our lives have really gone a different way.
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Posted By purdylady on February 10, 2012
Laminitis is a disease of the horse; not just of the hoof. There is always an underlying reason why it happens and its up to us to figure out by process of elimination what that is. I’m going out in a limb to write that laminitis is 99%directly diet related. I would even go so far as to say that it happens probably more frequently to horses that have very consciencious owners…due to overfeeding sugars. Protein is not the problem. Its the sugar and the horse’s inability to metabolize it. What happens to a diabetic when he eats a piece of apple pie and doesn’t take any insulin. The body has an inflammatory response and every organ is at risk. It is similar in the horse, except they don’t have a pancreas and don’t secrete insulin. What goes in must be used or it becomes toxic in the hind gut. Next leeching into the blood stream, ultimately affecting the poor laminae of the hoof. Destroying the connection between hoof wall and coffin bone. Also a huge misunderstanding even among master Farriers is that the bone rotates. This is a complete fallacy. The hoof wall is no longer attached so it is pushed out and away from the bone due to forces from the ground.
What I have found works is to fix the diet first. Feeding rinsed beet pulp or a grass hay with NSC value of 10% or less like Timothy will reduce glucose levels. Next trim the hoof to where the peripheral wall is non-weight bearing. Lower the heels and rasp the toe back from the top without reducing its height. Trim this way every three weeks religiously and the new hoof will grow in about 8-1215-20 months. No shoes. No expensive medicines. Just time. Oh…and exercise.
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Posted By purdylady on January 30, 2012
Well its been a long time since I have updated my blog. With Facebook, I don’t really visit my blog as much. So I’ll just do a quick update and get everyone up to speed.
I still trim 100+ horses every month for clients. I keep very busy and trimmed more during this hot summer than I ever have. We didn’t get much riding in since it was extremely hot and we had 50+ days over 100 degrees in a row. Too hot for me and definitely too hot to ride. In fact it was so hot that we lost Trixie. She had a heat stroke on July 8th and we had to put her to sleep. It was 112 degrees that day. I am praying that this summer won’t be quite so hot.
I also think that Bossy is in foal. Scott said he felt movement the other day. I think she is also since she is very easy to walk up to and be around whereas before she really didn’t want to be around people much. She won’t be due until around the middle of May so we have a while. I plan on having an outdoor webcam since I was told by her previous owner that she doesn’t do well in a stall.
And we are riding Herfie now. Even Allison likes riding her. We have taken her on a half a dozen trail rides this past fall and now she is just pretty nice for anyone. She needs some refinement now so she is in a bit instead of the sidepull. She is just a eager and willing little horse.
Other than that not much going on…I’ll post some pictures up here soon…gotta run…horses to trim!
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Posted By purdylady on April 25, 2011
Panda had a colt on Saturday 4/23/11 at 2:30pm. We were celebrating Easter down at Scott’s parent’s house with his sister, brother in law and nephews. Earlier before we left I saw that Panda was dripping milk. I just had a feeling she would be foaling very soon. Scott said she would wait…so we went ahead with our plans.
Luckily I had been watching the webcam closely and also a viewer texted me saying “BABY NOW!” and we dashed to the truck and headed home as fast as the speed limit would allow us. Scotty didn’t even grab his shoes we left in such a hurry. I was driving and went straight to the barn and saw that the foal was out but that the sack was still partially on him. I went and removed it and then stood back. This foal was so strong that he jumped up and was standing within 20 minutes! Woohoo!
(more…)
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Posted By purdylady on April 22, 2011
Here is Bruiser…Panda’s foal from 2008. Hasn’t he grown so much? He’s a bay dun tobiano. We’ll start him under saddle real soon. (more…)
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Posted By purdylady on April 22, 2011
Well this is new territory. She didn’t do this before…Waxing…what’s that? She has white wax hanging about a 1/4″ off both teats as of noon today. So what does that mean? Well…we’ll just have to wait and see. I’m guess I foal is going to be born soon. Yippee!
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Posted By purdylady on April 22, 2011
Still waiting. 360 days. Man that’s a long time. I just pray everything is ok. Panda’s body is very ready but I guess we’re just waiting on the foal to say “all systems go.” All this next several days we’re expecting rain and thunderstorms. Surely she is going to foal soon.
One person suggested naming her Bunny if she was born on Easter. That name reminds me of Laura Ingalls black horse she rode on Little House on the Prairie. She rode it in a race and she couldn’t tell her Pa. That was one of my favorite episodes.
So Scott is supposed to call me if anything changes. I have my phone plugged into the charger in the wall in my bedroom so I won’t have a dead phone. I couple of times I’ve woken up and my phone is totally dead. How is anyone going to call me if my phone is off? So anyway…call me or text if anything strange is going on…like Panda laying down more than once in an hour. She may only lay down one time and then push a foal out. She hasn’t laid down in several days that we’ve seen. Surely her legs are getting a bit tired.
So I’m off to bed…its 1:45am Friday morning. The kids are home from school today and I have trims in the morning at 9am. Trims in the afternoon at 4pm and 5pm…
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Posted By purdylady on April 20, 2011
But I really really think tonight is the night for Panda. When I went to express some milk it shot out. Still a clear/white color but a little on the sweet side. And when I checked her vulva it is bright red and very swollen to where its sticking out.
I just pray that we have a uneventful textbook delivery and a healthy foal. Never before have I been worried like this but I’m still so shell shocked about Seneca’s foal that I’m just constantly thinking about what I need to do when the time comes for this foal. I’m ready and have my foaling supplies all right there in the barn. I have plenty of people who will let me know if I’m sleeping when she decides to finally foal.
My friend Cathy’s mare, GG, is very close to foaling also. She’s a little bitty mini mare who has had more than one foal before. She’s pretty darn cute. The link to watch that one is at http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=starlane
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