Feet feat

I'm relieved the thing is done now because I was absolutely dreading it, but I can't quite stop the worrying. I'm mainly in control, but then there are those stomach churning moments when I think too much.

I had to work the next day, which meant leaving without seeing Sammie first to satisfy myself that he had survived the night. Course he had, and I knew it in my heart, but still, there is that compulsion to check. So I sent a text asking my YM if the boy was ok. I knew I was asking for it. She said both his feet had fallen off in the night but they had managed to glue them back on, followed up with yes, he was fine and seemed to be striding out boldly across the field. He'd had a pretty calm and restful day in his stable as well.

He was pleased to see me today and I took him out to give his feet a clean and check. Not sure what I'm looking for but just feel the need to do it. He was well behaved as usual - lifting each foot before I even asked for it. My farrier had advised me to keep them as dry as possible and just brush anything off rather than go in there with water or anything.

Sammie still seemed a little post-sedation sleepy to me but soon woke up when he sensed dinner was on the way and gobbled the whole lot up - that's always a good sign for Sammie. I took him up to the field on his own while his field mates were finishing off there feed and he seemed ok. To me he just seems a little unsure, but I guess it must be a bit of an odd feeling after having shoes on.

The hoof hardener goes on again tomorrow and then on Friday I think I might take him down to the school and just walk around on the long lines. I know I won't be able to take my eyes off those hind feet but I keep telling myself that if there are going to be problems they won't manifest immediately anyway.

So yes, I'm very, very relieved that bit is over, but the next few months are going to be a testing time in more ways than one.

I think one thing that Sammie does know is that he is loved - warts and all. He had a five year old feeding him Polos the other day and YM said that even when Sammie was pulling a few faces, the little boy wasn't scared one little bit. Other people on the yard are always so honoured when Sammie decides that he'll talk to them. I always hear reports of "Oh he actually let me hug him today" and "Oh he was so sweet today, he just let me stroke his face forever."

You see, Sammie is well aware of this 'Treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen' technique - I think it must be an Irish thing.

The deed is done

Both shoes are off and now we are in the lap of the Gods. I haven't been able to eat or think straight all day. Fortunately I was busy at work, but it still didn't stop my stomach churning every time it crossed my mind.

The vet phoned me this morning and said she could totally understand where I was coming from. She thought we'd done brilliantly to get as far as we have, considering the type of horse Sammie is, and said that you really do have to call it a day when you feel at risk for yourself and others. I ran through what we were planning to do and she had nothing to add. She said only time would tell and that she knows I will be taking every precaution I can.

So we all met up at 5pm today and Sammie was such a good boy for his injection. No snarling, just a couple of stamps of the foot. Even the vet was amazed by how much better he was as she hasn't given him an injection for over a year now. He went into 'hardly standing' mode in no time at all. YM took one look at me and asked if I'd like her to hold Sammie's feet. I was so grateful as I think I'd lost my bottle a bit. She did a brilliant job and the farrier did his job as quick as he could.

My vet was so nice about it all and said it was a shame, but you do have to be realistic. She said Sammie's looking so good and that his feet are looking so much better (including his fronts) - you should never say never.

Then our farrier took me through some photos of barefoot feet in his Pete Ramey book and told me to study them in the copy I've got at home. He also gave me a rasp to keep Sammie familiar with the process - not doing anything drastic just neatening up if I want to and we've booked our next appointment for July. Such a nice man - I can't believe how lucky I was to find him.

So we left Sammie in his box to sleep it off a bit, and then I brought him out to get the hoof hardener on. I did it on my own and he was as good as gold. By the time all the jobs had been done he was back with us so he went out to the field looking a wee bit sleepy but awake enough to take care of himself.

YM is going to bring him down and take him up to the field on his own for the next few days so she can control where he's walking and just go at the speed he wants to go.

Who knows what will happen next and where we will be this time next year. All I know is that I really have done my best and I will continue to do so.

Sammie Dancin'

I explained to my Riding Instructor (she comes to me every other week) about the situation I find myself in with Sammie about to go barefoot on his backs. She checked his shoes to make sure our efforts during the week hadn’t twisted his shoes and said she thought it would be a good idea to do some long reining practice if that was going to be the way forward with Sammie for the time being.

She's such a realistic and practical person and after hearing the whole story she made the point that he is now happier, healthier and has more muscular strength than he had before so that might just be the key to history repeating itself. She also said it might be a good idea just to get the vet out every couple of months or so just to check him over and put my mind at rest as she knows I'll be worrying like crazy and that could put me off working him.

Anyway enough of that... onto long lining, or long reining, which is what I think we were doing today. Well, my RI made me sick! I know Sammie's a good boy and we're not doing badly, but it was a whole new level watching what she can coax out of him with seeming ease. Sammie was as sharp as pin once she laid down the ground rules. He did his lovely trotting and then I mentioned that the canter (especially on the right) could be more problematical. "Ok", she said with a grin on her face. And Sammie literally just popped into canter. I couldn't even see what she did it was so smooth.

In fact all she did was get the trot right and then moved her inside hand forward with a click click sound to encourage him. I thought it just can't be that simple, but I managed it as well. Couldn't believe it. A lot of it is to do with keeping your horse's attention totally on you and RI had Sammie's attention hook, line and sinker. He was dancin'!

Oh and to bring him back to walk she just whistled very softly (makes you breathe out) and to stop completely it was two low whistles. She also reminded me about positioning of my own body, which had gone a bit off the boil as well.

She kept making the point that he has to do as I ask. If he goes off wrongly, he has to be brought back to start again. All the stuff I know, but often put up with because it's just Sammie and me, and we get into a bit of a routine about things, or perhaps too much familiarity.

"Precision" is a good word to describe RI's way of working. And Sammie wasn't stressed out at all. He worked hard seemed to actually quite enjoy it - he certainly had his horizontal ear action going on. She calls those "clicker ears" because they're relaxed, but focusing on what's being asked rather than anything going on around them.

Then it was lateral work. The lines went on the higher rings and she made it look so darned easy to get him to move across, crossing his back legs like a pro. I got in a bit of a tangle when I tried and found it all rather confusing, but at least I know it's possible and I'll just have to try to work on it. Then it was the start (only the very start) of piaffe - not something you can try on your own I think, but good to see. You back up in a two time rhythm with someone at the front end and then you let them ping them forwards. Sammie managed two steps of it I think, but boy, did he look impressive!

Then we tried a wee bit of Spanish Walk as Sammie was starting to offer it for some reason. RI got him to walk forwards on a good contact and she was close to his body. She had both reins in one hand and a lunging stick in the other. She just pointed to the inside leg and said "Up" and bless him he remembered - only with the inside leg but he was still moving forwards which is the important thing. Then the little love started offering both legs up (probably to see if he could get himself an extra treat, which he did of course!) and he looked just wonderful. So up, proud and boingy, but in control. Then he got a bit confused and over excited and did a sort of bow with both legs forward which made RI chuckle.

As I said, it made me quite sick to see just how good someone else is with him, but I really love this stuff and I think it's so good for the horse to be able to do it all without the distraction of a rider on board.

Crikey, if I left my RI to long rein Sammie for a month, he'd be an absolute star by the end. She said he'd probably worked harder than he would in a ridden lesson but he didn't really give her an ounce of trouble once she got him on her wavelength. He's more balanced on the left rein than the right but with work like that I'm sure we could even up quite nicely. I'd have lessons like that all week if I could, I just find it so fascinating.

It was good to do something so positive after the week I've had. Lord knows what we're going to be facing over the next few months, but Sammie has proved himself to be such a willing and talented lad over the last year - he was just waiting for us to find the right buttons that were hidden so deeply.

The Big Decision

Well I had to make a decision and I've made it.

A second visit from our very kind farrier this week to see if Sammie’s backs could be sorted (it’s a long story) and Sammie was not having any of it. You could just feel the tension and fear in him, and when we made the attempt to remove the shoe, the adrenalin kicked in. No damage was done but I just knew it wasn't going to happen. We had a couple of goes, but the feeling was not good at all. I just know it from handling him over all these years. The Sedalin didn't even seem to be touching the sides either. I think Sammie knew what was going to happen well in advance.

Farrier looked at me and said if I was his daughter he wouldn't want me putting myself in this position. I think my 'SAS roll' of Monday when Sammie shunted me aside shocked the farrier more than it did me.

So as I said, I've been thinking long and hard. Where do I start?

Firstly, my farrier is not going to be around for us forever and I know there's not another farrier that would do what he does.

Secondly, whilst Sammie has improved a bit, one can't afford to make one mistake in this area at all, but we're human and mistakes are going to happen - whether that's the farrier accidentally touching a leg with a rasp or what happened on Monday when Sammie stamped at the wrong moment and pricked his back hoof with a nail. If you make a mistake you take more than one step backwards, Sammie almost reverts right back to the beginning again.

Thirdly, I know it puts the fear of God in Sammie having his backs shod, and I just hate the fact I have to do this to him. That pulling and banging is just too much for him - I can feel it - it's like a time bomb waiting to go off.

And fourthly, yes I admit, being flung across the yard has knocked my confidence and reminded me what a dangerous position I'm in - not because Sammie wants to hurt me, but because by trying to get free, he could fling me in a really awkward way and I could do some real damage to myself. Then who would look after Sammie?

Some might think I'm a coward, but believe me you wouldn't want to feel that tension and fear in your hands holding one of Sammie’s back hooves while the farrier gets to work.

So I had three options.

Number one was to go back to what we used to do - knock Sammie out within an inch of his life on Sedalin with vet sedation and just hope he can cope with it (although he's still capable of kicking off in that state). I don't want to have to do that to him every five weeks - we all know it's not good for a horse.

Number two is to send him away to someone who can work with him on the problem. I have my doubts here. This is a really ingrained fear in Sammie and one that he just hasn't let go off. Sammie is also a different animal away from home, so I think that he might show signs of improvement whilst away but revert when he comes back. I also think it would knock him back in the confidence and trust stakes if I was to send him away into the hands of someone else.

Number three is to get the Vet out to dope him, remove the back shoes, get kind and patient farrier to trim the hinds and try him barefoot on the back. Yes I know, my worst fear because of what happened before (abscess), but to me this is the option I have to take.

I really have thought about it. Sammie's feet are stronger than they were after his operation, his frogs are so much better and the hooves are in much better shape. My farrier does a lot of barefoot trimming and has managed to improve Sammie’s hinds even though he can't do the complete job he would like to do. I know Sammie can take the trimming and rasping on the hinds and he can tolerate the shoeing on the front. Ok we might still need some Sedalin and help for the hinds but the things that panic Sammie are when the shoes are being wrenched off (especially if the pinchers get a bit caught) and when the shoes are being banged on. If he panics at the pulling off stage (and believe me it's not easy getting those shoes off) we've set him off feeling bad for having new shoes nailed on.

I'm going to talk to my vet about it and do everything I can to try and help Sammie cope barefoot on the hinds - whether it's me learning to rasp to keep the feet in shape between visits or supplements or whatever. My farrier has a lot of knowledge about barefoot horses and said all he'll do the first time is just roll the toe back a bit. I think we stand a better chance than we did with previous farriers who were less patient, less understanding and perhaps a little afraid of Sammie, and didn't have the knowledge trim for barefoot, but trimmed for shoeing.

It will mean changing our exercise routine to toughen the feet up a bit. Lots of walking on tarmac and soft ground to let him acclimatise. I know I can do all of that stuff and I'm happy to walk with Sammie for miles. We'll still be able to do stuff in the school. I'll just have to watch it on the hacking front until we think they're strong enough. That's if we get that far of course. Yes, I know the worst might happen and if it does I'll do the right thing by Sammie as awful at that sounds.

I haven't taken this decision lightly. I’m not just giving up or being a coward. But I do have to be realistic and I do have to take into account the other people involved here. It's not a money thing or a making my life easy thing - it's a whole lot more than that.

My farrier didn't pressurise me at all. He was prepared to come out again on Saturday and give it another go. I just looked at him and he said, "You've been thinking haven't you?" I think Monday brought a lot of things to a head and I knew it was time to make a call on the whole thing.

I've got to be brave, I've got to be responsible, I've got to be realistic and I'm going to have to be very positive.

I'm going to try and get the Vet out on Monday or Friday, when my farrier free. And then of course I'll be worrying myself stupid when those shoes are off. My yard manager had a good old chat with me about it and I said that I'll know immediately if it's going wrong, so she asked me to explain all the signs. She said she'll do anything she can to help and will obviously keep an eagle eye on him as well.

Sammie went out to his field quite happily this evening and I'll just take him for a walk tomorrow although I'm finding it hard to batt back the tears when I look at him at the moment. But that's not going to help so I'm just going to have to control myself.

Shake my booty

"Well look at this folks. Just look at how splendidly my beautiful bottom has developed over the last year (just compare left to right) - have you ever seen anything finer? My human kept saying that my exercise routine would get results and I hate to admit it, but she was right. Now I can shake my fine old booty at all the girls and it just sends 'em wild."

That splendid bottom is the result of long lining primarily backed up with hacking and more recently some decent riding instruction. Who said you need to ride a horse to build them up? Yes, it's part of the mix, but consistent long lining without a rider to contend with is one of the best forms of exercise in my opinion (and I think Max's Mum would agree wholeheartedly with me) Oh and the physio agrees with me too.

Sammie is a whole lot better to ride now. Much more responsive and willing. I put that down to building a good relationship on the ground, getting him stronger without a rider and then finding an instructor who knows how to keep a horse relaxed but learning at the same time. She's got me into better shape as well.

So now Sammie has a bottom he can be rightly proud of and with his summer coat coming through, it's very shiny too!

Something afoot

A small miracle occurred today. Since the day he came into my life, Sammie has always had trouble with farriers. He dislikes them intensely and nobody could manage to shoe his hinds without a great deal of doping or a knock out injection.

His problem wasn’t helped by his hind foot problem which resulted in an operation in 2006. I can’t describe the hell he went through and how he nearly gave up. I’ll never know how he came through it all but he did and he was still prepared to try and trust.

After the operation the only way to shoe him was with the Vet giving him an injection so he was hardly able to stand up. This happened every five weeks for some time. It wasn’t the cost that made me feel ill every time, it was the whole awful process.

After about 10 months of doing it this way, the Vet agreed that we could try him with Sedalin. The farrier disagreed. I don’t blame any farrier for not wanting to take on a difficult horse, so I had to find an alternative.

I eventually found a farrier that would work with me and my clicker training ways; a very patient man who seemed to have all the time in the world. He instantly recognised that Sammie’s problem was pure fear rather than him being “aggressive and difficult.”

I had to hold the hind feet for him while he did his job (not at all easy for either of us) and Sammie got rewarded with a click and treat for good behaviour. Sammie just wouldn’t let the farrier pick up his hinds, no matter which way we tried to do it.

Over the months I gradually reduced the amount of Sedalin. We had a few set backs and Sammie was still showing signs of fear, but we were getting somewhere. My friend (Max’s owner) was also coming across to do the click and treat at the front end which was an enormous help and comfort.

On this special day, I asked the farrier if he would mind just trying to pick up a hind foot and put it down again. He had the option to say “No” if he didn’t feel safe. He picked the left hind up with my friend and me at the front end treating Sammie with pony nuts like crazy. Then he continued to remove the shoe, trim the foot and put a shoe back on. No problem. Sammie didn’t flinch or kick out once (he has managed to kick out under a knock out injection before) - truly amazing!!

I asked the farrier how he felt and he said that he didn’t really feel in any danger at all. Then we made the mistake of tackling the right hind and that proved to be a step too far for Sammie. Why do us humans always try and push things? So we went back to me holding the foot. But we still achieved something truly fantastic. Sammie was only on a few mils of Sedalin – he was most certainly awake enough to give the farrier hell if he had chosen to.

I was gobsmacked (and I still am to a certain extent.) I’m just hoping that we can now build on this progress. It’s taken time, effort and patience, but it seems to be paying off. As I said before, Sammie really makes you earn his trust and this is a perfect example.

Something or a series of horrible things has obviously happened to Sammie with farriers before we partnered up, but if we can keep taking these small steps then one day he might just learn that he can’t tar all farriers with the same brush.

Rev me up!

Over the last few months I’ve discovered there is a tipping point with Sammie when we’re long lining or riding. My instructor calls it “Getting him to bubble.” It’s not done through antagonising him or being harsh with him in any shape or form, it’s getting him revved up so he is almost doing the next thing before you ask for it.

It’s very hard to explain and I guess it’s different with each horse, but I just know when he’s ready and it’s been a real eye opener for me. It seems to come from using my voice and my body in a certain way. I grow tall and lift myself (whether I’m on the ground or on board) and I encourage him with the tone of my voice. Using the sound of his name seems to have an effect as well.

I feel his body puff up, he grows a bit and I have every bit of his attention. It’s like he’s excited without the distracting side effects that often come with an excited horse.

I first felt it in my early lessons with my new instructor. She kept saying “He’s bubbling, he’s bubbling. Ask him now.” However, instead of going into action, I just sat there wondering what on earth was going on underneath me as I’d never felt anything like it before! It’s a good job my instructor had endless patience in those early days.

And now I think I’ve started to create the same effect while we’re long lining too. It’s only been a couple of sessions but we’ve managed walk to canter in a very controlled fashion. Again, I have to rev him up and his body tells me he’s ready. I’ve known this horse long enough now to know that if he really doesn’t want to do something he won’t, so I guess I must be getting something right.

I don’t think a lot of horses need to go through this stage, but with Sammie it’s like he is agreeing with me, “Yep, I’m ready. I’m warmed up. I know what you want. Let’s do it!” I guess it’s feel, pure and simple. It can’t be timed or processed; it’s just us working together, with Sammie providing the feedback. There’s no force, no punishment – just communication and agreement.

I just wish I’d had somebody to show me all this stuff years ago. Sammie used to be a horse that didn’t really move at all in the school and if he did, it was with the least amount of effort possible. And who can blame him after the life he’d had? Now, a touch of the leg and we’re off. The problem I often have now is slowing him down!