Tender Hooves?

[Bunnylady]

Oh geeze! That stinks in a big way BL! Hope you aren't too banged up.

Oh, yeah, I'm OK - just a bit bruised. In a way, it's kinda nice knowing I can still take a spill and not break something.

Though even my minis knock me around occasionally. I think it was sometime last year, my mini mule absolutely flattened me. I don't remember just what happened, other than she took off from somewhere behind me to somewhere to the opposite side and slightly to the front of me, and because I was holding her lead in the one hand, it passed behind me and tightened up when she hit the end, and took my feet out from under me very neatly. Literally a face-plant; I skinned my chin a bit. That one was completely unexpected; I thought I was steadier on my feet than to get knocked down that easily.

Though on a happy note, when I fell off, BB2K and I had just come back from a ride on Latte and Sunny. We had been walking them on roads and beside a road with a lot of gravel, and Sunny had seemed pretty much comfortable the whole time (other than the occasional "ouchy" step like she stepped on a rock, but Latte did that, too). I hadn't been sure we could ever do that with Sunny, knowing how tender her feet had been in the past, but she keeps improving.

 

[MaggieSims]

is it ok to ride a horse with tender feet?

 

[Bunnylady]

is it ok to ride a horse with tender feet?

I think maybe your question really should be, "what can you do with a horse with tender feet that doesn't hurt them?" At any rate, that was our question when we first got Sunny; she was given to us as a pasture buddy for my horse because she was chronically lame (it was my suggestion, and the owner preferred it to sending Sunny to the charity auction where she almost certainly would have wound up in the hands of a kill buyer). I have to admit, during the first few months of owning Sunny and seeing her not even able to putz around in the pasture without limping a little, I wasn't sure it was really a kindness to keep her alive if it meant spending years hurting all the time. But gradually, as the excess weight came off, she became sounder; I still remember the thrill I felt when I saw her come running up from the back of the pasture, and she wasn't only keeping up with the other horses, she was bucking and playing as she ran. I certainly wouldn't be doing that on feet that hurt!

So we started working with her and riding her, but kept an eye out for signs of "ouchiness." Sunny has very thin soles; even stepping on a chunk of bark can hurt her, but our hope has been to develop a sturdier sole by small exposures to tough surfaces (like building calluses on your hands). If all else fails, we may yet buy some trail boots for her, but to see her walking on pavement and not acting like she was walking on eggshells was very encouraging! We know she is rideably sound on soft surfaces like sand, but it now looks like we may actually get her rideably sound on more than that.

 

[MaggieSims]

i have definitely looked into all the options to buy for her feet, if this tenderness is a long term thing. i was wondering more for riding around my place, in pasture and out, i have 10 acres with a mini trail system through the trees. i was hoping that might help condition her, i have a mix of super soft terrain and mild rocky dirt in one corner. plus get her( i really mean ME) used to riding again.

 

[MaggieSims]

well, i got a small video this morning, while she was eating, and i did notice she didn't appear to be lifting her front, at all the whole time i'm out there. go figure. im prepared for a video, and she doesn't do it