I have felt bad for not writing lately, but there hasn't been much to tell really... But I thought I needed to write - kinda therapeutic, and as I started I realized I needed to discuss my job.
So lately I've just been workin'. I trim and drive and trim, visit my horses in a stupor to feed their supplements, pick out their feet, medicate if necessary and go home and send scheduling emails or answering questions emails or return phone calls, upload files or invite new members to PHCP, etc. for a few hours and then crash and do it all over again the next day.
I've had some difficult cases lately - founder and laminitis, mystery lamenesses, that have been very stressful and nervewracking. My hairdresser said something about how I don't ever seem stressed (as she commented on all my grey hairs!) and I thought how I feel like I really take on the stress of all of my client horses. My own horses manage to stress me enough! Mario reminds me of the 199 other clients that are doing well, but if one is not ... I take it very seriously to heart. Being a natural hoof trimmer is a really difficult profession, to be honest. It's hot, dusty, dirty and physically very demanding. I have been bit, kicked, stepped on, knocked over, cracked in the head and yes - even pooped on and once, terribly, peed on. I've cut myself with my knife and my rasp more times than I can count. Owners expect their horse - who has spent 15 years straight in shoes and ridden in an ill fitting saddle on 2 grams of bute a day, eating the equine equivalent of chocolate bars and standing in a 12 x 12 stall, to never take a lame step - ever again - the minute I perform an act of God and remove their shoes and trim them. Some of them freak out if the horse gets a chip in the hoof wall. If the horse looks at the trainer cockeyed, it is declared to be due to the fact that the horse is wearing no shoes. Most of the vets only acceptable remedy for every possible lameness problem a horse may encounter is having shoes put back on. EVERYTHING looks like a nail to the hammers.
People that are anti-barefoot or natural trim think that we're all a bunch of uneducated (or maybe worse - junk science/weekend trim clinic shingle hangers) tree huggers that think horses should go barefoot at all costs. So it is up to each trimmer to educate kindly and in a non-threatening way and have a sound, happy client base to lead by example. When one of us fails, all of us fail, because the horse world is small, small, small!
Sometimes I am amazed that I do this as a living because I am non-confrontational and somewhat fragile to crticism and a perfectionist in my job. It's driven me to try to make myself be above criticism by being perfect, which of course isn't possible... dammit!!!
All that said, it has some amazing highs. Saving a horse from being put down is pretty fricking cool. Being cuddled by a happy horse makes up for a lot of dumdum owners. Watching a horse's hoof completely transform from weak and atrophied to a rock crushing feral hoof equivalent is incredible, and knowing I had a hand in it is motivating and humbling. Having an owner totally "get it" and do whatever they need to for their horse is faith-restoring. It's a rollercoaster for certain! And if you aren't a little crazy and incredibly terrifically obsessed with it, I think you might not be able to do it very well at all.
Here's an example of a typical day in our life as a trimmer (this was today):
9am - drive to Ojai to meet a new client who says she has 4 horses for me to trim.
First horse is a big QH with feet that are 3" overgrown, it has probably been 6 months or more since they've been trimmed. I literally cannot get my 14" GE nippers to make a dent in the hoofwall, it is the hardest hoof I have ever encountered. I bring out the "compound nippers" which I reserve for trimming draft hooves in the summer, and with Mario AND I squeezing for all we're worth, we get the wall nipped to a reasonable length and then I break out a new rasp to knock back the rest. When we're done I am pretty damn jolly because the improvement is so nice. The next horse is an unbearably adorable 3 year old Connemara gelding that is as wild as a march hare. (never met one, but I hear they are pretty wild) We hop, leap, rear, stumble, slip and slide from one end of the barn to the other with me hanging on to a foot and the owner and Mario trying to keep some semblance of control. The gelding's right front is a severe club foot which requires careful trimming, and "carefully" trimming a flying by your face object isn't easy. We finish both front feet with me in a full sweat and the adorable pony looking quite pleased with himself. We agree the hinds (which look great) are going to wait for the next trim so the owner can get some training on him. She also determines that we've all had enough and the gardeners are coming - leaf blowers in hand - so that will only set off her other March hares! We make an appt for the next visit and share some brief but friendly discussion on local current events and the welfare of her absolutely beautiful German Shephard.
11:30am - Due to finishing up early at the first stop I have a 1/2 hour before my next stop, so I text one of my foundered horse owning clients who live nearby to see if I can stop by for a visit. She says of course so off we go. We find the horse cruising around very comfortably in his casted feet (casts courtesy of Mario!) and after an in depth look and a quick trim to one of his hind hooves that had the equivalent of a hang nail, I write up some notes for the owner (who is at work) and book an appt to re-cast him in a week.
12:15 - arrive at our next stop to visit a newly de-shod elderly QH mare and her newly retired owners. It is only my first real trim on the mare, who is pretty uncomfortable from a condition known as ringbone. We had just gotten them a nice fitting pair of boots to protect her hooves and after a quick trim to smooth off the breaking nail holes (from the shoes), we fit the boots with some foam pads to provide more comfort. Mario walks her out so I can assess the fit and comfort, she looks tentative but ok. We all agree she just needs more time to grow a healthier hoof.
1pm - pull over to call a vet to discuss a mutual client whose feet were just radiographed. Very difficult and stressful case for me. Vet confirms my fears that the horse is very thin soled, but says she does not have any bone remodeling, which is at least good news. We have a somewhat awkward conversation as I try not to step on her toes and she tries not to step on mine. I basically agree to do nothing for the time being with this horse and just see what the owner wnats to do going forward.
1:20 - arrive at my next stop to trim a Thoroughbred mare who was recently returned to training after motherhood. I trim her and Mario does the mustang roll. Her feet look so good compared to where we started with her, although she does have some wall separation.
2pm - arrive at our next stop up the street where I do a trim on a really difficult founder case. She was about a milimeter from penetrating both front coffin bones - what is known as severe sinking on one hoof and severe rotation on another. This mare is the one I have posted about before - she made me cry the day she finally rounded the corner... Today she is moving around so great and just looks like a normal horse (until you see her feet). Her old damaged hoof is almost grown out - will take a few more trims - but man, what a rewarding wonderful feeling to see her feet looking so great. During the trim we fend off the two yearlings that she lives with, one of them her daughter. I am pouring sweat by now... Then Mario and I take turns trimming and holding the two yearlings for each other to get them trimmed. At times this resembles the WWF but we get the job done and they look pretty good! We are dragging a little by now, feeling like we've been in a dryer with some rocks. ;-P
3:30pm - thank God Mario remembers we need to make a quick stop at the local market to make a payment to our electric bill so we can keep the lights on! Who has time to mail checks??
I return a phone call to the hay guy to get hay delivered tomorrow so my ponies will have food on their table. We stop at In N Out for grilled cheese "burgers" and eat it on the way to our next stop.
4:15pm - arrive at the last stop of the day feeling really disgusting from wolfing down In N Out. Trim the QH mare with absolutely transformed feet from our first shoe pulling on her a year and a half ago... Mario rolls her, we take pictures and we're done! The last horse was at our own barn, so I go feed them, pick their feet, fly spray them and brush them while Mario rakes and cleans up their constant poo output. We discuss the merits of corking them.
6pm - drive home.
The End. ;-P
Cindy & Dean
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