Beauty Treatment - Hair And Nails.
Monday, August 18th, 2008 02:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
debris4spikeAnd as you can guess, it is DJ that gets the pampering!
He had moved field over the weekend, but (sadly for him) I knew where he was. I got him in a little later than normal, as he was due a visit from the farrier today.
While waiting for Ian to arrive I gave him a good groom. I took a picture of him when I got him in, but couldn't get a decent picture of how muddy he looked ... sorry about that. Maybe he had jinxed the camera so that you didn't get to see him in such a mess!!
Anyway, Ian was later than expected - so DJ had a pampering groom for just over the hour. He was still muddy, but short of giving him a bath there isn't much you can do. still he is healthy and fit, which is the main thing - and his feet are in good condition, so that is another positive sign.
Below the cut are the pictures of DJ having his feet done ... amde to measure shoes, of course! I have posted them in order of how each shoe is put on, the very observant will notice I have muddled his feet - but this is just to give the non-horsey people an idea of what a farrier does - and how the horse has to stand ... it takes about an hour to do.
Horses are amazing that they can be trained for this as in the wild they have 2 natural forms of defence ... run and kick. As you can see we take this option away from them for this time.
The old shoes have to be taken off - it takes a farrier 3 or 4 pulls - I took a back off Jaykub once and it took me 12!!
The foot growth is trimmed off.
The shoe s heated and then shaped to fit the foot.
The shoe is placed on the foot - and the steam coming off is water from the hoof as well as a slight burning. People ask does it hurt ... I can assure you DJ wouldn't stand there if it did!
The shoe is cooled and then checked for correct shaping ...
.... and then nailed on ... 6 nails per shoe nowadays.
The hoof is rasped to smooth and fit to the shoe.
The nails are then bent over and trimmed - which is called clenching, and now the shoe is helpd with clenches.
Then it is finished - and as he was a good boy he had something to eat before heading back to tell Conrad of his busy morning.
He had moved field over the weekend, but (sadly for him) I knew where he was. I got him in a little later than normal, as he was due a visit from the farrier today.
While waiting for Ian to arrive I gave him a good groom. I took a picture of him when I got him in, but couldn't get a decent picture of how muddy he looked ... sorry about that. Maybe he had jinxed the camera so that you didn't get to see him in such a mess!!
Anyway, Ian was later than expected - so DJ had a pampering groom for just over the hour. He was still muddy, but short of giving him a bath there isn't much you can do. still he is healthy and fit, which is the main thing - and his feet are in good condition, so that is another positive sign.
Below the cut are the pictures of DJ having his feet done ... amde to measure shoes, of course! I have posted them in order of how each shoe is put on, the very observant will notice I have muddled his feet - but this is just to give the non-horsey people an idea of what a farrier does - and how the horse has to stand ... it takes about an hour to do.
Horses are amazing that they can be trained for this as in the wild they have 2 natural forms of defence ... run and kick. As you can see we take this option away from them for this time.
The old shoes have to be taken off - it takes a farrier 3 or 4 pulls - I took a back off Jaykub once and it took me 12!!
The foot growth is trimmed off.
The shoe s heated and then shaped to fit the foot.
The shoe is placed on the foot - and the steam coming off is water from the hoof as well as a slight burning. People ask does it hurt ... I can assure you DJ wouldn't stand there if it did!
The shoe is cooled and then checked for correct shaping ...
.... and then nailed on ... 6 nails per shoe nowadays.
The hoof is rasped to smooth and fit to the shoe.
The nails are then bent over and trimmed - which is called clenching, and now the shoe is helpd with clenches.
Then it is finished - and as he was a good boy he had something to eat before heading back to tell Conrad of his busy morning.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 02:01 pm (UTC)Is a farrier the same as a blacksmith or more of a specialist?
Did you hear about the blacksmith who noticed the village idiot watching him as he worked on forming a horseshoe? The blacksmith tossed the glowing horseshoe onto the ground. The village idiot picked it up and dropped it right away. The blacksmith laughed and asked the village idiot if it was hot. The village idiot shrugged and said, "Nope, just doesn't take long to look at a horse shoe."
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 02:54 pm (UTC)A farrier just works with horses - so does some horse anatomy etc during training - they put shoes on horses!
A blacksmith works with metal ... so he will make you a gate, or will make a basic shoe - but then isn't always trained to put it on the horse.
Our last farrier saved Juniors life a few years ago - when someone at the stables we were then at injured her foot and she ended up with an infection that the anti-biotics didn't reach. Richard drained Junior's foot for her.
Thanks for the story - btw!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 02:06 pm (UTC)Heee!
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Date: 2008-08-18 02:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 03:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 03:51 pm (UTC)How often does DJ get new shoes?
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 04:57 pm (UTC)It is somewhere between 9 and 11 weeks as a norm - but I have just checked, this time was 12 weeks.
Horses hooves grow like our nails - and grow around the shoe, as well as the shoe actually wearing out on the roads.
however just like with some humans it varies from horse to horse - I was lucky to get a set to last 4 weeks with Jaykub ... and there was a apony at the stables called Toby that used to never wear his shoes out - they would take them off, trim the foot and put the old ones back on.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 04:17 pm (UTC)DJ seems to take it all in stride. LOL
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Date: 2008-08-18 04:59 pm (UTC)A lot of people ask does it hurt - and this is the only proof I can give - they do just stand there - watching whats happening from time to time and looking around the rest of the time.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 05:01 pm (UTC)P.S. Your boy is very handsome
no subject
Date: 2008-08-18 05:13 pm (UTC)Mind you, when you are "special" you expect a special service ... or thats how DJ thinks, anyway!!
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Date: 2008-08-18 10:06 pm (UTC)I actually saw a farrier in action when I was at that horseriding camp in Wales in 1995. So amazing. :D Great pics, as always!!
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Date: 2008-08-19 08:05 am (UTC)I should have been cleaning DJs tack, rather than taking pics!!
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Date: 2008-10-20 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-10-20 12:16 pm (UTC)