The farrier came out this morning, and it’s official: Valentine has thrush. I’m actually relieved, partly because I know for sure now, and partly because the farrier didn’t seem all that concerned. Whew! If you remember from my earlier post, Valentine had foot issues. He’d been sort of limping, he had stinky feet, and over the last few days, he wouldn’t let me clean his feet. I decided it was time to call in a professional. So Gabe came out…
Here are some common horse terms or words we’ve come across that we weren’t familiar with when we started. I hope these definitions and pictures help: (NOTE: STILL WORKING ON THIS PAGE! In the meantime, there are some great dictionaries at The Ultimate Horse Site, Horses_and_Horse_Information, Horse_and_Carriage, Equisearch and others. Chestnut: Horny growth on the inside of the front leg above the knee and below the hock; also a reddish-brown color Coggins Test: The “Coggins Test” is a blood test…
There are periodic tasks horse owners need to do that can’t be missed. Since we haven’t yet found a comprehensive list of these tasks, we’re making our own. Keep in mind a few things when viewing this page. This page is an ongoing project. It’s not complete and probably won’t be for some time. We keep finding new things to add. Not all horses are the same. Granted, many, if not most of these tasks will be true for all…
A very important grooming item is hoof care. I have to admit that I have been very lax in this area. It’s supposed to be easy to do, but I tell you, I did it today and I’m beat. Here’s the deal: You have to convince your 1,000+ lb. (in my case, about 1,200 lbs.) animal to lift his foot for you and then you hold it and pick out the bottom of the hoof. It’s a very strange-looking piece…