I was pretty tired when I got to the barn today after work followed by multiple errands, so it put a smile on my face when Maverick saw me and came to greet me at the back gate. He put his head in the halter and calmly followed me to the arena. I had a plan to play transitions on the circle game.
I knew he would need the exercise, but I did not have much time, so I thought transitions would be just right for exercising his mind and body before I had to rewrap his hoof. The first two times I asked for transitions, he tipped his nose into the circle, so I gently sent his nose back out onto the circle. The next time he did a beautiful transition on the circle, so I brought him in to me.
I fed him cookies and he contentedly licked my hand for about a minute. He gave me a nibble, so I knew he was ready to move again. I sent him in the opposite direction, brought him up to the trot, asked for the downward transition again and he stayed right on the circle. Smart boy, Maverick! He had not forgotten anything we had played with from 10 days earlier. In fact, he must have thought quite a lot about it, because it was softer than when we had played with it last.
The best part was, he did not look even slightly sore on that formerly abscessed left rear hoof. That was music to my heart to see.
Wrapping his foot by myself was quite a chore. He is tired of it, and I don’t blame him. He kept moving sideways away from me every time I started to dress it, so I had to keep moving him back to where we started. That little dance lasted for at least 10 minutes. Being tired, it was hard for me to tamp down my frustration, but I managed it. Finally, I guess he decided it was easier to stand quietly than move around, and I was able to get his foot wrapped.
The wrapping takes several layers, first with a soaked Epsom salt pad (animal lintex) followed by gauze, then vet wrap. Whoever invented that stuff is a genius. The final layer is duct tape to keep the whole thing from being knocked off as Maverick walks around on it. Quite a task.
By the time I was done, I was really tired, but I still had to pick Walker and Bingo’s feet, give them some scratches and feed them cookies. Maverick followed me willingly back to his stall where his food awaited him.
Walker looked like he was full of energy and probably could have used some play time, but I had nothing left in the tank, so cookies and a rub or two on his nose was all he got tonight.
Bingo seemed very happy to see me, greeting me at his stall door with happy ears, no doubt thinking to himself, “The cookie human is here!” No cookies before hoof picking though, and he was very cooperative, so he got several.
After telling the three of them goodnight while checking to make sure they all had water and their stall doors were closed, I turned out the barn lights and headed home. What a beautiful night it was out, clear and cool. It revived me just a bit to feel the chill breeze as I hopped out of my truck to open the front gate. It felt good to be going home…
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