When it comes to barefooot horses, like everything else, no news is good news! The girls have been progressing slowly and surely with no major incidents, which is great.
We've had pretty dry weather since they started to come in over night a fortnight ago. They are eating an awful lot of hay, Lottie in particular, and have become accustomed to their Simple Systems diet. It has to be said that they are not nearly as enthusiatic about their new feed as I've seen them about previous feeds, but they're still eating it, so we're still serving it up!
Our trimmer came on Sunday and was really pleased with their progress... He gave Lottie a 3 on the fronts and a 3.5 on the backs (last time it was a 2 on the fronts and a 3 on the backs) and said we could start giving her some nice comfortable work/exercise to speed up the process. He also said he couldn't find any Seedy Toe so the foot washing and white line balm has worked a treat. I was quite pleased at the thought of not having to wash her feet all the time but he suggested carrying on to keep nasties at bay while her feet are still getting stronger. Ah well... I'm an expert equine foot washer now so might as well use my skills!
He was also pleased with Jazz and thought she was doing really well (which Chris had an idea was the case as she'd been really comfortable on her ride in the morning, even offering to gallop!). Jazz scored a 4 on her fronts and 4.5 on her backs (last time was a 3 and 3.5) and he said that she should be in pretty good shape to do most things on soft ground but may still need boots for stoney paths etc.
Bothe of them seem to have fairly slow growing feet, although Lotties are moving a little quicker with the new growth being over half way down now. We didn't take pictures but they both have 'prettier feet' now and look right without shoes.
Fingers crossed for a 5+ score on one set of hooves next time!
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