Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 182nd Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 182nd LESSON

The first thing I noticed when I arrived at Des’ place is that the machines that are
building the road next to his big paddock were not in operation. Unbelievable! What a
break! The track, itself, was dry with absolutely no muddy spots. It was a
dream-come-true. You might have expected Flossie to be herself because of that, right?
Well, for the most part she was. Just in the beginning she kept stopping in the same
places she had been stopping in the past few weeks and refusing to go. I had to holler
at her to keep her moving. Mainly only in the beginning of my ride, and luckily, that’s
all it took. So every time we came to the spots where she had been stopping in the last
few weeks, I just yelled her ears off and used my aids to encourage her forward. I was
able to work her in a way I hadn’t been able to for weeks and it was good to have her
back again.

I haven’t been circling, however, in quite some time because the grass is too tall and
I’m not sure of the footing. Also, the machines have been running in that corner for the
past few weeks and since I was having troubles keeping Flossie going around on the track,
I didn’t want to push the circling. I was going to circle her in the ‘arena’ today, but
I ran out of time and it was so hot by then, anyway, I felt Flossie had had enough.

Des thinks Flossie’s getting tired of working on the same-old, same-old track every week,
round and round over and over again but I honestly don’t think that’s the case. She
tends to enjoy our work together. I truly believe she’s just sick and tired of all the
commotion she has to put up with every week. It’s stressful for her.

Des said the machines hadn’t been running all week and he thinks the ground’s too wet for
them to work, but I don’t think that’s the case. The paddock is dry, the track is dry, I
don’t see why the ground on the other side of the fence would be wet.

Anyway, I can see where the next problem is going to arise once the road’s been built.
Behind the old barn, next to Des’ property, some tractors and trucks were running today.
I have a feeling that’s going to be the next spot under construction before long. Great.
Flossie already gives that area a double look every time we go by. Especially for the
first one or two laps, anyway, expecting someone to come out of the barn or to suddenly
surprise her while coming around a corner. How much of this can a horse take?

Health-wise, I didn’t hear one single cough or sneeze from any of the horses and I didn’t
see one single snotty nose. I hope that means the virus has gone through the herd and
has run its course already. I forgot to ask Des about it since it didn’t seem to be an
issue.

Both of Flossie’s front feet have a fissure running up the middle of the hoof. A crack
ran up from the hoof to the coronet band weeks ago and has gotten broader and now you can
see the under hoof that’s directly beneath the outer part that sloughs off periodically.
Des says it’s normal. Flossie isn’t lame so I know it’s not hurting her, but it looks
bad to me. I’ll have to get a photo of her feet next week so you can see what I’m
talking about.

It seemed like I had run out of carrots awfully soon today for some reason. Zippy’s been
put back into his own little paddock again so he wasn’t around to get any. I have to
feed Flossie, Bambi, and Glenco girl in separate areas of the yard so they don’t keep
pestering each other. That’s no problem, though, because they all know the rules and are
pretty good about obeying them as long as everyone’s munching at the same time.

Des locked up the little room I always used to store my gear in while I’m there and for
changing my clothes so I asked him if I could use the big barn now. Of course that’s not
a problem, but he put a padlock on the other door so he can keep his equipment inside.
He said someone has been taking things so now he’s locked them up where no one can get
them. There’s nothing worse than going out to get something and then finding it’s gone.
I don’t blame him, but I miss that room.