Hoof Blogs

Flossie's 222nd Lesson

FLOSSIE'S 222nd LESSON

Norm dropped me off at Dessyland before 6:00 o’clock am this morning but I didn’t ride
until 7:00 o’clock because everyone was down and there were horses everywhere! Pat
worked his herd, and was just finishing up when Gary started working three of his horses.
I was sorry I had waited, though, because, as it turned out, it started raining just as
I got in the saddle. Luckily it was only sprinkling but it didn’t stop until I was
finished with the track.

There were a couple of muddy spots on the track due to all the rain we’ve had recently.
I wasn’t able to canter through them, but they were okay for everything else.

Except for a few final details, the work on the new road has finally finished! They had
said they’d be done by Christmas, and lo and behold, they were!

I didn’t ride long today because of the weather and the condition of the track. Although
I did everything else, I didn’t canter on the circle because the gait really chews up the
ground when it’s wet. It was nice not having the machines around. Flossie still kept
looking for trouble regardless of the unaccustomed silence. I guess she’ll be doing that
for a while until she gets used to not having them around anymore. Once the traffic
starts up again, though, she’ll have something else to get used to.

The road crew parked their big orange power shovel on Des’ property next to the stall
where Pat’s pony lives. I guess it’ll stay there until sometime next year when they need
it again.

I met the boy who actually owns the pony I refer to as Pat’s. He told me the animal’s
name is PC (Pat had told me it was KJ). According to him, the pony is a handful. Des
told me the boy’s afraid of the animal because it bucks under harness and runs away with
him. The boy’s about 8 or 9 years old. The pony took a turn too fast while he was
driving him and it tipped the gig over and the boy fell out. Now he wants to sell PC and
get a new pony. The thing is, the boy doesn’t see the pony regularly. The same thing
will happen no matter what pony he buys. You can’t keep an animal penned up all the
time, and then that one day a year when you decide you want to work with it, expect it to
behave perfectly.

Des’ horse that needed stitches is healed up. Des said he’ll get the vet down to take
them out now.

Des told me he doesn’t charge Gary or Pat to keep their horses on his property because
Pat takes care of the track and shoeing his horses, and Gary watches over the place when
Des isn’t at home. He also builds fences and stalls and takes care of the track for Des.
Des does charge Billy board, though, because he doesn’t do anything in return.

We’ve had such heavy rain the grass is rich green and the dam is full once again. We’re
in for more rain, though, starting tomorrow. There’s no end in sight for a week.
Luckily we didn’t get any rain yesterday which gave the track 24 hours to dry off a bit.

Flossie’s hooves are back to normal. You can’t see where the hooves had split. They’re
a tiny bit jagged, and they’re short, but not too short, and look really good. I should
take photos so you can see for yourself!

Flossie got sick before I left Des’. He phoned the vet and had Gary pick up a serum for
her, which he injected her with. She had been lying down for over an hour, but once she
had the injection, she got up on her feet. She still wasn’t grazing yet when I phoned
Des, but I’ll phone him again in the morning tomorrow to see how she’s doing. I
suggested giving her mineral oil, but it seems the injection did the trick.

I’m not happy right now. I just feel down for some reason, so I’m going to close here
and wish you a happy New Year.