Feet are doing great

Riley's feet are continueing to do great. I am seeing am improvement in the contour of his soles. No chips and very little cracking. Still a tiny bit off to the left so I keep using the boots to ride. He has had nasal drainage on and off for a week so I haven't ridden him since Friday. Off to the vet today to make sure it isn't something serious. He doesn't have a temp and is eating and behaving normally.

Feet are doing better....his behavior is not!

OK...on Monday I went down and caught Riley to give him a quick ride and check on his feet. He was perfectly behaved while I groomed him and tacked him up. Then the race horse emerged and he was a little frisky while I rode him. The good news...when I longed him barefoot he was almost completely sound...actually bending his knees when he trotted. Still a tiny bit of head bobbing to the left. Rode him in his boots. He enjoyed a bath and then dragged me (or until I said NO!) down to his turnout. I let him out and he galloped and bucked over to the shelter where he waited for dinner. I'm afraid the fitter he gets, the worse his behavior will get. Time to get tough!

Riley goes barefoot

It appears that there may be a trend to have more horses barefoot. I'm not generally a trend setter or follower but since Riley can't keep his shoes on they have to go. A few weeks ago Cecelia pulled his shoes and I ordered some protective boots.

Initially he seemed to do OK with barefeet only but as his toes grew a little he would become uncomfortable. Out came the Boa boots. They have a fastening that is designed after downhill ski boots. He goes great in them.

So far he has been trimmed twice. Has another trim scheduled on Wed. His feet look better already. He seems quite happy to do flatwork and jump in the boots and they haven't fallen off or rubbed him yet. I have started putting lotion on his feet to soften his heels a little.

On Saturday I took him to a dressage lesson where he acted like a race horse and then during his bath proceeded to break his halter and run 1/2 a mile to meet up with a donkey he had the hots for. He actually was dumb enough to run on a public road...thank goodness he didn't cause a wreck. I got a good 2 mile hike in my riding boots going out to catch him...trust me, I didn't run.
He did not have his boa boots on and looked perfectly sound as he galloped down the road.