Dry interlude - last week

Monday I rode Quinn again - just around the property, practicing standing still. The first time I mounted took some convincing. We had to back up and woah several times before she remember that I'm a slow human and I want her to stand still for more than a second, but after that she was fine. I think I got on, did a lap, and got off five times.

Tuesday or maybe Wednesday I trimmed Champ's hooves. I know I should take pictures, but I keep forgetting! I rolled the edges, took his heels down in front a little bit, and took his inside heels down in the back. I'm doing this based on a discussion on barefoothorsecare about this article. I haven't tried finding the acupressure point because I can clearly see that Champ's inside rears are high. I've been working on them for two trims now - he's really cowhocked and base-narrow and I really don't want to change things too fast and hurt him!

Champ's a lot of fun to trim because he will let you know exactly how he feels about what you're doing. He doesn't really approve of me rolling the edges of his hooves, but it's just standard Champ grumpiness, not true disapproval. If I try to do anything more than just rasping the edges, you can just tell that he thinks I'm going to fuck it up. He radiates uncertainty until I give his foot back, then he tests it out. Flops his lips around and shifts his weight and thinks about what I've done. If he's ok with it, I'll keep going on the other feet. If he thinks I'm really making a mistake, he'll try to take his foot back from me. He is actually a perfect gentleman most of the time, so if he wants his foot back he always gets it.

Anyway, he was deeply unsure about me taking the nippers to his back feet. I trimmed his back right inside heel down, and he was all "What the hell are you doing woman!" Once I'd finished with it, there was lots of shifting his weight around and flopping his lips and cocking one heel, then the other. He grudgingly gave me the left rear to do the same to, then went through the same ridiculous series of motions when I'd finished it. But after he'd squirmed and smacked, he was standing with his back legs much further apart. I'd call that a success.