Hunting For Arrows

    I'm a big fan of cross training no matter what discipline the horse I am working with is intended for. I find it incredibly beneficial to teach them different skills and disciplines and to expose them to new things. I did everything under the sun with the little mare I had before Joe. I bought her to show Western Pleasure, and in the 17 years I had her with her we barrel raced, sorted cows, did cowboy mounted shooting, countless parades, trail class, western riding, hunt seat, and spent 5 years on a rodeo grand entry team. I was once told that by doing that I was a "jack of all trades but a master of none". What I ended up with was a very confident all-around horse that has gone on to make a great kid’s horse. Joe was bred for Western Pleasure, turns out he's a kick ass archery horse and confident trail horse who loves to work cows and go for gallops at the ocean. I'm always looking for new things to engage his brain and keep him from shutting down, which h...

  **In pulling together pictures for this blog I know see the importance of photographing hooves on a regular basis. My mentor continually reminds me to take more heel off the right front and I now see that I had it lower in March of 2019 than it is today. I now have a dedicated folder for hoof pictures and have them all dated. *** My barefoot hoof journey started 3 years ago when I had Joe's shoes pulled and learned how to maintain his hooves myself. It was the answer to one of the deepest layers in the onion of his unsoundness. For the past 3 years I’ve been balancing his hooves on my own on a weekly basis. I have my own set of hoof knives and a few favorite rasps. Every few months I spend a Sunday at a clinic with the mentor that taught me how to balance hooves. He checks my work and usually tells me I’m still leaving too much heel. He makes a comment on how Joe’s front hooves almost look like they belong to a horse now, instead of a pony . I spend time on those Sundays watc...