Colorado
What a great trip! We had a fun time, learned a lot, took TONS of pictures. Here is a photo to get you hooked.. that's probably all I'll post for today because I need to go see Aristoitle now. :) 
Be back in a few days..
Aristoitle stays home while I go to Colorado for the Savvy Conference this weekend. The Savvy Conference is a Parelli Natural Horsemanship event where Pat and Linda Parelli show us new techniques, release new learning materials, and put on a demonstration of Natural horsemanship as only they can do. I'll be back on the 10th.. Ciao! 
August 13th in pics
stunning photography brought to you by Mallow and her LG cell phone that has been dropped on its head too many times to count; and Aristoitle, a horse outstanding in his own field.
Hoof comparison part 3
Hi.. still coming back for more hoof pictures? (really?)
Previously you were wowed by this story and photographs. Here is a brief update with crummy cell phone photographs for those of you who like looking at pictures. :P
This is the right front hoof before I did anything to it. You will see there is one place on the sole that is lighter in color than the surrounding material. This is a piece of the sole that chipped off exposing new healthy sole. I took my knife and gently exfoliated all the sole that would crumble off.
This is the result of the exfoliation and lowering of the outer hoof wall. Nearly all areas of the sole crumbled off on their own except for one fairly large spot at the apex of the frog. I left this patch of old sole alone with the thought that treating it like a scab will allow the sole underneath to do what it needs to. I don't know if this is the 'right' approach, but it felt better to me to let it stay rather than paring it off.
I did rasp over this patch on the toe when I went around the hoof wall and lowered it. Normally one wouldn't want to rasp over the toe callous.. but since I have this buffer scab of hoof I didn't see any harm in bringing it down a little bit.
Once I lowered the hoof wall I finished up the trim with a bevel, or mustang roll all around the hoof wall.
Anyone interested in barefoot natural hoof care should visit the web page of Pete Ramey. Here is why I advocate his web page and his approach..
1. After studying many cadaver hooves of foundered and healthy horses, along with the feet of wild horses Pete has learned to use the hoof (sole) topography as his guide to trimming. There are no predetermined angles that the hoof must be trimmed to fit into.
2. Each foot is an individual and is treated as such.
3. I appreciate the fact that Pete is constantly learning, and trying to better himself and his trimming.
4. He has a conservative approach to trimming based on his study of rehabilitated foundered horses, and cadaver hoof dissection. He knows what is going on underneath that sole topography we see when we pick up a hoof.
5. Pete has a collection of research articles which he has written and shares them on his web page.
6. I noticed that he now has a DVD collection of his lectures for sale. If this DVD collection is anything like his weekend seminars - they will be full of great information!
7. ** Pete is not paying me for any part of this endorsement.**
B-day preparation count down..
I found this on Toothpaste For Dinner. Go visit his site for more cartoons, you'll be glad you did.
Ahh
This photograph was taken from a moving car. I was driving and snapping. Okay not a good thing to admit, but I was all alone on the bridge and there was no oncoming traffic. I'm grateful for living in a place where driving one hour away from home takes me out to the countryside. I hope you like the photo. Have a good day everyone.
Congratulations to H
I met my friends at the Kawasaki dealership last week because I can't pass up the opportunity to check out brand new motorcycles and inhale the new tire smell that permeates such places. A few weeks earlier it was the Harley shop.. where I indulged my "Born to Be Wild" fantasies and sat on a few Harleys. Naw.. no hawgs for me.
These Kawasaki Ninjas are pretty cute though. ... Oh, before my mother falls off her chair while reading this, and the word Ninja she should know that these bikes - the red one especially- are the same size as those used in the learn to ride class I took. The yellow one I'm on is a little bit larger- but not by much- .. for taller people.. *cough*
So I'm posting this pic because today, Saturday, my friend H is getting her Kawasaki Ninja delivered. I bet she is too exited to sleep tonight and is busy spending her sleepless night making a nice, new parking place in her garage. I picture a nice, warm, cozy nest... ok.. maybe just move the two Harleys over a bit. There, that'll do.
Mallow of the Flatland enjoying a daydream, while H gets the real thing! Way to go H, Congratulations!! 
Hoof comparison part 2
Silly me.. last time I made a comparison of Aristoitle's front feet I mistakenly used a photo of a Left fore and Right fore. The results are still interesting but not exactly, um, as accurate as I had first thought.
Not long ago I came across an article on thrush when I was doing some Internet surfing of barefoot hoof trimming sites. The article stated that even though a hoof may not look as though it is infected with thrush, it may in fact still have thrush down deep in the collateral grooves. One might not necessarily have the stinky, cheesy (ew) falling apart frogs associated with a bad thrush problem.. but it can still be there. Aristoitle has the occasional crumbly frogs, so I spray them with a full strength solution of Lysol after picking them out and brushing all the debris from the central sulcus and collateral grooves. I have been keeping up with this Lysol regimen for a month and am beginning to see some interesting changes. Guess what? Heel soundness and the desired heel first landing can be brought about by treating a thrush problem! So, if you have been trimming your horses feet, and you still see that he is a little tender in spite of careful trimming try a thrush treatment- it may be the missing piece of the puzzle towards your horses soundness. 
Aristoitle's hoof today vs. January '06.. quite a difference! Even though the January photo isn't framed the same way one can see that the hoof is returning to its natural shape now that is free from the shoe. Notice that the hoof has become less oblong. There is a nice callous forming all around the inside on the sole (like an upside down crescent). I keep a nice bevel, or mustang roll on the hoof wall to prevent any more laminar separation.
The lamina (a.k.a. white line, which in the '07 picture looks like a dark band around the inner edge) are not feeling anything at this point. What does hurt is a long hoof wall w/o a bevel because it acts like a lever pulling upward and outward with each step the horse takes. Imagine your index finger with a long fingernail and you want to push your fingertip straight down onto a table. The fingernail gets bent backwards with pressure, right? Now if the nail were trimmed back you would be able to apply pressure to your fingertip. This is what the bevel or mustang roll on the hoof wall does for the horses bare foot.
Why does he have this funny looking white line? 1. Dietary changes, 2.Worming medications, 3.Vaccinations, 4.Anything that will cause a large disruption & die off of the flora in the digestive tract.
Vaccinations? I don't have medical proof of this, and I'm not a veterinarian, but I am starting to believe that we vaccinate our horses too much. And can it really be good for the horses system to receive 3-4 vaccinations all in one day, in combination with (possibly) sedating him for a dentistry and other treatments?? Think of all the chemicals/vaccination bodies/ whatever you want to call it that just got put into the horses system.
Dietary changes? If you keep your horse in a boarding facility that buys its hay from various suppliers, how do you know what kind of hay your horse is getting? Is that quality consistent? Variations in the diet will certainly make an impact on the horses hooves. Just start looking down there for those "growth rings" and you will see what I'm talking about. The daily feeding of hay, sweet feeds, coupled with the worming meds can add up.. especially (in my opinion) the double paste worming routines.
Got grass?
Go to Safer Grass and you will never look at a lush, green pasture in the same way again.
If you are fortunate to have your horse on your own property and can arrange a version of Paddock Paradise you really should look into doing so.
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