His Hroi-yal Highness and the Princess/Contessa had a visit from the farrier today. Buttercup's feet didn't need any work, but Cary held her while the farrier picked up her feet and just checked them, just for practice. Hroi was born with slightly upright pasterns, which is almost always due to the foal's en utero position. They are getting better, and the farrier (and the vet) think they will correct themselves just fine. Still, the farrier trimmed them just a tad, and showed us some exercises to do for them. This condition is sometimes called "contracted tendons" but the farrier says it's actually caused by tightness in the muscles between the knee and elbows. (He reminded us that horses have no muscles below the knee - something we should all know from past discussions on weighted shoes and boots.) The light isn't good in that shed, but some of the pictures aren't too bad. As normal, we start out by doing mom's feet while the curious baby watches and gets used to the process. Both foals wore a halter for their "trims" but you'll notice that Hroi stood nicely, unhaltered, while the farrier did his leg stretches and massage - he seemed to enjoy it even. At the very end, he had to give the farrier a little sniff/kiss before returning to Mom for a little snack.
One thing about Icelandic's - I forget about "despooking" them sometimes. We sometimes store hay in that shed, so you'll notice there's a tarp on the floor. Did any of them, moms or babies, notice? Nah! Tarps are nothing... Oh, and notice that the farrier has his baseball cap on straight at first, but on backwards later. Hroi not only likes to untie shoes, but he likes to rearrange hats too. http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=4jh0nhxz.5gl1fpx7&x=0&y=-cbzde3&localeid=en_US Karen Thomas, NC
