A Few Hoof Shots

I've wanted to get pictures of the Mustangs' feet for a long time; just never seemed to remember until we had already turned them loose from a ride - we are really bad, we ride right back into the corral, pull their halters and let them head to their favorite rolling places.  They seem to prefer a good roll after a sweaty ride to being brushed out; I think it is part of their wild nature.  Anyway, our farrier had suggested we give them a couple rides after their trims before taking pictures, so ... here goes (and yes, they have dirty feet; we found mud on the way home and no amount of cleaning short of washing, was going to make a difference.)   Beel was only patient enough to hold two feet per horse.

Jesse's left front:  Jesse is a mare about 14.2 hands and I would like to keep her about 1000 lbs; right now she is closer to 1200, maybe.  We are working on weight reduction right now, but she is very heavy boned and has no trouble carrying the weight - but I worry about keeping her feet good.

Jesse's left hind.  This girl can walk on anything like a mountain lion, with her broad platter feet; a definite give-away to some draft in her heritage.

Washoe's left front:  Washoe is a gelding about 15.1 hands, maybe 1000 lbs; looks like some Arab in his way back history.

Washoe's left hind.  He has the thinnest sole of the three, but he never shows any tenderness.  He has a lot of suspension in his movements.

Ranger's left front:  Ranger is the 'old man' of the bunch; a 22 yo gelding about 14 hands, 900 lbs or so of feisty wild blood with some Spanish Barb from waaaaay back in his herd, hence his cute, curly ears, dorsal stripe and zebra legs.  He is a one of a kind.

Ranger's left hind.  All of them have very thick and tough hoof walls, but his are extremely difficult to cut through, even with good nippers.  He does walk a little toe-in on the front, so we can tell his hoof prints on the trail from the tell tale flat front that develops by mid-summer.  I suspect a lot of his hoof toughness developed from his growing up on the lava flats of NW Nevada, where he roamed wild until he was 8 yo.

I think we are ready for a summer of lots of mountain miles.
Bionic Cowgirl