Bill and Juanita, owners of Allenspark Lodge B&B, are living their dream...

running a successful business and riding as often as possible.



Thursday, April 12, 2012

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

7 comments:

  1. Oooh, what a treat! Lovely, lovely feet. I hope one day Dixie's look that good.

    I don't brush Dixie out either. She'd rather roll, and it's fine with me. :)

    PS Thanks Beel. ;)

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  2. Now, see I would have guessed that Ranger has his unique curly-eared, zebra and dorsal stripes because somewhere in his background are the famed Marwari or Kathiawari Horse. I've never seen ears like his except in those unusual rare breeds.

    ~Lisa

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    1. I suspect if we traced far enough back, we would find that the Marwari and Spanish Barb started out in the same area, then broke apart and traveled different directions. It seems funny that so few kept the curly ears - they are soooo cute!
      Bionic Cowgirl

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  3. looks like you've got some good solid feet there!

    Good hoof = good horse.

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    1. That's the saying - and we believe it, 'cause these guys can GO!

      So much depends on the lay of the land that the horses live on. Our farrier always tells us how lucky we are to keep these guys on hard, rocky ground.
      Bionic Cowgirl

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  4. NICE feet! I guess that's why Mustangs have such a good reputation.

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  5. Lovely feet! I read about so many people struggling for good healthy feet, I feel bad for them. So nice, it seems, you don't have those worries. I absolutely love, love, love Rangers ears! I have a feeling you already knew that :-)

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