Summer weather... & a drought

It has been a terribly dry year here in Wyoming.  We haven't had hardly any rain, our snowpack is already gone and the grass has barely grown.  Hay prices are skyrocketing (for last year's hay), this year's hay is nowhere to be seen, and the growers down in Colorado stand to make a fortune.

When we arrived in Douglas last year at this time the grass was lush and calf-high already.  We're lucky if we have two inches of spindly, skinny, patchy grass this year.

I am really glad I only have 2 horses to feed.  About 3-4 flakes of grass/alfalfa hay, a pound of grain a day and the four acre pasture is keeping them in good weight.

I have been hearing rumors that ranchers are selling off their cows for fear of not being able to feed them through the summer and winter.  Lots of people around here have 30 head of horses or more, and while they look okay so far, it may be tough to keep them fed.

Anyway...for my PNW friends, we could sure use some of your rain out here!

Both the girls had their farrier appointment on Sunday.  Tiny horse was absolutely perfect for hers.  Got her front feet trimmed up.  I have been cleaning them a little with a rasp and evening them out.  My farrier isn't a barefoot trimmer and I think he's not as careful about balance as my old farrier was.  We didn't tackle the back feet yet, since I'm still getting her used to having those handled.  She's coming along great though.

Front feet post-trim, leaning away from the camera--still out of balance but much better!

Front right lateral view, lots of retained sole.

Front right solar view...there is some pinkish bruising near the toe, a lot of difference in thickness between the "inside" (right side) and "outside" (left side) hoof wall quality, probably because of the unevenness of the hooves--still, they are nice & round with a tight white line at the toe

 Front right, lateral view

 Front left, solar view.  The false/impacted sole is already starting to shed.

I am hopeful with time and frequent trimming her hooves will even up completely, and I think I have reason to be hopeful--they should wear much better now that she is out in a more natural environment with room to roam over sand, pebbles, rocks, and grass.  I don't think there's any sign of clubbing, which worried me before.  I think the distortion/concave outline in her hooves was mainly caused by trimming only the toe back very infrequently, while letting the heels grow way too long, combined with being in a soft paddock and her super hard hooves.  She has been a tiny bit tenderfooted as she gets used to her heels working again, but it's nothing I wasn't expecting.  She is moving better already.  And I was so proud of her perfect behavior.

Chev, on the other hand, was a raving lunatic for her trim, striking, rearing, and acting like a horse I didn't even recognize.  It was like someone replaced my sweet, docile 7 year old with a wild mustang.  The farrier wasn't able to do much with her.  We finally decided she had been stung by something, because she had a complete meltdown every time a bug buzzed over her way.

I also think that maybe...she doesn't care too much for my farrier.  He gave up, I dosed her with flyspray, turned her out, and she was completely back to normal by that night.  I filed her hooves down a little more evenly and called it a night.

I think I might have to learn how to do this trimming stuff myself.  I have great attention to detail, understand symmetry, and feel like I could be good at this.  I just need to get brave and start investing in a few tools, like a new rasp and a hoof knife.  I feel like I could do at least as good a job as my current farrier, with a little supervision every 8 weeks or so.

Do any of you trim your own horses?

In other news, I've got tiny horse up to 6 hours of pasture a day, and she is loving it.  She'll be out 8 hours today before she returns to her paddock for the night, and I've seen no adverse signs of grass overdose so far.

Ironically, Chev spends most of her time in the run-in stall in the shade.  She doesn't like this heat.  And I don't blame her!

Lady, I need a drink.

Too hot to do anything but stand around

I did get some pictures of the storm that rolled through the other night.  Five miles wide with a 30 mile leader cloud (the biggest I've ever seen on the radar) being sucked right into it.  Luckily it died down by the time it came our way.

 I took this right across from the house.

 Zap!