|
Cameo is now 28
I had retired her from competition when she was 16.
She was one of those horses who systematically worked through every evasion in the book. I would just sort one out and she would invent another. She was also a chronic stumbler. She could trip over fresh air.
I remember one day riding down a small hill on a tar seal road -she was shod at the time- and next thing she was on both knees. I have no idea how I stayed on but when she finally managed to scramble to her feet again, she had gaping holes in her knees.
I know now that the stumbling and evasions were directly related to hoof imbalance and discomfort.
Cameo wasn’t always in shoes and had feet that could go on all terrain, but not knowing any better I always shod her when competing and the rest of the time, through ignorance, I didn’t trim her often enough.
I noticed a huge difference in Cameo when I started trimming her regularly using natural hoof care guidelines.
The most glaringly obvious change was that she stopped tripping and stumbling after 25 years of it.
She has actually come out of retirement now and goes for occasional treks and road rides, which she enjoys immensely.
In February she was ridden in a 2-day clinic when a rider needed a horse, again she never stumbled once.
I feel happy that I have been lead to natural hoof care and have been able to help my mare regain healthy, functional, pain free hooves in her twilight years after a quarter of a century of neglect and shoeing.
|
