Buddy has finally reached his last day at Rockley and I am going to pick him up first thing tomorrow. To say I am excited would be the understatement of the century but I am also incredibly nervous as I am in charge of his well being all on my own from now on and I just know it it not going to be easy. One of the reasons I sent Buddy to Nic was because I felt I didn't have the level of knowledge to be able to transition him myself and that will follow through when he comes home. Nic is incredibly generous with her time and I know that she will be there for us throughout our journey and will be an invaluable sounding board as I have no one near to me who understands the complexity of being barefoot.
It is a scary prospect and I am also nervous about what other people will say. I know I shouldn't care and I've developed a much thicker skin since I made the decision to flout tradition and go on an 'alternative' journey but it is still hard when you are surrounded by people who think you can only be a happy hacker (without any roadwork) if you take the shoes off. I am praying that the proof will be in the pudding and we will be able to show people what a barefoot horse can do but I know that there will always be someone who makes a snide comment the second we go a bit footy, make an ouchie step on a stone or slip in the mud regardless of their own horse's performance.
I understandably follow Nic's blog daily (if only to see if I can spot Buddy in any of the backgrounds!) and it is another valuable resource that I have used as evidence to share on my Facebook profile to maybe help educate people as to why I am doing what I am doing. The latest posts have just compounded why I chose this journey..
Nic is in the process of writing a series on angles, break over and sole depth in her rehabs and barefoot horses and yesterday was her first post and featured Buddy as the example (you can read the full post here and today's follow up post here). The changes his feet have made in the last twelve weeks have been astounding. My old farrier told me Buddy had feet that were predisposed to being long in the toe and I now know that was rubbish! Given the opportunity Buddy has taken his toe right back, is growing a much tighter and steeper angle to fall in line with his pastern axis, and his heel is now the widest part of the foot... Doesn't sound like a horse that is incapable of growing the best shape to me!! But the best bit about Nic's post was that I could say THIS IS WHY I HAVE CHOSEN THIS PATH!
I'm not sure if it will make a blind bit of difference but we shall see.
Nic is in the process of writing a series on angles, break over and sole depth in her rehabs and barefoot horses and yesterday was her first post and featured Buddy as the example (you can read the full post here and today's follow up post here). The changes his feet have made in the last twelve weeks have been astounding. My old farrier told me Buddy had feet that were predisposed to being long in the toe and I now know that was rubbish! Given the opportunity Buddy has taken his toe right back, is growing a much tighter and steeper angle to fall in line with his pastern axis, and his heel is now the widest part of the foot... Doesn't sound like a horse that is incapable of growing the best shape to me!! But the best bit about Nic's post was that I could say THIS IS WHY I HAVE CHOSEN THIS PATH!
I'm not sure if it will make a blind bit of difference but we shall see.
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