A visit from the farrier...

You ask who? For those of you that aren't familiar with ranching/farming a farrier is a hoof trimmer and horse shoer...

Julie had a problem...a cracked hoof! Not good and this one was pretty bad. She has her hooves regularly trimmed every 6 to 8 weeks but the drought has taken it's toll and even with regular trims things still happen. Since Julie is retired she hasn't worn shoes in over 6 years.

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This is the farrier...Hi Ray! He's also my friend! When I moved to Texas 12+ years ago I had a really hard time finding a farrier. Not all of them are good, not all of them know how to trim and shoe a standardbred's hooves...she's not a cow pony. She needed barium on her shoes to keep her from slipping on the pavement and a lot of farriers have no clue regarding barium. Julie was a harness horse, I used her to pull carriages, carts and buggy's. I finally found Ray and he knew exactly how to shoe Julie and Julie liked him...He's been doing her hooves ever since. Ray is a good Old boy and a great story teller...Oh the stories he tells, I love it!

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She likes to check up on Ray here and there and make sure he's doing a good job!
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Ray decided because of the cracked hoof, shoes were needed! Here he is putting the nails in...and no they don't hurt.
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It's not an easy job and I'm so thankful we have Ray to do it! I used to be able to trim but I would never attempt to shoe, that I leave to the experts! One reason why I haven't gotten any more horses is Ray is getting crippled up. It happens to the best of us. He won't be doing horses forever and I don't want another farrier, sigh! Ray can handle Julie cause she's a good old girl and absolutely loves having her hooves done and behaves but a younger horse might not be so good and I don't want Ray getting hurt. When I find another farrier that can do just as good a job as Ray then I might think of getting myself a riding horse, I sure miss my riding horses and riding. Ray has a younger farrier in mind for us and is waiting to see if this youngster works out.
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Crimping the nails...When the nails are put in they come out through the front of the hoof. They are nipped off and then crimped down to hold the shoe to the hoof.
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All done...

she'll have them re-set in 6 weeks and we'll have to keep them on for 6 to 8 months until the crack grows out...

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It dawned on me today when Ray arrived I didn't really have any photos of him. Normally I'm too busy visiting to take photos. (Ray was diagnosed with cancer last year, he is doing chemo treatments and the outlook is good! Thank God!) So today when I walked out the door I grabbed the Sony point and shoot camera and decided it was time to have a photo session with my farrier and friend...Ray is photogenic and I loved that he just completely ignored me why I took photos! Next time I'm bringing out the Big Camera!