Happenstance

Going to the barn after work during the weekdays is a bit of an endeavor in it of itself. I battle rush hour traffic which can be 20 minutes on a good day and almost 35 on a bad day.

Friday night was a good day. I made great time with minimal traffic and arrived at the barn all ready to ride and get my 2pointober time. It had been raining and thunder storming earlier all week and FINALLY cleared up so I was itching to get some saddle time...but you all know what happens to the best laid plans.

When I got to the barn I noticed a farrier's truck was in the yard, we have a few that come by the barn so I didn't think too much about it. I walked into the barn to grab my grooming bag and lead rope and saw the guy just starting work on a horse. I introduced myself and it turns out that it was R, the person that I asked to trim Quest's feet earlier in the month! I was out of town on business when he came to work on her so I missed meeting him then.

I had called R based on my friend T's recommendation and he turned out to be just as nice as T said he was. I told him that I was getting into distance riding and interested in learning how to barefoot trim eventually or at the very least, become more educated about taking care of feet. R immediately offered to let me watch him work on Celita, an old 20yo mare who had shoes on her fronts and barefoot on her hinds. R explained everything while working and was very informative. He stopped often to let me touch and feel what he was doing. To help train my eye, he would "quiz" me by sighting heels for balance. If the heels were not even, I had to tell him which side was off. I'm glad to say I was right every time! I think it does help that I work on costumes that require me sculpt and shape in 3D but still, it was pretty encouraging to know that I was seeing what he was seeing. After working on Celita and putting her away, we talked for a bit more and R gave me a bunch of references for places for me to get supplies and offered to give me some nippers, hoof knife, and a pair of used leggings the next time he was around if I still didn't get any by then. I asked him a bunch of questions and it was encouraging to hear that I was on the right track in my understanding of things.

When I checked my watch, I only had about 40 minutes left before the barn "closed" for the night. I was so engrossed in watching and learning that I lost track of time! I profusely thanked R for his time and help and excused myself to get Quest out of her stall. It was too much of a rush for riding so I opted to just lunge and do groundwork. While I had Quest in the cross ties for grooming, R offered to check how her feet were doing 4 weeks after his trim. He confirmed my thinking that she was doing fine and would be okay with waiting a couple weeks more before another major trim. So far only her right hind needs a bit of touching up on the heels which I'll do this week. Other than that, she's looking and doing great feet-wise!

Before R left, he gave Quest a nice head rub and commented on how calm and happy she looked. My friends told me she was an angel for the trim but I guess she still was pretty wired back then. R probably noticed a huge difference with her demeanor, and it was enough to say something.

"She is a lucky girl- she knows she's found a home " R said.  I could only grin in reply.