Cob power!

I took the shoes of a great cob mare today - the owner was the sort of person that I love to work for - she had spent literally years researching barefoot, and making sure it was the right decision for her, she has friends on the yard who are supportive and very knowledgeable about barefoot, with years of epxerience of challenging hooves, she has done everything right on the dietary side, and she has a horse who works regularly and has been well shod in the past :-)

I saw the mare about 6 weeks ago, and we put together a plan for taking her shoes off; today was D-day. The only slight hitch was that the weather was truly filthy - gales, sleet, cold, and to top it off there was a shoot going on nearby.

Like many cobs, this mare was both sensitive and lively, and despite having excellent manners, she found the morning a challenge, especially when the rain started hammering on the roof like machine gun fire.

She tried very hard for us though, and was making a visible effort to be brave. Once the shoes were off and she had been trimmed up, her great hooves were evident - she has fantastic new hoof growth coming in from the coronet, and already has the typical cob foot, with a strong, healthy frog and digital cushion.

I'm already looking forward to seeing her again - she stomped off full of the joys of spring once we had finished today, and I am hoping she will go from strength to strength :-)