Busy weekend and more on Thomas

Its been a very busy weekend here, with Nicky going home and another quarter horse, Ted, arriving - there will be more on both of them later in the week but I've had an email from Terri to say that Nicky arrived home safe and sound and stomped across the stony carpark (which she used not to like!) so I'm hoping she goes from strength to strength.

As well as that, Debbie came to visit Paddy and was delighted to see him so chipper; as she said, its hard to believe that he has just undergone massive surgery.  He was on such good form and it was such beautiful weather that she had to work quite hard to restrain her enthusiasm and keep his daily outings to no more than the permitted ambles out to graze...We are both desperate to let him do more, which would be better for his hooves, but he can't be too active until his muscles have re-knitted after the wound has healed.

Last but definitely not least, Sophie and her Dad came to visit Thomas and were pleased to see him looking - in their words - "sparkly", though Sophie didn't entirely approve of the fact that I had trimmed a few inches off his tail.  I never normally trim manes and tails but his was dragging in the mud - it will grow back, honestly ;-)

As you can see from his initial photo (above) he had a weak frog and high heels, like so many horses, and its changing that which is the key for him, as he otherwise has good hooves.


More importantly, even in the 2 weeks that he has been here his landing has improved, as you can see from the footage.  There is a long way to go before his front feet land as well as his back feet but he is getting on track and the improvement means that he can start proper work.

Thomas has a huge work ethic and wants nothing more than to be busy, so I think he will be thrilled to have a proper job once more.