Hoof Woes

This morning I found myself in an all-too-familiar position: holding the lead of a pinto horse and watching as the vet hunted for a hoof abscess.  However, one part of the situation was very different, because this time my unfortunate pinto friend was a little, frightened filly.  Gingersnap.  Poor girl, she had a trying morning.  Her leg hurt, she had to ride all alone in the trailer (her fourth time to ever ride in a trailer), there were lots of dogs barking at her when we arrived, a strange horse stared at her, and the vet squeezed, poked, and pared away at her hoof and administered a tetanus shot.  She was quite well-behaved in spite of everything and only jumped twice.  The vet said Ginger was a very good little girl.

Ginger doesn't actually have a hoof abscess, but she does have a deep puncture wound in her hoof.  Dr. Beauchamp told us that Ginger's injury would certainly have developed into an abscess had we not caught it early.  I am going to be changing hoof bandages and soaking her hoof for the next five days, but after that Ginger should be fine.  We are thoroughly prepared to take care of this, because we still have all the supplies left over from Peg's ordeal.

Ginger's training has gone remarkably well so far.  She can have her feet trimmed, she accepts being sprayed with fly spray, she will wear a blanket, she loads well, is easy to catch, groom, saddle, and mount, she willingly walks off on cue, stops, backs up, turns, and we are working on the trot right now.  I have also started hobbling her.  It usually takes Ginger about five to ten minutes to learn a new skill or accept a new item.  She is really smart, and she has a lot of trust.  I am looking forward to seeing what she will do as she advances in her training.