Who Knew Being My Boy's Farrier Could Be a High Risk Job?

I'm going to interrupt my Q&A session to give you an update on My Boy.


This morning was My Boy's farrier appointment. After a week of nearly constant rain, I was afraid I might have to postpone. My farrier won't work in a downpour. I don't blame him. Not just because rain running down your neck is annoying, but because he doesn't want the nails to get wet before they go in the hoof.


The morning dawned foggy, frosty, and not a cloud in the sky. I could not believe it. After two years of horseshoeing appointments, I have only had to cancel one because of the weather. And that was due to a pretty definite snow forecast, for which it did. I have gotten extremely lucky in the weather and farrier day department. Which is nice since my farrier accommodates me with Saturday appointments and rescheduling would have to be a week out.




When I arrived at the Painted Creek my pony was eating his breakfast in the far back of his pasture. Since he was engrossed in his feed he wasn't coming to the gate, I stomped through frozen ice puddles en route to fetching him. As I led him out of the pasture, he snorted and pranced and kept stopping, head up, looking into the woods alongside his pasture. He often imagines all kinds of monsters in those woods.

Little did we know, today there could have been.

I groomed him up. I like to towel all the wet mud off his lower legs and pick out his hooves out before the farrier arrives. As I was cleaning him up, I heard Paint Girl's other half warming up his car to run some errands. I looked out at the road they live on and noticed a police car driving by slowly with his lights on.



I hand-walked My Boy up and down the driveway a bit as we waited for the farrier to arrive. I noticed the police car had stopped near the end of Paint Girl's driveway, and I saw more flashing lights further down the road. Well, this was kind of interesting. Paint Girl's OH went to ask the officer what was going on. Turned out there was a felon on the run in the woods in the neighborhood. What?! Okay PG's OH, you can not leave for your errands now! At least not until my farrier gets here!


My farrier arrived around twenty minutes later. He was stopped on the way into the neighborhood. He was told to stay inside and that they'd be searching the area with police dogs trying to track this person down. I half-jokingly asked him whether he wanted to keep the appointment, since moving into the house with my horse was just not an option. He said well heck, if we hear gunfire, just hit the ground. He also suggested I could saddle up My Boy, hit the woods, and test out his ability at being a mounted police horse.

I told him not to expect any extra payment for working in such a hazardous situation.


The OH hung around and we all were enjoying the warm dose of vitamin D and chatting as My Boy got his hooves done. Steam was floating off everything the sun was hitting. It was a beautiful winter morning and hard to imagine that something really scary was going on close by.

I was happy to see that the farrier noticed the hole where MB's abscess blew out of his sole. I was proud of myself for diagnosing and noticing it. Despite hardly getting a start on his breakfast prior to the appointment, MB was really good for the farrier.

All ended well and we made it through the appointment without any additional excitement.

Oh, the things we go through for our horses!