Mares' Manicure

Warning: Graphic hoof image. Note for the squeamish.

For nearly a year, my 30-year-old mare Cupcake has had hoof problems. Late fall, she had a massive abscess so bad that we had to keep bandaging her hoof to protect the hole on the bottom. (Thank goodness for newborn-sized diapers, Vet-wrap, and duct tape!) The abscess eventually broke though the top of her hoof and, for several months, the hole has been growing down. It looks as if she has a cloven hoof.

This morning, she waited patiently for the farrier to come and trim her hoof so it wouldn't look quite so cloven—and so the angle would be a better match for her other hoof. (The farrier trims both mares every six weeks.)

I took the above picture before I brushed the shavings off her. (Cupcake always lies down for a nap after breakfast.) I did have her fly mask on, though.

The farrier arrived with his arm in a sling because he'd recently had surgery. However, he brought another friend to trim for him. 

Cupcake's trimmed and rasped hoof is still cloven, but it's a lot better than it was. By the next trim, it should be considerably better.

Their "manicures" done, both Melody (left) and Cupcake went to graze in the pasture before it got too hot. There wasn't a cloud in the sky this morning.

Facing northwest.

Facing southwest.

The mares will graze for a few hours in the morning and then return to the run-in shed—where there's a fan—to avoid heat of the afternoon. That's what they do in summer.

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