How should I handle this....

[LilSapphire]

Today I was rubbing the neighbors ponies through the fence and I noticed that one of there ponies hooves were REALLY long...I mean they were curving up in the air...and I just find this horrible! The others ponies hooves were perfectly fine and I don't know this for a fact but this mare that has the long hooves is pretty old and is also blind in one eye so it could just be me but they seem to take better care of there young horses. They also have 5 big horses which are in good shape...they are always well groomed and I am going up later to look at their hooves but the last time I was up they were perfectly fine. So this brings me to a question....should I call the neighbor and tell them that I know of some good farriers if they want me to give them the numbers since horse ppl are hard to find around here or should I call them and say that I am having my miniatures hooves trimmed soon which I really am and that the farrier would come out sooner if I had more then one horse to do so I was wondering if they needed there horses hooves done too?? What do you all think? Thanks

Jessica

 

[MooreAcres]

I have had a similar incident occur around here. About a mile or two down the road there were two horses off in a field. I am pretty sure the bay is a mare, but I'm not sure about the grey. I have never seen any "evidence" to prove that it isn't a mare, so I assume that it is. Anyway back to my point. I noticed that the grey horses hooves were pretty long, not to the point of curling up, but really long none the less. Many times I wanted to walk up to the door and say...something, anything. I felt bad for this horse, even though it didn't seem affected by its condition. Well I could never think of the right thing to say, so I never said anything. I have been kicking myself for it ever since. IMPO I would call them up and...

ask them politely if they'd like their horses hooves trimmed when the farrier come up. Tell them that you get a discount for having more than one horse done at one given time. Say that since you only have one and you knew they had horses, that you thought they'd like to get theirs done at the same time. Let the farrier in on what your planning. Maybe he/she would feel more comfortable saying something along the lines of how bad their feet are. He could bring it to the owners attention casually and politely.

Speaking of which I need to make an appointment for mine!

Erin

 

[kaykay]

also some people are under the misconception that some horses shouldnt be trimmed due to health problems. Teddy owners (the dwarf we took in that had never been trimmed) had been told it was better not to trim him and thought they were doing the right thing. Maybe just call and inquire about the mares health and why her hooves are not being trimmed?

 

[Little Bit]

Jessica~

Chances are that this pony has foundered at one time or another...that just means that she needs even MORE specail attention to her hooves!!!!

Maybe you could call them and tell them that you noticed that their pony's hooves were very long and that your farrier specializes in trimming foundered and special needs horses, and that he would be happy to help them out with her....I don't know.

Bless her little heart and your's too for caring about her.

Keep us posted if ya will.

Janell

 

[LilSapphire]

Thanks everyone....

My dad told me that he believes that few years back that this pony foundered..... He said that this is probably why they are so long but I explained to him that if she had foundered that is all the more reason that this mares hooves she not be so long that they curve up in the air.

I will give them a call and suggest some farriers since farriers are hard to find here....and politely maybe suggest they have this mares hooves trimmed..I will let you all know how it goes! Thanks

Jessica

 

[mcharr36]

You could try talking to the neighbors, but try to keep an open mind with them also. The mare may not want her hooves done. I have a welsh mare that never gets her feet done by the farrier. They get long in the winter, then come summer when the ground gets firm she breaks them off to the proper length. This mare was mistreated before I got her and it takes a minimum of 15 minutes just to get a halter on her. She is not groomed; nor given shots. Her wormer is placed in her feed. She's happy and she produces nice babies for me. We have worked out a mutual understanding. She comes in the barn when called and goes to her stall. I do not touch her. I can imprint her baby, but I cannot touch her. I thought once about taking her to a sale. It took 3 of us to draw the blood. Divine Intervention delayed the return of the coggins papers till after the sale.

So there may be a good reason the little mares feet are not being done.

 

[LilSapphire]

Your right there might be a good reason BUT I would still like to see if I can help her out...her hooves are not just alittle long that chip off in the summer they are so long that they curl completely up in the air and you know she has to have trouble walking like that. I will keep everyone updated.

Jessica

 

[fourhorses]

Just wanted to say....thanks for caring.

 

[SunQuest]

LilSapphire,

I have an idea.... Play dumb. Go over to your neighbors and tell them how you think their horses are wonderful. Ask questions as to age, breed ect and just show general interest in them while telling them how you really like their horses. Then while you are at it, inquire as to what happened to the poor horses feet to make them like that. They may be willing to tell you what happened. I would bet that since the other horses are fine, there is something more to the story.Maybe they rescued the horse... Maybe not... Now I am not saying you have to agree with them, but striking up a polite conversation may help you to learn something as to why the feet are that way. If the poor thing foundered years ago and the feet were not taken care of at that point, there may be reasons on why they can't get them fixed now. Then again, they may be very slowly working on correcting the feet as well. It takes years sometimes to change the damage done.

So go over there full of compliments and questions and see what you learn. Don't accuse them of anything, just try to look at it as a learning experience. If you can befriend them, then you may be able to suggest things to help, that is if they are not trying to fix the issues already.

Thanks so much for caring!