First real snow and random updates

So this past weekend we actually had our first "real" snow of the season, enough that we broke out the plow for the first time this winter.  It is only a few inches but it is snow.  And it was 10 degrees this morning but it is supposed to be 40 tomorrow.  What a crazy winter so far.

Last Thursday I had my lesson on the App and it went....okay.  Overall I was disappointed that we didn't work on anything new and I didn't get much feedback.  On the flip side it was obvious that the App was a little off, not enough to not ride, and not enough you could really see it (without staring hard anyway), but enough I could feel it.  She was most likely taking it easy on him as a result.  We will try again in a couple of weeks and see how the next lesson goes.

So it turns out the TWH is lame due to a bruise or abscess in his outside heel bulb on his right front.  I am leaning towards a bruise as he is getting better and was almost sound this am.  He has been on bute since Wednesday afternoon and I will pull him off of it tonight.  The App is lame though I am not sure the root cause.  I have been reading Nic over in the UK, he does barefoot rehabbing and he has shown video stressing the importance of a heel first landing.  So I took a slo-mo video of the App and what is happening?  He is landing toe first on his left front. AH-HA!

I had the farrier out on Saturday for their normal trim and had him review everyone's feet pretty extensively.  I am continually disappointed in how everyone's feet appear after the 6th week and this time was no exception.  The App's left front was flared out on the outside and I didn't like how the bottom looked.  His hind feet also were getting underrun heels.  Again.  I micro-managed the job and made him back the App's toes up and fix some things.  He had me w/t/c the App on a lunge to see how he moved and he made some additional adjustments.  Last night the App was still lame though he looked better this AM.  On the plus side I got really good pics of the TWH's feet, both before and after, for comparision.  This will hopefully be posted later today or tomorrow.  The downside is I didn't get the same pics of the App's feet due to time.  By the time I found the camera (it has been lost since summer) and thought of taking before pics, I ran out of time and only got the TWH's done.  I have only 2 before pics of the App, both of his soles.  I will take after pics, hopefully tonight, and post them as well.  Hopefully someone can give some insight into how his feet look??

Not much else is new, I haven't ridden since Thurs due to 2 lame horses.  I did get a lot done this past weekend as SO was out of town, I had the house fairly clean, the poo box dumped, water trough filled, wheel barrow wheel fixed, poo box fixed, hay filled and arena cleaned so Sunday was a truly relaxing day.  I really don't get that much anymore, not without neglecting something else anyway.  So...pics to come!