Horseshoes

A farrier is a specialist in equine hoof care, including the trimming and balancing of a horse's hoof and the placing of shoes to the horse's foot..

I was asked by Jill, the owner of VOTK ( Valley of the Kings) if I could come out on a Saturday to help with RC, the farrier was going to be there for the horses.
Of course I said yes. The concern was keeping RC calm while the farrier worked on her shoes, and we thought Reiki would be the ticket.

Jill came out and told me that 5 horses and the 3 donkeys needed to be done and could I please give Monchie & Rainbow ( donkeys) their worm medication.

Whoa boy, do what?

I had no problem helping with all the "equines", I love them all and it would be a fun venture. BUT, the last time I saw someone try to give the donkeys their worm medication it was not pretty and now I had to do it alone.

If you don't think donkeys are smart, think again. They are very intuitive and they had my number. Monchie was actually easy, I think I caught him by surprise, not sure how that happened. But he let me know his displeasure but galloping around and kicking backwards(no real danger). It looked like a donkey temper tantrum, it was actually kind of cute. So now Rainbow was onto me and it was a game of chase the black donkey. He made a wrong move and went into the barn, I cornered him and held his rein tight, bam, squirt , all done. It was easy to tell it tasted awful, I had a hard time getting them to eat apples they were so busy making that "yuck" face.

Ok, the hard part was done. Onto the horses and Howard ( big donkey) out in the back fields.

I was able to walk right up to Star and put the lead on, the farrier went right to work. What I did not expect was the awesome exchange of love between Star and myself. He was so comfortable, nuzzling, leaning his head on my shoulder.
Just think of a cat or dog when they are in your lap for attention, then imagine that in horse size. And even better than that it happened with every single horse and donkey until we got to RC.

We saved RC for last. We wanted her to be aware of the donkeys getting done, thinking that she would sense their ease and be more accepting. We couldn't have been more wrong. Apparently she does not like being on a lead and I can't tell you how many times we circled and I hung on tight. I was never afraid, I knew I wouldn't get hurt, I was more worried about RC getting injured.
We eventually had to give up, she was too upset.

So adding to my Sunday agenda:
I am going to make a weekly effort to put the lead on her and get her used to it. Maybe it will be easier when it is just the 2 of us, no distractions.

RC has adjusted so well to her blindness that I took for granted that my presence would be a comfort. She was confronted with a stranger, although a very gentle man that loves animals, a stranger none the less. She also had to deal with other unknowns. It was too much and now I understand how frightening it had to be for her.
So we will work together and help her overcome her hurdles.
I will have a good supply of apples, lots of love and patience.

Something cool I learned that day about hoofs. They are just like our finger and toenails. They grow out and have to be trimmed. It is not just horseshoes.
Learn something new everyday!