New Boots for Shorty

When I turned up this morning ready to take Shorty for a ride in the bush before it got too hot, Shorty was sitting down with the other horses all standing around. I rarely see Shorty do that (only once before) so I took a photo. Today was the day we had planned to take Shorty and Sarge for a walk in the bush, wearing their new boots. We had tried the new boots on yesterday and all fitted well. The hoof trimmer had shown me how to put them on and get them off. 

To put the boots on:

1. Clean hoofs with hoof pick - around the edge and the frog.
2. Put the boots on straight.
3. Check it is even and on straight.
4. Put the strap around - on the 2nd hole.
5. Use the pick to attach the front.

To take the boots off:

1. Take the tack (saddle, bridles etc) off first.
2. Unclip the straps
3. Take the boot off sideways.

The bush we walked through this morning was uphill, downhill, through the thick bush, a bit of clearing (where we took the photo). Sarge did not like tree stumps (there were plenty) but all he did was hesitate. We walked over a bridge- first time for the horses (and for me) and there was a creek flowing under it. We looked out for wombat holes and we saw a wallaby. As Lynne and Sarge walked between 2 trees, Lynne called out to me to either go around (if it was too narrow for Shorty to fit through) or if we did, she reminded me to turn my toes in, which was very helpful advice!

Shorty walked carefully, picking his feet up carefully to walk over fallen trees, branches, bracken and leaves. We walked up the hill, parallel to a fallen tree, until we could see what we would be stepping over into. Lynne told me she knew of a lady once that would jump over logs before seeing what was on the other side. Her point was to make sure you could see where you and your horse are going. As we stepped over one log, we did a hard right and the horses had to step over another one almost immediately. Sarge did it well but Shorty stopped. (this was about 40 minutes into the ride.) I encouraged him verbally and gave him a gentle prod and he moved forward. On the way back when we had to do the same thing, he did it without hesitation.

There was some pretty scenery as we walked along the road. We could see farms, cows, green hills and a bit of cloud at the top of one mountain. We considered letting the horses go for a trot but they were showing signs of tiredness so we decided to keep exploring through the bush. When we approached a steep downhill part of the road, we cut through the bush again. I'm not sure that was a better option - it was still downhill, the trees were close and there was another wombat hole. We made it safely back to the road home.

Back at home, boots and tack off, I brushed Shorty in the opposite way to help the air get through as he had sweated a bit. I noticed that one of the straps had come off a boot and Lynne had noticed that on one of her horse's boots. She commented it showed how 'tough' the bush had been and we were thankful the boots had not come off. After brushing Shorty, he was still a bit warm in the chest, so I led him to the water and allowed him to get 5 swallows of water before putting his fly mask back on and taking him back to the paddock with the other horses. The first thing he did when he got back, was roll and then roll a second time. 

It was a great ride - our 3rd for the week so I'm giving Shorty a couple days off. He's a good horse.