My farrier showed up earlier than expected, which was nice since its only going to get hotter this afternoon. He was surprised at the dings Blaze had managed to inflict on that poor hind leg but as we know, Blaze isn’t the most graceful guy in the world. With his constant itching and rolling, and the interfering in the way he travels, it was definitely just time to get the steel shoes out of the equation, at least in the hind. I definitely hope to be going all Easy Boot all the time with both horses by next season but for now I will go front shoes with Blaze and hopefully be able to finish our endurance season safely and happily that way. It really stresses me out to see a scratch on Blaze, let alone two cuts caused by something I technically did to him by shoeing him. I feel better just having the hind shoes off and hopefully things will start healing quickly now. I noticed that his mane was a little greasy and its wicked hot so I decided a thorough bath was in order (for him, not me–though I pretty much get a bath giving him a bath!). Cowboy Magic shampoo and conditioner works such wonders, though I have the darndest time trying to wash his head and forelock, I usually just end up wiping his head with a damp cloth and I haven’t managed to soap up his forelock, it seems like a soap in the eyes and ears waiting to happen. Blaze puts his head high and rolls his eyeballs to look at me like I’m nuts when I put the hose high up on his neck, so getting soap and water near his forelock and actual face is a challenge waiting to be conquered I guess. De-worming was in order as well so we took care of that, and with the shoes off, a thorough bath, and a handful of carrots, it was nice to spend some time loving on my Blaze!

All Clean!

Oh and when I was walking him back to his paddock he always likes to stop and roll on the barn lawn on the way, but today he took it a step further. He was actually grazing while dropping to his knees to roll, tried to graze sideways while rolling, then got his front feet out in front to get up but stayed that way grazing AND shook off before he finally got to his feet. What a dork! The green he was so frantically grazing at was mostly just weeds and thistles, but the pastures have dried up all yellow and dead so I guess any green is good green to him at the moment! And all the hay and carrots and Bar Ale feed of course isn’t enough for poor starving Blaze 🙂

Okay, I technically didn’t go anywhere, aside from to the lake, or into any other nearby body of water, but I didn’t update the blog for a while so I’m saying I’mm baackkk. We’ve just had a 5 day run of 100+ degree weather and as I say I wasn’t doing much beyond surviving, playing in any and all water, and hiding from the sun. I went out in the evenings to think about going for a quick ride but when its still 90 degrees at 8 pm its just no fun.
I had plans to ride this morning at the lake with a friend but I postponed it to Friday because I want to get Blaze’s hind shoes pulled before I ride him again. The old catch-22 interference mark is just not resolving and keeping it wrapped in 100 degree weather is insane. He also somehow managed to get another little cut just above the previous one and has slight filling in that hind leg now. Its maddening because I didn’t have a single problem until I put shoes all the way around and its just been an endless pain in the butt ever since. I was very glad to have all four shoes, and pads, at Hat Creek Hustle as the rock was so nasty, but I am going to try to finish our ride season with just front shoes as we had been doing before. I don’t *think* we have any more truly rocky rides on the agenda, but we’ll see. I haven’t had problems covering miles of gravel and/or fairly rocky trails at Lake Oroville with only front shoes so I think I can swing it. If I remember correctly Mendo Magic ride might be requiring hoof protection all the way around but the ride managers are my old friends and ex-co workers so I will email them directly and see what that is about. I have ridden most of those trails and the only bad footing I can think of is some gravel road, which is doable. I’m not riding Blaze to win anyway and I walked almost all of Whiskeytown with only front shoes due to extreme rocks and was just barely over the time limit, so if I see some rocky conditions I will just slow down and accomodate, because having hind shoes is not working out for Blaze and I. I am thinking transitioning him to Easyboot Gloves next season will be the thing to do, because I will absolutely need all four hooves protected for Whiskeytown and Hat Creek. I am definitely planning to stick with the Gloves with the mare since her hooves are so nice and un-spoiled by steel, so maybe I will get going with them on her and then figure Blaze’s out next. My farrier should be making it up this afternoon to pull the hind shoes and hopefully things can start improving from there.
The forecast only calls for 97 degrees today! Miraculous. Its supposed to be in the low 90s by the end of the week and into the 80s next week which will be great, I actually have a chance of going for some fun rides without dying of heat stroke 🙂 Call me a chicken, but remember I’m a redheaded endurance rider, so my endurance toughness is somewhat tempered by my skin saying “AHHH I’m melllttinng and fryyingggg” And I should really just buy stock in Coppertone already.
Hope to be posting stories and pics of more riding soon, as the weather cools!

I rode Desire bareback this evening and had Sheza along in the arena while my husband did sort of a “photo shoot” of us which was great, I never have photos of me riding my horses because I usually ride alone. Also my husband is a great photographer, even with just our little point and shoot digital camera. Today was the first time that I corrected Sheza and she immediately fell into line! Usually she tries at least once more (if not many more times) to get away with whatever she is doing but today she planted her feet while leading and started shaking her head like she was going spazz (like a fish on a line, I say) but I said my “eh eh” No noise at her and she immediately jumped forward and started walking again like miss manners! It was a very pleasant surprise. She is a smart and beautiful little gal.