Chronicles of Junior

Day 22: Last Saturday was a nice day so our farrier came out to pull Junior's shoes. They were long and I wanted his shoes off before we got more snow and ice. I've been leading Junior into his stall and there's a patch of ice we have to walk over now.

Junior stood perfectly for pulling shoes and getting his feet trimmed. He's obviously had his feet shod a number of times.  He acted like an old pro at it. I was pretty proud of him even though I had nothing to do with any of his behavior.

Junior was wearing aluminum shoes but they didn't seem to be worn down too bad. When the farrier pulled Junior's shoes off, he mentioned that Junior had a touch of laminitis. He wasn't 100 percent positive that it was laminitis or if the shoes had been on too long. Junior did have a false soul.

The farrier trimmed up the false soul and said that Junior might be a tad sensitive on his feet for a few days but I haven't noticed him miss a step and we've had some cold temperatures that made the ground hard again.  The farrier mentioned laminitis not just because of the false soul, which can be a sign of laminitis or having shoes on too long, but because there was some separation of the hoof wall. He didn't make it sound like it's as bad as King's feet, who does have laminitis.

I didn't think to ask Junior's previous owners if he had laminitis (or was wearing shoes for that matter). But we'll be keeping a close eye on Junior to see if his feet do show signs of laminitis or just wearing shoes for too long.

I'm happy to see the shoes come off so that he can travel without me having to worry about him slipping on the ice. I wish he would have used his shoes to his advantage when he did have them. When I put Junior back in with the mares, Rabbit thumped him a couple of times. That damn sorrel mare.

I've been putting Junior in a stall at night so that he can eat in peace and away from any chill that the wind might bring. The other night we had wind out of the east so the mares were cold and I wanted to get everyone in out of the wind. Junior seemed even happier with the mares close by. When I went to put him in the following night (leaving the mares out), Junior wasn't as happy. I may have to simply pull Junior in to a stall to eat his grain and put him back out for his hay. I'd rather make sure Junior had enough because those darn sorrel mares push him around but if he's happier hanging out with the mares, I guess I'll just have to make sure there's extra piles of hay scattered everywhere.