Noé Állatotthon Alapítvány - Birs versus Blacksmith

Birs versus Blacksmith - The real story of a shoeing
2012.03.15.

Birs is one of the member of our handicapped stud has been having severe navicular inflammation which caused problems with walking as well. The vet suggested a special medial horse shoe developed particularly for horses with this illness. This special equipment spreads load in a way that it relieves the first part of the hoof which hurts otherwise. So, our smith, always keeping a loving and caring eye on Birs, put the equipment on.

In general Birs is our most meek horse so we did not expect any complication throughout the process. We had to realize that this was a mistake. I admit that we separated her from the herd, but she was still able to see them, moreover, Tesco was loitering around the fence, not leaving Birs alone.
Adjusting the nails went relatively smooth, but when our smith began to put the hoof on Birs simply decided that she does not need these and her feet do not even hurt any more… -as if we were witnessing her miraculous recovery.

(Hammering the nails does not hurt at all as they are penetrating the insensible horn part of the hoof. This might mean that the beats themselves hurt her and her aching legs, or, she was just unbearably bored….).
Our optimist expectation for hoofing was a maximum of an hour but it ended up being more than one and a half hours. Meanwhile Birs tried all her tricks to get away: her show included elements which surprised even the smith – she pulled me away million times, sometimes to the bush, sometimes over the concrete and I do not even count how many times she nut me. Obviously and unfortunately I was unable to take some photos of these moments, because it would have been a challenge no to break the camera into tiny pieces, so I decided I would rather save our camera from such a disgraceful end. Our blacksmith was a victim of some of Birs’s tricks: she tore his gloves, or, I rather, she redesigned his glove (good that he wore double).
All in all, it was a real challenge to have both hoofs on, but final victory was ours.

Althrough the process I was wondering where might the closest slaughter-house be… but in the light of the result and with the knowledge that Birs feels a lot better now I rather smile on this whole story.

It was an illuminating experience and not only because I have never read anything on the web about these details under medical hoofing.

After some days Birs seems to have accustomed to her new hooves. Though we do not expect her to fly, it definitely helps her in moving.
Would you like to know Birs is feeling better? Then visit us on Saturdays on the Horse Cleaning Day!

You can also help Birs by virtually adopting her.

Juli