I read (have not tried, but read) that putting epsom salt in a disposable diaper, wrapping with duct tape, and then dousing the diaper with water a couple of times a day gives you the equivelent of frequent saoks without the hassle... kinda made sense to me, tho I haven't tried that. Tho I do have to wonder....half of my horse first aid kit consists of diapers, duct tape, and maxi pads.....strange to think about.
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This little guy is not shod. Actually, we haven't had him long and he came up lame the first day I turned him out with the other horses, but I don't really think that had much to do with this. I don't know what breed he is...this is wee difficult child's new ride that we just got...he's about a 13.2 quarter-type-ish pony. His feet are a little flat, but nothing too bad (we have worse), and he doesn't have the tiny QH feet (by the way - I HATE that...develop a 1200 pound horse and put it on toothpicks....grrr). But they were in dire need of being trimmed. I was more worried about getting weight on him and worming and vaccinations than I was trimming.
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Get rid of the horse and you also get rid of the abscess....too funny. I like your mom. I may need to apply her "men" logic to the situation, tho, because even if I get rid of THIS horse with THIS abscess, my darling husband will just drag in another...
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I have actually gone to barefoot as much as possible. I shoe the team, 'cause they are almost always on the road, but our riding horses are barefoot unless a particular situation calls for shoes. We've actually had less trouble with them keeping them barefoot than when we kept them shod. Obviously, the little founder pony gets corrective shoes as needed, etc, but for the most part, we're shoeless and love it.
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Oh, and we aren't breed specific around here. We have a little bit of everything. We are much less diverse now than a few years ago, when we had an appy and a mule and a TWH in the mix, but there's no breed loyalty around here. They tend to get dragged home according to the job they can do. lol