Roland’s nags and nails: another important lesson learnt
This blog is sponsored by the PRO FEET range of hoof care products from NAF
It’s sometimes quite difficult to think of things to write about. If you’ve been following my blog, then you’ll know I’m on a steep learning curve as I’ve just started trimming.
Thinking back over my week, all I can usually remember is how difficult trimming is and how mal-co-ordinated I must look as I try and hold my tools and the horse’s leg without dropping either of them! Anyway, trimming has been mentioned rather a lot over these past few weeks so this week I was wondering what else I could write about.
Certainly, there’s no point in recounting my dreams as they’re all about trimming (seriously), except last night, when I shod a donkey rather well!
Anyway, something did happen this week that is a bit out of the norm. I tied a horse up to a tie-ring and I learnt rather a valuable lesson. About 30min into my mal-co-ordinated trimming, the horse shot backwards taking the tie-ring with it.
Attached to the tie-ring was a door frame and attached to that was a door and part of a barn wall. They all came away, leaving a rather large hole in the side of the tack room.
Something had spooked the horse, but you can imagine that seeing part of a barn on the end of its rope didn’t help the situation much. It can’t have been more than 10sec before I cut the rope, but it felt a lot longer, as the horse did everything it could to get away from the advancing debris.
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So, going forwards I will always consider to what and where I’m tying a horse and whether it’s safe and appropriate, even if it is a regularly used tie-ring.
Until next week,
Roland
www.twitter.com/nagsandnails
Sponsor’s message
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Roland owned a computer software business until he realised he didn't want to be stuck behind a desk for the rest of his working life. So in 2011 he started the four-year apprenticeship to become a farrier on the borders of Somerset, Devon and Dorset. He became fully qualified in 2014.