Dakota's hoof!

Well, her hoof seems to be better. She isn't limping any longer, but I'm continuing to pack her foot with sugar and iodine and make duct-tape boots each day. She's been pretty tolerant, but the experience of being in a stall for a week has brought out her inner brat! Ha! She has been rather pissy and acting dominant, etc. All things I can deal with thanks to the Parelli work, which usually gets things shifted pretty quickly. I've been taking it very easy with her because of her foot, but she is entering her 'teenage' years as she approaches being two, and I need to keep these behaviors in close check. Luckily, with the work I'm doing with her, and can achieve that in a good way. I just got a Level 1/2 DVD from Parelli and it is really, really helpful! I've been learning from videos from the site and a borrowed older DVD, but this fills in many gaps. I keep getting, over and over, how it's not about the horse but about ME. I feel like right now I'm training me not the horse! Though she gets to learn with me.

Anyway, I'm anxious to get back to work. I changed paddocks in the hopes that this one will be less muddy and I never have to deal with another abscess! I have never had a horse get an abscess before, mostly because I had a lot more control over what my horses stood in all day and I've always been very diligent about taking care of their feet. No matter where she is at this stables, she's in mud at least part of the time. Being young, she has feet that are still forming, thin soles, etc. Plus there are plenty of sharp rocks around, which is what the vet things punctured her sole. So I have my work cut out for me to make sure this never happens again!