And Then There Were Twelve

Twelve chickens.  Little Sunny died last night in the warm comfort of the hen house with the rest of the flock roosting around her.  We keep our flock between six and twelve so when we get down to five, we will buy chicks and add them to the existing flock.  In the meantime, twelve is a nice number.

Today was sunny and clear.  It was warm standing in the sun.  In the shade, it was a bit too cool to be comfortable.  Sage, our farrier, came up to do regular trimming and shoeing.  Jackson has been without a shoe for two weeks between losing the shoe initially and then getting an abscess.  Today, he got trimmed and reshod.  He was very happy to go back into the pasture afterwards.  The poor guy has been stuck on stall rest for those two weeks.

I got Jackson out of his stall and ready to go while Sage set up his stuff.  Jackson watched with interest.

Jackson can be a bit of a pill for the farrier.  He moves around a lot, trying to yank his foot back to the ground and being generally uncooperative.  He likes Sage, he just doesn't like holding his foot up for longer than 30 seconds.  He's not the most patient beast in the stable. 

We are still using pads on his front hooves as it is making a world of difference in Jackson's comfort and soundness.  Sage also grinds down the front of the shoe to give Jackson an easier breakover.

Next, I got a lesson on trimming the donkeys.  They will hold their feet forever for me but are suspicious of Sage.  I thought it would be easier if I learned how to do it myself and then we don't have to deal with personality clashes between farrier and miniature donkeys.  Finessa was a good girl - I picked up her feet and handed them off to Sage - so she stood perfectly still and relaxed the whole time.

Flash was busy eating lunch, oblivious to the fact he was next on deck.

I'm scheduled to take a lesson Saturday morning.  There is a chance of rain in the forecast and I'll have to see how Jackson feels when I ride him tomorrow morning or Friday.  Even if I only walk and do light trot work during the lesson, I'll be happy.  I need need NEED a professional looking at me and correcting the nasty habits I'm sure I've picked up since March when I had my last lesson.