Adventures in Hippos (With Pictures!)

[lantairvlea]

So we brought down those two Percherons last weekend. The Farrier came out and did their feet, the mare didn't need a whole lot done, but the Gelding, Jed, took some time. He must have taken off a good inch and a half of foot, mostly toe to bring him down to somewhat of a normal size. Like cats and dogs, if allowed to grow too long you can't

Comments

[velessa]

Aww, I love the big guys so much! So what's the deal with his front feet? Why do they look so much longer and flatter than his hinds, especially in the one with the non-ideal lighting?

[lantairvlea]

Egads, I could die of shame, I can't believe I forgot to resize one of the pictures! I'm going to fix that now...

That's the "Show Style" shoeing I was talking about in the last post. It serves the same purpose as the insane shoeing they do on TWHs and Saddlebreds to make their gait look flashier. Except in draft horses instead of building a multi-inch pad they flatten out their feet, lengthen the toe, and generally make a mess of the natural foot. It's supposed to create the showy "hitchy" movement that they look for in the draft show ring. Our farrier was out a couple days ago and saved him from them. We kept the shoes though, because they are rather interesting-looking even if I'd never want a set on any of my horses.

Is that your Clyde in your icon?

[velessa]

Wow, it looks awful...think of the strain that must be on the poor guy's legs! =(

Yes, that's a Clyde I got to ride when I visited my friend and her black Percheron at a draft horse stable where he was getting some training. Someday I definitely want to have one of my own! Where did you just get these Percherons from?

[lantairvlea]

Thus why we had our farrier out to get rid of the things as quickly as possible. It will probably take another rotation, maybe two before we have his feet back in their natural state.

We bought them from a couple who have several that they show in the Draft horse circuit around the SouthWest (maybe farther afield as well, not sure). They've passed hands a few times. The mare came from the same breeders we bought Panda from (they do Pinto Draft horses) and the Gelding, I think, came out of Wyoming originally.