Farrier has been out, and now I'm reporting- see, Mom? I'm not an errant child, I do give you updates on the grandbaby. :)

First picture is of her waiting for her food- real crazy TB I brought home, standing there and waiting patiently for her hay cubes to soak while everyone around her gets fed. Watch out, she might rub on you!

 And then... the farrier came! First, we did Fred. She was, quite frankly, amazed with his progress. No cross ties, just his halter and lead rope, and half the time, Dennis wandered away from him, leaving the lead on the ground and no one holding him. He stood like a stone, gave his feet like a gentleman without any antics, kicking, or uneasiness. He stepped over when she needed to switch sides with a quick hope, but didn't jump or throw his head too high, and not even a leap forward. All of which were commonplace events in the past. It was really amazing to hear her version of what he was like even up to the last visit and the difference in him now. I informed her that he liked it better when you verbally asked him to "lift" before tugging on his fetlock or squeezing his tendons, and she joked, "Oh, he needs to give you permission?" but then she did it and was visually surprised and pleased at how much easier he picked up his hoof for her. She joked around, "You should have taped him before and after- you could hang your sign up and have people pay you to be their trainer!" I just laughed- can you see it now? School, pup, pony, and side business! Like I don't have enough stuff on my plate!

Then Bandit, who was just a good ole boy- like he is for everything. Love that old man.

And then... Sherwood. Who also was just great. Stood like a stone on crossties while the farrier did her shoes, stepped over easily and without any antics, and... here are the pictures to prove it!

What a good girl!!

Pulling the nails out...

Removing the shoe itself!

The farrier asked me what I was planning to do with her after commenting on her conformational deficits. I acknowledged them- I mean, we know she's got super long pasterns and she's over at the knee, and... I could probably find other issues as well, but those are the biggies. So when I told her I was hoping to do baby eventing, she gave me this look like I was nuts, and who knows, I might be. But I amended that statement with my plan to basically use her as my project horse, learn the basics of retraining, horse care, and whatnot, do as much with her as she can and wants to do, then retire her to trails and hubby horse status once I'm making more money and can afford a competition partner to go beyond what she is able. Not that I truly care what anyone thinks, but I believe some of her "This girl is a loon," look subsided. Honestly- do you think I would get a free horse from a nasty track to be in denial about her issues? And then plan to take up a hard sport without any reality check on her suitability? Oy.

Baby's back shoes are off!!

Yay!! Free back feet!!

In any case, on the way out, she made a comment on how amazing Fred's behavioral changes were, and that my new mare was super quiet and well behaved. The look on her face when she asked me Sherwod's age and when I got her was awesome. "Oh yeah, she's four, and I got her off the track last Thursday." "Oh, so when was her last race?" "Mmm... I think Equinline said April 13th." "OH! So you mean you just got her off the track!"

On the way out, I paid what I owed after she packed up her stuff, while Dennis and she were chatting about Fred's amazing turnaround. She said something about how incredibly well behaved Sherwood was, before she turned to me with this serious look. I thought I'd given her the wrong amount, but instead she just said, "You have a gift," and grinned, and got in her car.

Very nice to hear, and a far cry from the claims that I "ruined" a horse earlier this year. Honestly, it made my day. I feel like I've come far in the past year or so with my horsemanship, but most days, I go out to work with the two of them and feel like I never have any idea what I'm doing. I watch Youtube videos, read up on retraining exers and ground work, so those help, but watching someone else and doing it are very different, and you never want to screw up your or someone else's animal. I just go out and do the best I can with what I know and how the situation feels, and it's really awesome that a stranger who's never met me before and has no preconceived notions, can see the difference in one animal and appreciate the status of another. Means I must be doing something right. Now, I must get on with studying. Wheeee!!