DECEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /15 The Fire Horse


spect for all life in this world. Chapter 15


Hooves and shoes Horses like their shoes, just


like I like mine, the ones that I wore to the party and took off sometime into the night. I forgot the time. It was a pretty pair of shoes, but it was painful to wear. Horses are shod and cannot


take their shoes off, even if it is too tight for their poor hooves. Sometimes the pain is excruciat- ing, and they somehow manage to pull them off. Then when they are taken into the barn and someone notices that a shoe is missing, guess what happens? The farrier is called and a new shoe is put on. This is done because (a) the


horse is lame without the shoe or (b) there is an upcoming show where he must be present with shoes.


No one has every had the ra-


By Lauren Bode All content copyrighted


My mission statement. Having developed and practiced my talent


for years, I speak for animals. I willingly provide a voice for the non-


human creatures of our world, in the hope that I may assist them to obtain greater health, better un- derstanding of their expected roles, and better re- lationships with their human partners. Through my classes and daily contacts, I


encourage others to develop closer bonds, appre- ciation and mutual trust with animals, and a re-


tional thought “maybe the shoe was too tight”? Why go to the trouble of thinking like that. Horses are tough, we are taught not to cuddle them. I beg to differ, I do not want anyone to coddle their horses, simply pay attention to these little things. Some horses are prone to ab-


scesses in their hooves. I believe it is a nutritional problem person- ally. There are not many horse owners who think that nutrition plays a part in a horses’ life. Horses become accustomed


to wearing shoes so when they are


barefoot their hooves hurt. Given time and proper trimming their hooves become good again. On a visit to Europe a couple


of years ago, I visited a farm where to my surprise there was a mare lying in a stall, I wandered over to speak with her, and to my horror I saw her hooves staring back at me, they had never ever seen a farrier. I saw hooves which were


about 10 inches long and curved. I asked the owner why he


did not look after the mare’s hooves. He said as soon as she gave birth, he was going to put her down. I could not remain another moment in that place. From the owners’ point of view, horses are horses and that’s their fate in life. A very sad situation. A few times at different


barns, I witnessed farriers miscal- culating the placement of the nails. When this happens, the horse will pull his hoof back, the farrier will grab the hoof, the horse will pull away again, antici- pating the pain which will come again.


When the farrier visits that


barn again, the horse will remem- ber what happened and will not want to lift his hoof. This will lead to a series of things happening which will necessitate changing the farrier. or the horse having to change that barn. I am writing this to let you


know that horses are sentient be- ings, do understand our thoughts, do feel pain as we do.


A Great Christmas Gift! Archie Finds a New Home, the story of a little house mouse


forced to move from his family’s over-crowded mouse hole in the farmhouse and finds a brand new home out in the barn.


He encounters all sorts of hazards as he makes his way across the farmyard but eventually finds a new best friend in Winny, the old carthorse, who saves Archie from the hungry barn cat. For children 0-5.


First in a series of


3 Archie adventure books. Author: Glenda Fordham Illustrator: Elyse Darby


Full-colour illustrations, soft cover


$9.99 from The Rider and Barnmice- books.com


Visit www.barnmicebooks.com to order.


Ontario Reined Cow Horse Association Werner Bohner, President - 519-209-8196


Craig Black, Vice President - 519-874-1294 Or visit us at our website: www.orcha.ca ORCHA News


To promote the reined cow horse in Ontario


through education, participation, and mentorship


Our 2019 season is over, and it was a very successful one. Our entries were up considerably at each show. The calibre of competition in both the reined


work and the cow work improved a great deal again. A big thanks to our enthusiastic group of spectators, all our generous sponsors and a round of applause for all our fantastic volunteers. See you next year!


I’m looking forward to reading George Hewitt’s “ReRide” series in the future “Rider”.


ORCHA Sponsors


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