Barefoot and Bouncy

Butterball and I had our first jump lesson back yesterday. He had been feeling good at home and pulses had been normal in his feet since the first week, but I was still a bit anxious. Spoiler alert: I didn't need to be. Pony did absolutely fantastic and didn't seem to miss his shoes at all. 

We started with 3 nine foot canter poles to a vertical. PW was demanding straightness through the whole thing. Which meant holding my outside rein and staring down the first pole. We added a one stride to a vertical then another one stride to an oxer. And Butterball was pinging right on through. Then we did a few hunter type courses with diagonals and outside lines. I was instructed not to drop him, but not to help. Let him sort it out. The first vertical in the video I did panic a bit to as I felt it was going to be a long spot. But Butterball stepped up and took the gap. The only rail came when I kept pushing the last few strides to the skinny. I didn't feel like I had still been pushing, just not half-halting effectively, but PW informed me I had in fact been still pushing him towards the fence. The next go round I let him be and we got the same tight spot, but he didn't have the rail with his hind leg. 

We got the striding in the lines every time too. The method of breaking the lines up is SO HELPFUL. And works even when I don't quite use it properly. The last time through the five stride line, I dallied and wasn't going forward for the first two strides, but then knew that based on the way those felt I was going to need to ride forward for the next three. Magic. 

Latest fave pic of the wonder pony 

I can definitely see the difference in his canter without shoes although I don't really feel it. But I do now realize why people pull shoes for the hack. 

We have plans to go pop around a local jumper show next week. Weee! This is the fun stuff. 

Barefoot Journey - Week 2

Sunday and Monday, Day 6-7 (1/18-19/26)

Butterball was off for two days. 

Tuesday, Day 8 (1/20/26): 

No pulses in his feet. Applied Hoof Armor with more success than I had the week prior. It had been 48 hours since applying Jim Ricken's; the directions say 48 hours without application of other substances to the hoof. The front feet that have had pads on his soles for a year are the most interesting to see. The sole and frog are doing a lot of exfoliating on their own. 

Right front

Right hind

Left hind

Left front

We did 30 minutes of dressage with equibands in the ring. He felt good. 

Wednesday, day 9 (1/21/26): 

No pulses all around. We did four canter bounce cavaletti. I'd done a subpar job of setting, so they weren't exactly short bounces. But he did a good job stretching through them to make it work. Then did the placing pole to a 2'3" vertical in both directions. He was rolling over his shoulder a lot to it. I don't know if that was my riding or a function of his feet. He had to be MOVING to get clean changes as well, otherwise I was getting them only up front. He got clipped post ride. 

Thursday, day 10 (1/22/26): 

Short trip to HITS to hang out with friends. Didn't ride, but did hack him bareback up from the trailer after. And walked the walk cavaletti on the highest setting in the arena 10x after. 

Friday, day 11 (1/23/26): 

Hind Scoot Boots arrived yesterday! And Ms. GY and I took them for a spin. He was FANTASTIC. Hackamore + 4 scoots = trail pony extraordinaire. We did a big loping figure 8 in the air field with clean flying changes both directions multiple times. Is it the hind scoots, the forward canter/gallop, or the lack of interference from his jockey who was forced to ride off her seat/legs since he was in the hackamore? All three? 

Lots of trotting with his nose on the ground after too. He felt GREAT. No problem with the changes, no slips behind. His walk on the road on the way home felt bigger than ever before. Either he loves the boots or he was feeding off confidence from her horse. Either way, he felt so good. No rubs from the boots after either. Hooves are still in good shape, no cracking up around the nail holes. Fingers crossed that continues. 

He's very bad at sit, stay 

Staring towards dinner, still in the boots

Overtracking boot prints

Sunday, day 13 (1/25/26): 

Thirty minutes of dressage today. His feet feel so hard. The comparison to Ben is crazy. Less crap is getting packed in the grooves too. I am excited about the path that we're on.  

Bit Clanking Part 2

So I'll admit. There was a lot of panic involved, but we have two bits now that he can't clank. As his dentist had surmised, basically everything was better than his KK ultra double jointed loose ring. 

The first trial was my friend's Myler wide port loose ring, level 3. 

He was certainly better in that than the KK. His first reaction was confusion, I think. His normal pattern after putting a bit in was repeated clanking while I finished adjusting the bridle, possibly to go ahead and bang the involved teeth enough that they went numb. He spent a while trying to clank this one but couldn't seem to do it while standing still. He did still make movements with his mouth and pull the bit back with his tongue, especially during his usual times of expressing tension. But I didn't hear that metal on tooth sound. 

The first ride in it was magical. He was seeking the contact and steady and soft. The second ride this faded a little bit. By the third ride I felt just like he was in his old bit. Our biggest struggle is always during warm up. His first reaction, at least with me on his back, is to hollow above the contact. JV had me ignoring this entirely and focusing on forward. I never timed it exactly, but it felt like a solid ten minutes before he would soften his topline. Eventually JV did have us adding leg yields early on to get that softness sooner. This seems to be a me thing though because when EM rode him, he would be soft and lovely over his back from the get go. 

Based on his response to the first bit, I tried a Myler level 2 D ring comfort snaffle next. My friend who loaned me the first bit and I both thought that moving away from the loose ring might help with stability/preventing flipping the mouth piece back. 

Myler D comfort snaffle with low port (level 2 mouthpiece)

You can see the forward curve to the mouthpiece here 

I texted the picture to his dentist after our first few rides in it. She commented the port was wider than she liked and that the bit itself was too wide for his mouth (it was a 5"). She then sent me a link to a Myler D comfort snaffle (level 1 mouthpiece). 

Basically the same bit, but without a port, and I ordered it in a 4.75". 

Normal tongue

Tongue drawing the bit back to try to get it to his teeth

This is now our jumping bit. He feels very similar in the contact to me in the level 1 as he did in the level 2, so I took the word of his dentist and went with it, especially because it was the correct size. 

I did experiment with one more bit that has turned into our dressage bit. Trying to go back to having both a dressage and jumping bit was inspired by Gray Flannel Horses comment on my original post that some horses need their bit changed every few rides because their mouth gets irritated by the bit. So I picked up a Bomber's Happy Tongue at Tack Shack. 

He feels quite nice/steady in the contact in this bit the majority of the time. But he's still very, very busy with his mouth in both. His reaction to tension or pressure is to open his mouth and wiggle the bit with his tongue even though he can't clank it anymore. 

I'm not sure though if that's a training issue or a bit issue at this point. Interestingly, I did a semi one rein stop when turkeys rattled behind us in the woods on a hack and he wanted to sprint away from them. His reaction was to fling his head quite high in a way that made me think the bombers bit is quite a bit sharper to him than his prior double jointed loose ring. Bombers does have a few more interesting options, but I'd have to explore those through avenues other than Tack Shack so I could try and return if needed. 

Barefoot Journey - Week 1

Monday, day 0 (1/12/26): 

Pulled shoes, 3 weeks post last shoeing; commented that he has good feet, but it will look worse before it gets better due to chipping up around nail holes. He had more toe to take off behind than up front. Not a lot of foot growth all around though. She watched him walk after the trim and then took a tiny bit more off the medial side of the left front because of the way he was landing. 

Hind

Front

She commented his old shoes had lots of wear on them. He does do a lot of work. Made me think that hoof boots probably won't just be transition wear, but will be all the time for the lime rock/pavement we hack on. 

Measured for scootboots via the app. Less than 24 hours later, I had sizing info sent to me - he is in fact the same size as Ben up front, size 2 slim. I had suspected as much after pulling Ben's boot on him once last fall when he lost a shoe. He's a size 1 regular behind, those were ordered with a ship time of 6 days. Cost less than set of full shoes he was in; total with trim brings us to slightly over that cost, but these should last for year(s)? 

Applied hoof armor to the front feet. It was 38 degrees though and was coming out very thick and sticky. Maybe better to do when it is warmer, so didn't do hind feet.

Sorting hoof pics on a horse with three white feet is tricky, the hinds were wanting to be all mixed up, but I think I've got them straightened out. 

Left hind: 

Right hind: 

Right front: 

Left front: 

Tuesday, day 1 (1/13/26): 

Applied Jim Ricken's #1 formula. 30 minute ride in the arena with equibands. Hind end felt good. Front end took 3ish funky steps, felt like falling in a hole. 

Wednesday, day 2 (1/14/26): 

6.9 mile trail ride at Prices scrub, mostly walk, some trot stretches. Mostly soft footing, but probably a mile on lime rock, obviously only walked on that. He had Scoot boots on fronts, lost right front almost immediately. Realized it a mile or two later and found it and put it back on with pastern straps on. Kept on for the rest of the ride through mud too. We did trot for 5ish minutes on semi-packed sand. Jim Ricken's #1- before and after. 

Pushing hard for treats 

Thursday, day 3 (1/15/26): 

Went XC at Star Farm. We were supposed to be supervising and babysitting. But it was about 40 and windy, so he didn't feel like standing around. It was nice soft footing with the recent rains. We did gallop some. And jump some, about 10 starter-BN size jumps total. We didn't particularly have a half-halt. Doesn't mean I necessarily think the bit needs to be stepped up; it's been 3 months since we schooled XC and see above about the weather. Didn't think to check pulses this day.

Friday, day 4 (1/16/26): 

He had increased pulses in his hind feet this morning, crap. Not surprising with the trail ride and XC though; I should have postponed the trail ride until we had hind scoot boots. Mayyyyybe standing under himself when I got him out of the pasture. Looked okay while grooming though. Walked bareback in the ring focusing on softness and straightness. Did some walk poles too. No funky steps up front or behind.

Saturday, day 5 (1/17/26): 

Still with the pulses in the hind feet today, ugh. Very short ride because Kate came out to check his saddles. We changed the flocking in the jump saddle a bit up front. He actually took a few steps that felt front foot lame, not enough for me to tell which foot though. He'll get the next few days off. Last day of Jim Ricken's, I'll give him 48 hours and then do Hoof Armor on Monday or Tuesday. 

Looking oh so cute waiting for Kate. He loves her. She tells him how sweet and lovely he is and he eats it up like the total ham he is. 

Mayyyyybe mid paw because he was a bit bored. His forelock is looking especially charming lately though.

Property Updates

Until December, the main thing happening with regards to the property (which I am considering calling Armadillo Acres because that was the first critter I saw here) was an automatic weekly transfer of money from my bank account to a specially ear-marked savings account. 

As far as real progress, we had the electric on for a few months. This let us see that the well pump was kinda sorta working, but with a leak somewhere that wouldn't let the tank hold pressure. To save funds, we then shut the electric back off. I also mowed three or four times, mostly in an attempt to knock back the poison ivy. That did seem successful in the main area around the mobile home. And DH took advantage of enough land of our own and did some hunting during deer season. There is truly nothing better than fresh venison. It was a BUSY week of processing meat from several deer. But now the freezer is stocked with meat from an animal that NEEDS population control since we eliminated almost all natural predators rather than something factory farmed using up lots of fossil fuels and water to produce. 

My general order of operations: 

- Remove mobile home and trusses, somehow

- Contract someone to clear the pasture areas and future house area as well as grade towards the pond (sounds like $$$$)

- Seed pastures

- Get water + electric

- Put up fencing

- Order carport for storage and for our temporary living quarters to be under

- Move down (fifth wheel? tiny home?)

- Build house

I had posted the trusses that are laying on the property FREE online. And oooohhhhh boy. I've had great interactions selling various horse things, including saddles, on Facebook marketplace. But you post FREE on something and all kinds of folks come out of the weeds. Mostly, in this case, folks with eyes bigger than their stomachs. The trusses were dropped here by crane or some sort of heavy equipment. And the longest is 60', meaning you need a 50'+ flat bed to load them on. Everyone wanted to claim they would BE THERE FIR SHUR TOMORRIW MORNIN and then never showed. Or reappeared two weeks later wanting to DEFINITELY PICK THEM UP TODAY WHY HAD I NOT HELD THEM, THEY SAID THEY WERE COMING!?!?!?!. Someone did come get the smaller stack in August, but then vanished. We eventually identified a kind gentleman who wanted scrap lumber and took several trailer loads of that after chain sawing some of the trusses. We also identified someone who I wished didn't have the address after DH met him there one Saturday morning and he declared he "didn't have all day to wait around, he had beer to drink and women to chase". Fortunately it looked like 99% of women would be able to run faster than him, so his chase wouldn't be too effective. 

Anyways. I also got quotes to demolish the mobile home. And we were looking at minimum $5K. Ouch. So DH set to work.

Where we started

Midway - power pole on the right hand side, which is why we shut the power back off before starting the demo

Getting there. We're probably going to just burn the trusses that the other guy doesn't want for scrap. Then we'll rent a dumpster, shovel in everything that is left, and be done with that phase.  There will be a lot of pick up of debris for a while after in this area, fun. 

In the mean time, I've been sketching again. The latest plans. Going with "layout 2" as our general plan for the location of the pastures on the south parcel and the house + carport on the north. The spot for the house + carport have shifted slightly though. 

Property is oriented with north to the top, as it is IRL. Road runs on west and north side of the property. The drawing below is just the northern of the two parcels. The idea with the layout is it puts the permanent structures on the northeast corner of the property, the driest area. The property to the east of us is higher still, vacant, and the same sort of wooded as ours. I have vague dreams of buying it. But in case it does get built, the carport acts as a buffer between us and a cleared lot with a house. 

Carport: 

What I can't sort out is how parking cars would work in the carport and in regards to the house. I *think*that the hay storage side of the carport should be closes to the driveway loop, so the inner part of that loop could be cleared of trees and the hay storage could be accessed easily. But then the truck/trailer parking side would need to be approachable as well and in a way that doesn't angle the trailer into the side of the carport as I pull in. If the car parking was at the north end then to get out of the carport you could back into the western part of the loop and more "driveway" areas wouldn't be created. But clearing the inside of the loop of the driveway of trees also means you can see directly from the house to the carport, not exactly picturesque. 

The exact curvature of the driveway is also somewhat of a mystery to me. I can find a large, vacant area and have DH mark the turning radius of the current truck and trailer on the pavement, but... what if the truck/trailer change? I don't think I'll ever have 3+ horses, but stranger things have happened, so what if the trailer is larger? What if the truck is larger? I don't want to clear more than I need to because I am starting to really love the little woods we have there, nevermind the money it costs LOL. But at the same time, we need a reasonable treeless buffer around the house and do need enough space to get a good limerock driveway down.