My new best friends

The farrier and my barn owner are my new best friends.

I wasn't able to get a hold of my new farrier for a couple of days, and because I was really starting to worry about Walker's feet, I started to panic.  I called my barn owner and asked if he had the number of another farrier.  Instead, he managed to get a hold of the farrier he always uses and he came out TODAY to check on Walker.  Now that's service!

Walker giving Clinton some kisses

I was really impressed with the new farrier.  Once I got to talk to him on the phone, he was very diligent about asking for a history of Walker (everything from his current feet troubles to his last few months on stall rest for unrelated illnesses).  He even suggested I contact a vet in the area if he was unable to determine the lameness.  Because my schedule is so crazy, he even told me he could come back tomorrow if he needed me to go to the barn and I wasn't available today.

This is going to sound so stupid, but I never actually talked to my last farrier.  That was one of the problems I had with the old barn.  The barn owner was so integrated into everything that went on there that most things (farrier, vet) went through her.  That's not to say that I couldn't call the farrier myself, but there was less of a chance she would hold Walker for me and it always made the most sense for her to call since she would be getting a bunch of her horses done at the same time.  Unfortunately, this led to a lot of problems, including my dissatisfaction with the job I was paying for and inability to get a hold of him to fix the situation myself.

The set up at the new barn is much more professional, with a healthy side of helping hands.  My new barn owner is more realistic, but he cares about horses and so he's willing to help me out when I need it.

I went out and checked on Walker immediately after work, and I'm thrilled with his feet.  Let me just say that he took off probably a few inches on his back feet and almost completely cut out the frog in the front feet (which was another problem I was having with the old farrier - not cutting the frog back enough and me being unable to really clean out his feet properly).  I should have taken pictures because the job is like the Ultimate Makeover.  It was so shocking, I didn't even know what I thought of it at first, but of course I've only ever had the one farrier so my eyes have been opened.

As for lameness, he's still lame, but it's more of a "I just got my manicure done and I'm letting my nails dry" kind of lame that he gets after the farrier comes.  We shall see in a couple of days what he's like.