Duke Loses a Shoe

During Saturday's wedding, Duke lost a hind shoe. He not only lost it, but he put a nail into the sole of his foot and woke up this morning totally lame on it. This afternoon we had a customer, Allison, stop by, and she helped us soak Duke's foot in water & bleach, then pack it with a sugar/iodine mix. Allison is not only a very accomplished horsewoman (she travels to Portugal every year to study dressage) but is very, very knowledgeable about horse care, health, and nutrition. Our farrier, Matt Lewis, will come out in a few days to redo Duke's shoe (and Diesel - he is ready to lose a front again!). We will have to discuss other options with these two, such as the possibility of using Kevlar instead of apoxy, using boots instead of nailing shoes, putting in an all-sand paddock and letting them go barefoot. We are pretty desperate to fix this problem before we can no longer use these horses. To read more about Duke & Diesel and their feet, see the blog "Diesel Gets a New Foot".