Problems Answered...

OH. Well, a revelation. The farrier came out to work the other day, to do all of the horses. And remember ginormous Clyde mare, who we could not get to move out at all? And we were so very confused, because the girl who put the beginning training on her said she wasn't lazy at all. Hum. Well, turns out she had terrible abscesses on her feet, and a bad crack too. AH! I felt terrible for trying to ride the poor girl, and so did her owner. Poor thing must have been aching something fierce, no wonder she kept stopping and refusing to move! So she is laid off riding for an indefinate amount of time, until we can nurse her big ol feet back to health.
And the farrier also did my little drafty mare's feet as well. And let me tell ya, I was so sure that she was going to kill said farrier. But no, she gave a little bit of trouble at first, but then decided to stand nicely! I was in shock! Amazing shock, and I wanted to hug that farrier to death!
And today, I went and worked her again, and curried and brushed her without tying her up. Just made her stand still in the middle of the arena, and she was great. If she tried to scoot away, I just made her move her butt away for a bit, then asked her to stand again. She stood rooted to the spot! And then I picked out her feet, and you know what she did?? She stood still! Fabulously still! Tried to give a few half-hearted 'kicks' with one back leg, got reprimanded, and was perfect for the other back leg. SUCCESS! I have never been so excited about picking out a hoof, I swear. So I had to just post about my exciting hoof picking time, and what turned out to be wrong with poor Clyde mare.