Winning

I called our farrier because the girls needed trimming and Mica was limping quite badly. Mica is our elderly mule who is 27 years old. She is retired due to her other health issues.

She was a header and heeler in her day, along with team penning. 

As the guys said, 'She's been there, and done that.'

Mica had an abscessed frog, it went up her frog and split up her heel bulb. 

In the shot below, we are soaking Mica's foot in Epsom salts before we wrap it to keep it clean.

They were able to figure out what was wrong with her right away.

Holding Mica is Gracie. Her mom is also one of my CrossFit coaches. Her girls have been to my place to spend the day with me a few times. They were out last month for riding. 

I asked her mom if she could come and help me with catching up the mules and taking them in and out of the gate. I also thought it would be interesting for her to learn a bit about hooves from our farriers. Dan and Danny. Dan is an Licensed farrier and belongs to the International Farriers Association. If I have a hoof, leg problem, I call these guys.

The Diaper Boot. 

We made a diaper hoof boot to keep the wound clean. The guys taught me a new trick of adding a layer of Duct tape to the bottom of the diaper. I'll have to pull this off and soak her foot once a day for about a week until the abscess hole heals.

The diaper offers protection and cushioning for the sore frog. I've used this before with great success.

The guys said that Mica was such a good patient. She never offered to pull away or act up during the time we worked on her. 

When the farriers left, Gracie and I saddled up for a ride off the farm. I suspected Gracie would be just fine riding like this since she has friends that have horses and she goes to ride with them quite often. She tells me that they canter, trot and do all the kid things I used to do on horses.

I try to recall all the crazy stuff we did as kids on my uncle's horses and in some ways, I think we were better riders because we were not supervised most of the time. 

When Siera tossed her head around a little in protest of leaving her pasture mates, Gracie just ignored her antics and told her to behave. 

To Siera's credit, she is a very calm animal who doesn't really spook [unless she sees a bicycle!]. Her normal reaction to the unknown is to freeze and then relax and go on. 

We rode for about 40 minutes and checked out the neighbor's fresh round bales and then headed home. It was a good first ride away from our place for the season. The two mules together act much better than taking one out at a time.

Since it was so hot and humid, we gave the girls a quick little sponge bath so they could go roll in the dirt.

I have to admit, we really enjoy these chances to have Gracie and her sisters visit.
Rich literally lights up like a Christmas Tree when the kids are here.

And that is a win for everyone.