Horses Have Studs Too

I'd never seen a horse shoe quite like this until yesterday.

This one seems to serve two purposes:  traction (with two studs)  and prevention of balls of ice that form and grow in the hoof area between the sides of the shoe.

Lily had the latter problem until John Fuller came to remove her shoes last week.  She's already tall, but those ice balls made her about an inch taller and pretty miserable while taking every step.

I did my best to chop the ice from beneath her hoof as often as possible, but with shoes on, it almost immediately builds up again.

I observed this horse hoof and its studded shoe up Rapid Lightning Creek yesterday afternoon while watching the initial practice for anyone who wanted to try out skijoring.

It was a fun afternoon, although I must say that I could have used some warm padding on the bottom of my feet while standing in cold snow with not-so-warm boots for more than two hours.

Matt Smart, the organizer of Sandpoint's first skijoring event, invited anyone who wanted to come to watch or participate.

He spent several hours preparing a course in the field in front of his house.  

He also invited skiers and snowboarders from Schweitzer to try out the sport.  

To the best of my knowledge, only a couple of that group had ever been around a horse.

After each initial run, over two jumps, the reaction was about the same:  get me a faster horse; this is fun. 

So, Matt progressed from the bomb proof mount, often ridden by his 4-year-old son, to Jiggs, a Quarter Horse and a speed demon.  The skiers and boarders loved it.

And, yes, the shoe pictured above is almost a must for this type of sport if riders don't want their horses slipping and sliding all over ice pockets. 

After nearly three hours of snapping photos, taking notes with a really cold left hand and visiting with a group of new and old friends, I headed home, feeling exhilarated and excited about the event.

I'll post a few more photos, and I'm hoping the word will get out for folks to come and witness the event at the Bonner County Fairgrounds during our Winter Carnival in mid-January.

I have a feeling this will be the start of a wonderful new wintertime tradition, not only for the carnival but for informal get-togethers with horses (and their studs) and friends and snow.