Well, it’s been an eventful few weeks at the yard with Zano. To begin with, Jason, the farrier, came and shod him first of all (Jason is a bit younger than Jock, the farrier in Scout: Mystery of the Marsh Ponies), but he’s every bit as good. And he never says no to a cup of tea, either!
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| Zano having his 'shoe' fitted |
Jason’s verdict was that Zano has big, strong hooves, so he’s happy that Zano will be okay with just his front hooves being shod at the moment. Zano was amazingly well behaved – he almost fell asleep, with his muzzle resting on Jason’s back! When he wasn’t asleep he was turning round and trying to watch what was going on as Jason took off his shoes, trimmed and rasped his hooves and fitted his new shoes. At one point I saw John give him a kiss on his velvety nose!
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| Zano checking out what the farrier is up to! |
I love watching the farriers work, with the noise as the furnace fires up, and the distinctive smell as hot shoes are fitted against the horses’ hooves, and the sounds as metal is hammered into shape and the nails are carefully tap, tap tapped in. It makes me think what it must have been like in old days when the spooky Old Forge (which appears in book 3 of the series, Puzzle: The Runaway Pony), was a proper, working blacksmiths!
I am starting to worry me about Zano; I’ve ridden him a couple more times, this time in the school, and we’ve only been walking round in large circles, but something doesn’t feel quite right. He’s starting to get a bit shirty, too, about having his saddle put on and his girth done up; he doesn’t even like having his bit put in! And, he’s not really putting on any weight, even though he’s having loads of hay and his feed is starting to be built up.
It’s time to do some investigation into what’s up. He’s already been wormed, so that can’t be it. So – first stop? The equine dentist, then the equine chiropractor!
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