Howdy All,

Here it is April. Easter has come and gone and the kids are back in school awaiting the summer break. Our horses are shedding their coats and hopefully (under Dr. De La Cruz strict orders) not eating too much of that rich green grass we see everywhere in our beautiful, lush foothills.

Speaking of Dr. De La Cruz, he was our guest speaker at the March meeting and stayed after the meeting was over to answer questions about his favorite topic, feet. We all learned a lot about founder/laminitis and things to do in a founder situation. I think my favorite part of his discussion was about abscesses and whether or not to soak. Dr. De La Cruz is not a pro soak guy. This was music to my ears as I have spent many hours soaking abscessed feet with water all over me and the barn, Ep-som salts in my hair and a bucket on my head. His theory is that the foot when soaked expands and then quickly contracts after the soak which is not good. He suggests using a soaking pad, a baby diaper and duct tape (elasticon is preferred but expensive) and leaving it on and replacing. I keep a bag of disposable diapers, infant size on hand and have found that they come in handy for a temporary boot to ride in my arena when I lose a shoe and can’t stand to miss a training session. They keep the hoof from chipping away before my very dependable farrier pulls into my driveway. Thank you Dr. De La Cruz for giving me "permission" not to soak!

We’re on the countdown to Horse Expo and our 2 annual Horse Shows. We do need volunteers. Without you, we can’t run our association and we’ve been able to "give back" to the community through our fun fundraisers. We need you. Please email or call any one of us on the board and we’ll get you to the right person. When you sign up early you get to pick your job or shift. Call Now!!

Enjoy the trails. Be safe.