Baxter Black: The horse gets the last laugh

The owner told Warren that Della had a reputation of being hard to show. She was an 18-year-old mare whose foals were sought after for the cutting genes she passed down. He had been offered $50,000 for her but declined. He wanted her shod. Since Warren did the shoeing, he was chosen to confront her. Horses have individual eccentricities. Some are cinchy, some don't like their ears touched, their bean cleaned, mane combed or feet messed with. Della did not abide any touching of her legs above the hocks. An odd quirk, probably the result of some past experience, but it was no odder than people who refuse to wear orange, politicians who can't give a straight answer or cowboys who insist on going outside to tinkle. To do the job meant Warren had to put himself in harm's way to hammer new iron on her feet. To aid in restraint, the owner administered a healthy dose of Acepromazine tranquilizer, and they confined her in a 12-by-12-foot stall. Even then, with the owner on the head and Warren pushing the hip against the wall, she fought it all the way. But our boys are stubborn. They hung on as Della made three circles backward around the stall dragging them like two lion cubs trying to take down an injured gnu. They finally got her cranked into a corner so Warren could delicately reach down and handle the hoof. The tranquilizer finally took the wind out of her sails and one side was done. The procedure was repeated in the other direction including the backward whirlpooling and the job was finished. Hallelujah. But eventually the next time came around...more