Pippin's Pondering

Well, hello there! My name is Pippin and I am a 7 year-old Haflinger gelding (whatever that means)! Today I am pondering about my feet. I have four of them. Have you ever wondered about how those of us with 4 feet manage to move around and not step on ourselves with our back feet? Or, better yet, how do we know when to pick up our feet when stepping over a pole or stepping into the trailer? It's not like we can see that clearly what is back there.
My feet are a mess, and I don't mean on account of all of the mud generated by our melting snow! Last year at this time I was a working horse and did a lot of work pulling wagons to collect sap from maple trees for syrup. I was worked really hard that winter on frozen ground. In addition to all of my hard, foot-pounding work, I must confess that I may have overindulged on occasion. I love eating - just about anything! One morning I awoke in great pain. My feet were hot. They felt like they were going to burst apart any minute. It was hard to stand and even harder to walk. My owner at that time didn't call the vet. He believed in doctoring things himself, so he used some sort of gooey poultice. It was supposed to make the heat and the pressure go away. I'm not convinced that it helped, but when my feet abscessed and the infection blew holes in the top of my front hooves that finally relieved the pressure. It took a long time but finally the pain subsided. I was sold to my current owner in the summer. (She tells some folks that she rescued me.) My new owner wasn't told that I had suffered laminitis or founder, but she guessed as much. By then I was sound and she was willing to take a chance on me. It's also a little embarrassing to relate that she tells her friends that I was just too darn cute to pass up!
I love my new home. I have to admit that I have a great life - no pulling the sap wagon for me! I do get to trot around in a pretty harness pulling a small cart. Once in a while she rides me. I think that is really strange, having her legs tickling my sides. Sometimes I forget myself and give a little hop!