Gravels

Gravels are great for your driveway. They are terrible, however, if you ever find one in your shoe. Our cow, 460, came in the barn this morning limping on one of her back hooves. We kept her from going out in the pasture and instead put her in a stable so she would not have to walk too far for feed or water or a place to lie down.

We later walked her into a catch chute to keep her from moving so we could try to find out what was bothering her. Then we used a rope to gently lift up her back leg so we could inspect her hoof. At first we thought the hoof only needed a bit of trimming. One side was higher than the other and that would definitely not be comfortable to walk on. We then checked in the middle of the hoof and found the culprit: one small gravel.

We'll let 460 take it easy for a while so her hoof can recover faster, but she is already putting more weight on it than before. It is much easier to walk without a gravel in your shoe or hoof.