One of the first warning signs that something was different about Nova back before her spay was her sudden inability to have her hooves trimmed. She had been seeing the farrier every 6 weeks for years, but one day she could not handle the touch of a familiar hand on her hind leg — anywhere behind her withers, really. Even the lightest of touches would cause her to squeal and kick and become quite dangerous to those handling her. After her spay, we gave Nova a bit of time off from asking anything of her, including having her hooves worked on, as she rested and recuperated. As she healed, many signs pointed towards Nova feeling a whole lot more herself — she certainly didn’t seem as finicky and reactive as she had back when she still had ovaries — but a true test would be how she reacted to the farrier. With her first post-spay farrier appointment in the books, we held our breaths and crossed our fingers in the hopes that she would be back to the Nova of old.
And indeed, she was a perfect lady for her hoof trim. She had no untoward reactions to having her legs handled, even the hind ones, and gave the farrier no trouble. In fact, she seemed to enjoy her pedicure, and all of the subsequent pets she received for standing so well.
This was not a one-off. Each trim since the spay has seen a well-mannered and polite Nova, fine with any stray brushes of a head or hand against her flank as her hooves are lifted and rasped. Clearly she is feeling a whole lot better, and so are we in the knowledge that we no longer have to delay her basic care for fear of injuring the carers!
