45 horses in a single Saturday last spring broke me

I thought I was invincible after 12 years shoeing, but a barn near Lexington asked me to do a full reset day on 45 head. By horse 30 my back was screaming and I missed a clip on a front foot that cost me a call-back. Has anyone else hit a number where you realized you need to cap your daily load?

3 comments

3 Comments

lily705d ago

Stopped at 30 after my third back spasm two summers ago and told the barn manager the rest had to be rescheduled. @annaw73 hit it - you don't bounce back from those days like you used to. Now I flat out refuse anything past 24 in a day no matter how much they offer.

dixon.iris4d ago

How are you feeling now though? Seriously, 45 horses in one day is brutal and I'm sorry you had to go through that. I've been there with a different trade but same kind of crash - you hit that wall where your body just stops cooperating and then your brain gets sloppy. It's scary when you miss something simple like a clip because you're running on fumes, not because you don't know what you're doing. Please don't beat yourself up over it, that kind of workload would break anyone. Your body is telling you something important and it's good you're listening now before it makes the decision for you.

annaw735d ago

Yeah 45 is absolutely insane honestly lol. I think the bigger pattern here is that we all get tricked by our own pride into thinking we can handle way more than we actually can, whether it's shoeing horses or just life in general. I see it everywhere with people pushing past their limits on purpose because they don't want to say no or admit they're human. The thing is, once you break yourself like that you don't just bounce back and it takes weeks to recover from one bad day. Capping your load isn't being weak, it's being smart about not wrecking your body for good.