By Dan Roark
This Horse Highlight is about Tommy, 1200+ pounds of horse. As I have said before, riding Tommy is like being at the top of the world. Which is one of the reasons why some of the riders ride Tommy during lessons. It gives them a sense of being above all their issues and what bothers them. That, and he’s such a gentle soul that they also have a sense of control that they don’t have in everyday life.
Tommy, though, doesn’t realize how big he actually is. You can get a sense from the pictures of how big he is. Not to mention his hooves. One time when I was riding him in the arena, on the second time around, I tried to get him to walk a little bit over his previous hoofprints so the combination looked like the hoofprints of a prehistoric animal. 
When the farrier, Wyatt Myr, came for his regular visit this past time, he didn’t have an assistant, so it was all up to him. I took the opportunity to ask him questions and learn what I could about being a farrier – so I can write about it knowledgeably and I’m curious. I had all the pictures I needed from past farrier visits anyway. I also took the opportunity to get pictures of Tommy’s hooves to illustrate their size. You can see in the picture with Wyatt how big the hoof is compared to Wyatt’s hands. I have fairly long fingers and it’s impossible for my palms and fingertips to touch when putting my hands around his hoof.
The chiropractor, Dana Hollandsworth, came out the other day. Dana is a teacher at Parker University, and sometimes volunteers at New Hope. Thanks to Cyndy for taking the first and last pictures of the post since I was unable to be there. The last picture is of Dana activating Tommy’s pressure points to help him relax.
Which, like all things with Tommy, is a big prospect!
Ride on and ride for hope.