Walk In My (Horse) Shoes

So, River, my "Equine Coach" has been having some hoof issues -- getting dry and cracked -- and no amount of hoof treatment was going totally fix the problem.  A horse's hooves are made of the same material that our nails are, so it's kind of like dealing with dry, cracked nails and cuticles, but on a much larger scale!  When the vet came out to do the Spring vaccinations last week, I asked him how to handle the hoof problem.  He recommended putting horse shoes on her two front feet to help with the cracking problem, to give them extra support and strength.  River, for as long as I have known her, has gone barefoot,   So, when the farrier came out this week to do the regular foot trimming (every 6 weeks -- their hooves grow out like our nails and without regular trimming it can give them severe problems), he evaluated her feet and River now has new shoes on her front feet.  While she seems to be used to them now, River was walking funny after she got her shoes. 

Makes me think of the saying, "To know a person is to walk a mile in their shoes."  Everyone brings a unique perspective based upon their life experiences -- and often we can't understand a person's perspective until we understand some about what factors shaped their views.  Have you often had a person grumble at you and you wondered what you did to deserve the response, but later find out that it had nothing to do with you at all?  The person had a bad day or was dealing with a hard personal situation?  We tend to internalize responses to us as relating to us, but often times it has nothing to do with us at all.  River's new shoes are a reminder to me to try to look at situations from the other person's perspective, to at least walk a few steps, if not a mile, in their shoes.