What is Thoracic Outlet Syndrome?

I've got WHAT?

After weeks of playing phone- and text-tag, my bestie and I FINALLY got to chat for a few minutes this morning. (Besides the President she's the busiest person I know.) Since we only had about 10 minutes' worth of chat time, we had to cram in all that's been going on with us lately into a quick conversation.

I was telling her about this-and-that when it hit me that she didn't know a big thing that's been happening in my life recently. I told her, "Oh, and lately my arms have been really painful and I can't hold onto things – like my mouse or the steering wheel – for very long periods of time and sometimes I'd just lie down and try to keep my arms still and cry because of the pain." She gave a gasp and said, "Whoa, what the heck is wrong with you?"

Well, that WAS the question in question a few weeks back...I seriously thought my mid-thirties were just creeping up on me and trying to single-handedly end my active lifestyle. I mean, I already fight the effects of having two disc herniations; why was I being plagued with yet ANOTHER major bodily defect? And, more importantly – what WAS the issue?

Enough is Enough (is Enough is Enough)
After one of the lying-on-the-couch-crying episodes I figured enough was enough and made an emergency visit to my chiropractor. I tearily told her my symptoms (and all the things I couldn't do lately because of the pain) and she performed a few physical tests. One of which involved me putting my arms up at shoulder height, then bending my elbows into Ls and opening and closing my hands as quickly as I could – I was supposed to do this exercise for 60 seconds; I made it to 10 before I told her, "I just can't do this anymore," it hurt that badly.

She then had me quickly lower my arms so my hands were below my waist, palms-up...and I stared in shock at my WHITE hands. Slowly, the left hand started to turn slightly pink; the right steadfastly remained WHITE. The chiropractor, looking on, merely said, "Oh. Well then." Freaked out, I asked, "What's going on??" She replied, "Well, you're not getting enough blood in your arms. This is the clearest case of thoracic outlet syndrome I've ever run across."

This wasn't an entirely strange diagnosis; one of my other chiropractors had mentioned I could have symptoms of TOS a couple of years ago, when I'd wake up in the middle of the night with one arm entirely devoid of life...but I'd done some stretching and gotten a couple treatments and had been fine. Or so I'd thought. Evidently I hadn't kicked thoracic outlet syndrome; it'd started rearing its ugly head yet again...but in such a different manner I hadn't even considered that to be the issue.

What is thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS)?

So, what in hell is thoracic outlet syndrome, anyway? Well, according to Mayo Clinic, TOS is:

Thoracic outlet syndrome is a group of disorders that occur when the blood vessels or nerves in the space between your collarbone and your first rib (thoracic outlet) become compressed. This can cause pain in your shoulders and neck and numbness in your fingers. 

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons breaks thoracic outlet syndrome down into symptoms for the two categories:

Pressure on the nerves (brachial plexus) may cause a vague, aching pain in the neck, shoulder, arm, or hand. It may also cause pain, numbness, or tingling on the inside of the forearm and the fourth and fifth fingers of the hand. Weakness may make your hand clumsy.

Pressure on the blood vessels can reduce the flow of blood out of your arm, resulting in swelling and redness of your arm. Less commonly, pressure can reduce the blood flow into your arm and hand, making them feel cool and easily fatigued.

My chiropractor had said my problem was blood flow restriction, so I obviously fit into the latter category as I was experiencing pain and numbness throughout both my arms and hands; there was no evidence of pinpointed tingling in any fingers or parts of my arms. (I also have very cold hands – just ask my husband.)

What's the prognosis of my TOS?

She tested out the muscles in my neck and chest – near my clavicle – and promptly went to work on that area to loosen up all the tightness. She gave me a few stretching exercises to be performed daily – as often as I wanted to – and also told me I need to really pull my shoulders back. Because of my back issues I have pretty good posture (I'm very aware of engaging my core at all times), but it seems I was letting my shoulders crumple forward – partially due to the tightness in my pec muscles – and that was only exacerbating the problem.

So, I'm to continue stretching out my pecs and neck muscles, along with my forearms/wrists, etc., all while focusing on keeping my shoulders back. Oh, and not crunching my shoulders when I sleep, either. And trying to keep my neck aligned properly on my pillow. OH, and of course while doing my core- and glute-strengthening exercises every day. *sigh* Getting old sucks.

What Causes TOS?
Finally, what caused my TOS? Who knows is the best guess. I mentioned I've been having neck muscle tension problems while sleeping since I was 13 years old...the chiro asked, "Were you in a car accident as a kid?" I replied, "No...but I fell off my horses quite a bit – once, about the year my neck problems started, I fell of my mare and got knocked out."

"Well, that could do it," she said...but of course who really knows for sure. The point is, I've been diagnosed, I know what's going on and how to combat it. The problem is trying to work through this issue when I've been suffering from it for so long...now I have to basically break down scar tissue from who-knows-when.

Here are a couple of videos explaining thoracic outlet syndrome and also several exercises to help with the symptoms...let me tell you, something so easy as straightening out your arm at shoulder height and moving your neck shouldn't seem hard – but I could barely make it through TWO reps of each of these exercises!





So there you have it. Thoracic outlet syndrome. The next time you see me and I seem like I don't want to move my arms, it's probably because I haven't been doing my exercises!


PS: During the composing of this blog posts many breaks were taken. 'Cause, of course I can't TYPE for long periods of time, either :)

Here's The Deal These Days

I've been a bag blogger. Which is not to say I haven't been communicating or throwing random thoughts/fotos out onto The Interwebz...I mean, I'm posting. Just not here. Kinda hard to take the time to sit down – or, in my case, stand – and think out an entire blog post AND write it AND make sure I didn't make any dumb spelling errors, etc. It's all just so...time-consuming. Also, let's be honest: the only people who read this blog already know what's going on in my life, anyway. Amirite?

I'm what I like to refer to as a Gen-Betweener – I kinda fall into the gray No Man's Land designating the end of Gen X and beginning of Gen Y...check out this chick's research on it – so I didn't grow up in the era of every-damn-kid's-got-a-cell-phone and definitely was not used to "Googling it" during high school (or college, for that matter...sheesh, I started using The Google in 2000, with only 2 years left of higher learning).

That being said, I'm now very used to the fast-paced online world – no time, no time, gotta move on to the next thing; if you haven't said what you're gonna say (and said it NOW) in 140 characters or less, it's already old news and all that. Which is why my blogging (though never regular) has taken a back seat these days.

These days.

What does that even mean? The days of this week? This calendar year? All the days from this moment back to when I graduated college, bought my own house, got a tattoo? Who knows. Irregardless*, here are some random things I've been contemplating "these days."

1. Re-learning how to walk. That's right. I've not only been contemplating this; I've been attempting to do it. I was recently told by one of my sports doctors the likely culprit for my chronic low-back/hip problems is that I'm built in such a way that I'm constantly fighting to maintain proper posture. Enter the pelvic tilt. As in, I need to CONSTANTLY do it. Properly. Also, I need to engage my glutes (both max & med) – properly. It's extremely difficult learning how to stand/walk/move correctly after 30-odd years of doing it INCORRECTLY.
2. The Gummy Money Guy. If you've seen his hilarious Vine, you know EXACTLY why I can't. Get. It. Outta. My. Head. "Yo my name is Nicholas"...my co-worker posed a FANTASTIC question this morning: "Think I can get that in a ring tone?" Turns out that, yes, you can.
3. Loss of the Google Keyword Tool. Sigh. Yes, sadly, we in the search marketing business are mourning the loss of a great tool that's been replaced by a tool we basically loathe. Which makes us cranky.
4. Twerking. Yup, I've been contemplating twerking. Not DOING it, mind you (though if I could, you could be sure I would), just...wondering. I mean, it seems to have such a broad definition. Originally I thought it meant this specific move. But after reading about all the hooplah Miley Cyrus has drummed up from "twerking" and stunning everyone at the VMAs, I'm not so sure. Did she actually twerk on stage? Coulda sworn you had to have a big-girl butt to do it, but evidently not...
5. Hooves. That's right. I've done a LOT of thinking/research and talking about my horse's hooves lately. See, for the past month it's been so dry here in Minnesota, so I can't blame him entirely for his chipped nails :) Moving forward, however, he's getting Farriers' Formula supplements and a few times a week I've been giving him pedicures. Not really. I just slather his feet with Farriers Fix hoof oil.
   

Well, that's about it. Those of you who've read 'til the end (which isn't here yet) are probably thinking, "well no wonder why she doesn't blog – is this all there is going on in her life?" My answer to you is simple: "These days, yes."


*I realize this isn't a word. My husband and I find it funny to use it. And then we have to remember NOT to use it in real life. Like, in front of clients and stuff.

How Do We Feel About Google Carousel Results?

A couple days ago The Google moved its local search "carousel" to desktop computers (previously it was only showing up on tablets). While I think the overall concept is neat – when performing searches for local bars & restaurants, you get a carousel of images at the top of your SERP – it's also something that'll need to be fine-tuned and honed before people jump on board.

For example, in reading about a test of people trying it out for the first time (study done by Nifty Marketing), the term "Chicago restaurants" was chosen. If you watch even just the first video of the person seeing the carousel for the first time, she's confused as to what certain aspects of it mean – most notably the "number" system ("what does 27 mean?").

Also, I must say that the carousel "results" for Chicago restaurants look pretty good: nice, tidy, good-looking photos, etc.

Now, on the other hand...what if we do a search a tad closer to home? For example, "restaurants in Brooklyn Center MN" (it's on the brain since I have a family dinner up there tonight). Results in the Google carousel are...well, somewhat lacking:

Okay. So let's be more fair...I then did a search for bars in Minneapolis:

Hang on, wait. Why is there a photo of a SHOOTER in a list of restaurants???

What is going on here, Google? Why have you included this in your carousel for my restaurant search?

Well, because Nye's is a very popular Minneapolis bar. But, why is there a wretched, scary picture that makes me NOT want to go to Nye's....why?

Well, because that's the only picture on Nye's Polonaise Room's Google+ Page:

So, evidently we know two things: 

1. The photos within Google's local carousel results are pulled from Google+ pages. 
2. Nye's Polonaise Room either doesn't know it has a Google+ page, or would like to be known as a gangster bar.

I mean, you'd expect this type of thing to show up in some sort of search for New York City restaurants, but not Minneapolis :)

As to the question of what the numbers mean within the carousel listings: they're Zagat scores. The reviews are coming from Google reviews. We still don't know how The Google is choosing which restaurants to show in the carousel. I'm sure if this carousel bandwagon takes off we'll learn more about how Google's "ranking" the carousel results...but right now it doesn't seem to be by number of reviews or even Zagat score...and it's definitely not by judging the quality of the Google+ photos :)

Spring Girls Ride 2013

For the past 30 years or so, a group of ladies has convened at Pillsbury State Forest (near Pillager,
Minnesota) on Mothers' Day weekend for camping, horseback riding and camaraderie. My mother is one of these women. And, once my sister and I turned 21, we were able to go, too.

In the 13 years since I've been old enough to go, I haven't missed a single occurrence. I came close in 2011 – I only made it for the last ride on Sunday – but as long as I'm physically able this is a permanent weekend on my calendar.

This past spring the group was quite small – Minnesota weather hasn't been very cooperative this year – but we had fun nonetheless.

We come from all over the state – I drive up from St. Paul, some ladies come from Bemidji, some from Brainerd and Nisswa, and my sister (when she can make it)
comes from the west side of the metro. Most people come for Friday through Sunday afternoon, but Mom and I get there on Thursday.

Thursday
Temperature: cloudy, in the 50s.
I met Mom at the campground around noon to help set up camp. Mom got her choice of camping spots and we unloaded the horses (Joon, Will & Murphy). Then we set about putting out the "lawn," attaching the clamps on the picket lines, putting up the awning, etc.

A bit later my Mom's friend Laurie got there and we headed out for an hour-and-a-half ride. While Murphy has been to Pillager once before – last fall for a day-ride – I was pleased at how well he did in a "new" place with strange sounds (there's a gun range about a ½ mile away and someone was not only using a semi-automatic, but periodically shooting off what sounded like a cannon).

Mom's friend Patty came that afternoon with her camper and her poodle (Teddy) to hang with us. Laurie had cooked dinner for us: yummy chili and cornbread. Right when we were ready to dish up my bestie from high school showed up with her two kids to hang out with the horses and have a beer. I don't get to see her very often anymore, so it was great to catch up a bit and give her horse-crazy daughter some
much-needed equine time :)

Joon was perfect with the kids – calm and quiet – and taught them how to give a horse a treat. She's so polite and no matter how many goodies she gets fed, always takes them with her lips very gently. Murphy, on the other hand...well, let's just say I found out it's better not to give him any treats. Naughty!

After some pictures and chatting, she and the kids headed out and we ate our hot chili. Then we got the horses settled for the evening – winter blankets, grain, fresh hay bags and a drink of water – and I wandered over to one of the other campsites to talk to a fellow horse-lover while Mom, Patty & Laurie played Mah Jongg.

Said fellow had a big leopard appaloosa and a HUGE male German shepherd named Blackie. He said he's always had shepherds and after he named the first one "Blackie" he liked the name so much every dog since then has borne the same.

He's an interesting guy with lots of stories – he travels a lot with his horse, his dog, his camper and his 4-wheel buggy. He switches off riding & driving the horse, who seems solid as a rock. He also showed me the app's favorite trick: retrieving his hat. It was a fun evening hanging
out with him!

After that, I hung out in the camper with the Mah Jongg ladies for a bit, but was too sleepy to last long...I was in bed by 9pm, I think!

Friday
Temperature: when I got up at 6:30, there was a bit of frost on my blanket and ice on all the water buckets. It warmed up quickly and turned out to be a sunny day in the 50s.
I cleaned the stalls, watered and fed the horses, then took Zada & Tesa for a 2-mile hike along the dirt road. Max arrived early in the morning (8am-ish, I believe) and Mom's friend MFS wasn't far behind. After some (more) coffee and chit-chatting, we saddled up and headed out for our morning ride.

For some reason or other, as we were heading out Max looked over and said, "where does THAT trail go?" Mom says, "Hmm...I don't know!" Keep in mind Mom has been riding in this state forest for 30 years. No clue how we'd missed this "new" trail but we took it and had a lovely 2-hour ride.

At one point we were in some pretty thick mud and the horses were a tad stumbly over some fallen logs – not sure if that's where it happened or not, but Murphy ended up a tad lame. A couple times in the last half hour I thought he seemed tender-footed but couldn't quite tell (we were on a grass trail) but as soon as we got back to the dirt road I knew something was wrong, he was definitely favoring a front foot...yup, he'd lost a shoe. Good ol' Murphy's Law!

I hopped off and walked him the rest of the way (only about a mile) and was pretty bummed – would I be able to ride at all the rest of the weekend?

Back at camp, Mom pulled out her emergency (horse) boot, but we realized it's more of a medicinal/soaking boot; not something to be worn for any length of time...then MFS came to the rescue: she loaned me her Easyboot Glove. We tried it on Murphy and while it wasn't a perfect fit, we vet-wrapped over the velcro to
ensure it'd stay firmly in place.

After lunch, we headed out for another hour and a half ride. I was wary about the Easyboot, and for the first 45 minutes kept looking down to make sure it was still on – it was. Not only that; we ended up on a portion of trail that they'd logged but not cleared, so while we fumbled about in the clear cut area, trying to find our way back to the trail, the horses were essentially walking on downed trees and logs. Not only did the boot stay on Murphy's foot; Murphy himself went where I asked him to go, calmly and without hesitation. My pride soared :)

Around the time we got back it was time for happy hour...and guess who showed up? Grandma Madge! She surprised us all by joining us. Patty had built a nice fire so we sat around it and had munchies and wine (sweet bitch!). Mom & Patty treated us to a lovely dinner: Swiss chicken and sweet Italian pasta. Max made a fresh salad that was much-needed to balance all the carbs and meat we'd been consuming!

After dinner, Grandma Madge & Laurie left (Max's sister was supposed to come for the rest of the weekend to ride Will). Put the horses to bed and then ourselves...everyone was tired!

Saturday
The night didn't feel as cold as the previous one but the ice on the buckets this morning was VERY thick – I had to use the handle of the pitchfork to break through. Ended up sunny but only in the 40s and VERY windy.
Got up a bit later today (7am, I think), did chores and took the dogs for a quick constitutional. Then it was time for a mug of steaming hot coffee (with Reddi Whip, of course) to warm up.

Laurie came back with a trailer to bring Will back home, since Max's sister was a no-show. That way Mom wouldn't have to pony him along the trail. Also, another gal (Judy) came to join us that morning with her 5-year-old Quarter horse (Bob).

Put the boot back on Murphy and we headed out for a ride. While it wasn't too bad in the woods and the horses were good, it was so incredibly windy we could barely hear each other and had to yell to be heard. Out in the open the wind was so forceful and brisk it was hard to do anything but burrow into our warm coats.

I unsaddled Murph when we got back to camp – I wasn't crazy about heading out again in the afternoon
with that wind. After lunch Mom's farrier Ricky came to put a new shoe on Murphy...I was SO grateful he could make a special trip out to do that for me. He wasn't going to charge me but I gave him a check anyway.

Turns out no one wanted to go out for another ride so we blanketed the horses and gave them some extra hay to munch while we chatted inside the motor home. I got a tad antsy after a while and decided it was time to take the dogs for a long hike (I needed to burn some calories!). I brought along my SLR to get some shots.

I ended up taking the same trail my sister did years ago when she wanted to take her dog for a 45-minute hike one trip...earning the trail her namesake (Dad put up the sign just last year, I think). Turns out I was gone for about 2½ hours! We figured I probably went for about a 10-mile hike...let me tell you, both the dogs and

I were pooped.

Of course, when I got back the ladies were still happily ensconced within the warm camper, just chatting away. Frankly, I don't think they noticed how long I was gone. I told Mom where I'd gone, and of course after the 1st turn she said, "Sariah, you should've taken a RIGHT there; not a LEFT!" I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, I was following the dogs...I knew they'd eventually lead me back to camp!"

Which they did, of course...they just took the route we take when we're on horseback and we WANT to be out for a couple of hours :)

That night it was my turn to provide dinner: pulled pork sandwiches with homemade coleslaw. I asked Max's advice on the dressing and after mixing it to her approval we were ready to eat. We ate in the motor home that evening; it was still pretty chilly.


After dinner MFS told us she was going to head home to her family...we were sad to see her go – she'd been a great addition to our ride!

Got the horses all tucked in and turned in to read for a bit before lights out.

Sunday
Not nearly as cold overnight – no ice on the buckets this morning. Ended up being sunny, in the 50s and no wind. PERFECT day for riding!
Up early for chores and a quick dog walk. Then breakfast and coffee...it was so beautiful out we were rarin' to go out for our morning ride.

We rode for about 2 hours in the morning and came back for lunch. Judy left after we ate and then it was just Mom, Max and I. We headed back out on the trail for another couple of hours and had another wonderful ride. Good horses, happy dogs, good chats.

It was sad to unsaddle for the last time; all good things must come to an end. We packed up camp with the sunshine on our shoulders – we could finally wear t-shirts! – and headed home. We all had a great weekend of riding and I was so proud of how my Murphy had performed...just like an old champ.

It'll be another year until the spring version of Girls' Ride, but we've got a fall
version, too. I'm looking forward to that AND to our Out West trip (Medora). More horsey adventures to come :)

April Fools' Day 2013: Google Nose

Google sure nose how to pull a good April Fools' Day prank. And The Google doesn't just stick to one form of tom foolery; oftentimes there are several pranks floating about for people to find.

One such prank for 2013 April fools is Google Nose (in beta). They're calling it "the new scentsation of search." You know how I love a good pun :)

Perform any search on The Google today and along with the traditional search verticals you'll find "Nose" as one of your options.

Good stuff!

Of course, this isn't news, per se...since Australia's in the future they've already been experiencing Google April Fools' Day for hours and hours now.

All-Knowing Google? Or Coincidence?

One of my Facebook friends posted that they were located at Los Muertos beach in Puerto Vallarta (of course, having just come back home from there, I grew instantly jealous and happy at the same time).

It got me to thinking of how Los Muertos beach got its name – and I couldn't quite remember the details, so thought I'd look it up. Well, the one place I KNOW I've read of the history of this Puerto Vallarta beach is on my parents' condo website (on the History of Puerto Vallarta page, of course). I typed the website address directly into a new tab of my Chrome browser and navigated to said page to read about it (again).

Then I thought, I wonder what The Google will show me when I search for it? So I performed a search for "los muertos beach puerto vallarta."

After scrolling through the first page results I glanced down at the related searches list...and gasped:

"View ANOTHER Puerto Vallarta vacation condo rental" ??? How'd you know I was even looking at a vacation rental? A lot of times Google will throw in related search queries or "related to" items after you've already searched something, but in this case, I didn't search! 

Curious.

But, of course then I realized how Google knew: 

Even though I hadn't searched for a condo rental in Puerto Vallarta, what I'd done was opened up a new tab and typed the address to my parents' condo website in directly (yes, they rent it out); then when I "left" that website I typed Google directly into the address bar and performed a (related) search.

Now, here's the kicker – did Google really "know" where I'd been or is it just coincidence? I was signed into my Google account, after all...is Google more "aware" of what you're doing and therefore will show me more relevant material?

I tried the search again after signing out...I still get that "related to" list item, but I've never seen that verbiage before in the related searches area.

Mystery? Coincidence? Or does Google just really know THAT much about what we're thinking and what we're doing on the WWW?

Don't Use Dale Blomquist. Get a Real Farrier!

It's now been six weeks since my gelding, Murphy, had his feet butchered – oops, I mean trimmed – by Dale Blomquist, a farrier in North Branch, Minnesota.

You can read the start of the whole story as to why I had a lame horse after a hoof trim but suffice it to say this "farrier" hacked my horse's hooves so short – and at horrible, mismatched angles – that he was dead lame on both front feet for weeks.

My gelding's getting better, but it's a long, slow process: he's on stall rest and getting Bute every single day. I've recently started letting him out into a small, unused portion of the pasture, so the snow isn't packed down and hard. He's still lame on his right front (his club foot) but IS moving much better...

SIX WEEKS after a hoof "trim" by Dale Blomquist. Why on earth is my horse still lame?

I grew up with horses, so this ain't my first rodeo. Way back when we had a farrier who'd trim our horses too short and they'd be gimpy/tender-footed for about 3 days after every trim. We got rid of him (and now refer to him as "Larry the Butcher")...so compared to THAT, this hoof trim hack job is beyond my scope of ever reasoning with this quack of a farrier ever again, no matter how many people said – at the beginning of this entire debacle – "give him another chance."

Even considering that this farrier pulled Murphy's shoes for the season and then it sleeted and the ground froze two days later...there's NO reason this horse should be lame for so long, except he was cut MUCH too short.

Another note about the angles of Murphy's hooves – the last time I had the vet out, she even mentioned that his feet were a) still very short (even for 5 weeks out; she said the farrier probably stunted the hoof growth by trimming the hooves far too short) and b) at vastly different angles to one another. She got out her hoof gauge and while Murphy's left front was at 55°, his right front (the club foot, which doesn't grow as much toe) was at 60°!

You can clearly see the difference in hoof angles in the picture (3 days after the trim), so it's not as though his hoof is growing out at that weird angle. Dale had taken off so much toe and left so much heel that Murphy was practically tip-toeing on that right front hoof. While I understand a slight variation between hooves is normal, I do NOT accept a five-degree difference; especially when the hoof that was at much too steep of an angle was his club foot!

Even MORE importantly, I had shown Dale the x-rays of Murphy's feet – given to me by the previous owner; they were taken 2 years ago of both front feet when they were worried about his club foot – but this "farrier" obviously has no knowledge of what a horse's bone structure should be, since Murphy's club foot also has a deviation in the coffin bone. Also in this x-ray, it was clearly laid out how he should be trimmed: less heel, a certain angle, etc. All the information was right there on the x-ray. And yet Mr. Blomquist STILL hacked off Murphy's club foot hoof to the point where I'm thinking the coffin bone had virtually NO sole underneath it.

Thankfully my vet had a pair of nippers in her truck so she carefully trimmed Murphy's heels to at least be even (she got them both to 52° in less than 3 minutes) and take pressure off his toes. The next day he was a tad sore from the stretch in his tendons, but a couple days later he was trotting around in his pen – the first I'd really seen him move "freely" since the hoof trim in November.

SO, not only did this farrier (Dale Blomquist) chop my horse's hooves beyond too short; he couldn't even get them even close to the correct angles – completely ignoring (or totally ignorant of) the x-rays I showed him minutes before the trim. PLUS, he'd told me before he trimmed my horse that he himself had a mare with a club foot so he was very familiar with club feet and how to trim them.

Evidently not.

You can read different details and more of why NOT to use Dale Blomquist as your farrier, but in short, don't let this man anywhere near your horse – this is not the first time something like this has happened (to my knowledge it's happened to 3 other horses at the same barn: the miniature horse that was trimmed immediately before mine was dead lame on all 4 feet for three weeks afterwards). If you don't want a lame horse, choose a real farrier to do the job right.