Boris Ryaschenko (Primorski Kray, Russia)
I once was asked to shoe a young backyard horse. It was a 3-year-old stallion that was very excitable and completely untrained to give its legs. The hosts helped me to shoe the horse: a guy and a girl. We were been tormented for several hours. The horse allowed me to shoe his front legs only with the help of ... cucumbers. It was in the summer when vegetable gardens began to ripen. It turned out that our colt was not indifferent to cucumbers, which, fortunately, were growing on the vegetable beds in abundance. For every hammered nail, he received a reward: a cucumber. So, he allowed his front feet to be shod for cucumbers.
Shoeing the horse’s hind legs was more difficult. The slightest touch caused him to beat his hind feet so sharply that it was really scary. I was afraid to get hit by his hooves. Cucumbers, unfortunately, did not help. I had to make a crouch of the rope and put the colt on the ground in a position that would allow me to shoe him. For some reason, the neighbors became very interested and watched the event from behind the fence.
When the horseshoes were nailed, we quickly removed the fetter and the colt instantly got to his feet, not understanding what had happened to him. But it was done. We have shod him!
Two or three months later in the autumn, I came across a familiar colt. I walked closer and spoke to the owner of the horse. The stallion listened, turned his head in my direction ... and suddenly lifted his front leg, bending it in his wrist. Unfortunately, we did not have any cucumbers.
—Boris Ryaschenko (Primorski Kray, Russia)