What is your Purpose?

“What is your purpose?” 

Such a simple and yet such a huge question. We had a visitor last weekend; Alison Delaney of Little Bird

http://www.littlebird.org.uk/

Alison is one of the most inspirational ladies I know. Her passion is helping people to fulfill their dreams. She also loves horses and dogs and so it was an absolute joy to be able to pay it forward by inviting her for a day out riding my beautiful grey horse in our fabulous forest. 

  
Alison’s great gift is making all sorts of different people feel amazing about themselves. Her deceptively simple question gets right to the heart of the matter.

So here goes 

1) to leave people, places and horses better than we found them.

  

  

  
2) to provide an environment for the horses where they can live as natural a life as possible where all their needs are met #friendsforagefreedom

  

  
3) to train classically and correctly in a manner that puts the horse first, maximises his longevity, health and potential. To train from the beginning as if everything is possible, and to preserve the horse’s spirit so it is a true partnership, dancing together.

  
4) to participate regularly in the full spectrum of equestrian activities: eventing, hunting, dressage, and show jumping, without compromising on the above ideals. 

  

5) to enjoy the journey and and to learn all the lessons presented by any challenges.

  

6) to become the complete equestrian, and therefore the complete human.

  
 

7) always a magic number: to freely give what we most desire.

What is your purpose? 

Congruence, Emotional Intelligence and Authenticity

Congruence, emotional intelligence and authenticity have become buzz-words recently. Search the internet and there are countless sites offering to help us reconnect with our inner self, with assistance from Reiki, meditation, yoga, Tai Chi, mindfulness, raw food diets and even equine assisted facilitation.

As life gets busier and we become further removed from the simple pleasures; walking barefoot across a lawn, paddling on a beach, sitting on the grass in the sun, standing on a hill-top feeling the breeze across our faces, we lose congruence and humankind becomes sicker and poorer.

Those of us who play with horses for our fun are very fortunate in that we experience Nature regularly, especially if we keep our horses at home. I get to feel the wind on my face every day cycling down to the field with the night-time feeds, as well as the rain, the snow and hopefully, soon, the sun. I slither and slide through the mud in our field, I hear the owl call, the vixen shriek and see the moon and the stars turn with the seasons. In summer I will laze on the grass with the horses, sun bathing and joining in the rolling party, in between pulling ragwort and pooh picking. There is no finer way to see the countryside unfold and observe the wild life than from the back of a horse. Just ask the Queen!

As well as the fresh air and hard physical labour, which has a virtuous Victorian effect on the mood, there are subtler lessons to learn from horses. Horses are very clear about the importance of congruence. There is nothing more distressing to a horse than sharing space with a being which feels one emotion and projects another. To them, this means there must be a big hungry cat in the vicinity. Humans bizarrely do this all the time; they say one thing, whilst meaning another, they hide their fear, even from themselves. Ignoring the big scary plastic bag just makes horses even more wild. They feel responsible for you while you are sat up there whistling away, imagine if you are the only one that could see that dangerous animal and your stupid partner is ignoring all the warning signals you are throwing out. Much better to see the bag and yawn, yes yawn. “That boring thing? Yes of course I can see it silly, it won’t eat us, and it’s just a stupid bag.”

#friendsforagefreedom

Horses have unfortunately become a commodity to feed our egos, an accessory to furnish us with trophies and achievements, or a substitute dependant that needs to be loved and spoiled and cared for in some slightly offbeat displacement activity. As a result they are often kept in totally unnatural environments, provided with what humans perceive as essential: a warm stable, a nice rug and lots of high quality food. What a horse perceives as essential is very different: in the wild they would choose continuous movement, interaction with other horses for grooming and herd behaviours, forage for 16 hours a day to keep their teeth healthy and their stomach acid low, and freedom to roam.

Once Paddy had managed to tell me that barefoot was the only way forward for him, I started to question a lot of the other dogma associated with traditional horse keeping in horse mad Cheshire. The various dilemmas familiar to barefoot horse owners surfaced and individual solutions evolved. Trim versus natural wear, turnout versus grass, the whole minefield of starting to read food labels and learning about ingredients and mineral balance. Luckily for me my first barefooter was an easy transition. Gut health, equine gastric ulcer syndrome, hind gut health, hoof abscesses after chemical worming leading us to targeted worming programmes, the list of what my horses have taught me is endless and will take many years to share.

The lesson for today however is my definition of congruence; that if you live what you believe, are completely authentic, then even without trying, you will show the way and others will follow.

Three years ago we moved to a new livery yard. We had been livery gypsies for a few years. Mel the polo groom had looked after Special Needs Paddy beautifully, which meant that we moved yards every year to her new polo job. We had done a tour of the outskirts of Delamere, complicated slightly by the acquisition of the second horse and then, when Mel left to marry her dream man, we spent a couple of years trying to find equivalent stellar care. We eventually landed at Bankfield shortly after the yard had been taken on by an American couple who were going to run the place as a professional competition yard. There were 18 boxes and they were full. The other liveries were traditional horse owners, all very nice but competitive and pretty orthodox in their training and husbandry practises. We were barefoot but Cal was barely functional and we had just started lessons with Patrice- I was in the self-lunging de-contracting stage which meant lots of trotting around super slow with high hands and maximum neck length and doing lots of in hand work that we didn’t quite understand and couldn’t explain.

Gary and I didn’t preach. We just practised congruence. I remember actively trying not to talk too much about barefoot, or classical riding or natural husbandry. After all, nobody likes the yard know-it-all and having been well educated about toxic livery yards, I had learned to keep my head down and my mouth shut. But if anyone asked a question they got an honest and full answer. And our horses went from strength to strength. Cal’s knee healed completely, we got back out competing and he has turned into a cross country machine. Paddy turned out to be the perfect schoolmaster for Gary and for me- he was very clear that we had discovered Patrice just in time and that he would never tolerate bar or tongue pressure from the downward acting bit ever again. And having felt him finally give me his back after 10 years of resistance I was never going to apply bar or tongue pressure deliberately again.

I still have no idea how it happened but within two years nearly all the horses on the yard were barefoot and yard owner and most of the liveries were having classical riding lessons with Patrice. The American dream didn’t last long, for various reasons including the breakdown of the sham marriage and emigration of their main client. The rest of us were left there, in the vast arena, peacefully pottering along on a journey of discovery.

Once you start listening to your horses they are very clear communicators. And doing right by them becomes very simple, although not necessarily easy. Once it is clear in your head that whatever response you receive from the horse is always the truth, congruence again,  and that horses try their best, there is no such thing as naughtiness or resistance. There is only “I hurt”, “I don’t understand”, or “I understand but I can’t do that yet”. A footsore barefoot horse isn’t 100% well; simples. It might have too much  grass, a high sugar diet, not enough work, insulin resistance, ulcers, Cushing’s, or an abscess brewing. If there are persistent abscess problems look to your land and your forage. If your horse is resistant, look to your saddle fit but mostly to your training because the work is causing them discomfort. If they don’t want to come in, it’s because they hate being in the dark stable on their own. They need to see each other to communicate and feel safe. They need to touch and groom and play. They need to lie down to sleep, just for an hour, and they need a look out whilst they do so.

And there is no greater compliment than two horses standing to attention at their doors, poised and perfectly balanced, when you walk onto the yard ,as if to say “pick me today, pick me today, I want to work today. “ Particularly when both those horses have been resistant, “work shy”, injured or problem horses for various reasons.

Horses don’t lie. Their bodies don’t lie, their muscle development doesn’t lie. Whatever the others thought of our oddball ideas, our horses gleamed with health and grew stronger and more beautiful, and eventually imitation became the sincerest form of flattery. Congruence.

“Outstanding success with any type of relationship in life or in any enterprise, depends upon authentic intelligence. Remarkable, high functioning individuals or groups are exceptionally coherent and show congruence in their actions and behaviours.”

 

Processing….

Fabulous weekend was had by all at the Patrice Edwards clinic- I am still processing the feelings and information from my lessons and the very useful lecture.

Key sound bite for me was to slow the shoulders and ask the hind leg to quicken. 

Key feelage was elbow to hind leg, fist forward to bit, elbow to hind fist to bit, in a rhythm, one being an upper arm function the other being a lower arm function.

Great to watch the horses processing too- a key element of the work is to set the horse up for success so that the next level of work is the next logical offer from the exercise. Sally’s Archie is now fully better and learning Piaffe- how exciting.

More to follow…

Life lessons- Each horse has a new lesson

And the life lessons from the grey horse are becoming clear- Cal’s life lessons for me are that I must learn to enjoy the journey and not focus on the pursuit of  the goal.

This February is The Full Snow Moon – “It is a time to release that which no longer serves you, what you no longer need in your life or an aspect of yourself that you have outgrown. What are you ready to release?”

He was to be my project horse, my doer upper. I had done my first few seasons of eventing on Paddy, but he was getting on a bit and getting a bit stiff and unreliable. My riding had improved no end and I felt ready to progress further up the levels, albeit on a shiny new horse. I took advice from my trainers and friends and we came up with a plan. I was to start with a low mileage horse, a nice sort suitable for riding club amateurs,  bring him on and then sell it for a profit and the profit would buy the next horse which would be the really posh one.

So my brief was to buy a nice Irish bay gelding, that would be an easy resell once it had done reasonably well at a few affiliated local events. So I went to a recommended dealer and listened to all that wise counsel and got my friend the vet to ride it as well as vet it and I finally came home with….. a pink pony!!!

Well, steel grey that definitely looked pink in some lights, but with the most amazing silver tail.

Can you hear all those people in your heads who say I would never buy a grey??? I was one of those….why on earth would you buy one as a doer upper??

Steel grey/ pink
Steel grey/ pink- the life lesson professor
He is a gorgeous person, very quiet and affectionate, easy to do, stands like a rock, loves a fuss, is pretty food orientated so easy to bribe. When he first arrived we could tie him up to groom and he wouldn’t move a muscle: I do think some of these Irish horses have a tough time of it when they get started, and I also think the journey / upheaval takes more out of them than we realise.

He was pretty green, he could barely canter, couldn’t trot a circle, was really weak behind the saddle and had to inspect his fences carefully at a halt before cat leaping them.

We worked on that and by the end of the first summer he had done a BE 80 and was doing really well at Riding Club dressage. The cunning plan was going beautifully.

Disaster struck that first winter. One day he came in from the field lame. Vet came, started with feet, dug out a bit of gravel, diagnosed white line disease, shoes off, bit of rest, shoes back on. He was a bit better, slow work, then lame again on one circle on a surface. So the vet came again, found heat in his knee,  took mobile Xrays and found a bone chip in his carpal joint. A trip to Leahurst ensued and the MRI showed a comminuted fracture of his second carpal bone, as well as ligament damage to the joint.

Much discussion and agonising later and we opted for 8 weeks box rest in a splint. We discussed all options including PTS but he was insured for loss of use at that time and Ellen Singer thought the splint was worth a go.

I jumped him again at 11 months post injury. If the ligaments in the knee were not going to stand up to work we needed to know for the loss of use claim. I was determined I couldn’t have a horse that wouldn’t jump. There is a whole other story in the rehab, bit of barefoot, bit of Natural Balance shoeing, poor initial shoeing, flat feet and long toes obviously being contributing factors to the original injury and a lot of soul searching about belief systems, horses’ purpose,  life lessons learned from horses etc etc.

The leg stood up to work. My doer upper would probably pass a five stage vetting now but essentially I have a greying horse who broke a carpal bone and sprained his knee, is barefoot to minimise concussion and delay arthritis but is also grass sensitive.

Be careful what you wish for.

He is really bomb proof, carries a side saddle beautifully, would jump the moon now and might even make the time Novice eventing with enough fast work: his price tag should be £15K if I could ever sell him.

During his rehab we were doing really well at Riding Club dressage but he was getting more and more grumpy and turning his back on me when I brought the saddle to the stable door. I was stuck at a stage in his schooling that I couldn’t get past and I couldn’t find anyone that would help me go back to basics. I knew my position could be better but nobody would or could unpick it, despite me asking for very specific help. Then Sarah Barefoot nagged me to have a lesson with Patrice Edwards of Equestrian Journey, and I finally found the instructor I had been looking for.

http://www.equestrianjourney.com

The long version of that life lesson is another day’s story. I am sure, had I not changed my schooling methods, that Cal would have joined the recent epidemic of leisure horses requiring Kissing Spine intervention.

Cal offers Piaffe occasionally now. He cannot quite believe that he can move to the right in right flexion through his ribcage-once he twigs that this is possible we will have  a full set of lateral movements, a basic piaffe and possibly the airs that he has learned whilst finding alternatives and processing!!

He also jumps for fun, skinnies and big things, in a neat, workmanlike manner from a good canter.

I have done this- with help, but I have trained this horse, rehabbed him from a serious injury to be the amazing all round poppet he is. I am allowed a tiny bt of credit for that. I’ll take more when he has rock crunching hooves as well 😉

But I can’t sell him now- he’s both worthless and totally priceless.

Cal has also rehabbed me- he has changed me from a rider into an equestrian, and many more horses will teach me many more valuable life lessons as a result of that change in mindset. That is the most precious gift the grey horse could have given me- freedom from goals and a lifetime of further learning from the most noble of animals.

I am now the facilitator for monthly classical riding clinics with Patrice Edwards at the amazing facilities at Delamere Manor.

http://www.delameremanor.co.uk

Do come and join us if you would like to learn more- next one is this weekend 26-28th Feb.

 

 

Arena XC

The season has started ? first XC school of the year, albeit on a surface and Cal was a total dude. He was neat and workmanlike and jumped everything including the skinny barrel first time. We also ended up jumping a bit bigger than I was planning too as it was first proper do. 

Now we just need to get those feet toughened up and fitness sorted for a few weeks and we will be good to go. 

First event we have planned is 90cm at Lands eventing on Easter weekend- it will be here before we know it. 

Bring on the light nights ??? 

Barefoot is best…..but it ain’t always easy

For humans or for horses. Paddy is the horse that started us on our barefoot journey, and the accelerated learning that ensued: feeding horses naturally, the prevalence and effects of gastric ulcers in horses, natural husbandry, paddock paradise, track systems…and ultimately all these factors were drivers that led us to the purchase of our beautiful forest cottage.

Traditionally horses wear metal shoes, unless they really don’t need them. I remember ponies at riding school with no shoes, and later my German sister’s Arab horse regularly doing miles through the forest with no shoes. In fact there were quite a few horses in my sister’s village with no shoes at all doing lots of work and looking very well. But I live in Britain, and I always wanted to go eventing, and eventers need studs to go cross country, and so we needed shoes.

Paddy was cheap to buy and came with a reputation. Part of the reputation was that he hated the farrier. We cold shod him for a bit with a bucket of feed to keep him occupied but when I started eventing him, he “needed” studs, hot shoeing was required and the problem gradually escalated. We got sacked by one farrier, then the farrier cum horse whisperer started asking for him to be sedated until one day the shoes came off but the horse whisperer couldn’t get them back on. We had two events looming so I got the vet out, we formally sedated him, shod him  for the last two events of the season and I tried to make a sensible plan. Call out and sedation put the cost of shoes to £100 a pair. His feet were weak, crumbly, looked terrible, barely held nails and we were on a 5 week shoeing cycle. I started to ask myself if we needed shoes? Did I really need to event? Could he find another job? Did I need to sell him?

We had a climbing friend who was married to a barefoot trimmer, Sarah then from Performance Barefoot, later known as Forageplus.

https://forageplus.co.uk/

A vaguely remembered conversation got me thinking about barefoot horses in Germany, managing without shoes, hacking and jumping and galloping. I started reading, started asking lots of questions, re-examined what I knew about shoes and horses, spoke to Sarah at length, changed his diet, started buying white powdered magnesium oxide by the kilo and six weeks later we pulled his shoes off. He was 12 years old.

He was obviously lame on stones, as you would be if we took your shoes off and sent you out running,  but we were surrounded by super smooth tarmac- suddenly, with no shoes, all the steep, narrow, country roads felt much safer. We had Little Budworth Common with a sand track to canter on, so Paddy never missed any work. He tottered down the gravel drive, zoomed down the smooth tarmac and pulled like a train around the common. After about 2 months he zoomed down the gravel drive too, then down the hard core. Paddy is not a ploddy horse! We started jumping barefoot and he actually felt better: he adjusted his balance automatically and stopped rushing his fences. Grip just didn’t seem to be an issue. His feet got stronger and stronger. He had a couple of amazing seasons eventing; he has never been the most consistent horse but we got to the Riding Club National Championships for Horse Trials, Hunter Trials and moved up to BE100, the third level of affiliated competition. He was a cross country machine on his good days.

paddy profile

In retrospect it is so obvious: the hate of the farrier was pain from thin soles, poor hoof quality due to poor nutrition (although it was a reputable feed brand, just not the right food for a sensitive horse), and from repetitive hot shoeing. From having the worst feet in Cheshire he now has the best, toughest, most functional feet you could wish for.

This January my 20 year old barefoot machine went charging around the hills above Colwyn Bay with the Flint and Denbigh. We had a great day, he galloped up the hills, trotted up the steep lanes, jumped most things and kept right up with the thrusters. Best of all he had fun.

When I bought Paddy, I was on a great livery yard with a crowd of really good friends and we all bought new horses around the same time. Paddy is the only one of our horses from those times still in work, although he does now choose his days. The rest of the cohort is dead or retired now, most have been PTS. Commonest problem/ cause of euthanasia; forelimb lameness due to arthritis.

So for him barefoot was the answer.

However the reason the old boy got dragged up the hill that day was because Cal, my good horse, is not quite such a barefoot legend. He bruised his soles on Boxing Day racing around Rivington Pike on really stoney paths with the Holcombe Harriers. Paddy would have been OK up there but for Cal it was all a bit too much and he was still ouchy. And for my poor husband Gary, who sorted out the invite, did a lot of the prep and got us to Wales, his horse was also a bit footsore from Boxing Day and so he turned around early and had to wait in the lorry for the happy crew to return. Pretty galling.

Why are Cal and Con not rock crunching barefoot horses? I’m not sure yet, we are still working that one out. Cal I’m sure has an underlying metabolic condition. He tested borderline high for Cushings, has had severe RAO this summer and always looks a bit fat. When I work him enough (20-30 miles a week) his feet are tolerable. We are not doing that this winter. Con is just getting fit; he arrived quite obese after two years of being nanny to a yard full of youngsters. His wind and muscle tone are improving, I think his  under performing barefoot hooves are probably acting as a protecting limiting factor while the rest of his physiology tones up. Very frustrating for a relatively newly horse obsessed husband who loves the idea of hunting!