Autumn colours in the forest were spectacular today – no words needed
Category: Barefoot performance
Keeping the functional active fit ridden horse barefoot ie with out nailed on steel horse-shoes
Another self trimming horse
After owning Cal for 7 years I am very proud and pleased to announce that I have another self trimming horse!!
And once again, now it’s a reality, I’m wondering why it took me so long to understand that even funny feet Cal could be a self trimming horse.
For any self respecting hoof nerd, a self trimming horse is the ultimate aim. The self trimming horse has a perfect balance between wear and growth, balances his own feet through work to the shape that suits him, and is sound in the work he does.
I never thought Cal could be a self trimming horse, until my barefoot life seemed to come full circle.
I’ve written previously about how my barefoot journey began
And about my trials and tribulations with funny feet Cal
Including the point where we thought we had really cracked it.
but all along, I was operating from within a false paradigm, despite hoof geeking obsessively all these years!
I thought a horse’s hooves had to be good before he could become a self trimming horse.
Barefoot beginnings
Now, I started my barefoot journey thanks to Sarah of Forageplus. Sarah wrote a book with Nic Barker (of Rockley Farm rehab fame) called Feet First
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Feet-First-Barefoot-Performance-Rehabilitation/dp/0851319602
which was the original barefoot bible for those brave souls bucking the trend in the late 90’s!
Diet
It was early days- barefoot horse owners were considered eccentric freaks. Sarah drove around the county to trim clients horses with a huge tub of magnesium oxide in the back of her jeep and a set of scales. Who knows what the police would have made of her white powder delivery round?
We didn’t know as much about best nutrition for healthy feet as we do now, although we knew diet was the key.
As was work.
Exercise
When I transitioned Paddy he was being looked after by Mel the polo groom. He did at least 5 miles daily plus whatever I did with him in the evenings and weekends. And luckily, due to the facilities locally, he was able to do that comfortably from the first day his shoes came off. Glass smooth tarmac really is the best surface for conditioning rock crunching feet!!
Hoof boots were really hard to buy, really clumpy and mostly imported from America and made for little horses with dainty feet. I didn’t bother for Paddy- he never needed them.
Then along came Cal. He arrived from Ireland in the most horrific set of shoes. Looking back I’m really not sure how I didn’t spot the really funny feet.
I can’t find any early feet photos but believe me the whole of the hoof capsule sat in front of a line dropped down the cannon bone!!
This photo is from about 18months after I bought him. In that time he had fractured a carpal bone (in shoes) tripping over that toe, and was about a year into his barefoot rehab.
Now you would never say that foot could belong to a self trimming horse would you?
Environment
Shortly after this photo was taken we bought our own place and started applying everything we knew about creating the perfect feet. We had our six acre field which we proudly put a track around, our very own #paddockparadise
I mineral balanced to our now steady supply of late cut meadow hay, and then later Haylage.
We soil tested and actually applied the chemicals as recommended by the Albrecht protocol.
We tried to do our rock crunching milage around the fabulous #Delamereforest and surrounding area.
Trim
and we kept looking for the perfect trim that would finally turn that peculiar set of feet into something functional. I went through a posse of trimmers over the first few years. Sarah wasn’t trimming much as her business grew, so we needed an alternative. My first choice wasn’t flexible enough to fit in around my hectic work schedule. The next was lovely but then got poorly and needed a couple of operations. I went back to a UKHNCP trimmer for an alternative view. The alternative then moved down south! I sought a couple of second opinions, one of whom did a really radical trim which left him sore for weeks. Then I eventually met Emma Bailey, who is a good listener, really knows her nutrition and is always keen to discuss with and learn from all horses and clients. She is also good friends with Nick Hill and Ralitsa, the holistic vet, so we got 3 heads to scratch.
We went through gentle trims, more invasive trims, leaving the flares, taking the flare off, trim the bars, leave the bars, attack the toe, swipe the heels… yet no matter what we tried, the feet improved a bit month by month yet remained stubbornly slipper like
With thin soles, shallow collateral grooves and little heel height.
He was surprisingly functional over the years, despite the feet looking flat and poor, he has worked hard on all surfaces except stones and we have had some great fun
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL55sjNB8nhYVHUrASlthXCJkdGsqql_RF
Then Emma went on a workshop with Nic Barker and my barefoot life came full circle.
Any self respecting hoof nerd will know of Nic’s seminal blog piece ‘Celery’
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2011/04/dont-even-think-of-touching-that-hoof.html
And in the most recent blog follow up on that theme, not much in her learning and experience has changed
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2018/09/put-down-rasp-and-pick-up-celery.html
Now I always have believed in self trimming horses! Paddy was essentially self trimming apart from a check every 3 months, and a touch up for trips out, and Rocky looks like he will go the same way, but for some reason, it had never occurred to me with Cal. How could those pathological feet possibly become healthier without help?
Luckily Emma is a good listener. She cane back from the workshop and basically waved a rasp at all 3 horses. And told me to get out there and work them and see what occurs.
And guess what?
Cal’s finally growing the feet he needs.
Yes -there is lots of bar- he obviously needs it.
Yes -theoretically you could tighten the foot up to the white line…but it opens up again more or less straight away.
Yes -there looks like some flare from the top but from the bottom they are actually not too bad.
And yes- that toe can still come back, and it does, a few gentle swipes every time I ride.
And best of all- look at the depth of those collateral grooves!! That is new and special and exciting!
Now I’m not saying he’ll never get trimmed again. Those toes need touching up, as do any cracks and chips.
But the more we trimmed, the more hoof he grew, but exactly the same foot! Now we are not trimming so persistently, the foot is growing more slowly but is also building itself up, from the inside.
And so I’ve come full circle, back to celery – in a healthy horse, barefoot is never all about the trim.
I think I finally have a healthy horse- that’s been another journey, getting the diet right, and now we have stopped messing around ‘fixing’ his feet, we seem to have acquired another self trimming horse.
I’ll leave you with the Rockley rehabs for inspiration. The feet in this barefoot ‘hoof porn’ film are all self trimming, and all incredibly functional.
N.B. Until you’ve seen a horse move and the hoof land you cannot judge the level of function.
http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/p/barefoot-in-slow-motion.html
Is your horse self trimming?
Does it land heel first?
If not, have you ever thought that less could be more?
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End of season report
It’s that time of year, as the evenings are drawing in, to reflect on the end of season report.
This year I decided to see if I could manage a whole season of quality Eventing without affiliating.
Using the website
And the Facebook group
https://m.facebook.com/UnaffEvents/
As well as searching the local pony club, event centres and riding club websites I managed to find 8 quality unaffiliated events within a 90mile radius.
We did the riding club Horse Trials qualifier at Llanymynech- at 80 again because due to the big trip I couldn’t have committed to getting him fit enough for 90 champs had we qualified.
we had a great day but 2 of the team missed a fence in the show jumping so no road trip for us this year.
Then Eland Lodge 80
Epworth 90
Mongolia messed up the middle of the season a bit 😆
Full length film of trip by the very talented Matt now available on YouTube- cup of tea and a comfy seat required.
On return we got ready in time for Shelford Manor 80
And then finished with the Intermediate (90) class in the Delamere Forest Riding Club event at Smallwood.
Overall we had a great season. Dressage was a bit mixed- I kept forgetting Cal can be a headshaker. It’s mostly on windy days, and the neighbour’s school, that we mostly use, is quite sheltered so he rarely does it at home. I have bought him a Shakeaze nose protector but keep forgetting to take it with me. The last two events had dressage in quite exposed fields so we didn’t get the marks to reflect all the hard work we do at home.
He remains a cross country dragon though- the Intermediate class at Smallwood had plenty of technical questions ; certainly more than one would get in a BE90.
I decided to finish our season there so I could concentrate more on Rocky, our posh young warmblood. He’s been a bit tricky over the last few months. I had put it down to lack of consistent work but then something sad in his eye after an ‘episode’ at the last Patrice clinic made us decide he needed investigating.
And we found this 
So I will be mostly concentrating on rehab over the next few weeks/months. The narrow space was medicated and he is moving forward much better so hopefully it will be a straightforward journey back to health. Whether he will ever be a straightforward horse remains to be seen, although his mum and 2 sisters are all fabulous personalities so he should turn out OK.
so my winter will be about much more in hand work as well as close attention to a stretched top line when riding.
Cal might not get such an easy time after all- it’s fun ride season which is Gary’s favourite time of year
The weather people keep saying we are in for a lovely autumn- why don’t you make the most of it and bring your horses on holiday to stay with us in the fabulous Delamere Forest?
https://www.facebook.com/nelipotcottage/
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The Buzz about the Fuzz
I started noticing the buzz about the fuzz a year or so ago. The fuzz is fascia, a part of the connective tissue that is generally ignored.
When we bought Rocky, our fancy warmblood, we bought a young horse with international standard genes. We had to have him gelded, and we were told to make sure we got some massage done on the gelding scar to preserve his fabulous movement.
We all know a little bit about fascia. It’s the stringy stuff in between the muscles in your chicken breast, or the marbling in your steak. It’s the layer that keeps healthy muscles separate so they can slide over each other and work independently.
In surgery, knowledge of fascia is critical- it’s fascia that determines the layers of anatomical cleavage where cutting should occur.
The French surgeons really get the buzz about the fuzz- they call it ‘cheveux d’anges’ or “angel hair”- a lovely romantic name for the delicate little tendrils we see when tissues are separated already by fascial planes act like a dotted line for bloodless and painless surgery.
Not that fascia doesn’t contain blood vessels and nerves- they are just fewer in number. If tissue is disrupted by injury, it’s partly the fascia that stabilises that injury, by thickening into a scar. That’s why it’s important to keep good mobility throughout life, and especially after injury.
Dr Hedley’s short film is a great celebration of the buzz about the fuzz
So, when I was looking for a horse massage therapist, I remembered the lovely Babs, of Chester zoo fame, who happens to be incredibly local to us, and who we knew from the last livery yard (before we moved onto our own land).
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=522106882
Babs came to treat the horses and I asked her about Myofascial Release Therapy. Her eyes lit up and she started telling and showing me.
What struck me first was how subtle and gentle the manoeuvres were. She was using gentle finger pressure on acupressure and meridian points.
There is a theory that acupuncture actually works along fascial lines- no other anatomical highway explains the effects of acupuncture: it doesn’t work along the determined paths of blood vessels, nerves or lymphatics.
Had it not been for my horse’s dramatic reaction, I wouldn’t have known there was any treatment going on.
Cal is very demonstrative- in between manoeuvres he stretched, adjusted, licked and chewed. And got more and more soft blink sleepy.
And his posture improved, and the gymnastic schooling work went through better and better.
In a perfect world, correct schooling work in itself should be therapeutic. We all feel that our horses generally have a hollow side and a longer side. If we strengthen to equalise to the shorter hollow side we end up with stiff horses, equally contracted on both sides. If however we work on lengthening and decontracting the short stiff side to equal the length of the longer side of the body and then start to strengthen, we build strength on suppleness and the power can come through from behind without any blockage. The basic knowledge of gymnastic schooling is mostly lost now, in the rush for progress and prizes, few people know how to nor take the time to build the horse up into an athlete before using the power they offer. Hence why my search for a good instructor led me to a lady who lives on the south coast and visits us once a month for 3 day clinics!!
The hyoid and tongue apparatus of the horse is connected to the hocks by an uninterrupted fascial sheet, varying in thickness but nonetheless a pure connection. So any bit action which constricts the tongue and hyoid will also adversely affect the movement of the hind legs. This is the cause of the funky trots we see now in high level dressage horses: neck and head restricted, tongue tied down, hind legs strung out behind rather than coming through to take the rider up and forward.
https://handshealinghorses.wordpress.com/tag/horse-hyoid-apparatus/
The tongue is also connected to the shoulders
https://www.facebook.com/339154063236779/videos/403549170130601/
In humans, our mostly sedentary lifestyles prevent us from riding well. We get told we need a strong core to absorb the horse’s movement, but actually it’s a stillness in motion we need to seek, not a stiff brace. Think walking along on a boat not surviving a ride on the Big One!
We need open flexible hip sockets, a nice flat back with good isometric tone of our front and back lines, as well as the line from armpit to hipbones. Most of us have over developed or tight back and shoulder muscles with weak contracted front lines. Strengthening a shorter front line will only increase the dysfunction- we need to open up the hip flexors before we can engage our ‘core’ to get the balance required between front and back lines. I found a human Physio to help with this- again with focus on MFR.
https://www.facebook.com/backinactionwarrington/
Matt from BackinAction isn’t quite as gentle as Babs; often it feels like a Chinese burn as he stretches creaky, stiff fascia, but after 6 months of breaking down the fuzz, I can now access front and back trunk muscles as required, and even use my hand or leg without the other joining in, and mostly without bracing or stiffness. This is progress indeed.
So quite rightly, there is a lot of buzz about the fuzz. Is your fuzz soft and pliable, or tough and stringy?
And how about your horse? Does his skin move smoothly over soft muscles or can you see stripes or striations in the muscle? Have you inadvertently strengthened a stiffness? Does he pound the ground or float softly?
Supple horses with soft pliable fuzz and efficient energy transfer last a lifetime- isn’t that what we would all wish for our dream partners?
How much attention do you pay to the fuzz? For you and your dancing partner?
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Horsemen of Mongolia
By far the greatest pleasure of the recent scientific trip was hanging out and riding around with the horsemen of Mongolia.
First a cautionary tale: how many times are we told not to waste our time on social media?? A stray FB post caught my eye, I had been tagged in by a friend:
“Wanted, horse-riding doctor for an expedition to Mongolia”
It’s like reading the small ads in the local paper; once in a while, there will be something far too good to pass up. Who could possibly say no to the opportunity to ride with the horsemen of Mongolia, and call it work?
The trip was organised by John Blashford-Snell, 
of Blue Nile fame, (a climbing community legend through his partnership with Bonnington on that trip)
https://www.johnblashfordsnell.org.uk/biography/
and was facilitated through the Scientific Exploration Society
and fixed by Great Ginghis Expeditions
The purpose of the Expedition was to carry out archeological, botanical and zoological surveys in the West of Outer Mongolia, as well as performing local community aid: simple medical and dental clinics, handing out reading spectacles, and presenting books to the local schools and colleges.
Horses were to be the main form of transport in the mountains, which meant we would get to ride with the horsemen of Mongolia, over their beautiful and rugged country.
The briefing document had all sorts of cautions about the horses (horses, not ponies, the Mongolians demand respect). They are semi feral, liable to kick and bite, and bolt off if spooked. They were only to be approached with caution, only in the presence of herdsman or groom, and might need to be re-broken before we got on them. We would be in Australian stock saddles, not the Mongolian wooden treed saddles, as these would apparently offer more support.
The horses arrived in small groups, the evening after the local Nadaam festival, to our camp site high in the mountains. The drive in, sandwiched inside the Russian mini-buses with their beefed up suspension and four wheel drive, had been quite trying.
I’m not sure which we were more pleased to see, the cook truck, always late, or the herdsman bringing in the eagerly awaited horses, as the light faded.
On first impression, they are small, sturdy, stock horses, a lot like Icelandics or Exmoors. They tolt like Icelandics, a lateral trot which is easier to sit or half sit too than our English diagonal trot which needs rising to. Even this would get wearing after several hours. On arrival, the herdsman hobbled them and set them loose around the tents.
The next morning we each got allocated a saddle and a horse. These horses don’t have names, they are working animals that may end up as meat so don’t get names from their Mongolian keepers. After a few days the herdsman started giving the horses names, mainly as an excuse to start giving us Europeans special Mongolian names. Our herdsman was called Munkbhat, and the horses he brought for us to ride were all from the same family group.
He gave me his wife’s horse, of whom he was obviously very proud, a good horse. The horse was quiet, dignified, self contained, didn’t bite or kick when tacked up, and easy to steer and stop. A great start.
The horses wear a rawhide bridle, with a simple metal bit, and a long lead rope attached to the noseband. The lead rope acts as a tether, a caching rope, a set of basic hobbles and a lariat to use as a waving, slapping encouragement to go faster.
The horses are not trained to move off the leg: the Mongolian saddles actually had long saddle flaps to protect the riders legs from the horse’s sides, or vice versa. The stirrups were very wide, round platforms, to support the feet over a long day, they could put their toes or their heels on the foot rest, relieving different muscles as the day went on. 
The horsemen, and horsewomen of Mongolia ride with short stirrups, reins in one hand, and the horses are trained to run into a high hard contact. To go faster one said “Cho” quite sharply, and waved the lariat around, or tapped a bum with it. Turning was neck reining, but again with hands quite high and bit quite tight, and stop was hands up and “Drrrr”.
To canter the good horse that belonged to his wife, one simply stood up in the stirrups and turned slightly to the right side, and the horse cantered. I didn’t work that out, my friend did, after we had swapped horses because I thought the wife’s horse too slow and boring when he wouldn’t canter despite all the flapping and Cho! Cho! I could muster. His younger brother was a bit more clumsy, but a lot more sprightly, or maybe more forgiving, and cantered on a thought.
We talk a lot about aversive training, positive reinforcement, and +R training here in the UK. The Mongolian horses did not get any positive reinforcement. I never saw a Mongolian pat or reward a horse with a quiet word. They aren’t nasty people, it’s just not in their training vocabulary.
They were slightly fearful of the horses, as befits their semi-feral status. They understood the importance of habit, and had set ways of doing things: first catch the horse with the ground rope, bring it closer, tack it up with the rope tight and the head turned away, so the horse couldn’t bite them or run away. The men were very wary of the back feet, never standing behind the horse, between two horses, or in the kicking zone. The bridles had the bit permanently attached but the throatlatch was undone and bits slipped under the chin at night. In the morning, the bit was then slipped into the horse’s mouth, the throatlatch done up again and the long rope used for leading, steering and creating speed.
The horses weren’t shut down or suppressed. They didn’t look for affection but did connect when asked, and quite liked strokes and a bit of cranio-sacral or back massage. 
The horses were all good at voicing displeasure; one day the girth strap was twisted when our esteemed quartermaster got on his horse and the horse bucked and bucked. The herdsmen quickly got Stuart off, checked the girth and it got sorted out. The horse was then back to his quiet sensible self. We had another team member who was quite heavy; when his horse had carried him far enough, it simply sat down and demanded a rest.
When travelling long distances, the horsemen of Mongolia sing, folk songs and love songs. When the horses heard the singing, they all bunched together, and marched on more smartly. They were beautifully behaved as long as we travelled in a group. Some were better than others at leaving the group or going from front of the line to the back, and all found a burst of speed when left too far behind.
The funniest thing was on one of the long days, when we crossed from one mountain range to another. There was a road through the middle of the valley. These tough sure footed horses, that had done ditches and boulder and river crossings without hesitation had no idea how to touch tarmac. One in particular was quite firm in his no- the herdsman got off and tried to drag him across while his colleague slapped the horse from behind with the long rope.
The interesting thing was there no frustration or malice or viciousness in the use of the rope; it was simply a signal of coercion. As soon as the horse moved onto the tarmac, the use of the aversive stopped. Loading the horses onto the cattle truck at the end of the trip was very similar; they absolutely understand the use of pressure release, and because there was no ill intent or malice used, the horses absolutely understood pressure release too. They stood on the truck quietly, once they were on, with their mates, and travelled easily.
The horses’ basic needs are met every day: we talk often of #friendsforagefreedom. They didn’t seem stressed or unhappy. They took every opportunity during the day to drink, graze, stopped for a wee when they liked, lay down at lunchtime, napped when we stopped. They were all remarkably self contained. When they were not working with us, they were turned out around camp with hobbles on, to graze and roam, and in between big trips they would have been out on the hills with their mates, in a big herd, grazing up high during the day and coming down to the valley at night.
Winters are fierce in Mongolia, with up to 3m of snow, and the herdsman move their animals to the lowland corrals and feed them precious hay through winter. Not all the animals will be kept all winter, some will end up in the pot, but the oldest horse on our trip was 25, and the two brothers I rode were 12 and 13. Munkbhat was proud of his horses, and he told me I am now the proud owner of a little bay horse in Mongolia that I can go back and ride anytime!!
My favourite moments of the trip were sat around with the horsemen of Mongolia, at the end of a long day, sharing a cigarette or a beer and asking them, via the young interpreters, about their country and their way of life.
The Mongolians are very proud of their heritage, and traditions, and somehow have managed to find a way to combine the best of the old and the new. The winner of the horse races at Nadaam wins a motorbike! The herdsmen all had very good mobile phones, tucked into their deels, with the hard yak’s milk cheese and the cigarettes, and took lots of selfies with us. The drivers could also change a tyre and strip an engine, in the middle of nowhere, in lightning quick time. The gers all had solar panels and satellite dishes, and the literacy rate in Mongolia is very high, over 90%. Yet the horse remains the best mode of transport for much of the terrain, and a ger is moved from camp to camp strapped to 3 camels. 
The Mongolians loved sharing the beauty and splendour of their country, and made us very welcome. And riding with the horsemen of Mongolia was an experience I will never forget.
A little film from our trip by the talented Matt- check out other snippets on his YouTube channel
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Online dressage competition
I’ve been meaning to try an online dressage competition for ages, so when our blogging support group got an offer for free entries in return for blogging about the experience, I accepted with alacrity.
We were approached by Melissa of Dressage Riders Online.
http://www.dressageridersonline.co.uk
I chose to do a novice test- this month’s allocation was N24, a test I have ridden once before.
Now, the first advantage of doing an online dressage competition is that no plaiting is required- as Cal has enough mane for 2 horses.
No plaits is therefore a huge treat for me, although Cal quite likes looking smart.
The other advantage of online dressage competition is that you get to use your own familiar arena, without any diesel costs.
We don’t have our own arena. My lovely neighbour has a fabulous arena that I am fortunate to be allowed to use regularly- it’s secluded and peaceful, more or less next door, I hack there and I quite often have the place to myself. Cal generally goes beautifully there.
Until we needed to mark out a 20m x 40m space. I enlisted Gary’s help as arena builder and camera man and he, being a perfectionist, brought his massive tape measure to make sure it was marked out correctly. So as I was working in, we had slithery snake-like metallic tape measure and moving poles to contend with. It was also quite windy so the hedge monsters were out in force and the new patio umbrellas were waving gently.
Cal kept it together remarkably well and was working nicely so we decided to go for the first take. I stopped at C to pass the phone over the fence to Gary, who had to crawl through the electric tape to take it off me, and Zap!!! He got a proper shock!
Gary yelled and jumped, Cal jumped and then decided that C was obviously a really dangerous place to be! Another 10minutes of working in at that end, I eventually convinced him that it might be safe to approach the fence as usual.
After 3 takes we had a test I thought might be worth sending in. Just as well, it was the last possible filming day of the month- I’m a bit of a deadline queen.
I’m not the only blogger who benefited from the free trial of online dressage competition-
A Perfect Storm https://m.facebook.com/aperfectstormx/
was quicker on the posting trigger and even managed to share a clip of her test video, showing stretching on a circle.
‘Uh oh’ I thought, ‘I’m pretty sure there’s no stretching on a circle on my video?’
Sure enough there wasn’t- whoops!
With no judge to beep when I’d gone off course, I had merrily missed out a whole movement!
Too late- month over, video gone in.
On the Tuesday evening as I was heading towards Mostyn for an evening show jumping lesson, Melissa messaged me to say my WeTransfer link wasn’t opening properly, she was off to work and could I send my test to the judge directly? As I was headed into deepest darkest Wales on my own in the truck, this wasn’t the best news!
I had a couple more tries on arrival at Mostyn but I really could not get the WeTransfer app to work correctly from my phone.
I finally managed to send a link to my YouTube channel (get me- total technophobe dunce- YouTube??), when I got home at 930pm, convinced I would be too late.
But no, the judge was lovely and kind and accepted my video.
And we came 2nd!!!
The test sheet and the rosette arrived a couple of days later.
Gorgeous rossie 😀
Helen Copeland is a list 5 BD judge from the North East. The comments were really positive and helpful, with none of the usual meaningless phrases
(‘could be rounder’, and ‘needs to be more over the back’ in particular being two phrases that are guaranteed to send the test sheet into the bin without me reading further)
and I thought the marks more than fair for our rather challenging day at home.
The marks would have been even better was there not a big fat 0 in the stretchy circle box!
And I love Haribos!
So would I do it again?
Definitely.
I feel it is important to ride tests occasionally, in order to identify the challenges in the work and the next areas of focus required in the training. Along with the discipline of doing a particular movement at the marker as well as when the right moment arrives.
We’ve taped the marker spots on the neighbour’s arena fence so set up next time should be quicker.
My limiting factor will always be finding someone to video, preferably without electrocuting themselves first, but now I’ve got the technology sorted, actually submitting the video should be easier.
And most importantly, this is the the first judge for ages who has put useful specific comments that seem to demonstrate an understanding of correct training.
Because we train our horses classically, which to me means as ethically, and as biomechanically correctly as possible, the modern obsession with over tempo horses and false roundness in front, no matter what else is occurring, has actually properly put me off formal dressage competition. Obviously when Eventing we have to do a test so we can get onto the XC course.
So I’m encouraged to try online dressage competition again, hopefully with Cal in a calmer frame of mind next time, and see if we can improve our test riding. And hopefully see some progression in our scores as he improves.
So a huge thank to Melissa from Dressage Riders Online for the chance to try out online dressage competition.
You have hooked me in as a regular customer from now on in.
Here’s the link again
http://www.dressageridersonline.co.uk/
I thoroughly recommend this lovely site for friendly help and ease of use. If I can manage the technical video sending bit then honestly, anyone else will be fine.
Thanks to Gary for filming – please note no Garys were harmed in the production of this movie 😂😂, and to Stacey for being the best horsey neighbour ever.
And to Cal, for simply being the best teacher one could wish for 😍😍
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How much grass do horses need?
How much grass do horses need?
As some of you may know, I have just come back from Mongolia, the original land of the horse. I was fortunate to be part of a scientific expedition to a mountainous region in the West of Outer Mongolia.
You can read the official trip report here
https://www.nelipotcottage.com/the-mongolian-baatar-expedition-2018/
Horses were our main form of transport, and our expedition team included a zoologist, a botanist, and an archeologist as well as the herdsman and grooms who looked after us and our trusty steeds. Amongst other lessons, this was a unique opportunity to learn about the incredibly bio-diverse plants of Mongolia, in the context of fodder for the sturdy little mountain horses.
How much grass do horses need?
When you look out across the steppes, mountains and plains of Western Mongolia, it all looks really green.
However, when you get closer to the green, it’s actually sandy, rocky, shaley soil, with a patchy smattering of plants; mostly succulents. This part of the country is really arid, with very little ground moisture, so succulents and hardy herbs and weeds do best. The plants were often tiny, yet with really complex, swollen, almost tuber-like root systems.
Trees were a rarity, growing only by oases or rivers. Winter had been late this year, so the flowers weren’t really out when we arrived, but did start to appear later in the trip when there had been some rain. We flew into and out of Khovd, the small domestic airport that serves Western Mongolia, and we could see a definite difference in the green cover between arriving and leaving, 2 weeks apart.
There are over 3,000 plant species described in Mongolia, with over 975 having a use in traditional medicine. On the lower slopes of the Altai mountains, our botanist told we should expect to find 14-18 different species of plant within a metre square. None of these would be species that you and I would recognise as grass. There were lots of varieties from the pea family, a Mongolian thistle, Mongolian chives (delicious as a snack when travelling), bellflowers, Iris, Ephedra, and Artemesia or wormseed. My olfactory memory of our trip will be a perfume made up of Artemesia, DEET, leather and horse sweat- a heady combination indeed!
The horses were tough little buggers; approximately 13-14hh. They were all barefoot, obviously. None of the horses are trained to pick their feet up and none of the herdsman owned a rasp, so they are all self trimming. Feet varied in shape; although the majority were very similar to the mustang hoof we see in the Pete Ramey and Jaime Jackson books, there were some with flares, and slightly longer toes. The feet were all incredibly tough, and highly functional.
We travelled across boulder fields, up and down stony mountain tracks, across steep scree slopes, as well as across the green(ish) foothills and the more gravelly steppes, and the little horses picked their way confidently over all terrain, for 20-30 kms a day, and were still keen to charge into camp at the end of the day.
We gave them a day off after a few tough days, and then an easy day on the last day which the herdsman must have cursed us for, as it took them two hours to round them all up for their night-time trip back over the hills for their next clients. Even in hobbles, some of them could move pretty fast!
They were lean, but very fit. During the day, they got a snack at lunchtime, grazing around in hobbles while we ate our little picnic boxes of pasta or cracked wheat with chewy beef, and they were sure to drink copiously from every stream we crossed.
At night, the bits were slipped from their mouths, although the rawhide bridles were left on, and they were hobbled and turned loose around the campsite. In the morning the herdsman would jump on the nearest horse and go and round up the others, ready for action.
How much grass do horses need?
Not much, apparently, in the high mountain country. The herdsman and the botanist knew which plants contained the minerals and vitamins the animals needed for good health, and the horses self selected at every opportunity. At stream crossings, while waiting their turn, they took the chance to grab mouthfuls of more lush reeds and grasses. If we stopped to take photographs of a new variety of herb or plant, the horses also checked out what we had found and had a quick munch.
In Hustain, back in the East and South of Ulan Bataar, there is a reserve where the Przewalski horses thrive in the wild. Here, at lower altitudes, the plains were greener and lusher, but we still counted 18-25 species within a square metre, and over 90 varieties of plant just in the small valley where our campsite was situated. There were more grasses here, as well as numerous wildflowers and herbs. 
The Takhi, or Przewalski, were very plump, but they get a very short summer and a long harsh winter, so presumably were layering up fat for the cold, None of them seemed to have pathological or sore feet.
Back home.. I looked at a few scattered metre squares in our field. I got up to 9 species of plant in the best one, and have about 20 species of plants altogether if I count the hedgerows and the low hanging tree branches. We have this little lovely- Prunella Vulgaris or Selfheal. What a useful weed! 😍
Below is a bouquet of grass flowers from our re-wilding area,
https://www.nelipotcottage.com/grow-your-own/
over-seeded with gifts from a friend, who inadvertently bought one of the last remaining areas of Upland Hay Meadow in the UK with his retirement cottage.
So how much grass do horses need? The answer seems to be, not much grass at all actually. As long as they have access to a wide variety of plants including grasses, herbs, weeds and trees they should be able to meet all their nutritional needs. The key to whole horse health is surely preserving the biodiversity of the fields they graze in, and also their own hindgut micro-biome?
The Mongolian horses were very skilled at self selection.
In human nutrition, we know that almost everything in moderation is good, while anything to excess can be bad, even celery!
Why would horses be any different?
We “know” that bracken is poisonous to horses. But bracken contains an insulin like compound. Eaten to excess (12kg, the research says) then yes, too much insulin like compound would be toxic. But in Spring, when the lush grass comes through, a little bit of bracken can help the horse cope with the sugar- rich grass flush and protect them against laminitis.
Likewise, oak trees are supposedly poisonous to horses. But oaks contain tannins, which have an anti – helminthic effect. Our horses choose to browse the low hanging oak branches in the field, and love to drink out of the tea- coloured stream that runs through the peat bog in the forest. Are they doing their own worm control regime?
Or even better, their own pro-biotic? I’m now buying EM1- Effective Micro-organisms, a suspended culture of live bacteria for hind gut health. Drinking from a muddy puddle may well provide the same bacteria, in a handy suspension, at no cost?
Maybe, when horses gorge on acorns, escape from fields or break into feed rooms, it’s because they don’t have sufficient to meet their needs? Was their paddock bare, had the haynet run out, or are they craving a vital nutrient that cannot be obtained from grass alone?
Our horses only break into the middle grass, off the track, if the Haylage feeders run dry and there isn’t enough on the track to interest them. Last Friday, the Haylage finished overnight but the hedgerow is chock full of fun stuff like blackberries and fresh hawthorn, and the track is now covered in tiny bits of green- they didn’t beak through the electric despite the battery being low.
So much grass do horses need?
I guess it all depends on the quality of your meadow-
Maybe a better question would be how many grasses do horses need?
Here’s a challenge– how about you go and measure a rough metre square in your grazing and count how many different species of plant grow there?
here are some links to other accounts of the trip
https://www.caymancompass.com/2018/08/12/cayman-resident-explores-the-steppes-of-mongolia/
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“In the Middle are the Horsemen” by Tik Maynard
“In the Middle are the Horsemen” by Tik Maynard- a book review.
“He studied the horse, and human nature, and how the two can find balance. And in that journey, he may have found himself”
I was offered the opportunity to write this book review through the blogging support group #Horsebloggersmeetup.
“In the Middle are the Horsemen”
The title of the book was immediately alluring to me; my main obsession over the last few years has been to make myself into a better horse-person. This is a book I certainly would have bought for myself, had I not received a free copy courtesy of the fabulous Quiller publishing.
The blurb says “In 2008, 26 year-old Tik Maynard faced a crossroads not unlike that of other young adults. A university graduate and modern pentathlete, he suffered both a career ending injury and a painful break-up, leaving him suddenly adrift. The son of prominent Canadian equestrians, Maynard decided to spend the next year as a working student. In the horse industry, working students aspire to become professional riders or trainers, and willingly trade labour for hands-on education. Here Maynard chronicle his experiences- good and bad- and we follow along as one year becomes there, what began as a casual adventure gradually transforms, and a life’s purpose comes sharply into focus.”
I’m still a kinaesthetic reader: the feel of a book in my hands is very important to me. This is a classy book: although paperback, the outer cover is glossy and sturdy, the front a peaceful photo, the paperback thick enough to look crisp for a good few years. The paper inside is good quality and the layout nice and clean.
He spares us the details of the injury and the break-up: the story of “In the Middle are the Horsemen” begins with the hunt for a job. Tik’s criteria are simple enough: a central riding location (in North American terms), the trainer must have a deep understanding of the classical foundation of horse training, and the trainer must be a leading rider or trainer in whatever discipline he or she practised. He starts writing to all the great and good, asking for a job.
Tik manages to land jobs at some of the best yards in the world. He works for Johann Hinneman, Ingrid Klimke (unpaid and all too briefly), the O’Connors, Ian Millar the showjumper, for a day, Bruce Logan the cowboy, Anne Kursinski, to name a few. He learns some hard lessons, from people and horses, and as with all those who reflect on their time spent with horses, the lessons help him grow into a better human, as well as a better horse-person.
“In the Middle are the Horsemen” started life as a series of magazine articles and this does leave the narrative slightly disjointed at times. Tik is a very entertaining writer, with a good eye for detail and an ear for dialogue which allows the stories to flow. I read the book in one sitting; it certainly kept me absorbed and entertained, I laughed with him as well as at him, and I liked him a lot more at the end of the book than I did at the beginning!
Tik initially struggles to separate good horsemanship from good riding; the crux of his learning and the theme running through the book is that you need to be a good horse-person to be a truly good rider. This is hardly a startling revelation, and his lack of clarity on this point, especially in the early stages of his story, leads to frustration for both author and the reader.
In the same way, he never truly defines classical horsemanship and he seeks deeper knowledge in trendy books and DVDs such as Mark Rashid, Buck, Parelli, Mclean: horsemanship and some attempts at science, whilst apparently bypassing the seminal books written by the truly classical trainers of recent times. For example, Rashid’s books get 2 mentions, Klimke only 1!
“You just need to be a better rider” does finally morph at the end of the book into “I wanted to be a great rider, now my ambition is greater, to be a great horseman”
His quest for adventure seemed to surpass the thirst for knowledge. He’s a young man, on a planned quest, who sometimes preferred to follow his master plan rather than go with the flow, leaving seemingly golden opportunities for unknown pastures greener. I wanted him to stay at Ingrid’s for longer; but I guess that would have been my dream, not his.
For a book about horsemanship, in the end, most of the lessons seem to come from people not horses. Most of the stories are about people and human-human interactions, not human-horse.
There are a few good quotes later in the book
“Then there was just the being with horses. Which is nice. But without the training, without the communication, we just happened to be with each other, there was no dialogue. It is like sitting next to Elizabeth Gilbert on a plane. Cool…but you are still strangers until one of you starts talking.”
I did get the impression that Tik would always be the one to start the conversation.
“A horse’s cost never reflects his worth”
And some great questions
“What’s good to a horse?”
It’s not a book about training, nor could it be used as a training aid. It is the entertaining, well told, rueful and truly funny account of of one young man’s learning. There are a few tips disguised within stories that might open the door to self reflection, to make people sit up and question aspects of their horse-human interaction.
The book ends where he finds love, and peace and purpose. And the horses in his part of the world are surely better for his quest, as it would seem he now works as a horse trainer, for competitive riders but with a strong Natural Horsemanship bent.
“In the Middle are the Horseman” is a good and entertaining read. The honest tales of life as a working pupil on an equestrian gap year or three made me wistful; what a wonderful dream to live out, and I’m so glad for him that it has had a happy ending. The writing is crisp, the pace lively and the book is peppered with good anecdotes as well as increasingly honest self reflection.
Is the book a keeper? Yes, for a while.
Will I read it again? Yes once or twice.
Will I pass onto a friend? Yes for entertainment value.
Would I recommend “In the Middle are the Horsemen” to my friends? Yes, as a fun equestrian book to buy for a holiday or a rainy weekend.
Would I read another book by him if he wrote one? Yes for sure
Thanks to Sam at #Haynet for organising me to write this review, to my virtual friends at #Horsebloggersmeetup for their group support and encouragement, to #Quillerpublishing and Trafalgar Square books for the gift of the book, and to all you readers out there for taking the time out to read my blog.
Buy the book- it’s a 3.5 out of 5
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THE MONGOLIAN BAATAR EXPEDITION 2018
THE MONGOLIAN BAATAR EXPEDITION 2018
I’m still processing and digesting the most fabulous trip away- here for starters is the official Trip Summary by none other than the legend himself- John Blashford-Snell
Dawn had broken and the sun was peeping through the craggy outcrops on the hills above our camp as we set out hoping to catch sight of the world’s last wild horses.
Discovered by Russian Army Colonel Nikolai Przewalski in 1878 these stocky ancestors of the modern horse were hunted down and distributed to zoos around the world. By 1968 they were extinct in Mongolia but by careful reintroduction from an original stock of only a dozen held in international zoos, the population now exceeds 400.
Our zoological director, Professor Terbish of the National University, reckoned we might have a glimpse of the Takhi, as they are known, watering at the Tariat stream that winds its way through steppe and birch forests of the Hustai National Park rising to 1843m above the broad Tuul river.
We were lucky and soon saw a dozen or so of the pale coated horses browsing quietly on the hill sides. Then rounding a bend in the trail was the sight we shall not forget.
Along the meandering stream and on the slopes above it were over 50 Przewalskis. Mares with foals were being shepherded by their guardian stallion, who kept trotting back to chase off young bachelors eager to reach his harem. Others bathed in the dark waters whilst several rolled in the dust to protect themselves from ectoparasites and insects. Some groomed each other, but with much whinnying, kicking and biting a number of stallions fought as they attempted to win control of their own mares.
Parading across our front, they paid little attention to our team that could approach within fifty metres. A photographer’s paradise and a remarkable sight which few will forget.
This was in the closing stage of our Mongilian Baatar expedition that had begun on 6th July with the arrival of our twenty-four international members in the rapidly growing city of Ulaan Baatar, where modern skyscrapers tower above ancient Buddhist temples and converted communist era apartment blocks echo to the roar of the modern traffic.
Flying some 1400 km west to the former Manchu outpost of Khovd, we made our tented camp on the banks of the fast flowing glacier fed Buyant river. It was here that the Scientific Exploration Society’s Operation Raleigh had camped in 1992 and liaised with the local college. Now we presented the newly founded university with much needed text books.
The national festival of Naadam was in progress and battling with the infamous mosquitoes, we watched the ‘Manly Sports’ of archery, horse racing and wrestling accompanied by military parades and dancing. A truly colourful event.
However, our task area was to the South East and driving to the Mongolian Baatar mountains we clambered up a steep path to the dusty Khoid Tsenkher cave that contains some remarkable palaeolithic era rock paintings, depicting cattle, ibex, argali (giant sheep) and gazelle and one illustration that looks suspiciously like a kangaroo, but is probably a camel. Directed by Mongolian archaeologist Dr Munkhbayar we struggled through dust clouds rising from the floor to photograph and sketch these for his research.
The next day we headed South to meet our horses in a sheltered valley that cuts into the Baatar Khairkham mountain and set up camp at around 9000 feet. Our horses began arriving in the late afternoon and straight away it was clear it was a lively herd. Judith Barker, Bridget Grande, Fran McNicol and Jane Lewis, all of whom own horses in Britain, acted as ‘Horse Mistresses’ to select mounts suited to the skills and experience of our riders.
To our intense relief the old Russian Army lorry that serves as our mobile kitchen reached the valley albeit with some difficulty but our cook and her team soon had dinner ready.
From here mounted groups were deployed to locate and survey bronze age burials, study the wide range of plants and seek birds and mammals. Our old friend, zoologist Munkhnest put out the camera traps on the ridge above the camp and an intrepid botanical trio even managed to reach the snow fields and glaciers at around 13000 feet.
Our strong willed ponies were not all easy to control and an early casualty, fortunately not serious, was our Mongolian botanist, Dr Darikhand who was hurled off by a ‘bucking bronco’.
Dr Tsetsegmaa, a dentist from Khovd had joined us and was soon hard at work extracting the local people’s rotten teeth. Children received dolls and puppets as a reward after losing a tooth and were encouraged to protect the wildlife.
Our doctors also ran a simple clinic and we distributed reading glasses, donated in Britain.
A nearby ger or yurt sported a solar powered TV and a dish aerial which enabled some of our enthusiastic football followers to watch the final of the World Cup in Russia.
We even found a place a few kilometres away where our iphones could receive a signal, enabling us to send emails and photos home.
Around all our camps the camera traps recorded the wildlife and we also used a couple of drones for photography. Some traps revealed wildlife but others just showed curious goat herders!
On 16th July we rode south west carrying out more scientific quests. A 30km ride took us through a storm to camp by a shallow lake. Indeed, the weather varied with periods of hot sunshine to short lived squalls bringing drenching rain and biting cold winds.
At the scattered village of Bayanzurkh a health post served as a base for our medical team to hold a well attended clinic. Once again, the dentist was especially busy although a few of the men took some persuading before they’d submit to her treatment!
Here, we sketched ancient stone memorials known as deer stones which were quite remarkable and John Leach did useful dowsing surveys.
Our frisky mounts and their helpful owners left us at this point and gale force winds struck our camp, fortunately after our mounted teams had returned. Free at last, our horses led the herdsmen a real dance as they were being rounded up for their return to home pastures.
As the weather calmed, the sky cleared and being at an altitude of nearly 8000 feet we endured a bitterly cold night. Next day the wind had dropped and we drove on to present books to a local school at Most village. Clearly these were much appreciated.
Heading east we pitched our tents on a featureless gravelly plain whose only inhabitants seemed to be the ubiquitous tubby marmots. However, survey teams in four wheel drives and Russian minibuses were despatched in all directions seeking the endangered snub-nosed Saiga Antelope. At one time this species numbered in millions but today less than 4000 are thought to exist in Mongolia.
Working with our energetic zoologist Munkhnest, 
Paul Lodge’s team made the first sighting, spotting a small herd in a valley leading into some hills. Other teams caught glimpses of larger groups racing away in the distance but the following morning, over a hundred were located. Reports and photos were provided for Prof Terbish and the Mongolian department of the World Wildlife Fund, who are seeking to conserve the species.
Back in Khovd on 21st July we bid farewell to most of our Mongolian helpers including the enthusiastic botanist Dr Darikhand, the dentist Dr Tsetsegmaa, archaeologist Dr Munkhbayer, as well as our interpreters, drivers and hardworking cooks who had fed us so well.
A morning’s shopping in the local market enabled many members to invest in traditional Mongolian national dress, including the elegant, three-quarter length gown known as the deel.
A three hour flight back to Ulaan Baatar ended with a bumpy ride in a thunderstorm, with lightening flickering around the tossing plane. Safely on the ground there was a night’s stop and a hot shower at the Bayangol Hotel before we headed out to the Hustai Nuruu National Park to study the Przewalski horses and the abundant wildlife.
Apart from the numerous marmots, voles, bats, ground squirrels, hare, tiny rabbit-like pika, Siberian jerboa and numerous raptors, including Golden Eagle, we counted up to 80 Red Maral Deer. Earlier, one night patrol thought they’d spotted a wolf.
Over the whole expedition we had counted and recorded 59 types of bird, 19 species of mammal and 80 species of vertebrates.
Our camp in a flower strewn valley surrounded by rocky crags, provided an ideal setting for us to hold our usual final dinner in commemoration of the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Stahly’s haggis brought from Scotland and a liberal quantity of J & B whisky was served together with local dishes. Traditional speeches, some reeling and singing with our Mongolian friends went on into the early hours before we returned to Ulaan Baatar. We are deeply grateful to Great Ghengis Expeditions who organised the programme and logistics and all the Mongolians who did so much to make it a success.
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Grow your own….
When you can’t get hold of the organic, GMO, low sugar forage you need, one alternative is to grow your own…if you are lucky enough to own your own land.
We are very lucky; we have a consistent supply of organic meadow Haylage from a producer large enough to keep our little herd going all winter, although it was close this year! It hadn’t occurred to me that we could grow your own…
This summer is the horses’ third year of living on our field. After a couple of years of experimenting, we now track around the edge in summer, growing the grass in the middle long for winter foggage, also known as standing hay.
Over the last couple of years I have learned more about how natural biodiversity in the horse’s diet is vital for good hindgut function. I have been following the wonderful work that Carol Hughes does at Phytorigins, using the wild Carneddau ponies of North Wales and their environment as a source of inspiration and study. Carol is very generous with her knowledge and shares much priceless information on her public Facebook page
https://m.facebook.com/groups/1862115997153052
Sarah at Forageplus has also been a big part of my learning journey and introduced me to the work of Albrecht, an American agronomist who was all about preserving the diversity of the micro-ecosystem within the soil itself, vital for the health of all animals and for our survival.
Forageplus offer a soil testing service and advice on soil mineral balancing to Albrecht principles. As far as I know, they are the only company in the UK to offer this service.
I wrote a couple of years ago about our early experience trying to explain Albrecht to our local agronomist-
https://www.nelipotcottage.com/albrecht-and-the-agronomist/
Since then we did manage to soil test and treat as per the recommendations for two years, giving ourselves a budget break this year because treating your land isn’t a cheap fix, although much cheaper than vets bills!!
I have also been reading about re-wilding, and the remarkable ability of the land to heal itself if left alone. Our land would have started life as a lowland meadow
http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/UKBAP_BAPHabitats-29-Lowland%20Meadows.pdf
With a bit of mere and moss thrown in
A work colleague recently bought a house in North Wales with a 3 acre native upland hay meadow. Talking over coffee about the recommendations he had to follow for the preservation of this incredibly rare habitat made me think- could I get our field nearer to its original ecological state? And how much healthier for our horses would that be?
So, no chemical fertilisers or weed killers. In fact
Encourage and embrace plant diversity. Rik gave us some seeds from Wales, and I bought some native wildflower seeds from https://www.meadowmania.co.uk/
A single hay- cut followed by grazing, but the grass clippings must be cleared not allowed to rot and thereby fertilise the field.
Regular aeration- we have not achieved this yet- seems to be he hardest job to convince a contractor to do, but it is vital as it gets oxygen into the soil for the roots and the root dwelling organisms.
After cutting, grazing by herbivores is allowed and harrowing the dung. Ideally the herbivores should not have been treated with wormers as these kill the dung eating insects. We don’t worm unless necessitated by faecal egg counts and tapeworm saliva tests
https://www.nelipotcottage.com/targeted-equine-worming-programme-action/
So what changes have I noticed?
We had over 10 species of grass that I could differentiate in the field this year. We have had almost no ragwort this year – 15 plants pulled to date in the improved area, the track has a few more tiny rosettes but has not been treated as per Albrecht.
We have lots of new herbs and wildflowers, including this wonderful Prunalla Vulgaris, also known as ‘self-heal’.
The huge expanses of clover were not evident this year- instead we had swathes of new grass.
And we had enough grass to cut!! I was thinking we would have to pay someone to cut it and take it away as there wouldn’t be enough to bale but in this funny spring the grass just grew and grew.
And then shrank again in the heat…
Nonetheless it was still worth a go.
It doesn’t look like much once it’s mowed and rowed
However the baler kept spitting out good sized round bales
So there we have it- 3 months worth of home grown organic meadow Haylage. I am both delighted and gobsmacked. If you can’t buy what you need, do think about whether you could find a way to grow your own… there is no more satisfying feeling than seeing your own land produce a crop.
Although strictly speaking, we grow horses, not grass.
I hope I have inspired you- it is possible to grow your own hay or Haylage, to suit your own horses’ needs.
Next time, I’ll be able to tell you all about these guys
And what I will have learned from meeting them in their own natural habitat- in the wilds of Mongolia 🇲🇳
