Category: Barefoot performance

Keeping the functional active fit ridden horse barefoot ie with out nailed on steel horse-shoes

 The best best thing about competing 

The best best thing about competing is when the preparation and the hard work pays off and your horse is simply awesome. The best best thing about competing is celebrating a good day with well earned bubbles. 

Friday at Kelsall Hill felt like it was meant to be a good day for us. The weather was perfect for Cal, cold and slightly overcast with no chance of pollen. The ground was also perfect, firm with just a bit of cut and good thick grass cover. 

The best best thing about competing is being part of a big party. As Kelsall is our local event it was also lovely to see people and catch up on gossip after winter. The team at Kelsall Hill had worked their usual magic and the courses all looked immaculate, although the numbers on the show jumping were almost completely hidden behind the beautiful flowers. Luckily I had walked the course the night before and made sure I had checked every number up close. Some competitors hadn’t been so thorough and were caught out by the START sign leaning on fence 9, jumping that backwards for instant disqualification. How cross would you be?

Dressage was OK. Cal was very pleased to be at a party and was very on his toes. An extra canter transition and a tense walk meant I wasn’t expecting much enthusiasm from the judge. 

All I was worried about was the show jumping anyway! 

The best best thing about competing at BE80(T)  is that coaches are there to help with the warm up. I was glad to see Linda de Matteo was the show jumping coach- I know, like and trust her from previous clinics. She warmed us up very positively and also stopped me from doing too much jumping before we went in.

Cal was a little superstar and jumped a beautiful clear round. After all the angst and doubt and fear, once we cleared the first fence it felt easy. As it should- this is a horse I was starting to do 100 on before he got ill.

Once we had got the dreaded show jumping out of the way I knew cross country would be fine. I decided not to wear a stop watch; we would go at an appropriate speed for him and not worry about the time. The exit from the water wasn’t flagged so I chose the quickest way out to the right so we could trot through sedately and breathe. We galloped the rest in his rhythm, I did not really need to do much kicking, but did do a bit of setting him up for the bigger fences 

And he cruised around beautifully, very close to the optimum time. 

Bear in mind that last year we either had numerous stops or were eliminated at every event. I even got David to ride him at one event to see if he could do better, to see if the problems were all down to my muppetry. 

So what has changed?

When we moved to Delamere Forest, Cal’s breathing was really bad the first summer. He was diagnosed with Pasture Associated COPD and had to have daily inhalers through a babyhaler. 

Last year he had steroid inhalers every day, which seemed to keep the airway inflammation under control but, in retrospect, the steroids completely wrecked his feet. I’ve shown the X-rays in a previous post   

So I have built a better horse from the inside out. I have focussed on the flat work over winter, finally concentrating “enough” on my homework from Patrice Edwards to have transformed my position and learned to use the exercises to train for strength and athleticism. Cal’s trot now has cadence and suspension, and his canter has lift. 

This year he is on Succeed for gut health, Golden Paste Pellets for minimising inflammation, magnesium, salt and a very tight barefoot friendly diet. Spring hasn’t really sprung yet, but so far he looks good, and if there comes a summer day when he can’t breathe, I just won’t ride that day. Feet take months to grow, breathing problems can be variable. 

The best best thing from the last few months, for me, has been having my horse back. When he wasn’t jumping well last year, I lost loads of confidence. He never really looked ill. His feet were never really that sore. I thought I couldn’t ride, that I was causing the stops. Friends came up with various theories- I was catching his mouth, I was blocking his back by pushing with my seat instead of kicking, the horse has lost interest/ confidence/ condition… it is really hard to keep riding positively into a fence, kicking like mad, to then grind to an ignominious halt.

The best best thing about competing again was being reminded that when isn’t right, it just isn’t right. When your good horse stops performing, there’s something wrong. The trouble is that the decline can be so insidious. Horses are hard wired to hide pain or weakness- the easy target is the one that gets eaten by the big cat. So we need to be carefully tuned in to hear their feedback. 

It wasn’t all feet last year. He is still ouchy on hardcore and stony tracks, although he just slows down and he does keep his ears forward when on tough terrain. 

Look at his beautiful hooves- on a good surface he can fly.

That’s my favourite picture from the weekend- there was no flying last year. 

The best best thing about competing is that occasionally we get frillies. 

The best thing about competing

The best thing about competing is that entering competitions makes me focus on my training goals. The best thing about competing is that entering competitions gives me a concrete timetable to direct my work towards, and when eventing is your main discipline, that timetable has to include basic fitness, fast work, jumping practise and cross-country schooling

as well as flatwork. We have had a great winter mostly working on our flatwork, as always with the help of the amazing Patrice Edwards, and Cal has been feeling stronger and better than ever, with a good canter (finally) that feels effortless and adjustable. So the best thing about competing is that it forces me to test the training.

 

The best thing about competing, and training for competing, is that we get to catch up with old friends. Winter can be dark and dreary, especially with working full-time and having horses living out; some days it just seems too much effort to ride, let alone enter anything. This winter my surrogate pony club mum, the lovely Judith, has organised regular riding club jumping clinics with Richard Carruthers. These have been great fun, watching combinations develop, and the camaraderie, thrills and spills and banter have been inspirational. A bit of continuity has also allowed Richard to be inventive: in this lesson he put Cal in a hackamore to see if less inadvertent clutching rein action might improve his way of going. We still had a couple of stops but it did make me realise where I might possibly have been tightening my hand when thinking “oh heck”. My current tasks is to retrain myself to kick every time I think “oh heck”!! The hackamore won’t stay in for ever, but it has been a useful exercise, and doesn’t allow me to micro manage at all, so all I can do is keep asking for forward, which is very much what Cal needs.

The scariest number I ever heard is 4000: this is the number of weeks in an average 80 year lifespan. 80 years sounds like a very long time, 4000 weeks by contrast sounds surprisingly short. It’s so easy to let a week drift by, or a month, when one isn’t focused. Horses set their own timetable, for sure, but a sense of time passing is handy for those of us with busy lives and other distractions, like a full time job and a home business on the side.

Rocky set his own timetable this month; no sooner had I ordered his new saddle then he developed an abscess and was waving his front foot around like a dying swan. He came down to the house for a few days for poulticing, which was quite testing. Note to self, must handle him in more inventive ways, rather than just doing basics, as nappies went flying across the yard and he did pirouettes and levade whilst the tape was going round his foot. After 8 days there was no real improvement so we took him to Brownmoss for x-rays. The x-rays showed a tiny abscess, quite deep in the foot, so no point digging and no point poulticing. We chucked him out in the field again for it to work its own way out. This took another week; he got really good at chasing the dogs on 3 legs and doing perfect pirouettes to turn around. It was all good hind end strengthening. He finally looked sound the evening before we went away for Easter weekend, so will get ridden out tomorrow.

Rocky handing in his note excusing him from games

The best thing about competing is that it makes me clean my tack properly! I’m quite good at looking after my tack for durability and checking stitching for safety, as most of it is second-hand, but it rarely gets a full buff and polish unless we are going out somewhere. Rocky chewed Cal’s leather reins, so I have the choice of looking scruffy in lightly chewed leather tomorrow or doing dressage with rubber reins that don’t give the same nice elastic feel…we’ll see.

The best thing about competing is that it forces me to tackle Cal’s mane so that it can be plaited; as a friend once said, he has two good manes, one on each side, that take quite a lot of taming. He also hates having his mane pulled, so we have to do a few handfuls at a time, or do it really quickly before he gets too cross.

Cal showing off his two manes

After photos tomorrow LOL.

The best thing about competing is the anticipation. To keep ourselves moving forwards, we are told to do something every day that scares us. You can’t grow in your comfort zone, only in your stretch zone. Well, having not competed properly i.e. jumping, since last summer (I don’t count dressage as competing because I am now so detached from the outcome), I am indeed feeling stretched! Here’s to growing!

The dulcet tones belong to Richard Carruthers, videos courtesy of Brent Sansom, many thanks Brent.

And finally, my stepson Barney stomped way out of his comfort zone this weekend, walking 100 miles in less than 48 hours, raising over 4K so far for Cancer Research UK and St Wilfred’s Hospice, in memory of Pam, his dear and wise friend. I am uber proud, and would ask you to consider donating to the 2 very worthy causes.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SomeoneSpecial/PAM

 

Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air…,and that means more work for everyone. 

Rocky is hacking out again under saddle and feeling very important. He has been a bit cold backed and occasionally bucks under saddle so I took the plunge and ordered our first new saddle since 2010! In 2010 I discovered WOW saddles, found a fabulous local fitter and got introduced to the joys of buying WOW parts on EBay. The WOW is completely modular and completely adaptable; with the great fitter, we have managed to get away with tweaking second hand WOWs ever since. So the new saddle concept was a shock. I’ve ordered a Pro Jump from AVA saddles for the Rockstar- I’ll let you know how that goes. However, Claire’s main comment was how wide he is when he works, so I swapped the WOW head plate up 2 sizes to a 5 and we have had no more bucking and a much greater desire to go forwards. 
At least he will have his own jumping saddle!!

Rocky on a solo hack around the lake, just after a little canter ??

Boys on the pea gravel square with their giant hay feeders. 

Spring is in the air, which means the grass is growing. Spring is in the air which means it’s time to put up the track- we got it all sorted last weekend. Gary worked like a hero. 

Spring is in the air. March seems to be Cal’s month. He’s fit and keen and loving life. Having a tricky barefooter with breathing problems teaches you to enjoy the good times and not worry about the rest. I hope this is his year, but we have had plenty of fun while he’s feeling good. 

Spring is in the air- I hope you are feeling it too. 

Thursday was

Thursday was my blogiversary ?

I hope you’re enjoying sharing our journey.

Thursday was also Storm Doris day.

Thursday was also horse dentistry day! We had 3 booked in with the lovely Craig Griffiths at our local vets. 

Thursday was pretty windy! We caught Beat and got him down for his session.


Craig asked me to make him look heroic and dashing- hope I’ve managed!!

Craig is an Equine Dental Technician. He does monthly clinics at the vets. Doing the horses at the vets gives us the option of sedation to ensure a pleasant and safe experience all round whilst allowing us to use a tooth expert. Whilst there are great vets with a special interest in dentistry, I generally prefer to use an EDT where possible. I don’t go to the GP for work on my teeth, why should the horses be any different? 

We decided to book the other 2 in gorbext month- Doris was quite angry.

Friday was better weather. We took the opportunity to have some fun. 


Rocky and Gary with the world at their feet. 

And Friday was also the day our second dog arrived…

This is the first lie down – 20 hours later!!!

Lizzie doing dog whispering magic. 

Happy Blogiversay Nelipotters ???

Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

Do combination wormers cause abscesses? I described in a previous blog

Targeted Equine Worming Programme in action

how we operate a targeted equine worming programme based on Faecal Egg Counts and saliva tests for Tapeworm.

The reasons for this, briefly, are

1) the national problem of increasing resistance to anti-helminthic chemicals with no new drugs in the pipeline

2) a general desire to limit the herd’s exposure to synthetic and possible toxic chemicals

3) a sneaking suspicion that worming can cause systemic upset in sensitive horses

Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

Now I’m not advocating letting the worms flourish. I completely understand how dangerous worm infestation can be for our fragile equines. I have close friends who have lost horses to worm disease. I also have friends whose horse had a terrible reaction to a commonly used wormer. So I’m just trying to minimise the amount of worming doses I have to use for my horses, to be a good citizen and decrease the spread of resistance for all of our sakes and to reduce the chance of bad reactions in my own precious herd.


Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

So after testing for redworm and tapeworm in October, I had 4 horses needing 3 different treatments. I went to the farm shop and bought the wormers and labelled them carefully with each horse’s name so I wouldn’t get too confused. The 4 horses came down to the house for hoof trimming and I took the chance to do a worming round. And got confused.

The short non profane version is that Cal, the most systemically sensitive horse, needed worming for tapeworm and didn’t get the Equitape he was meant to. After I’d jumped around swearing a bit I thought never mind, he’s only mildly positive for Tapeworm, I’ll do a combined dose in winter and cover tapes and encysted. It’ll be OK.

Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

So on the 3rd Jan I wormed them all, 3 with Equest for encysted redworm and Cal with Pramox to cover both encysted redworm and tapeworm. 8 days later he was really quite lame.

Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

Both front feet had palpable digital pulses and both front hooves were warm to touch. The other three horses were all fine. We had had a touch of frost and one of the bales of haylage smelt a bit ripe so I didn’t immediately connect the situation to the wormer…after all it was a good few days later. I cursed the frosty grass, cut back on Cal’s bucket feed and kept him turned out for movement. A couple of days later I brought him down to the house to have a good look at the still sore feet- the pulses were less bounding, there were no obvious boggy bits or sore spots in the sole and no signs of an abscess ready to burst so I painted his soles with frog oil and back down to the field he went.

The sore feet and the palpable pulses lasted about 10days in total. The left forefoot did smell of pus for a couple of days, although I could never find a convincing egress wound. The frog was a bit spongey but he didn’t mind me prodding it and there was no visible punctum. The right forefoot didn’t smell of pus or thrush but was on off sore for that time and had a variable pulse.

After about ten days I was doing night time bucket feeds and noticed he was moving better (charging around the field with his tail flagged out). Saturday came and I marched him down to the house, picked out his feet without any problem, tacked him up, hacked around the corner on the stony tracks and worked him in the neighbour’s arena. He felt amazing, strong and willing and almost better for a couple of weeks off.


I checked his feet again and there was a small divot in the sole of the left forefoot, as if a small solar abscess had burst or a bit of sole exfoliated, but there was no other sign of what might have caused the lameness.

It was a few days later when I remembered we did have a similar episode two years ago. The last time he abscessed was when were still at livery. That year at the livery yard was a foot- related nightmare. Cal had a few months of constant abscesses and went around his hooves twice; I seem to remember 7 consecutive abscesses. Even Paddy the invincible barefooter had an abscess whilst there. The forage analysis showed their hay to be very high in iron. Because we had so much trouble with abscesses at the livery yard, the various episodes all merged into one. The information did percolate through to my brain though that the last time Cal had a combination wormer was that last winter in livery.

Since moving the horses to our own land we had not had any trouble with abscesses in nearly 2 years…until now.

So I did some Googling: Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence on the internet about horses becoming footsore after combination wormers. It seems to be more of a problem in horses with Cushing’s disease or hind gut problems.

There are numerous stories of colic too, but the toxicity there seems to be associated with high worm populations being exterminated quickly and releasing endotoxins into the gut as they die. Cal’s tapeworm test was weakly positive and his redworm count negative in October so I don’t believe the worm burden was the problem in our case. He has tested negative for Cushing’s to date. However he always looks and feels better when he is on regular treatment for hindgut issues.


Do combination wormers cause abscesses?

Other possible causes of this footsore episode include ripe fermented haylage and frosty grass. We have had both these situations occur again since Cal became sound again and he hasn’t missed a step.

Will I give him a combination wormer again? I have to say that I will do my best not to. If he needs covering for both tapeworm and encysted redworm in the future I will dose separately a couple of weeks apart.

I have never tried non-chemical or natural wormers. I’m too much of a doctor there- I think that if worms are detected they need eradicating and then the horse needs re-testing to check eradication has occurred. If there are no worms on testing then the horses shouldn’t need anything other than a balanced species -specific diet.

I know people report egg count success with regular use of herbal wormers but I do cynically  wonder if their horses are all non shredders? Paddy has only tested weakly positive for redworm twice in the last 5 years. 

I am really looking forward to the promised ELISA test for encysted redworm becoming commercially available.

Once we have reliable affordable tests for common equine parasites, there will be some calendar years for my boys where no chemical worming is necessary. It isn’t cheaper than worming blindly every few months, but my recent experience suggests it may well be safer for horses to test before dosing unnecessarily, both in the short and the long term.

Soil analysis digging done today -year 2- I’ll keep you posted. 

Books I am glad I found 

Books I am glad I found!! Those who know me know I am an insatiable reader. I read the cereal packet at breakfast. As soon as I could read I believed the answers to life the universe and everything had been written- we just had to go and find the answers. A lot of crap has been written too, and I’ve read most of that also!

Books I am glad I found. The road from quirky unhappy horse with terrible feet to barefoot supremo, Schoolmaster and now herd leader wasn’t easy for me or Paddy so the books I am glad I found were a comfort, a guide, a textbook and an inspiration.

So what are the books I am glad I found?

buy Feet First here

The first book I read about barefoot performance horses and still my go to text for simple logical explanations. Mine, Sarah’s and I’m sure Nic’s,  knowledge of nutrition and training has moved on immensely since this book but it still stands as a great starting point to your barefoot journey.

buy Paddock Paradise here

The next logical step in the pursuit of barefoot understanding.

Simple truth- horses are absolute, emotionally congruent and live in the moment. You can’t fool a horse. What you are receiving is what you asked for, always. That truth is too much for some. Once we allow it it to be the truth, riding and training becomes a martial art, with the Centaur as the goal.

buy Barefoot Horsekeeping here

Our understanding evolves as we learn and study. For me now keeping a horse barefoot is just keeping it healthy. If it’s not right without shoes it won’t be right with shoes. Anni’s beautiful book is scientifically referenced and is bang up to date. She writes about the whole horse-husbandry, trim and training correct biomechanics for barefoot success.

The first book I read about classical dressage. Beautifully written and illustrated, with a good dose of Zen too, it opened my mind to the possibility of a horse made more beautiful and more magnificent by correct and sympathetic training. No subjugation or coercion.

buy Dressage for the 21st Century here

Then the opposite. Anyone who thinks a bit BTV or a bit of LDR is OK should read this book. I did it to Paddy, ignorantly, on the instruction of trainers who didn’t know better, who wanted a nice pretty correct outline for that dressage test. I’m sure we didn’t know the physical damage we were doing then. But I know how, I have the arthritic horse to prove it. And we should all know, the evidence is out there for all to read and see with their own eyes. Totilas being the most famous example.

buy Tug of War here

These books are the antidote to the ugliness of modern dressage. We should all feast our eyes on these pictures, blaze on our brains what correct training and free swinging backs and natural movement looks like and the never look at photos in H&H or BD magazine again lest our eyes be polluted or seduced by the overbent toe flinging marionettes doomed to lameness in their teens.

It can’t all be about flatwork!! I love eventing so jumping has to feature, although I have learned that a horse “doing dressage” correctly should be able to jump a four foot fence at any point in the test…  Reine Klimke is possibly the best remembered of the old style competitors  who won with classically trained horses. His victory lap of one handed changes is another piece of eye training and recalibration I treat myself to regularly.

Watch the victory lap here

And the most important of the books I am glad I found, or even the most important author and inspiration I am glad I found. Charles writes clearly, simply, succinctly. If I memorised every word of the 3 books and applied the wisdom, I would have beautiful, fit, willing, and magnificent horses, with all the moves and all the athleticism one could ask for.

Patrice quotes CDK as her most important mentor, I hear his words in her voice when I read the books. He comes to the U.K. To teach twice a year still and we should make the most of that- he is getting on a bit and won’t travel for ever!! I have 4 days of spectating booked for the March visit and dream of having my “peasant pony” advanced enough to present to him for a ridden lesson.

So there you have it, the books I am glad I found. If you only read one, then please read Charles.

buy Charles here

Top Ten Lessons from 2016

Top ten lessons from 2016- some hard learned, some not so tricky 🙂

  1.  Number 1 of the top ten lessons from 2106- Always have more feed stations than horses. For us this meant apertures on the monster hay feeder. We had 4 horses and 4 apertures…but one was always getting chased off. To get more apertures we had to buy another feeder. Which led to
  2. Number 2 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Don’t have the feed stations too far apart. In our experience, the horse at the bottom of the pecking order will starve rather than eat separately too far away from the others. So the extra feed station has to be near enough to feel inclusive but not so near that the bottom horse gets chased off all the time.
  3. Number 3 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Don’t overstuff your feeders with haylage. Labour saving we thought, 2 giant feeders, 2 bales in each, chore down to once a week 🙂 Except that the weight of the haylage in the nets led to compression and fermentation and they didn’t eat it. 2 bales wasted 🙁
  4. Number 4 of the top ten lessons from 2016- (I’m sorry if the repetition is annoying but I think the SEO programme is happy now LOL) – Objective evidence is good. If you think your horse has ulcers- scope it. If you think your horse has RAO/ heaves/ breathing trouble- scope it. If you think your horse’s feet aren’t as good as they might be- X-ray them. If you think your horse might have Kissing Spines- do the scan. 3 out of 4 apply to us. And be there for the investigation, asking questions and getting it all straight in your head. I didn’t learn anything new on the investigations but SEEING the results allowed me to believe and quantify the problem and ACT on it rather than dithering / supplementing / tickling the surface of the problem. Answers we chose- Ulcers= generic PPI, RAO= steroid inhalers and herbs, thin soles= boots and pads. You don’t have to do exactly what the vet recommends but you do need to know exactly what you are dealing with to make informed decisions. And if you don’t feel you know enough to make informed decisions then either get informed or trust your vet.    (I’m not sure our vets like having a colorectal surgeon with an MD in Biomolecular Medicine and barefoot, holistic, classical leanings as a client but there we go)
  5. Number 5 of the top ten lessons from 2016- you can never do enough groundwork with a young horse. Rocky is walking trotting and cantering under saddle and hacking on his own but I wish we had done more in hand work. It’s the basis of everything and it doesn’t need to be much: a few minutes sometimes was enough for the lesson to go through. I will do more when he comes back in to work after his growing (dark nights) break, as well as cracking on with his general education.​​
  6. TWO EQUAL REINS. Such a simple thing, so difficult to achieve. MORE RIGHT LESS LEFT. This rule applies to 99% of riders and horses.
  7. Just do the ff=ing homework. I thought I worked hard until I saw the difference one of the “Patricelings” achieved in a short month. One week she had straight arms, low fixed hands and an unhappy horse although in a “pretty” (false) outline, the next month she had elbows that were part of her back, steady yet allowing hands and a very happy horse. She hadn’t fully understood the why,  she had just gone away and done the work and the why appeared; the contact she was offered was soft and reaching and the horse’s topline looked terrific as a result.
  8. But do get decent tuition so you get good homework. Bad training is damaging to horse and rider. Classical principles work, they have been developed and proven over centuries. There are no short cuts that do not compromise soundness, equine well-being or worst of all progression to the next stage of training. Unless you want to do BE90 for ever and just keep switching horses every time you break one. Why learn to do something quickly and badly? It will impact negatively on everything else you do from that day onwards. Like turning with the inside rein- it’s a great tip for beginners who need” whoa, turn and go” but in the long run all it does is unbalance and constrict your horse.
  9. Don’t limit your expectations or your dreams. Your horse doesn’t know that you “only” want to do prelim and BE80; why not do that as well as you can, classically, correctly, happily? I only wanted to event up to BE90, possibly 100 on a brave pants day- suddenly with good luck, great advice and fabulous training we have a youngster potentially capable of much more, an Irish Sport horse a smidgeon off changes and baby piaffe, and an ex racer that will jump the moon once it can trot in a circle.
  10. and number 10 of the top ten lessons from 2016- Never under-estimate the importance of species specific diet and lifestyle. I cannot emphasise enough times how happy our horses are, living out in a herd, woolly and muddy, grooming, rolling, grazing and playing as part of a natural equine lifestyle. Their bodies look fab, their coats are amazing (when we knock the mud off), their feet are fabulous and their brains are superb, alert, inquisitive, willing but with no anxiety. We do have challenges, the ex racer thinks he’s still racing when in company, the baby has a sense of humour, but overall they are a very cool bunch of horses to be around.

So there we have my top ten lessons from 2016. Funny how two people can be in the same life and have completely different viewpoints, so I asked Gary too.

Gary’s top three (in his own words)

  1. Good advice is what we all crave. Reliability: we’d all like to delegate the real responsible decisions we have to make to others, those seemingly far more qualified. There are so many well meaning people but often I’ve found theirs isn’t the best advice. Take all information on board – all information is good information but the trick is sifting though the information to work out what will work for your horse. Cal has been the perfect example, or more precisely, his feet issues that Fran has documented in her blog for all; warts an’all. Many people I highly respect have offered their comment. We took it all on board and sifted it through our present knowledge. We were fortunate enough to find the right direction; a culmination of that valued advice, but ultimately our own decision. The decisions were ours, and on that day, we’ll stand by them. Delegating your responsibilities is not an option.
  2. A situation occured earlier last year which led to my biggest set back. It culminated in an inappropriate confrontation, bitter comments and almost divorce! Without further detail, I believe the root cause was a lack of attention to my horse’s tack, in particular his saddle. I rue this day. I deeply regret the consequences because I was fully responsible for that moment. My deepest regret is to the horse I placed into the middle of this. My lesson is so simple, but so often neglected – ensure your horse is correctly prepared!
  3. My experience, and those who know me will concur, is not vast. One signficant lesson though has shone through. All horses are magnificent, but not every horse is right for you. I loaned an incredible horse last year, a truly talented being that could have taught me far more than I allowed. But like love; like a passion, if the spark is not there, you are not soul mates. I eventually found mine, an ex-racer, and my passion for our horses was ignited again. For me, this has been fundamental. The relationship is hugely important. This feeds desire, inspiration, imagination, and most importantly hunger for more learning. P.S. And 3a! Knowing that these ideas and thoughts will develop and change……
  4. Because she asked me to give 3. Surround yourself with those who believe in what you believe. You will become the average of those closest to you, for good or for bad. Fran’s blog has genuinely inspired me; giving most what she most desires.

 

Horse needs shoes and pads

Your horse needs shoes and pads….or does it?

Cal right fore Sept 2016

Cal left fore Sept 2016
These are Cal’s x-rays from the end of summer. He was sore on stoney ground, stopping when jumping, a bit stuffy generally. He was 100% sound on grass, soft ground and smooth tarmac in all 3 gaits. He had some white line separation, and long toes that seemed to take off forwards within a day or two of being trimmed. He didn’t have prominent event lines.

The vet who did the x-rays said “your horse needs shoes and pads” to increase sole thickness, and a rest from work while the feet grew. He also recommended taking the toe back.

Now as we know I am not the sort of person who gratuituously ignores experts, but I do want to know what benefits they expect to see with their recommended interventions. “Your horse needs shoes and pads”

Why shoes? and why pads? and do the two need to go together?

Lesson 1 from our barefoot experience- a hoof needs stimulus to grow. Stimulus requires movement.

Lesson 2- horses need movement to thrive.

Lesson 3- a stabled horse is a compromised horse.

What sort of rest? My version of rest is as much movement as is comfortable and safe. Walking around a field grazing is essentially rest for a horse. Anything involving less freedom is confinement and therefore not particularly restful. Please don’t get me wrong, confinement might be required if weightbearing or walking is to be prevented but that clearly wasn’t the case here.

Cal lives out 24/7.

“Your horse needs shoes and pads”

So what were the pads for?

The function of the pads is to provide constant sole stimulus to which the horse’s foot will respond by growing more sole. I consulted both farriers and barefoot trimmers and all agreed on the effectiveness of this intervention.

Do pads need to go under shoes or is there another effective way of padding soles? Did he really need shoes?

Pads can also go in hoof boots. The most time-efficient solution was 24/7 padding to grow sole as quickly as possible. Shoes are obviously a 24/7 solution. There are all sorts of shoes that can apply padding- from full steel to cyber plastic Eponas. I didn’t want to put nails in feet we have spent 3 years getting strong out of shoes. And glue-ons apparently aren’t a great solution in our wet UK climate. So really we needed hoof boots that could be worn 24/7.

Until I found Scoot Boots this would have been impossible for us- the draught feet are limited in the boots available and the previous clunky canvas boots would have rubbed or got lost. However Scoots are light, made of flexible rubber that doesn’t rub, drain well, don’t seem to trap stones or dirt, and so far have stayed put in all but the roughest horse play in silly mud.

Cal has worn his Scoot boots for 3 months, mostly. He had a couple of weeks off when the mud got very deep and then another week off recently when waiting for new pads. He had a few days off work but was so comfortable in his boots that we just went for it- the only way to ensure horses do decent mileage is to do some of it with them. The best barefoot performance feet are always those that do 20-30miles a week, ideally on bouncy tarmac to stimulate growth.

I haven’t jumped him since I saw those x-rays, but we have walked, trotted and cantered in our Scoot boots all over Delamere and Cheshire, and schooled diligently doing our Classical Riding homework.

It seems that Cal is determined to make me complete the journey to training a finished dressage horse, without pesky eventing distractions.

He is also determined to teach me to trim- those toes need weekly attention to keep them back there under control. But that is another story.

Cal right fore Dec 2016

Cal left fore Dec 2016
Now I will confess I was nervous when Cal went back for these X-rays. Had I wasted 3 months being stubborn? Should I just have had him shod?

I knew he was no worse, and in many ways he was much better, boucing around on tarmac, cruising slowly over stones, but I wanted to see a better toe angle and a thicker sole to give me the confidence to persevere with our alternative plan.

Thankfully the evidence is clear- our strategy is working. I’ll carry on with the regimen, and the journey, and the not jumping…for now (!). Next X-rays in another 12 weeks- in time for the start of the season.

So my horse didn’t need shoes, but he did need pads.

Educate yourselves, question everything, learn about alternatives.

The vet wasn’t wrong, he just has a huge experience of traditional remedial farriery methods and very little experience of alternative barefoot rehab. I’m sure they had no idea that this positive effect could be achieved without shoes “for support”, and how could they learn any different if they always recommend shoes.

We are delighted, but not smug. I’m just glad it’s working, and happy to spend the time putting the slow miles in and not leaving the ground too often…..for now!

horse doesn't need shoes and pads
Cal at Berriewood
Posted for inspiration for 2017 :-p

My motto for 2017

My motto for 2017, thanks to a Facebook friend I have not yet met: it is to “Shout Louder in my Own Space”.

My motto for 2017 is a reaction to recent online experiences. We have all been subject to the effects of the Echo Chamber recently. Modern media allows us to connect with people with similar interests all over the world. I have barefoot and Classical Dressage friends all over the planet now with whom to discuss issues and ask for advice.

A peculiar phenomenon has occurred. Humans like to belong, so we naturally select friends with views and interests similar to our own, and although we feel very connected, we may actually be isolating ourselves in a virtual bunker where everyone agrees.  This is not good for learning, or for discussion. To expand our consciousness and knowledge we need challenge, not reassurance.

It was  a great surprise to me when Hilary Clinton won the Democrat nomination my US friends all supported Bernie Sanders. It was a terrible shock when Trump won; from my Facebook feed that seemed inconceivable, as did Brexit prevailing in the UK referendum.

Facebook groups are a funny beast. There can be such great discussions, and also such emotive howling between people who disagree. I have been personally attacked, belittled, stalked and ridiculed for disagreeing with eminent media commentators who frankly should have better things to do with their time. I regretfully left one Classical Dressage Facebook site when it became apparent that the “owner” of the page had views diametrically opposed to my own experience and learning. It seemed rude to be on their page constantly questioning their ‘expert’ opinion. Unfortunately the person in question only intreacts on their own site so there is no way to have a rational discussion in a neutral space where questioning their views in a friendly and enquiring and educating way would seem less disrespectful.

And therein lies the rub- how do we discuss without dissing, how do we discuss training and husbandry in a non combative way when people insist on taking different viewpoints as personal attacks and seeing criticism when questioned?

Maybe I need to learn to ask better questions?

Or maybe I need to save my energy for furthering my own knowledge, concentrate on my own learning, and listen most intently to those that never lie; the horses themselves.

Classical training as a journey is about so much more than just dancing horses. The mindset required is one we might recognise more as a martial art: absolute humility,  self-control, responsibility for oneself and an understanding that every action has consequences. We cannot choose how others react to us, we can only control how we react to others. Each challenge is an opportunity, from every difficulty comes the chance to change.

Hence my motto for 2017- Shout Louder in my Own Space.

The purpose of this blog is not to preach, or to bang about how great barefoot is for horses and how Classical Training is the only way. The purpose of this blog is to share my journey, and that of our horses, abscesses, warts and challenges and all.

When we arrived at out what was our last livery yard before we got our own space, we were the odd ones out. Our horses were barefoot, on a funny diet, and we were training with a strange foreign lady no one had heard of, who didn’t compete anymore, and who had us doing strange self lunging exercises at the slowest trot imaginable. We were learning about biomechanics, and the correct seat, and had inadvertently enrolled on a 4 year programme that I now liken to a Master’s degree in Classical Equitation and Dressage Training.

We didn’t preach, or gush, or bore, we just quietly did the do. The old black horse should have been crippled with arthritis, but looked better and better as each month passed and his crooked body blossomed with the application therapeutic gymnastic training. The grey horse went from nearly having kissing spines to eventing up to BE100 and filling his draft frame with the appropriate muscle. And the baby bay horse got the best start as a riding horse that one could wish for.

It hasn’t all been easy.

Cal the grey has continued to be plagued by difficult feet syndrome. He has X-rays due tomorrow I hope to report on vast improvements in his sole thickness with targeted consistent boot use. He is sounder on tough surfaces but the pictures will tell the unadulterated truth.

The baby bay had me on the floor a couple of times and went through a mild napping stage. A week treating his hindgut and a saddle fitting seemed to sort that out. He hacked out beautifully on his own on walk and trot on our last jolly a week ago. He’s now on a growing break and I can’t wait to get him into work again once the nights get a bit lighter.

However Gary’s new horse Beat the ex -racer responded quickly to a short lesson on rein aids and working on the connection forward to the bit. The relaxations and improvements in his walk achieved in two short lessons illustrated yet again how quickly correct training works, and how beneficial it is to the horse’s body and mind.

So this blog will be my effort to live out my motto for 2017. I will shout loudly in my own space, about our problems, challenges and solutions, doing my best for my horses in the best way I can do now, on every new day, with what I have learned to date. I will continue to learn and to study and to seek and to question, and if the answers I find can help any single one of you to solve a conundrum on your journey with your horses, or your life outside of horses, then that will be worth it.

Whatever else happens, let’s have some fun doing it too, because horses are meant to be fun. They are such noble and sentient beings that they should bring out the best in us, if we could just stop to listen and learn, and not allow ourselves to get caught up in competition and ego and ambition.

So thanks to Max for my motto for 2017.

Not the best photo at the end but look at the changes in his balance…

If you need something to change

If you need something to change then you need to change something.


Or the other version which is my favourite all time quote: “the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the outcome to change”

So the few of you who read my previous post, Barefoot Brain ache, will know that we need something to change in the gorgeous grey Cal’s less than perfect feet. I would love to have another rock crunching barefooter that skips easily over all surfaces.

The four pillars of barefoot performance are Diet Environment Exercise Trim (DEET hmmm)

Diet we can write a book about but our management has been pretty focussed for a couple of years. Environment is evolving- track around the field, surfaces being developed. Exercise- mostly adequate, we can always do more. The best barefoot horses do 50 miles a week.

Cal hasn’t been jumping very well over the last few months and we have all been scratching our heads about what the problem may be. Husband Gary and a couple of friends were all sure it was foot related, I thought it was more likely to be breathing related as his feet were not particularly worse than they have been in previous years. A healthy horse should have healthy feet, so my reasoning was that if the feet aren’t healthy, the horse must be systemically unwell.

http://hoofgeek.com/hoof-balance/

However Gary finally decided that speculating about the whole horse and systemic problems was getting us nowhere and proved his commitment to the cause by taking Cal off to Nantwich Vets for hoof x-rays, for which I am very grateful (truly I am darling xx)

Unlike the previous set, these recent x-rays were technically well executed, with hairline and frog marked and position on the board even and balanced. If you ever need to get hoof X-rays done then the link below contains really helpful information on how to do set them up to be of maximum use- I wish I had found and read this link before I got the first set of pictures done last year, as they just were not good enough to be truly diagnostic. And as paying customers we should know what quality we expect and deserve.

http://www.thelaminitissite.org/understanding-x-rays.html

So the X-rays were technically beautiful but quite shocking: Cal’s soles were paper thin. Amazing he was working at all really. The pedal bone is thin and plate shaped and the angle to the ground was very flat. The advice from Campbell the vet was that he needed “rest” and shoes with pads.

Now I’m not into contradicting vets but I have learnt over the last few years that vets (like surgeons) (I’m a surgeon) are really good at recommending what they know and understand and really bad at examining alternatives. So a vet with limited experience of barefoot horses and no experience of barefoot rehab is unlikely to recommend a barefoot solution to a barefoot problem. Hence the search for a barefoot friendly vet.

So much of what we do to our horses is for our convenience and wellbeing and not theirs. How can box rest be good for animals designed to move 20 miles a day? How can 3 small meals a day be good for an animal that produces constant stomach acid and eats for 16 hours a day in the wild? How can individual stables and single turnout paddocks be healthy for a species that loves to perform mutual grooming and rolling activity and engage in horseplay? Since our horses have been living out in a herd and showing us how well they can look after themselves provided with the correct husbandry conditions, I have come to understand how vital movement and species specific behaviour is to the health and mental well-being of the horses in our care. #friendsforagefreedom should be the mantra of every true equestrian

https://www.facebook.com/scottishabrc/photos/a.302847419893853.1073741830.289363031242292/640345712810687/?type=3&theater

So rest, shoes and pads.

“rest” in our book means natural day to day movement as much as comfortable. Hooves need stimulation to grow so any form of foot rehab must include the maximum possible movement. The question is how to make that movement possible, helpful and comfortable.

Now I had got myself to a point that were metal shoes absolutely essential then I would consider them. absolutely essential

Now, after years of practice, I am really good at thinking outside the box and I’m sorry but I firmly believe that nailed on metal shoes are intrinsically harmful to horse foot health,

http://www.inside-out-hoofcare.co.uk/articles/the-side-effects-of-metal-shoes

So the correct question is “what did the vet hope the recommended shoes and pads would achieve?”

And could this aim be achieved by other means?

e.g. glue on shoes or hoof boots?

The aim of shoes and pads was to thicken the sole. Apparently constant even pressure on the sole causes the horse to put down more sole, and it can happen really quickly, over a few weeks or a single shoeing cycle.

Epona shoes looked really good, but there is no one local fitting them yet.

http://www.eponashoe.com/about/eponashoe-difference/

Can we achieve this same effect with hoof boots? Allowing for the enormous soup plate feet?

My previous hoof boots have been clunky, flicked off at canter, spun around, and generally looked too heavy and stiff to wear for long periods of time without rubbing.

img_2509


Until now 🙂

http://scootboots.com/

are just an amazing product. They are lightweight, soft flexible but still sturdy rubber, they fit Cal!! they sit beautifully, there is room to fit a 3mm pad inside the boots, the clasps are simple and functional. So far Cal has been wearing them constantly for about a month, with no rubbed hair or skin damage and only minor thrush. I have been taking them off once a week to let the air get to his frogs and to treat with cider vinegar. The soles are getting thicker day by day.

Photo below shows Scoot Boot in background and fairly typical foot picture in between trims.

img_3244

The other thing the x-rays showed was quite how long his toes are. I knew this.

The white line has been stretched for ages; his feet look OK at the top and then have the tendency to curve off out like Turkish slippers. Successive trims haven’t shortened the toe much, I got to a point where I myself was taking the toe back a little once a fortnight in between trims but they almost seemed to grow again overnight. And if the toe is running forward how can the sole get thicker?

img_3247


So if you need something to change….you need to change something.

So I eventually came to the conclusion we suddenly needed to be more radical.

Eventually = Lots of soul searching, reading, advice, internet consultations, trimmer consultations, more research, more reading.

And then suddenly= a big gulp, a prod from a pair of experienced horse professionals and a bit of gut instinct.

Toes right back to the white line, heels left alone.


Sole shots to follow. 

His landing was immediately better, as was his action. It’s not a miracle, but he is stomping around with his boots on. He dragged me down to the house the other day. I’ll report back in 5 weeks.

Does Cal the gorgeous grey, feel better in himself?

Yes immeasurably.

Is it all about the feet?

His breathing has also improved with the advent of autumn….I guess I won’t know which inflammation feeds which until next summer.

We’ve also gone right back to basics with diet- that’s a story for another day.

DIET                           EXERCISE                              ENVIRONMENT                                          TRIM