It’s been a tough few weeks here in the Nelipot Cottage camp. Many of you will know some of my trials and tribulations with the complex little horse that is the Rockstar. If you don’t, then the brief version is- beautiful horse, conformationally challenged, incredibly athletic, also anxious, with a high octane buck that makes spectators gasp. He is hugely affectionate, very loving, and yet gets regularly threatened with the final trip to the sausage factory.
The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster ride, literally. Pole clinic with some acrobatics whenever spectators breathed or moved a muscle or we passed the gate of the arena. The next day a clinic with a new to us EDL instructor in a strange and very buzzy arena where he struggled with the new balance requests placed on him but never really acted up.
A week of in hand work in the dark followed before we had to face a long drive to a weekend Arne Koets clinic.
The negative thoughts were out in force.
“There’s no point in taking Rocky, it’s too far, too expensive, I’ll take Cal, he will get more out of it”.
“He’ll buck me off in front of all the new people”
“His back must be sore again, maybe I should get him checked out”
“I just want a nice fun weekend away”
The first thing to understand about these negative thoughts is that they are from our primitive lizard brain and ultimately their role is to protect us. They are our evolutionary alarms- don’t leave the cave after dark, don’t risk harming yourself, how will you hunt and eat if you are injured or broken….
Because these negative thoughts are part of our programming we can’t fight them. When you read about dealing with negative thoughts, all the self help gurus use war like language; we must beat them, challenge them, overcome them.
Resistance meets with resistance. Horses push into pressure, so do humans.
OOOPS see what your brain did there?
We can’t fight our own brain, let alone our own survival instincts. The primitive brain is an evolutionary mechanism that exists to keep us safe from harm; it’s not logical, or rational, or conscious. So there is absolutely no point in fighting the thoughts generated.
Far better to welcome them. First step is to notice them.
“Ooh look, I’m catastrophising again, how peculiar. I wonder why?”
Next step is to thank the amygdala for trying to protect us from harm.
Accept and let the thoughts in. If you can laugh wryly at yourself while doing this all the better.
Third step is to work out where the negative thoughts sit in your body.
Are your shoulders hunched up and forward or down and relaxed? Is your breathing shallow and rapid? Where do you feel tightness- is it in your chest? Is your jaw clenched, or your tongue relaxed? Are your fists curling?
All the negative thoughts are essentially fear. I’m a simple person- anger, frustration, nerves, disappointment, shame, failure- when you boil down the various emotions generated by the amygdala there is only fear.
The primitive amygdala
Once you have found the effects of the negative thoughts in your body, you can start unfurling them. Relax your shoulders, lengthen your spine, open up your chest, smile, and breathe.
Breathe in for a count of 3 then out for 4. If you can’t manage that, breathe in for 2 then out for 3. Just make sure the out breath is longer than the in breath. Get your heart rate slower by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
Once you know where the fear sits in your body, you can modulate that feeling by consciously changing your body state. You can’t change your thoughts straight off, but if you can change the physiological effects they have on your body, then that changes the feedback loop and the negative thoughts are no longer physical feelings but abstract concepts.
Fear setting can be a powerful tool (Tim Ferris)
Fear setting is helpful here as the next step, one we have achieved some distance from our lizard physiology.
What is the worst thing that can happen? (Rocky might buck me off. It’s on a surface, I can wear a body protector, I can work him in hand for the rest of the lesson or I can dust myself off and just get back on)
And what will the outcome of that be? (I’ll be embarrassed, I might get a bruise or two, I might scare the spectators)
Versus how will I feel if I don’t do the thing that scares me? (We will never make any progress, I will never challenge him or me in new situations, he will never become the magnificent horse he should be, I’ll have a nice time doing safe stuff at home but I still won’t know how to deal with him in a challenging situation. I love this horse, I want him to be magnificent, I want him to enjoy every ounce of his glorious power. We can’t avoid all these challenges forever.)
Nothing grows in your comfort zone
If we back away from the fear we stay in our comfort zone. It’s safe and easy but there is no learning, and no growth.
We can’t fight negative thoughts. Rather than brushing them aside, we have to let them in, make friends with them, be nice to them and then we can moderate them with the opposite of fear, which is simply love.
I wasn’t going to go full woo but hey ho
Because love is the purest and most positive energy, whenever we need to find a source of strength then we just need to think of love. I still find it quite hard to think of love by myself so I think of my dog Ernie, the joy he displays greeting me when I get in from work, the warm feeling when his head is on my knee on the sofa. Or I think of the Rockstar, when he was a foal, resting his head on mine, breathing softly in my ear.
Rocky is still the most affectionate horse
So what happened? I swallowed my fears. We went to the clinic. And Rocky was pretty acrobatic, so much so that I had to get off in the first lesson. And we did scare the spectators a little bit! But we did some good in hand work, and then some more in lesson two.
Finding a place of quiet conversation- he is still concerned but he is listening
Had we been closer to home would have swapped horses after day 1. But we were too far away so I had to persevere! And in lesson 3 we found a place of quiet conversation in hand, where he could tell me clearly and definitely but still politely what it was that he was finding so difficult. I did some bodywork on him in between the lessons and his back looked better after every session.
And in the 4th slot I even got back on and we managed to continue the conversational approach to learning, and I now have homework and exercises for us to do to help him before the next time.
We did some exercises based on the work around the 5 pillarsI believe in Rocky
We will be going back for more training with Arne Koets at the end of this month!
It goes without saying that all this theory also applies to anything that might scare you- because the lessons that horses teach us are ultimately lessons in life.
buy the book- “Bare Hooves and Open Hearts”
If you have enjoyed this blog then please consider buying an author signed paperback copy of my recent book. It contains more of my philosophy on husbandry and training, based on my experience, research and learning. Price includes 2nd class postage to anywhere in Europe. Other regions may cost more- email me and we can always arrange.
I have been pondering and playing with the concepts of connection and communication in riding, rather than control or coercion. And the idea of consent.
In some ways I always ask consent of my horses. I wait for them to take a step towards me in the field before I put the headcollar on. I allow them to sniff the brushes before I get stuck into grooming. I acknowledge that Cal has a very tickly stomach and I am careful which brush I use to get the mud off. More work for me, but it’s more pleasant for him. I pick the mud out of his ears by hand scratching. I make sure they all offer me the hoof that I want to clean out. When I am tacking up, they should come to the front of the stable volunteering to be ridden. Both Cal and Rocky like to have a good empty before I put the saddle on- I allow them the time to do this.
If we seek a true partnership with our horses then it follows that they should be allowed, able and comfortable to offer an opinion. I changed the ramp on my lorry a few years ago. It used to be carpet and I changed it to rubber matting. Big mistake as it turns out- a few years on the rubber matting is now slippery when wet. Cal was reluctant to load yesterday after slithering a little on the ramp once or twice over the past few weeks. I talked to him and told him I understood and I have promised him I will sort it and have ordered some sticky backed grip tape- I do hope that works. Horses may not understand words but they understand intent. Knowing that I register his comments and acknowledge them was enough to persuade him to load.
Others may have escalated the pressure in that situation and compounded the negative association with loading. That is counter- productive. I know exactly why he hesitates to step on the ramp- why would I punish him for being careful?
A few years ago the clutch in my truck went the day before a 3 day clinic. My local friend very kindly lent me her 7.5 tonne truck. Her horses have all been terrible travellers as long as I have known her but they are all related, out of the same mare, and I just thought they were highly strung. Cal always loads and travels beautifully- when things are right. By day 3 of the 3 day weekend Cal was refusing to get in my friend’s 7.5 tonne lorry. It looks like a great truck, well maintained, airy, spacious, but there must be something very peculiar about the suspension and the ride.
Funnily enough, the friend went on to get a new truck and her current crop of horses all load and travel beautifully!
If horses are not in a mental and physical balance that enables them to complete the task requested then they will express that, as a bit of stiffness or resistance, or perhaps even as a big explosion. Our job as riders is to set them up for success. Balance before movement. Mental balance and physical balance are intimately related in horses. The flight response is all about stiff muscles, braced spine, ready to flee. Horses will say- I can’t do that with this body. Or the flip side of the dilemma- I can’t do that in this moment with this brain.
If we can change that response we can enable better choices.
If the horse needs a moment to check something strange and scary when they are out hacking, until they are happy before walking past, then surely that is fine? Horses have no concept of time- stay a second or stay 10 minutes- they have no idea. Rocky plays reverse and go forwards a bit with stuff he isn’t sure about- if I wait and breathe and let the process happen at his speed- obviously praising the forwards but not over-stressing or fighting the backwards- it sometimes takes 3 or 4 reverses, the last one being the furthest back before he then always psychs himself up to walk or even trot past the scary object in a calm curious manner. If I get agitated and push him beyond his comfort zone then things can quickly deteriorate. Since I have been more patient to let him think and process he is much more willing to let me encourage him past the less scary stuff. It is all about an ongoing conversation.
It can all change with a heartbeat.
The science tells us that a horse’s heart emits 40 times more electromagnetic force than a tiny little human heart. Horses in a herd use this force field effect to synchronise their heartbeats. When a horse on the edge of the herd sees or senses something suspicious, their heartbeat will speed up. The rest of the herd feel this increase in heart-rate and are suddenly equally on alert.
We can use this synchronicity effect to our advantage when riding or training. The vagus nerve is the nerve of para-sympathetic innervation. The parasympathetic nervous system inhibits the body from overworking and restores the body to a calm and composed state. It can be described as the “rest and digest” system. This is the opposite to the “flight or fight” response, activated by the sympathetic nervous system. When we breathe out slowly so our out breath is longer than our in breath, this activates the vagus nerve, and therefore para-sympathetic innervation. Calm returns.
You can test this slowing effect of the vagus nerve by feeling your own pulse, or your dogs heart-beat when he is lying next to you. When you breathe out long and slow, your heart beats a touch slower than when you breathe in. My dog has quite a marked variability when he is relaxed.
Breathing out while in the saddle also activates your diaphragm-seat connection. A good slow out breath pulls you deeper into the saddle, onto the back of your seat- bones. The horse will feel your calm, low heart beat, from as far as 4 feet away apparently, and theirs will synchronise to match. That is how they are programmed. Calm returns.
Conversely, if you tighten and tense up and breathe short sharp shallow breaths under tension, then the sympathetic “fight or flight” system takes over. We tend to hunch, subconsciously, putting us into a grip and clutch mode, on the front of our pelvis, and our heartbeat speeds up.
I would like to think that you wouldn’t find Rocky and I at this level of conflict again
And the horse will feel this, and synchronise to the faster human heartbeat, which makes them anxious too. A horse at rest has a pulse of 24-48 beats a minute- this is much slower than the human average of 60-100. To be sharing calm with our horses, we need to very consciously make sure we are at the bottom end of this human range.
When two hearts literally beat as one, that is the true meaning of connection
The meaning of dressage comes from the word root of “dress” or “to straighten”. The creation of a straight or “well dressed” horse is the purpose of dressage. And a straight or well dressed horse is able to perform any task required in that moment, assuming that the task requested has been prepared for with appropriate training and conditioning work, and the horse is in a mental state that allows cooperation.
With Rocky I have realised that I must apply equal emphasis to the mental as well as physical balance. With a big, athletic and genetically gifted horse, the sympathetic nervous system “no” can be too loud and too explosive to allow constructive dialogue. It is hard to have an ongoing conversation when we have parted company.
You could replace the word obedience to with ability to correctly respond and then you avoid the negative impression of mental submission.
For me submission is the horse offering its beauty and power in perfect mental and physical balance to the rider; like a pair of dancers or figure skaters jamming and saying “what shall we mess with next?’
So I breathe. And sit relaxed and loose. And deliberately slow my heart. And then we can talk. And hopefully one day we will dance, two hearts beating as one.
Rocky early days under saddle. Must take more pictures this year LOL
buy the book- “Bare Hooves and Open Hearts”
If you have enjoyed this blog then please consider buying an author signed paperback copy of my recent book. It contains more of my philosophy on husbandry and training, based on my experience, research and learning. Price includes 2nd class postage to anywhere in Europe. Other regions may cost more- email me and we can always arrange.
There has been quite a few reports of ergot infestation in this funny wet warm UK summer, leading friends to have to sacrifice their fields of standing hay or foggage that they had been carefully saving for safe winter grazing. Yet correct and careful production of standing hay should avoid ergot infestation. This is unfortunately an example of well meaning people adopting a supposedly simple idea without doing their basic research. I do hope this post will help those friends to avoid similar panic scenarios in future years.
First, we have to understand what we are aiming for with standing hay. The clue is in the name.
Standing HAY.
Hay is dried grass. For grass to dry while standing the climate either has to be very hot or very arid. These conditions are not common in the UK.
this is standing hay
If the grass cannot dry or dessicate while standing then you are not growing standing hay you are saving long grass for safe winter grazing.
Which is fine; long grass has lower sugars than short grass because it acts as its own shade. Long grass is actually safer for to graze for most horses, having benefits such as a higher fibre content, lower sugar content and achieving better gut fill.
BUT the reason long grass is often not considered safe for horses to graze is because too much grass is too much grass- short or long, and our UK “improved” ryegrass pastures often have very high NSCs- even a small patch obviously provides more calories due to the length of the grass as well as density. So strip grazing your long grass for safe winter grazing or opening up patches gradually in sequence will be required to avoid over consumption, especially in the parts of the UK where the grass never really stops growing.
Grass growth slows down in winter
when the air and soil temperature is below 5 Celsius- roughly between Nov to Feb in the south of the UK, October to March in the North. Grass needs light, water, nitrogen and warmth to grow. UK-popular perennial grass varieties, such as common bentgrass, red fescue and dwarf perennial ryegrass will go dormant, once the temperatures plummet later in the year. However healthy grass will probably continue to be somewhat active in winter. We may see a definite slowdown on the surface, where grass growth is easing up. But grass puts all its energy where it matters – into its root system. Root growth is important for your grass to prepare well for the coming winter, and to be safer from the ravages of mud and hooves. When it comes to the growth cycle of fast establishing annual grass types, the change of colour of the grass leaves at the end of autumn and their zero growth will mean only one thing – those grasses are dying rather going to sleep.
Growth of most native pasture grasses only slows down, it never really stops. This is why a run of a few warmer days can lead to an unexpected flush and risk of autumn laminitis.
So what is ergot?
And why are so many acres of much anticipated winter grazing falling prey to this peril?
Fun fact – “In 1976 Linnda Caporael offered the first evidence that the Salem witch trials followed an outbreak of rye ergot. Ergot is a fungus blight that forms hallucinogenic drugs in bread. Its victims can appear bewitched when they’re actually stoned.”
In cereal grains and many of the grasses, resistance to infection develops after fertilization. Thus, conditions that delay or interfere with pollination, such as cool, wet weather, can increase the period of susceptibility.
Ergot thrives in a cold winter followed by a wet spring
So how do we avoid ergot infestation of our winter grazing?
The answer is very simple. Ergot is found in the seed heads. So taking a cut of hay, after seeding, and allowing the hay to dry adequately, will give you good hay and ergot free winter grazing. If it is not good hay making weather, then taking a cut off the grass, and removing the cuttings, as silage, haylage, or even just rubbish, which is what you should be doing you anyway for the health of the pasture, will reduce the risk of ergot. No seed heads, no ergot.
Aerovate the soil regularly- essential for a healthy soil ecosystem
Sow native grasses, herbs and weeds that will flourish on your land and out compete the improved and dangerous rye grass.
Graze the land for a few months.
Allow the sward to grow and go to seed.
Cut once and remove the cuttings, ideally as hay or wrapped hay for your winter forage – you do not want them to rot down and fertilise the land.
Allow to grow again for winter grazing.
How does this work in real life?
I’m on livery now so I am not able to practise what I write but this sequence described below is what worked for me when the horses were on my inaugral Nelipot field in Delamere.
Nelipot in Delamere
The field was 6 acres, split into three cells with a track around the edge.
From March to November the horses were on the track, with ad lib hay provided at the feeding stations. The grass was allowed to grow until we took a cut in late June/ early July. The grass was then allowed to grow again.
In November, the cells were opened up in sequence to allow the horses to graze the (foggage) long grass as well as continued access to hay as required. By the depths of winter they would thus have access to the full 6 acres, so that footfall damage was spread evenly over the larger area. The hay feed stations were on hard standing.
In March, once the grass started growing again and the mud started to dry out (the two happenings are not always simultaneous) then the horses would be limited to the track again and the cycle could continue.
To those friends who have sacrificed their winter grazing this year, I feel your pain. I hope this helps you to understand how ergot grows in grass and how to prevent it being a problem in the future.
Thank you for reading.
If you would like to read more about the management of the barefoot horse, and your land for healthy horses, as well as my musing on training and caring for hard working horses in an ethical and horse centric way then please consider buying the book.
Bare Hooves and Open Hearts
Signed paperback copy of the book- price includes standard second class post and packaging worldwide
“Bare Hooves and Open Hearts” tells the story of my chequered journey from traditional competitive eventer towards a more thoughtful and holistic type of equestrianism. The book includes stories and guidance based on experience around barefoot performance, healthy diet, sustainable horse keeping, mindset and horse-human connection.
I am a consultant surgeon at the Royal Liverpool Hospital and a keen amateur equestrian. Paddy, my first event horse, was as cheap as chips and came with a fearsome reputation. Part of that reputation was that he hated the farrier. His feet were weak and crumbly, wouldn’t hold shoes, and he absolutely hated the whole process of being shod. When he kicked our “horse whispering” farriers across the yard, and we had to sedate him to get the shoes on, I wondered if there could be another way.
I did some reading and took the plunge, to barefoot, and he went from strength to strength, growing incredible rock crunching feet. We went on to qualify for several riding club championships, and he was still sound and eventing aged 20.
My second horse, Cal, had terrible feet when I bought him, and he broke his carpal bone tripping over his long toes in the field. Once he was rehabbed back into full work, I was determined to avoid the concussive effects of metal horseshoes. I knew from my experiences with Paddy that barefoot eventing could work. But Cal is a sturdy Irish Sport horse with flat dinner plate feet, and getting him sound and comfortable on all surfaces was a challenge. All the learning, the emotional, psychological and intellectual investment, the changes in lifestyle and horse husbandry that I had to make to get Cal’s feet functional, became the subject of this book. I wanted to share the learning, to spare others the pain and the expense.
When I took Paddy’s shoes off, I chose to challenge accepted dogma and tradition. I chose to put my horse’s needs before my own aspirations. I listened to my horse and I relinquished my agenda for the health of my horse. On that day, my relationship with all my future horses changed completely. There is no recognition in law, or indeed in Equine Science, that these magnificent animals might actually be sentient beings, capable of communicating with us if we could only listen. Once you start listening, once you offer the animal a voice, an opinion and a say in the relationship, the bond you forge is like no other.”
Proud pony loves praise
Jane Yorke’s blurb for the riding club draw:
“A little about Fran McNicol’s book, ‘Bare Hooves and Open Hearts’ : The journey to barefoot horses and sustainable fields. How and why horses benefit from going barefoot. Feeding the barefoot horse. Re-wilding your fields to grow food for your barefoot horse. How to pasture the barefoot horse.
Bare Hooves and Open Hearts: Tales from Nelipot Cottage is the author’s story of her journey from horse-mad child, to goal-orientated doctor training horses for competition, to listening to her horses and learning from them about life and love.
‘We have high standards that govern how we keep animals in zoos. We legislate to ensure they have space, suitable food, and social interaction with their own kind. Yet somehow we do not apply the same minimum welfare standards to our domestic animals. Leisure horses undoubtedly suffer in human care. They demonstrate stereotypical behaviours, like weaving and crib-biting, associated with confinement and stress. The supplement market is awash with calming powders and digestive health remedies. Equine vets are busy investigating mystery lameness and treating sports horses for gastric ulcers.
What if we could keep our beloved horses in a way that is governed by their needs, rather than our convenience? What if we could offer horses a life that fulfils their needs for friends, forage, and freedom, as well as our goals and desires? This seems a fair exchange in return for allowing us to share their grace ad beauty. A healthy, happy, and sound horse would be a partner in a dream come true.”
Fran McNicol bought her first horse at the age of 32. She was a surgical trainee, with a good salary, and an aspiration to compete in amateur one-day eventing. Paddy was a dark bay, almost black, a good jumper and an elegant mover, with a troubled past. He didn’t know what apples or carrots were for, didn’t much like cuddles, and was generally suspicious of humans. And he hated the whole process of being shod. She tried to work with him because after all, horses need shoes to be ridden? don’t they?…..
You need to get a copy of this book if you want to read on!”
Other Endorsements, Reviews and Messages
Paul Robinson
Fran employs her innate empathy and sensitivity to her horses needs and combines this with a reasoned, evidence-based approach informed by her background in medicine. This not only allows her to confidently eschew accepted dogma and opinion, but increase her horses’ functionality and performance and, most importantly, deepen their sense of wellbeing. A fascinating read.
Stephan Longworth Author of ‘Prepare for take-off in NWM’- Speaker & Coach.
Top surgeon and author, Fran McNicol’s New book is educational, often funny and a thought-provoking insight into the world of horses. Bare Hooves & Open Hearts is full of invaluable lessons and a fascinating Must Read, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to everyone. The information shines though from a sincere and authentic person who lives and breathes horses.
Emma Bailey, Equine Hoofcare Professional, Liberated Horsemanship Mentor.
If you’re drawn to the ideals of natural horsekeeping and seek inspiration to break away from unhealthy traditions, this book is the perfect place to start.
Patricia Bade van Motman, President HJE Holland BV and European Hunter Jumper Equitation Foundation
Friends, forage, and freedom! This may be a pivotal moment for me. I can’t wait to put it into practice. Thank you, Truly thank you.
Tania Kindersley of the Red Mare
Fran McNicol has a passion for the scientific method, a love of horses and a deep curiosity about the world. She is constantly searching for knowledge and wisdom that will make the lives of her horses better. Her quest to improve the physical and mental health of her horses never ends. Her journey is a voyage of discovery, and one senses that it will continue to take her in many fascinating new directions.
Genie Petrovits Nordskog of Petroglyph Publishing
Anyone curious about the far-reaching benefits of regenerative agriculture or the unquestionable value of a healthy gut biome will find plenty of evidence here. Fran McNicol chronicles the courage and tenacity it took to listen to her instincts and question “the way things are done.” I particularly appreciate her explanation of why positive training techniques work better for her than punitive methods and her honesty about the challenges she encountered while seeking a holistic solution rather than a quick fix for her horses’ hoof health issues.
The wisdom of Fran’s barefoot journey is relevant outside the stable as well, applicable to interpersonal relationships, parenting, personal health, and animal husbandry in general.
Peter Corbett
I read this slim book in one sitting. It is full of fascinating and well researched facts about the physiology, psychology, behaviour and care of horses as well as their various diets and how it is that wild horses seem to thrive so well despite being unshod and rarely having access to grass. The author is clearly a knowledgeable, open minded and caring horse owner who is not too proud to accept the advice of experts, despite her own clear expertise.
The book’s overall message is that we should listen to the wishes and needs of horses and respond to them in a way that works for both them and us rather than simply giving them the job of meeting our demands. The amount of information about hooves alone is particularly impressive. I found the whole book fascinating even though I am not a horsey person myself. Thoroughly recommended for horsey and non-horsey people alike.
Dr Mark Johnston
Fascinating read, Fran uses her personal story with her trials and trepidations. At the heart of this is an encouragement for the reader to put the horses needs before their own. The quest to deliver holistic care, clearly requires effort and a struggle against “modern norms” giving it an almost underdog element, but through Fran’s journey she evidences the rewards seen and ends with much happier relationship between human and animal. There are no shortcuts here, I would be surprised if anyone could read this book and not find her points convincing.
Dr George Nita
A fantastic read, superbly written, valuable life lessons not only applicable to equestrianism.
Jenny Black
I purchased this book for my fifteen year old granddaughter whose whole life is devoted to her horses. I read the book before sending it to Isla and, even though my knowledge of the equine world is almost nil, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is extremely interesting and well written by someone who is obviously passionate about the subject. A really good read for all, not just horse lovers.
Carol York from “Putting in the Magic”
Loved this book. I am so glad someone has stuck her head above the parapet and challenged the outmoded beliefs so many horse people still cling to. And I can back up everything she says with my own personal experience. Well done Fran McNicol.
Cheryl Thomas
I loved reading your book it makes for a very interesting read for those of us that have our horses shod all year. It certainly has me questioning some things that I have always done – thinking I am doing my best for my horse. It is making me read it again xx
Marianne Sodemann of ISNHCP Denmark
Each one of us truly believes that what one does for one’s horse is the right thing, even though we care for our horses in very different ways. What if we all started with the horse’s needs, before our own needs and convenience? Fran McNicol is a surgeon, MD, an experienced event rider and long time horse owner. She navigates between facts and empirical evidence on one side and myths and beliefs on the other, thereby scrutinising dogma and traditions among horse owners, trainers, riders, breeders, vets, farriers, and horse food manufacturers. She encourages all horse enthusiasts to seek information and to keep learning!
Some of Fran McNicol’s many take-aways are: Do horses need lush green grass? Not at all. The horse should eat a forage-based diet.The high sugar and starch content in many grasses and bagged foods is bad for the hindgut microbiome and causes laminitis in the hooves.
Is a stable a suitable boarding for a horse? No. It’s in the horse’s DNA to be on the move constantly and always together with other horses. Solitary confinement in stables and small paddocks is against the basic needs of the species.
Do horses need metal shoes to perform? No. It’s in the horse’s DNA to be barefoot, when diet and environment meet the basic needs of the species.
Can horses be illogical or act deliberately bad? No, horses respond for a reason, typically an underlying pain. Based on these facts, does your horse live a full and satisfying life in horse terms? Fran McNicol’s book “Bare Hooves and Open Hearts” is an enlightening and entertaining must-have for all horse lovers.
Kim Walnes, the Way of the Horse
An easy, engaging, and informative read. I stayed up 2 nights reading this, and learned a lot about natural horse keeping. Fran speaks from experience about the trials and tribulations so many horse owners are experiencing with the shift in equine needs due to how unbalanced our human views have become. Horses do not necessarily have to have shoes to be functional, and the land used for pasture and hay do not need commercial fertilizers. Weeds are essential to a horse’s health, but so many stables around the world focus on appearance rather than function. As a result, the horses suffer. Fran’s book is illuminating, and opens the door for the reader to do further exploring into natural and holistic methods that truly nurture our equine partners.
Dr Carol Hughes, Phytorigins and the Equi-Biome Project
In our post Covid world, the postman often arrives with a box of ‘retail therapy’ both expected and enjoyed, but isn’t it a different experience altogether when you receive a surprise? And so it was last week, a handwritten parcel arrived, inside was a copy of Fran McNicol’s book ‘Bare Hooves and Open Hearts, tales from Nelipot Cottage’. The title itself is enough to cause a big smile, which continues as you read the reviews on the back and the foreword inside. The day just got a whole lot better; this is a book about stuff I love, horses, friends, freedom, health, and natural horsemanship.
Beautifully written and presented, a slim book (144 pages), I thought it would take a few days to read, but it’s just so full of insight, with links to further reading that need to be explored, it took much longer to digest and relish. Inevitably this inspirational and honest journey comes to an end with a compelling epilogue. Thank you, Fran, for putting your ‘bare heart on a sleeve’ and taking us with you on this journey, great respect my friend.
“Bare Hooves and Open Hearts” is the warts and all story of my journey into thoughtful and holistic equestrianism, with lots of practical tips and hints and recommended reading around barefoot performance, healthy diet, sustainable horse keeping, mindset and connection.
Thanks a million to all who have bought the books already, and please keep sending messages. The most exciting and rewarding part of this journey has been ‘meeting’ new friends and kindred spirits around the world. If we are in conversation, then positive change can follow. Fabulous readers please do put your reviews on Amazon, the algorithm determines my exposure, and my sales.
Fran McNicol has a passion for the scientific method, a love of horses and a deep curiosity about the world. She is constantly searching for knowledge and wisdom that will make the lives of her horses better. Her quest to improve the physical and mental health of her horses never ends. Her journey is a voyage of discovery, and one senses that it will continue to take her in many fascinating new directions. Tania Kindersley, author of The Place of Peace: Change Yourself, Change Your Horse and The Happy Horse: An Amateur’s Guide to Being The Human Your Horse Deserves
A fascinating read. McNicol’s empathy for horses combines with her medical background to confidently eschew accepted dogma, increasing her horse’s performance while deepening their sense of well-being. Paul Robinson, author of The 5 Levels of Formality
If you’re drawn to the ideals of natural horsekeeping and seek inspiration to break away from unhealthy traditions, this book is the perfect place to start. Emma Bailey, Equine Hoofcare Professional, Liberated Horsemanship Mentor
Friends, forage, and freedom! This may be a pivotal moment for me. I can’t wait to put it into practice. Thank you, Truly thank you. Patricia Bade van Motman, President HJE Holland BV and European Hunter Jumper Equitation Foundation
Buy the book here
Bare Hooves and Open Hearts
Signed paperback copy of the book- price includes standard second class post and packaging worldwide
STOP PRESS UNTIL MAY 2022 ALL DONATIONS raised by this blog will go to the Veloo Foundation, feeding and education the children in Mongolia who would otherwise scratch for survival on the refuse tip in UB Mongolia. The link to donate is to be found herehttp://www.veloofoundation.com/fran-mcnicol.html
How do I reconcile loving the planet and loving my horse?
Riding and keeping horses for me is all about enjoying the great outdoors in partnership with a magnificent animal. For the sake of that magnificent animal, and my continuing enjoyment, I would like the wide open spaces, clean air and our healthy existence on this planet to last as long as possible. For this reason, I have been thinking a lot recently about planet friendly horse keeping.
Much of what we do as horse keepers is surprisingly destructive to the environment. The inexplicable madness of putting our horses in a large, diesel burning truck and driving them 100 miles, or more, up the motorway to then ride them somewhere lovely is an example of a common equestrian practice that seems bonkers to outsiders. A bit like the overtly pious cyclists who put their carbon fibre bikes on the roof of their cars and drive somewhere miles away from home to enjoy fresh air and exercise.
We all find our level of comfort and compromise in life, but here are some simple suggestions of how I have done my best to minimise our environmental impact.
Rethink your choices
What bagged feed do you use? Is it ethically produced? Non GMO, organic, i.e. pesticide free, how many food miles does it travel? Does the feed come in plastic bags or paper? I feed a European bagged feed that is both organic and clean and comes in mostly paper bags but I am still using Copra- that stuff does a lot of miles by diesel burning freight boat to get to the UK.
What bedding do you use? Shredded paper doesn’t seem to rot down at all well in a muck heap, although it does have the apparent benefit of recycling office waste paper through another use. But office paper can go through many life cycles as paper when it is not contaminated with biological waste. Sawdust or wood shavings take longer to rot down compared to straw, in which category I include the new varieties of rape straw bedding and even rape straw pellets. Rubber mats are an investment that saves on bedding consumption but it pays to buy the best; they are really hard to dispose of ethically once worn out and discarded.
Same for arena surfaces; rubber is not particularly bio-degradable, neither is carpet fibre or coated sand. What will your arena look like in 50 years times if the world were to end tomorrow? Will it be a lovely field or a wasteland?
Every little counts, and some of the most tiny things last the longest. Could you sew your horse’s plaits with cotton thread instead of nylon bands? The plaits look much better, with practice it’s just as quick, and you aren’t discarding tiny bits of plastic into landfill. If you do use bands then rubber is more bio-degradable than plastic.
Refuse single use
The most annoying and indestructible plastic consumables we have all collected for years are the little plastic scoops that come with supplements, and also the plastic tubs the powders arrived in. Most reputable companies have provided a solution to this dilemma now and offer bagged refills with scoop free options. I personally have enough scoops and tubs to last me for the next 10 years.
Haylage wrap plastic was another annoying accumulation I could never find a solution to. It is possible to make compostable plastic – maybe we should all insist on its more widespread usage? I have managed to switch my horses back to hay, to my green conscience’s immense relief.
Reduce consumption
Do you need to make that truck journey? Can you buy your feed in bigger amounts to save unnecessary journeys? Can you get your feed and bedding delivered in bulk? Can you and your horse buddy up with a friend to travel to that competition? Cost saving as well as planet saving.
Can your instructor come to you by car, rather than you and the horse doing the truck journey or even better, can they teach you over Skype- an amazing solution for flatwork lessons that we were forced to try out in lockdown.
Do you really need all those sets of matchy matchy?
How many rugs can one horse wear?
How many clothes can you wear? (Jackets don’t count here- one can never have enough warm jackets LOL)
Reuse everything
over and over. Buy quality, love it and look after it, wash your brushes, clean your tack.
Refurbish old stuff
Good quality leather tack lasts for ever. I have one saddle that is definitely older than me and another that must be 25 years old. The side saddle I had on loan was over 100 years old. I have leather spares in my trunk that I have owned since my polo grooming days, oiled and checked once every year or so and still perfectly serviceable.
Vegan tack has become a thing recently- most of this is made from oil derivatives and will never biodegrade. Personally I think a high quality, durable, biodegradable saddle made of natural materials, that happen to be by-products of the human food trade, is a much better bet for the planet than a plastic bridle derived from crude oil that will deteriorate over time but never rot away completely.
My opinion and my chosen compromise has hardened into – Planet first, because all animals need a planet to live on.
Linen, hemp and cotton are obviously plant derived alternatives for bridles at least. Felt saddles are another option; an animal product but still biodegradable and not a product of slaughter. I think we are still a long way away from affordable quality saddles made of mushroom leather.
Nylon rugs should be washed and reproofed as often as you can before they are discarded. And rips tears and broken straps can all be
Repaired before you replace the item?
Resell
I have sold a huge amount of stuff this last two years. All surplus to requirements, all bought in earlier times, when I wasn’t actively trying to minimise my environmental impact. I have always bought quality, and so others have now benefitted from my previous shopping addiction. A good deal, at a fair price, puts good kit back into regular use, and prevents another bit of stuff eventually going into landfill.
Our garage storage boxes are often just a staging post on the way to landfill, if we are truly honest with ourselves.
What is the best Re-purpose trick you have seen ?
I would add to these- Rewild, resurface or replant. Foster the biodiversity in your gardens, fields and corners of wasteland. Rather than putting down tarmac and digging land-drains, can you use natural surfaces like gravel or membraned tracks?Cherish your wetlands; peat and moss and bog are all designed to suck up and hold water, slowing its passage downstream. Plant trees to improve drainage; alder and willow love growing with their feet wet, whilst a mature oak tree consumes upwards of 50 gallons of water a day.
And then finally, when there is no other option left, when we have minimised our impact and our choices have minimised our waste, only then we should do our best to Recycle.
Purchase Bare Hooves and Open Hearts
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STOP PRESS UNTIL MAY 2022 ALL DONATIONS raised by this blog will go to the Veloo Foundation, feeding and education the children in Mongolia who would otherwise scratch for survival on the refuse tip in UB Mongolia. The link to donate is to be found here http://www.veloofoundation.com/fran-mcnicol.html
Successfully taking THE turn left in the village at that certain corner felt like a milestone of relief and success in the journey that is Rocky’s rehab, or ongoing training.
What do you mean successfully turning left I hear you cry? It’s a simple street corner, you just go around it. What is the big deal?
Well, yes, we do simply go around the corner. But in horse terms there are many ways to go around it. Sideways, backwards, scared, rushing, one step at a time. All of which have achieved the simple objective of getting around the corner, but none of which, in horse training terms, are necessarily a success in terms of simply going around the corner. And there are some special reasons why this corner is so significant.
Not that reason. Made you laugh though?
When you have a horse with severe separation anxiety, every turning or crossing can become a seemingly insurmountable barrier to independent, forwards progress. I have a picture map in my head of obstacles that Rocky and I have gradually overcome.
The first landmark is the main road that we couldn’t cross alone, at least not with me on board. I ‘solved’ this problem by getting off to lead him across the road. I knew I could do this safely because there is a bench 100m further on down the side street that I can then use as a mounting block to get back on.
It then took us a while to leave the environs of the bench. I would get back on and he would go sideways and backwards and anywhere but forwards and therefore further away from home. He had a very strict sense of the precise diameter of his circle of safety around his home base.
The next stage was that he would cross the road with me on top but refuse to pass the bench. A few more weeks of riding out with friends for company and confidence helped us to get the short route around the village nailed until we were able to navigate it alone.
Our other regular route around the village doesn’t involve crossing the main road. We use this as the early training hack for all the young and new horses, because there is no main road to negotiate. Instead, we turn left, tootle through the estate, left again through the immaculate gardens of groomed suburbia and then arrive at the crucial corner- turning right takes us along to the cul de sac which we then use as a turning circle to reverse the route and come home. This circuit is familiar, safe, easy and non threatening.
Turning right at that corner is also turning towards home, as the crow flies, and the horse knows, even though we don’t use it as a way straight home on most of our normal hacking routes.
Horses always know where they are in relation to home. They always know the quickest way home as the crow flies. What they don’t always know is how the road layout goes, or what fences, bridges or rivers might be in the way.
I learned this years ago with Paddy. When we first used to go for our enormous long adventures around Delamere Forest, it was all too easy to get lost. We were on livery there in the good old days, when being able to walk in a wild and beautiful forest was considered entertainment enough, before the forest had to make a profit, and the Forestry Commission put up glossy information signs everywhere, and laid out children’s activity trails and erected huge Gruffalo carvings, and felled vast tranches of trees to make way for the holiday cabins. In those halcyon days, when we got lost, we knew to look over the treetops for the radio mast on the crest of the big hill. Heading for that mast would take you back to the yard and cups of tea and safety.
The Old Pale radio mast- a beacon in more ways than one
Except there was one part of the forest where you couldn’t see the radio mast. And I didn’t know the forest all that well in those early days. And the trails in that deepest, furthest away part of the forest were laid out in overlapping loops rather than a nice logical grid. Mobile phones were in their infancy, we didn’t have 4G or Google maps with a satellite setting that showed you where you were on the paths cut through the forest. All Paddy and I had was each other, in the often fading light.
One day Paddy and I were hopelessly lost, or should I say I was. I remembered back to the old cowboy stories of horses finding their own way home, and I had nothing to lose so I gave him his head and let him choose the direction of travel at each identical forestry trail intersection. And we did indeed get closer and closer to home with each confidently chosen path. The boy was doing fab, he knew exactly where to go.
Until we arrived chest on to the long side of one very large field, marked out by three stranded barbed wire fences, so close yet so far away from the welcome sight of the familiar track that led back to the yard!
I mentally tossed a coin and turned right. The narrow little path that led through the trees around the edge of the field was obviously well travelled by dog walkers albeit no horses. And it led around the field with no more obstacles except the narrow stile (feet up on to the pommel of the saddle to squeeze through) that let us onto the familiar track home.
That moment of choice turned out to be a gift from the universe – the little travelled track opened up a bit, and, running on perfect undulating leaf mould and sandy soil, it became one of our favourite canter tracks. Its remoteness was the key – for many years this propitious find was the last natural surface available for us to canter on as the forest tracks were gradually hard-cored and widened and rolled and stoned and “improved” to allow parents in unsuitable shoes to pay for parking and walk, pushing their thin wheeled city buggies, and then even take Segway tours all over our previously wild and beautiful place.
The forest became a business, that had to turn a profit, rather than a national treasure that had to be protected
But nowadays we are on a different livery yard, on the outskirts of town with the motorways humming in the background, and our local hacking now involves tours of the neat and manicured streets of an affluent and immaculate commuter estate. Think of a British version of Stepford Wives and you would have it down to a tee.
Turning left at the special corner takes us further away from home, towards the cycleway and also our longer looping routes around the countryside. So as well as turning away from home, as the crow flies, away from safety, turning left here also means that more work or effort will be required.
This is the view we see as humans turning left.The horse however sees a different view.
The horse is crossing his own invisible barrier away from the safe circle of home into dragon country.
More challenges will be encountered on this route out into the country. We often meet pods of competitive road cyclists, racing their own wrist-timers in a pure fug of adrenaline and focused aggression. There are whole families out for a stroll, with screaming toddlers either waddling around or hidden in prams and buggies. Or the baby cyclists, wobbling around erratically on their tiny trikes, often with little control over their direction or destiny.
How the horse sees For the horse, objects that come from behind, from their blind spot into the area of marginal sight, at speed, are the scariest of all. This is the path the big cat would take when hunting them. and the path many CYCLISTS seem to blithely imitate.Please spread this graphic around- so many cyclists think they are doing right by creeping up on us carefully and quietly, exactly like a lion would.
Other hazards on these longer countryside routes include the poorly socialised city dogs. Dogs who rarely see horses will be leaping around, straining at their leads or even worse, harrying at the horses heels, barking and yapping furiously, completely unlike our farm dogs who have learnt to carefully ignore the bloody great animals in their midst.
So all in all turning left at the crucial corner is a challenge, for horse and for rider.
My stupid human worry about us having difficulty turning left is ridiculous but not quite spurious. The lady who lives on the bungalow on the crucial corner is really obsessive about her precious postage stamp lawn. And Rocky has reversed onto it, bum almost to the bay windows, traversed the green square sideways in perfect full pass and once cut across it at full pelt, on our previous misadventures. She will graciously accept white wine as a peace offering but I can tell the hoof prints might as well have trampled into her heart.
One of the key tenets of mindfulness is that we must stay in the moment and not allow ourselves to worry about that which has not yet occurred.
So yesterday Rocky and I were striding out boldly in the lead as my friend and companion shouted out “do you want to be on the inside or the outside?”
“We’re just going for it” I called back.
Rocky stepped out, relaised we were going left, tried backwards once, sideways once, but his sturdy and trusty companion carried on straight around the corner on the outside of us and the next thing we knew, we had all turned left.
Easily, successfully, with no stress and no argument and only a tiny little shimmy of anxiety. For the first time since September. For the first time since his back surgery.
Today we turned left.
Thank you as always for reading. I truly appreciate each and every precious glance. To those generous influencers who comment, share the site with friends or help to promote in any other way, I remain eternally grateful. To the supporters willing and able to offer funds, whether small or large, karma is finding its way back to you with a rainbow of horses and abundance beyond your dreams. I welcome each of you to join in our lifelong adventure.
STOP PRESS UNTIL MAY 2022 ALL DONATIONS raised by this blog will go to the Veloo Foundation, feeding and education the children in Mongolia who would otherwise scratch for survival on the refuse tip in UB Mongolia. The link to donate is to be found here
How many times have we all said those words? In jest, or in despair?
But consider that our horses could be equally frustrated, stamping their feet and tossing their manes and screaming “if only my human could listen”
They don’t actually scream of course. Until it gets really bad and then they need to get really loud.
Amongst themselves horses talk mostly in whispers, a sideways look, a flick of an ear, an imperceptible yield. Horses are naturally very peaceable animals. The equine ethologist Lucy Rees has spent a lifetime observing horses in the wild.
“To understand horses and their difficulties in our hands, we need to watch them as they really are, without anthropomorphic interpretations and expectations”
To this end, she has studied many populations of feral horses in the Americas and Australia, above all in Venezuela, where for years she ran residential ethology courses. These studies led to Horses In Company (2017), a book whose evolutionary perspective revolutionises our view of horse society. She started the Pottoka Project, in which she released a herd of feral Basque ponies in the mountains of north Extremadura, and, with a few volunteers, observes them as they live normal equid lives.
There is a very educational and beautiful series of short films available on her website or via Epona TV
For me, her most astonishing finding is that, in an environment in which there is no resource shortage, horses exhibit virtually no conflict behaviour. I have written about this before, against the context of that other pervasive myth, the alpha male.
This is a lesson that I thought I had learned already. but as the saying goes, until you truly know something, and take that truth to heart and actually act on that truth, you don’t really know that something.
The last year and a half have been really tricky for me and Rocky. I previously told the story of his initial diagnosis of a sore back. His time off and six months of slow and careful rehab,
coincided with my change in personal circumstances. However, as we got back into consistent work there was no real improvement to his behaviour. His back looked and felt perfect, with improving muscle coverage and no sore spots, but his behaviour remained erratic and I was still getting regular reminders on the inevitability of gravity.
I had him scoped him for ulcers a couple of years ago. The rationale at the time was partly to check out his behaviour, but also based on the fact that at the time he was a full 100kg lighter than his two equally classy sisters
The scope was essentially clear. The vets looked at me wth sceptical cocked eyebrows when I explained my reasons for scoping him; if you don’t actually know his sisters, he is big enough and looks like a strapping lad and he didn’t look unhealthy at the time, but I was the client and it was my money.
He had some very mild traces of inflammation, but no true ulceration. They didn’t push me to treat him formally and were quite happy when I said I would organise an empirical trial of treatment with the well known blue granules that one can buy online from America. He did put some good weight on, so I thought the ulcers must be better, and so we never re-scoped. And his behaviour never changed- he was still occasionally obstreperous but nothing one wouldn’t expect or excuse from a young horse?
Extra bit of information required here- on the ground he is the sweetest, most affectionate horse you could imagine. He loves people and loves a good fuss.
Because he had previously been scoped clear, with no behavioural benefit following on from that half hearted trial of treatment (isn’t the retrospect-oscope a wonderful instrument), the possibility of continuing ulcers just didn’t enter my brain. I am a very literal thinker, and my brain really only works in lists and straight lines, so in my head, ulcers was ticked off, as was back. All that was left was learned behaviour and an athletic and strong minded horse that I had to decide if I was capable of riding.
I bought Rocky as a yearling. He has the most beautiful paces I have ever sat on. Had I not bought him as a youngster, I would never have been able to afford his Olympic standard genetics. For those of you who are into bloodlines, he is by Royaldik.
Heraldik xx is a very well known sire to all eventing fans- Ingrid Klimke’s Butts Abraxas, Andreas Dibowski’s Butts Leon, and Sam Griffith’s Happy Times are all among top flight horses sired by Heraldik.
At WEG in 2010, Heraldik had 3 offspring in the Eventing and 2 in the Show Jumping. Heraldik had a full sister Herka, and Royaldik is out of Herka. And Royaldik’s full brother Rohdiamant is also the WBFSH world number 3 dressage stallion.
So my gorgeous little baby Rocky
is quite simply the most well bred horse I am ever likely to own. Particularly as his famous relatives have proved to be functional as well as flash, with the confirmation to withstand a busy life at top level competition.
I remember vividly teaching Cal to jump. Until he learned to canter, and developed the bulk of muscle required to carry his draught bone along the ground let alone up, jumping an 80cm oxer always felt like a lottery.
By contrast, Rocky can be looking at everything else, going sideways and then just pop the same fence as a minor inconvenience as it appears in his path.
All of which is a very long winded way of saying I wasn’t gong to give up on that feeling without a fight. It’s addictive, sitting on a horse that gives you a feeling of such ease over a fence.
It’s not quite so addictive, hitting the ground on a regular basis.
As I tell this story now it is so fricking obvious that I am cringing as I type these words. I share this story, as brutally and as honestly as I can, to help you avoid similar obstinate mistakes, and to spare your horse having to shout quite so loudly.
Rocky had severe separation anxiety. He was dramatically reactive to all new situations, to horses coming up behind us, to getting a bit too far away from other horses, to a gate closing. He would freeze out on hacks, at invisible obstacles. His reaction to any unexpected stimulus was to dump me and run.
He had been scoped for ulcers. His back was now fine. We had checked the saddle situation and solved it with a gorgeous Stride Free Jump.
So I decided we needed remedial training. My long term local eventing instructor helped me with the riding and the training and we lunged him “thoroughly” before we got on to establish forwards, and we taught him that forwards was required before all else.
And he did become more rideable. I gave it my best shot. I rode him 5 days a week, every week, all winter, through the dark and the cold and the rain. I sent Cal away on loan so I had the time to concentrate on Rocky. We had regular lessons and outings. And he did come on really well. He put on muscle, his back improved, his canter got stronger. But he still bucked.
Then one week in mid January he put me on the floor three times in the same week. And there were no mitigating factors. He had done enough work, there were no scary things out there, I was riding at my usual time, in my normal routine. The same week he booted the part time groom in the chest and shook her up really badly.
And I just knew I couldn’t do it any more. I couldn’t ride him, we couldn’t keep him safely here. I searched my heart and I made arrangements for him to go on sales livery. And was absolutely at peace with that decision. I think a few of my friends were even quite relieved.
I had a couple of weeks to spare before he could go, and Patrice, my long term mentor and classical dressage instructor, suggested I scope him once more. It made sense. I couldn’t conscientiously sell a sick horse, and I would be gutted if I sold my horse of a lifetime because he was too quirky for me and then found out someone else had treated him and he turned out to be a poppet under saddle too.
Of course he had ulcers. Really bad ulcers. Multiple lesions, several grade 3, lots of grade 2 and significant amounts of fibrin deposits and areas of irritation.
OK I thought, I’ll treat him but he’s still going. Once he’s healed, he’s still for sale.
Then lockdown happened, about two weeks into his ulcer treatment.
And he’s not a horse you could leave out of work altogether, his brain is quite active and he does find mischief.
So I had to ride him…..just light hacking, in company., to keep him ticking over and his brain occupied….nothing challenging….
He got better, and better. The bucking objections turned into leg flicks and stalls, then just to ear flicks. He hacked out on his own, with no trouble at previously nappy corners. We could cross the main road ( a major barrier previously) and go around the whole village. We had to stop occasionally and check out things like a scarf left on a street sign but he looked and worked it out whereas before he would have dumped me and run away. We even did the long circuit under the railways bridges and went past the scary white log on the bridle path on our own, after a few looks and a couple of reverses. But they were only reverses, not gymnastics. And I could feel his brain working it all out rather than his body reacting.
I’m still an idiot. And we were still in lockdown. As we couldn’t do the second check scope at the time I let his meds run down to see what would happen. About a week after the PPI ran out and the day after the Misoprostol finished, I swung my leg into the saddle and instantly felt like I was sitting on a different horse.
I had to prove it of course. I am still an idiot. He dropped me in the school so I got back on and we went around the block. It was tense but manageable. Until we got back inside the gate and then he tried to drop me on the concrete.
Se we started the meds again. It took a few weeks to get back to lovely horse again. But he had been very clear- and yes the lesson obviously needed re-iterating.
My horse doesn’t have behaviour problems. He has pain problems.
And I am genuinely ashamed that he had to get to a point of shouting out his pain so loudly at me that I put both of us in danger.
“If only my human could listen.”
sic ‘nothing one wouldn’t expect or excuse from a young horse.’
Question- how much of bad horse behaviour is actually pain?
He has just been re-scoped. The ulcers look much better. We are still only on light work but he is putting on huge amounts of muscle. He is currently off the transfer list!
Part 2 to follow in a few months.
Thank you as always for reading. I truly appreciate each and every one of you. To those influencers who comment, share the site with friends or help to promote in any other way, I remain eternally grateful. To those supporters generous and able to offer funds, whether small or large, karma is finding its way back to you with a rainbow of horses and abundance beyond dreams. Thank you all for joining in the adventure.
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And in order for us to achieve immaculate equitation, sitting pretty is much easier when the saddle fits, both the horse and the rider.
I used to really hate saddle shopping. I reckon every ridden horse in the UK must have at least 3 saddles to their name, gathering dust in tack rooms or circulating endlessly through the second hand tack forums. Paddy was a nightmare to fit, with his razor-like withers and a wither pocket that never filled out, even once I understood the difference between constructive saddle fitting and more conventional saddle fitting.
You need to find a saddler who not only checks on the difference between fitting the standing horse and the horse in motion, but also understands the importance of allowing room for the horse that you are building up with correct work, not the horse you currently have.
Essentially, constructive saddle fitting is fitting a saddle to the dynamic shape of a horse’s back in a way that allows the muscles to inflate and therefore develop i.e. get bigger as the good gymnastic work progresses. Horse should develop fabulous top-line all the way from tail to poll, and young horses will get both taller and quite a lot wider with good work. The constructively fitted saddle will allow this incremental change, and ideally be adjustable as the tiny increments build into multiple inches.
Conventional saddle fitting is based on a template of the horse’s back in a static position; a saddle fitted snugly to this static shape will not necessarily allow lift through the shoulder sling or expansion of the trapezius and splenius muscles.
Then the saddle has to fit the rider. I have a very long thigh bone. I also have very stiff hip flexors. This combination puts me at a disadvantage in most dressage saddles; the blocks force my legs back beyond the flexibility my hip sockets will allow and I compensate by arching my back. Once my back is arched, the horse mirrors this and hollows himself too. I could lengthen my stirrups, to get my knees behind the blocks, but then I lose the elasticity in my knee and ankle joints which are part of the spring mechanism required to absorb the horse’s movement, and even more importantly, the proprioception that helps me find my balance to the ground.
Then I bought a baby warmblood, with huge movement and enormous mobile shoulders, who seemed to change shape every week.
Rocky in a relatively good phase of growth
So we needed a saddle that fitted me i.e. allowed me to sit in a classically correct equitation position, whilst allowing the enormous shoulders to float freely…and ideally was fully adjustable for a growing horse.
I initially backed rode Rocky in a WOW saddle, which I loved but he didn’t seem to love the way it sat.
Then we tried an Ava Pro-Jump for Rocky’s first ‘own’ saddle. The stirrup bar placement is correct enough that even though it is a “jumping” saddle I am able to get my legs underneath me with postural integrity. It allows free movement of his enormous shoulders, and sits stable enough on his back to cope with baby horse shenanigans. It has velcro knee blocks for added adjustability. But the rails were quite narrow.
The Ava saddles are fully adjustable, with foam and air panels, and the option to adjust the tree if required. The gullets are wide, and the panels have a large load bearing surface area, for maximum horse comfort. Their fitting approach is more constructive than conventional, and she will always fit and balance the saddle to the moving horse.
We’ve had great fun fitting Rocky. We have had to laugh and shrug a lot. He was very slowly started as a big gangly youngster, and his behaviour could be a bit feral. Horses never stick to a human timetable. At the time of the first fitting, just 4 years old, he wasn’t yet cantering willingly on the lunge or under saddle.
Rocky at his first saddle fitting. Claire’s photos are not good for sales adverts LOL
By the time the saddle I had ordered was made and ready he was trotting under saddle and cantering on the lunge, so we did get a bit of a better idea. But then by the time his 2 month check was due he had become a little cold backed and was occasionally bucking when asked to go forward. It was a worrying time, but a huge bonus to be able to exclude the saddle from the list of possible causes- because we knew that it had been checked and adjusted and that it fitted beautifully.
A few months later Rocky was diagnosed with mild kissing spine disease
I treated him, on veterinary and physio advice, with injection, muscle relaxants, a few months rest and then in hand rehab. When the time came for Rocky to go off to be re-started (by Stuart Ross who specialises in pre race training of young thoroughbreds) Claire kindly stopped by and we checked the fit and balance, ready for him to go off to boarding school.
Rising trot can be a bit oomph-y
STOP PRESS- Rocky has now worked solo in the big spooky arena, and walked, trotted and cantered over a cross pole without misdemeanour. Those friends who know Rocky and have been following our journey will understand how truly momentous this news is. And how it suggests that his back is feeling fabulous, and that work is much more fun when the saddle fits.
Rocky concentrating very hard
Another saddler who fits beautifully is another Claire of Plateau Holistic Equine. She is the Northern UK fitter for Peter Horobin’s fabulous Stride Free saddles. When I first rode Cal in the SF his shoulders opened up and floated down the long side – he was definitely buying.
The SF tree is uniquely flexible to allow the horse shoulder freedom, the rails expand and the gullet is super wide and super soft .
The saddles are fully adjustable on site – as befits their Australian origin. Everything can de done in one visit Ruth no need to take the saddle away. Cleverly, the headplate jacks in or out and the flocking points are open to allow easy re- flocking or re balancing.
The SF Classique is a beautifully open headed dressage saddle with a flat seat and minimal blocks to allow horse and rider to move naturally. It’s beautiful to sit in and gorgeous to look at.
