| Archive for uknhcp.myfastforum.org Natural hoof care resource forums for all those interested in barefoot horses |
| Nic |
AugustJust back from Ride Bare, and hoping for a drier and brighter August! |
||
| horsesfirst |
Welcome back Nic! Hope you and all are well and happy. Looking forward to hearing all about it. 
|
||
| Nic |
Thanks! Pics etc. now on http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/2...-felix-and-i-on-our-way-home.html and tales of our trials and tribulations on http://uknhcp.myfastforum.org/about1119.html 
N |
||
| cptrayes |
Welcome back. Bad luck with the weather!
I have two rock crunchers, with Jazz doing much better than last year by keeping him in during the day. My barn stinks of pee and I've had to dig out and replace the surface in their two favourite spots, but heck I'd rather that than hoof-boots 
Radar's shoes would now be impossible to nail to his feet. I'll get a photo later but after 4 months with no shoes his front feet are now smaller than the ring of nail holes in the shoes! He also has two markedly different front feet. One is superb, the other is flared and has recently abcessed after addressing an under-run heel. This matches with why he has been the most outrageously one-sided horse I have ever trained. Unbroken at six, he had simply become terribly left handed and found going right with a rider almost impossible! That is changing with schooling, and so are his feet. The photos will show that they will soon be a pair. Meanwhile, he has taken to jumping big-time, has grown into a devilishly handsome black beastie  and is on target to be the horse the Master most wants to be riding, shoes or no shoes  .
C. |
||
| hobnob |
Welcome back Nic.
Caroline - you forgot someone by the name of Bertie Buttons !!! How is the poppet. |
||
| brucea |
Well I need to do something about Link - he's become slightly footy on the rougher ground and is struggling with his weight now, Can't do anything for the next couple of days as I'm away working and there's no one I can leave to look after him - but Thursday onwards he is in the dry lot on hosed hay for a good few days until he is OK.
He tends to get swolen legs if he is left in the dry lot cos he just stands at the hay ring and watches the world - so I need to be there myself to take him out two or three times a day. Unfortunately our dry lot is fine for a couple of ponies but 3 stretches it a bit. |
||
| cptrayes |
Gosh I did didn't I Hobnob, how did that happen!!
Butternut Squash took just two lessons to learn "ask", where he will strike the ground with a forefoot on the command. I plan to teach him "bow" next and "up" after that. I tried a muzzle on him overnight to reduce his rather wobbly little belly, but it rubbed him in several places so I gave it up. He also lost too much weight in three nights, and I didn't think it was fair to put it on some nights and not others - a bit like mental torture  He is solid on his feet and as long as he stays that way I will just accept the belly, cos it's cute anyway
His feet are the cutest little mustang things you ever saw. Small, solid, heel first landing obvious even though they are barely two inches across And I can vouch for the fact that when he is trying to reach the gate that you forgot to shut before you can get to it to stop him running down the road, he has no trouble putting on a fair turn of speed
C Attached a pic of Radar's dissimilar feet. Interesting, eh - in shoes they were identical size and shape, though the worse one had an off-centre frog. You can see the more flared one is going to be fine in a few months. I did get one shot of each, I thought, but the close shot of the better foot turned out to be an out of focus picture of his knee  .
|
||
| Nic |
I don't think there can be any doubt about Radar's desirability, Caroline
On the performance front down here, Felix, Charlie and Jacko had their first day of the new season yetserday morning, and were absolutely delighted to be out again - huge relief for Felix, who viewed Ride Bare as Ride Boring 
Ghost looking marvellous, and the swelling in his leg is almost completely gone, so I will take him out again at the weekend - really looking forward to that
Bailey and Angel are on the back-burner this week, but Bailey is fairly fit so Andy will hunt her next week, I should think. N |
||
| brucea |
Have a chance of some of the 10mm pea gravel for the pony paddock (at no cost save for my humping it around) do you think this would be OK? | ||
| horsesfirst |
Snip's Mum has found the 10mm which she has to ride over useful for 'managing' Snip's soles.
But was mightly p'd off by saddler who said hossie was 'under developed' funnily enough won't be getting a saddle from them. 
|
||
| hobnob |
Bit of a breakthrough this week.
LGL pone has been footy on stones for weeks even though mostly on mud. Have started moving elec fence this week as the grass growth didnt seem to be making her worse. The last few days she has become pretty much stonking again which makes no sense atall. Trying hard not to evaluate things anymore and work out whys and hows as I have been doing that for 2 years now !! Feet also havent grown alot in the 2-3 weeks too and before that they were going mad. Oh well - I MUST NOT evaluate and worry !! Just enjoy my pony !! |
||
| Nic |
Bruce, 10mm gravel should be fine - ours is 5-10mm - and free gravel is not to be sneezed at
Am starting as from this week to record mileage that the horses do out hunting, sort of like recording competitive mileage for endurance horses. I'd be interested in hearing the views of you endurance bods too, as this is completely new to me
Anyway, I am recording it on the blog, but for the record Jack, Charlie and Felix have all done 36.5 miles (59km) this week, half hunting and half on the last day of Ride Bare. N |
||
| cptrayes |
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh
Sunshine after rain - Jazz is footy on stones with huge pulses in his fetlocks. What a bummer! I have doubled his yea-sacc and his magnesium and hope he'll calm down again soon, but you can see that unlike the other two he is seeking out the sweetest grass to eat. He never did have any sense of his own well-being!! Interestingly, it's clear that laminitis in Jazz has nothing to do with volume of grass and everything to do with sugar content. He and Radar and Shetland Button share over ten acres between them and have access to more grass than they can possibly eat. But until this latest burst of sunshine after a month of rain, Jazz had no problem at all. C |
||
| SueH |
Jake - have added Protexin probiotic to diet in last week to see if this can improve hoof performance in light of slight dip in performance over last few weeks with sun-rain-sun weather.
It was so cool to see him blasting over rock and gravel on Ridebare mid July after that lovely dry weather made grass in his mud pen so grey it wasnt worth eating. Slight dip in performance convinces me that something in the grass upsets his whole health system and affects his feet. One way of addressing this is to bolster his gut flora so will see if this helps. Trim on Wed: Jake: heel brought down, not much wall to remove due to amount of work he is doing. Back of foot developing well considerng where is started from 2 years ago. Clay: hates hard ground (but does not avoid it strangely) definitely more comfortable, loose at shoulders on soft but not sufficiently sound on soft yet. toe first action on all fours but this will persist until we have more good capsule. prediction is that we are looking at 6months roughly before we get real improvement. Feet look so much better after trim to remove flare, but still walking on little penguin flippers bless him. Renegades ordered so he can come into yard in bit of comfort and when he starts looking bit sounder on soft he can start going out for walkies. |
||
| cptrayes |
Well double magnesium and/or double yea-sacc and/or something else has made all the difference to Jazz today. He's not feeling the stones at all. I'll be keeping him on double rations until the end of the autumn now.
"Mid July after that l lovely dry weather"?????? We were deluged for the whole of July here
C |
||
| Terry |
August already, did I blink and miss summer!! Despite the challanges of British weather all the gang continue to be awsome on their feet, Medraar completed two 40 mile rides and a 50 miler in May with a couple of 20 milers in between, aiming at a 50 mile race in the middle of September but he definately needs to kept in hard work to see the benefits as he is a bit of a good doer.
Abu, being a nanny to a new endurance rider so has spent the season a 20 mile ride every other week, aiming to take his to AHS marathon in October. Saqr, 5 year old just started out in endurance this year sucessfully completed his 4th 20 mile ride today on one of the stoniest rides in the calander and gained a grade 2. Max, now gently hacking out once a week as only 3, Amanda's future dressage horse already standing at 17h, but great feet. Bonanza, 2 year colt flashing his tootsies in the show ring and doing well. Let's hope the latter part of the summer brings as much sucess as the first half and stays dry!! Terry |
||
| brucea |
Well it certainly rained here - went out with Link for about 10 miles hack today - first 5 miles glorious weather then the rain started - vertical stair-rod rain. Both of us absolutely soaked to the skin!
Bramble out in his cart for the first time in a fair while - he got tired quite quickly but was very happy with himself. Feet doing great really - no serum marks at all in the wall when I lightly tidied his feet last night. |
||
| Jo Mitchell |
Weekend of 1st & 2nd - did a Level 2 - 2 day Trec event as Skipton. Glad to say ride went very well. Stabled Pie off venue away from his adoring mare so that I would be able to do the 2nd day without him turning in to a lunatic.
This worked well and CoP and PTV all fine. Did Craven Country Ride training day with Bowland Trec yesterday, Sunday, over the cross country fences and Pie gave all the nervous horses leads over the drops and banks and through the water, jumping in and out with ease... no boots and all fine. |
||
| Nic |
Congrats to Jo and Terry - great results!
Bruce, I sympathise about the weather - relentless wet here too today 
N |
||
| brucea |
We seem to have a spate of abscesses again at the yard - 4 horses down with them or simply unexplained lameness with heat in one foot and pulses....
Yard is in the process of expanding and another 12 stables are being built. Will soon be one of the biggest yards in the area - when I went there I was the second livery in a very small stable block. Times change and so might I. 2 things happened today - our silver wedding anniversary - have I really been married for 25 years and where did all that time go? The other thing was hearing from the doc that I will have to get a surgical repair to my torn gut muscles (I have some, surprisingly ). So the moral of this simple tale is that if you utterly spectacularly splatter yourself coming off your horse then get properly checked out at the time and fixed  and don't, like a typical bloke, leave it for 4 months for things to get increasingly worse to the point where the doc tells you not to ride!!!!! B*gg*r - I had some brilliant long rides planned for September.
|
||
| Nic |
Bad luck, Bruce  Do hope its only a minor op and that you will be back up and riding again soon...
N |
||
| brucea |
Well it has certainly put the cosh on a few things - including training - I was going to do in September.
|
||
| cptrayes |
Bad luck Bruce, hope you are back on form soon
Abscesses - mm, Radar had one in a front foot and picking out his foot yesterday I found a whacker of an exit wound in the heel of the hind one on the same side. I never even realised he had that one. The front one also came and went via the heel bulb very easily. Is it just coincidence, or is it normal for horses to abscess after four to six months of having their shoes off? It's happened to at least half the horses that I have done, and I think it may be to do with "dead stuff" inside the foot finally finding its way out. What do you peeps reckon?? C |
||
| brucea |
Well, last night yet another (shod) horse was limping around with an abscess. And two or three others who are "sort of a bit uneven"
Just an observation with absolutely no real scientific basis - but there seems to be a very high coincidence of horses in our yard with abscesses who are on mollasses rich lick blocks/feeds. By no means all horses who have abscesses are fed mollasses, but there is enough of a trend to convince me there is some relationship. (there are 45 horses here now so there is scope for doing an informal survey of abscesses against feed sugar levels!) I wonder of it is the higher sulphur level in molasses that maybe contributes to a tendency/aggravation to abscess? |
||
| hobnob |
Sorry to hear about the op Bruce. No doubt you'll be up and above in no time!
Down here we are still rock crunching and having elec fence moved at night. Winter coats are coming through so after tidyup up both ponies feet today I am covered in orange and black spikey itchy hairs !! Feet are looking good and I only had to roll edges even though they havent been done for weeks. I think the overnight change in footiness the other week may be down to hormones ????????????? She started shedding summer coat at exactly the same time. Hope everyone else OK ! |
||
| rose |
I had really kind of given up recording her performance as it was mainly always middling. However for the record she has had a very footy August. I bought Trinity consultant's Tenderfoot 80 to try on the advice of my trimmer but when I recieved it and looked at the levels of iron in it I decided to check with my vet if it was ok to feed such a high level (approx. 1700mg per day). They said no don't give it to her and also Pete Ramey's article on his web site about supplementing horses also discusses over dosing iorn. So I decided to send it back.
She has been gradually getting less footy over the last few days as I have started a new batch of hay. The last batch obviously sent her over the top of her tolerance and made her very footy so I was having to soak it. This new stuff (last years) seems ok without soaking. I am riding regularly for about 2 hours approx. five times per week either in front boots only or boots all round when she is particularly sore. On balance I feel the more exercise she gets the better her footyness gets. Her feet as usual look great as does her coat and general well being. |
||
| brucea |
We got a load of free pea gravel this afternoon. Sufficient to put a sizeable area around the hay ring.
Bramble is not sure about it at all, and is trying to make his mind up whether he likes it or not.
Apollo tried to eat it! Worth a go I suppose, he's obviously never seen it before. When I left he was stomping round and round the hay ring obviously enjoying the feel of it!
We'll see how their feet get on with it. Will certtainly help the area round the hay ring drain a bit better. |
||
| SueH |
Jake has just done 3 day western (with cows ye ha!!!!) clinic with Ken Faulkener - could not have done this really without the soundness barefoot has given him. As it was challenging 3 days of Lateral Cartilege Workout. Actually I must tell this: Ken Faulkener rode Jake on the last day....and transformed him - took about 20 mins where he went from iron board stiff, heavy in the halter through what was visibly an emotional release, to a softly going forward horse, off his shoulders, using his back with soft HQ and lowered head - amazed everyone.
Overall looking at Jake's feet I am pleased with this summer - we didint lose the concavity but increased it, it looks good, no ripples, good steep wall, heel area getting bigger and firmer and lateral cartileges developing with more varied work. Restricting grass has been the key and bootless riding (allowed by restricting the grass). I also have bought a Hayhutch to stop my 2 deliquents pooping on the hay Clay continues to improves incredibly slowly. He plods around but lateral movement is very uncomfortable for him. Pea gravel area is being re- done tomorrow as he needs this. Vet coming out Thursday mainly to see Clay's skin lurgy - horrid bald patches of scaly skin on face, flank, legs, belly. I think this has been festering and I missed it, thinking the odd patch was a nip scar from Jake biting him. It got worse when Jake was away at clinic. Using Maloceb wash and then aloe vera gel. No further patches but he looks bit sad.... I also want vet to look at Clay's legs as he's not so good on the back legs and there are scars and long-standing swelling on lower part. Poor old guy he's been through the mill - he's a smart, capable horse but you can see how having aching feet and being held down without release has taken its toll on his body.
|
||
| Jane |
Max and I had our first gallop on the stubble today
He loved it! I thought it was pretty cool too! We have to have an exracer reject race when Dan's sharer is back from holiday... trouble is, Max and I will lose comprehensively as Max is catatonic and Dan is supersonic!!!
Its taken nine months but I think he's finally growing into himself and growing up. He's also developed an awareness that he HAS limbs and feet a long way from the peabrain... hooray! Max and Aero will do the Exmoor holiday in September (as long as I can keep Max's selfharm tendancies under control). So two newbies will be testing the stoney slopes (well, three if you count my OH who is riding Aero!).
Everyone generally is doing very well, I have stolen the farmers sheep and put them to good use, so the boys now have 24/7 access to yard/barn/haylage/paddocks/grass. They are pretty good at spending most of the day in the barn, and most of the night out at grass. |
||
| brucea |
Vet came out to see my pony for jabs.
After asking how I was getting on with the "trimming thing" he looked at each hoof in turn and said "he had laminitis last year, I'm surprised his feet are looking so good, that's a very tidy trim..." Well...I have had some excellent help to get them and keep them that way
|
||
| Nic |
Jane, looking forward to seeing you in Sept - let me know when and where you are down
Bruce, sounds like your vet is one of the good guys 
N |
||
| brucea |
He has his moments
|
||
| SueH |
Jake's feet are showing increase in performance despite sun+ rain weather due to (I think, hope...) the addition of protexin Probiotic (1 scoop a day).
Clay has mancky skin thing - itchy patches, hair loss: face, flank chest, bit on shoulder. Shampooing with maloceb and will put him in boeet rug after I've fenced off hedge and worked out way of getting hood over panicky horses head. Vet came to look at Clay's skin and took a look at legs in case i missing anything. he more lame on front left and hoof testers found sore spot upward of crack. Diagnosis is seedy toe has lead to abscess. He dug around crack to open up -his cutting didnt look too offensive - and then I am Poulticing for five days. I told him I wanted sceptic's view on taking this horse barefoot: he said he didnt look too bad, just get the abscess sorted and give it time, reassess in couple of months. We do have beginnings of lovely steep hoof coming which is good. I will talk to Sarah when she returns and get her view before any more horn is touched by a knife. next day, Clay you remember is our poor rehab old guy who is lame...escapes, canters round on posh lawns is caught only to rear and bugger off in big field. Promptly completes 5 laps at extended trot and canter, spinning on hind legs, rearing..too fast to stop and say hi to other horses. He eventually stopped when i started to sing Take That - it either calms him or he thinks i might stop the racket if he comes with me.
|
||
| SueH |
Clay - we think he has allergic reaction to fly spray. He is malting dead skin and also going through coat change. Still a happy bunny though and appetite fabulous. I am considering taking him off Remount, Immune support for now as think allergic reaction might be 'boosted' by such things and would like it calmed down first.
Poulticing continues, still looks lame but less so. Jake - did Sports Endurance Dee valley ride Sunday - pleasure riders were only allowed to do 16 mile loop. Nice ride, Jake's feet pretty fantastic so protexin getting vote from me. Extreme no. of gates requiring rider dismout on this one : 40 gates in total for 23 mile loop. |
||
| Helen N |
Sue, we did the 23 miles (saw your car and trailer as we were leaving, around 3pm) You and Jake did the best bit believe me! 40 gates Often only 100 yards between them, sometimes even less. No chance to get into a rhythm. I was very glad that I had put Rooster's boots on all round because the second half of the ride was very steep and stoney in parts. It was a bit bleak, wet and windy up the mountain too No fun for a desert horse like Rooster Passed the vetting at the end no problem and was 2nd to the only other contestant in my class, Marion and Dreamer, who we rode round with Dreamer is a barefoot ex-trotter and Marion had put Cavallo boots on him for the ride as we had told it would be stoney (tracks used by 4x4s). These boots rubbed him quite badly on his pasterns and heels - he still trotted up sound for the vet though, bless him. Did you boot or not?
|
||
| SueH |
Hiya HelenN,
oooh second half looked nice on map but sounds yak. Yes Jake did his 16 miles unbooted and cantered home on the roads bless him. we were late setting off and arrived back just after 3pm. Jake had to be out in front the whole ride, as my friends mare prefers slower pace. This was tough for Jake who prefers to follow but its all part of the training. I am thinking of doing the Mitchells 20 miler in September next - as non-compete for now. We may do this on our own as my chum may not be ready to do that distance but we are ready to go out on our own now I think. |
||
| SueH |
Update on Clay
Clay is improving at last - horrid skin condition looks better especially under Boeet rug where flys cant aggravate it. He hacked up 3 balls of cream flegm on Saturday and since then he's perked up. Yesterday giving him his Maloceb bath he was obviously feeling 'well'. Feet wise Clay walked across the concrete yard quite happily yesterday - quite content to mosey to the gate and back. He was a lot more agile on able to turn on his fronts on the concrete. I'm not saying he's completely sound but that there is an improvement from obvious discomfort such that he considers whether to step forward to a situation where he seemed walk forward without hesitance and with increased loseness in the shoulders. He is careful and its very early days but considering only 3 weeks ago we darent trim him on hard standing as he was quite uncomforable I am soooooooooo chuffed. He walks fine in pea gravel - and he has to do this regularly to get to his water. I took the poultice boot off yesterday as he left fore lameness seemed to have gone. Will follow up by soaking regularly with white lightening as the seedy toe is still there and the crap laminae connection means infection always possibility until we get the new hoof with good connection. |
||
| Helen N |
Well done to you and Jake The Mitchells Ride sounds a good one, you will enjoy that If Rooster's endurance season goes to plan we will be at Sherwood with EGB to do an 80k to get him up to advanced level - fingers crossed and all that
|
||
| SueH |
Wow HelenN - Rooster has come a long way -!! well done to you its inspiring to hear of "challenging" horses (bless 'em) coming good
|
||
| brucea |
Had Link out last night on a route that we do quite regularly and he was not happy on the gravelly path at all - one he normally marches across.
So I think my decision at the weekend to take him off the grass in the daytime is timely. I need to try to find a solution where all three can be in a dry lot. Bramble is chosing to spend time on the pea gravel, rather than on the more sandy surface. I think he likes it! How do you keep your pea gravel from becoming clagged up with poo and bits of hay adn becoming a reservoir of bacteria and fungi? I use a shavings fork to muck out, but there is still stuff they've walked through such that it's too fine to cpme out easily. I remember [sarah?] mentioning treating it with rock salt? |
||
| hobnob |
On hands and knees with a rubber glove and a bucket !!! | ||
| SueH |
Brucea - My pea gravel area is travelled through and not a place where they poo. but even when it was in stable I guess I didnt think about it as problems didnt arise.
Update on Clay. Vet visited Clay again yesterday. Walked on hard ground for vet and lameness in left leg not visible. Vet then asked for a step or two in trot on hard ground for lameness test (this is amazing in itself - something we would not have contemplated even a week ago). He did this quite willingly but with a little lameness in left leg still there. Hoof testers show bit of soreness at abscess site. Vet dug out at crack carefully and teased out wood chip and then last bit of abscess gunk came out. Advised poultice for 2 more days + 5 days of antibiotics to kill remaining infection. Advised also to keep dry dressing and boot on for next 2 months. Will soak regularly with white lightening and use the gel+cottonwool inbetween. He remains a caterpiller in the Boeet rug as his skin improves steadily. Still flaking damaged skin tissue but not 'angry'. Vet said give it 6 weeks and continue to Maloceb. |
||
| dorisday |
Flyspray AllergyHi SueH,I'm Kate, 3 months into barefooting with SarahH as my trimmer in Wiltshire. I'm replying to you re Clay's flyspray allergy as I've got a chronic sweetitch/boett rug wearer chap who's been through the gamut of sprays and struggles. This year, though, I found a recipe, made it, and he almost throws himself at the bottle! It's very easy to make, cheap as chips, with straightforward ingredients - would the recipe be useful to you? |
||
| brucea |
Dorisday/SueH
I have a real problem with Bramble my pink skinned, very sensitive driving pony. Almost every fly spray I've tried really burns him. The only one that doesn't in the short term is Coopers, but it still makes his skin tender with prolonged use. I'd be interested to see your recipe too. At the moment we actually feed a tablespoon of neem leaf each day and that seems to prevent them getting bitten - sometimes they are bothered with flies round their eyes, but the neem does seem to put them off quite a bit. Link used to get quite badly bitten, at one point he had golf ball size swellings all down his sheath and they went pruritic - but he hasn't been bitten again since he has been on the summer neem regime thankfully. Poor lad - walked like John Wayne! Link seems to be getting more comfortable in his paws again with the regime of being in the dry lot during the days. |
||
| dorisday |
Neem/FlySprayHi Brucea,I'll post it on as a new item in general then, cos others might be interested too. It's saved me a fortune! I'm interested on this Neem leaf too, and have seen a few comments in this forum on it, yet never seen it to buy! Where do you get it from? I've heard of it as an oil for human use and apparently it's fantastic - they call it the 'cure all' oil in India apparently (your useless bit of trivia for the day!). |
||
| SueH |
thanks Doris Day - I'd be interested in this !
|
||
| brucea |
I was first told to use it for this purpose a couple of years ago by an Indian doctor I met under a neem tree (they are HUGE) in mahabalipuram outside Chennai.
I get mine from Cotswolds Herbs (herbsandspices.biz) and it is very cheap. A few people I know use it as a wash for sweet itchy ponies, along with chamomile. Last year a pony I knew had real bad sinusitis and after three lots of antibiotics it was just not going anywhere. Very subdued and stinking knockdown breath! I gave his owner a bag of neem and suggested feeding as much as he wanted to eat the first day then a small handful over the subsequent days - amazingly the whole thing cleared up in 4 days and it has never recurred. It worked astonishingly well. |
||
| dorisday |
NeemThat truly is amazing. I've heard nothing but fab stuff on Neem. Thanks for the source tip. I wonder if it would work on my sweetitch chap, not necessarily for his sweetitch but in the winter he's also a chronic respiratory - I'm not long off giving him a big dose of immunity boost and dusting off the hay steamer before all the (v.expensive!) breathe-easy boost stuff hits my bank account! |
||
| brucea |
Yes - I was completely surprised myself - it was a real long shot. The effect was just outstanding, the vet asked to see the neem leaf and he couldn't believe the effect it had on the pony!
Not sure how it is for respiratory issues - I've been using liquorice, coltsfoot, white dead nettle, cleavers, mullein, fennel and rosehip in a home made mix. That and the neem he gets each day. It does help because he's not as bad as he was before he got it. I tend to soak herbs for 12 hours before feeding. Especially rosehips or they just come out as they go in! |
||
| dorisday |
Wow, just loving this forum! These top tips are great! Love the tip on the rosehips - one of my other boys loves them, nibbles them off bushes when we ride out, and your comment now makes all the sense in the world!
|
||
| brucea |
Have to share this - will try to get a pic if I can
There's a lovely big chestnut mare at our yard - very gentle nature - she is in a field with cows - and one of the cows had a blue calf on Monday. Cute, very cute. What is amazing is that this mare has gone all gooey over the calf and is trying very hard to be its auntie. She stands over it all the time, and this morning she was washing it from head to foot! Cleanest calf I've ever seen! She takes the calf to its real mum to get milk and then herds it off with her afterwards. It's just fascinating to watch. When the calf is sleeping, all the other mares stand around in a circle just staring at it! It's going to grow up to be one very confused bovine.
|
||
| Jane |
End of August report...
All four going really well, its so nice to have 4 horses at home, all working hard and enjoying it! No cripples left in site. Bonus! Max (ex-nav cripple) has a pair of renegades that we are breaking in ready for if we need them on Exmoor holiday, they've made no difference to him on roads or stones or grass, but have really helped him on uneven hard ground. And apparently he can gallop really fast in them...I wasn't intending on testing them quite so thoroughly on the second outing!! See blog for full details!
|
||
| hobnob |
End of August report ;
Pretty good this month after June and July being really footy even though not on grass as such?? Ponies are now eating there way around track, having elec fence moved a bit each night. Both seem to have put on a bit of weight so I have cut hay down by a third ! Still being impressed with the Metabolyte on LGL pony - we have had no pulses since she has been on it and now her winter coat is coming through she has the most amazing chestnut dapples and looks really well. Little black devil pony seems to have a bite mark on one of his ears I found today - guess who that was from !!! Feet are nearly free of ripples with tha last one stopping when I switched over to Fast Fibre from the Hi Fi Lite. |
||
| Terry |
August almost gone, lets hope September is as sucessful, managed to compete almost every weekend with the gang all flying through, just arrived home from a very windy Shap!! Saqr was a little on his toes for his first night away from home and 32km in the wilderness at a very fast 13km for a novice, Abu nannyed all the way round, not bad for a desert horse 5 sucessfull rides all grade 3 and above, feet are the ugliest you have ever seen but work a bloody treat!!
Terry
|
||
| sarahh |
August has been a busy month for my two. Lots of shows, hacks, galloping through stubble fields....(yay!)
Had a few days where they were both a bit footy - it was a period of rain-sun-rain-sun. Have reverted to keeping them stabled in the day & that soon cleared it up. Trouble with them being stabled is that is soon makes the dreaded stink (thrush) re-appear, as we are on straw (included in cost of livery, would prefer wood pellets), so is back to the spraying with Boots-own milton. Seems to keep the nasties at bay. Tyler is growing out the last of some flared wall, so a few little splits, but they end at the ripple we have which signifies change of yard, better connection above this point. Concavity is also increasing. Boys' remain shallow but he is the more rock crunching of the two, just keeps stomping on! September will be a month of fun rides, lots of mileage for Tyler. Poor Boy always disgraces himself on them so he will have to stay at home
Fingers crossed for that Indian summer!!! x |
||
| SueH |
End of august report :
Minimal spring+summer grass (cant manage zero as yet) for Jake is meaning his feet are less sensitive SO 1. he can do miles of bootless work without pain to build up the structures in the back of the foot such that they can deal with more challenging surfaces. Bootless seems to be building up Jake's heels hugely faster then booted wk. 2. as his heels develop, that shock absorbing system we've then created is not renderd useless by pain in the sole. What's the point of a great digital cushion if you cant even cope with slight pressure due to sole pain??? Grass limiting started early was crucial - Feb and so we avoided major disruption of laminitic connection. From mid June he did have some grass during the day (prob less than 5% cos muddy thinnned paddock but grass is technically present) as the grass free zone is too small for 2 horses. Due to climate, this did not affect performance initially: it was so dry at that time this grass was grey and neither horse bothered with it. When the sun/rain arrived later in July and persisited through August, the grass continues to grow and so they eat more. Even this tiny increase affected his performance albeit slightly. In the last few weeks I have added 1 scoop daily of PROTEXIN to his diet (will add 2 scoops if high stress lsituation e.g. clinic, travel etc. ) to try and support his digestive tract from the damage done by sugar fluctuations. His hoof performance has definitely improved in response to the Protexin- not matching the June levels but not far off. Jake managed about 31k with other barefoot horses yesterday bootless and some bits were very tough but he coped amazingly well. At one point he launched into canter on a rocky path without me even touching him to race to his chums - no stumbling of faltering. On tarmac my baby flies - flat out if I let him.... Clay - skin improving, he's filling out a bit more now, my friend said yesterday he used to look all leg and now he's looking a bit more in proportions. It would seem whilst we've been worrying hows he coping without shoes with his penguin flipper flat feet, he's been relaxing. Definitely looking less tense since he arrived. Now walking short distance (20 yards) unbooted to gate and back quite happily. time time time is needed for this fella and we got plenty of that. |
||
| sarahh |
Tyler coped fab on todays fun ride. Had a couple of miles of roadwork added on after someone fell off & broke their leg and had to be attended by the air ambulance, meaning we all got diverted round a village rather than across a field!
There were some ouchy tracks but all he did was slow his place slightly. Muddy bits where shod companions slipped, he was fine, despite being clumsy baby. Here is near fore at end of ride... 
Click to see full size image ..not the world's best hoof but also not the worst! |
||