| Archive for uknhcp.myfastforum.org Natural hoof care resource forums for all those interested in barefoot horses |
| Nic |
SeptemberLets pray for a change in the weather! |
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| horsesfirst |
Feeling a bit left out on the performance front; so here is my news!
We are teaching Grace to take honey solution from a syringe (long story). Its going well - Grace can now accurately spit her honey solution into my hair from a distance of at least a foot........ Who needs hair gel! 
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| cptrayes |
Radar is fit and ready to hunt, this Saturday hopefully. Though he has recently discovered his gallop and I am still pretty speechless  ! He's a very big and very strong horse to be such a rocket, and if he wants to head the field all I'm going to be able to do is apologise to the Master later  .
A stable girl at the place I went to give him a really good workout on Monday was speechless as she saw him tread directly on a stone and not even notice it. "he just ... but ..... wha....." His workout was eight miles up and down hills in under 90 minutes, much of it on sandy/stony track with around thirty jumps along the way, all with artificial (i.e. stone/scalpings) take offs and landings.
The front shoes he came with six months ago would not now even fasten to his feet - the nail holes are outside the hoof wall 
Jazz is better at this time of year than he was last year, by a long, long way. I attribute it to being off grass for nine hours a day, on it only overnight, feeding yeast and increasing his magnesium. He will occasionally feel a stone, but nothing to speak of and he has real concavity for the first time in the summer. His feet have been pretty flat at this time of year for the previous two years. Button the Shetland has a big belly and is rock-crunching on his feet. Thank goodness! He only gets the dregs of someone else's feed bucket so he doesn't even have magnesium supplementation. Let's hope that doesn't change as he grows, because he's only a two year old at the moment. Thank goodness for being shoeless too. We have had a big worry with a huge lump right at the site of a spavin on Jazz's near hock. After a week of fretting about whether it is a spavin or not, a tiny patch of hair has come off it and it looks like a kick. As well as that, he has had (another) kick right above his hock on the inside. If it's a kick, and if Radar had shoes on, he'd have been in real trouble, with a chipped or broken bone for sure. C |
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| Nic |
Can't wait for your Radar Reports - sounds like you will have a blast on Saturday  Think of me, may also be on a mad young horse
Velcro trews on, methinks... 
N |
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| brucea |
It's actually pretty nice up here in the North - sunny and dry. After that warm wet spell though, I'm expecting the grass will be putting up a massive growth spurt. | ||
| becnreps |
hmm I'm a bit worried about a grass growth spurt as Reps can go back out on Saturday after staying in for a bit to try and recover from the LGL.
He's been in for 7 days and still struggling with footiness over the stones so I'm thinking that he actually might be a lot more sugar sensitive than I first thought as even the hay I am giving him seems to be affecting him now! 
He's been on a completely new diet for a few weeks now and I've gone a bit crazy with buying lots of natural herbs for him! 
Still looking for a solution to his footiness and general stiffness - anyone would think he was 28 not 8! But almost all supplements have glucosamine in them - not great if he seems very sensitive to sugar! 
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| evie |
Well, after there being not a lot to report for the last few months I finally have Hera with me in Northern Ireland - and not just here with me, actually in the back garden. 
There is a 300m track laid out around a 0.8acre paddock with electric fencing but at the minute she is confined to her shelter (20x20ft) plus an ~800ft2 stone area with a slowly increasing amount of grass/mud, she is getting approx 20ft2 of grass (ie fence across the 10ft track moves 2ft) every few days so it is very slow going and we're not yet getting the benefits of circular movement but so far :touchwood: she is coping OK. She ignores the extra grass most of the time, preferring to stand and supervise the humans while eating her haynet. She's had a few hours out muzzled on the track most days to hooley/roll/mooch and get her head down to the little grass she can get, but after a sunny/rainy day she was a little hesitant on the stones having previously not noticed them at all so I have to be careful there. Thankfully she was fine again in 36 hours. She's on GH laminitis prone supplement and gastri-x which are hopefully helping. We are pootling out most days, haven't found any off-road hacking yet but have found some excellent Hills - she is going to have an even lovelier bum soon! She's been ridden bare until today as we've just been walking/jogging out for 30-45 minutes and she hasn't been noticing even the horrible small pointy gravelly bits, but we now have full compliment of boots and pads for our longer rides and tomorrow some proper trot work will be introduced.
I *think* this links to photos of the field http://www.facebook.com/album.php...amp;id=511281842&l=42f369e8cd |
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| cptrayes |
Nic, whichever god you prayed to, it was the wrong one!
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| hobnob |
OK now everyone - on yer knees, hands together, and pray for pounding heat and dust .....................
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| brucea |
I could swear that i was starting to get webbed feet last night.
Been pretty horrid up here too. Bramble has an infection in his central sulcus on the right front. Keeping it clean in these conditions is not easy. |
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| SueH |
Yup horrid in N Wales but not stopping riding. Somebody somewhere is boogying to rain gods please STOP
Jake had few days off after 20 miles on Saturday. rather amusing single rein riding session yesterday and then our 'short and fast' run last night and feeling very 'well' . Feet doing OK, leaping into canter on the road, hit the verge and looney behaviour ensued. Protexin defintely still helping. Will continue. Clay is plodding along, getting better on his pins as time goes on. His increased comfort means more giddying around the paddock - lively old fella. |
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| cptrayes |
Radar has just completed three and a half hours of pre-season meet (no hounds, no plaits) with my drag hunt. He was a complete idiot, as you can read on my blog (see footnote) if you want a laugh!
But his feet were ace and I never felt him falter once. He has been very uncertain of where his own feet are in the six months that I have been training him, but he was solid today on mud, plough, stubble, tracks, concrete and road. Solid enough to bolt three times, anyway
A chap asked me, after 3 hours 15 minutes why he had no shoes and I said "you've been out with me for over three hours now, does it look like he needs them?". But he was completely flummoxed and asked me to tell him why he didn't have any on - I thought it was bleeding obvious since we were happily hacking alongside him, but there we go. To be fair, he did listen once I told him the whole story. |
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| brucea |
Well surgery over, back home recovering, went OK I guess.
Now have 4-6 weeks box rest before I can ride again. From here it seems such a long time, but I'm sure it will pass quickly! |
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| SueH |
tee hee Great to hear Radar's feet are doing so well he can 'express' himself fully ! must visit your blog for a giggle (whilst being seriously impressed ) funny isnt it no matter how well your horse performs some folk will still wonder why you dont wear shoes...
Hope the healing goes well Brucea! |
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| sarahh |
Boy and I went xc schooling today. 70% of the takeoffs & landings were grit with BIG sharp stones mixed in. But did Boy even notice ... nope! Shod companion certainly did, then pulled off a front shoe hooning around like a tb idiot, and could only jump the fences that were on grass.
showing his lovely fronts off (shame about my position) 
Click to see full size image as you can see from the big trot, "stones, what stones...?" 
Click to see full size image and MORE stones! 
Click to see full size image |
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| brucea |
Aw - he's gorgeous! | ||
| Nic |
Like Radar, Angel also had his first sight of hounds on Saturday - fortunately we had a much quieter experience
Hector has also been out for his first day this season, and was exactly like a Space Hopper - bouncy, round, orange and I felt a huge temptation to hang on to his ears
There are some very pretty pics of Angel on the blog, taken by my friend Sam, but none of Hex yet, unfortunately. Maybe another day! N |
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| rose |
September report - sore all round on the road and walking very heel first to keep toes off the ground but with boots and pads on all four feet she is ok when ridden. I rode today boots all round and we had a lovely canter all the way round the Common and she was keen and forward going.
Pulses are moderate which is normal for her this time of year and no real heat in her feet. Interestingly she is more reluctant on the road coming from the field to the yard and a bit better once she has been out hacking for a couple of hours and is being lead back to the field, which suggets to me that it may be a bit of congestion in her feet initially from standing around in her tiny grass free paddock. |
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| brucea |
Could well be Rose - I find my lad just can't tollerate more than a day in the grass free paddock - he gets very stiff and his back legs fill up. I so much wish I had a track that encourages movement rather than a square paddock (not that I'm ungrateful for what we have!)
Pea gravel is working a treat - and is easier to keep clean than anything else in the paddock. Noticing a beneficial efect on the ponies hooves as well - less thrush and the sole looks better. Great stuff - I want 2 huge lorries of pea gravel for Xmas! Link is giving me cause for concern - he's on grass overnight, and I'm taking him into the dry lot during the days. He's lost concavity, has some light rings and is more gimpy over the slightly rough ground. I could try to keep him in the dry lot for longer but it really is not big enough for 3 and he also tends to get badly swolen legs if he is not moving with the herd. I think I've scraped through the summer dancing on the razor edge of laminitis. Need to think about next year now. I am staying at the yard I'm in for the moment becuase I have the environment sorted for 2 out of 3 of my lads and it is so hard to get grass free anywhere around us. Livery seems to be a compromise at best, and a dangerous environment at worst.
Updated: Friday: Well last night he just looked off on his front right as my lad was riding him round so I checked his feet - there was a good pulse. It seemed to have died down after stabling for half an hour - but taking no chances - off the grass now. |
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| becnreps |
Well, the new feed and routine must be working.
He weighed in at 596kgs ( ) after being out whilst I was on holiday at the beginning of August and I weighed him this morning and he now weighs 567kgs!
Update on the feet: after totally trashing his easyboot epics, I've ordered a new worm clamp and gaiter to put on because they were both badly damaged when we went on a long ride and were galloping up rocks! I dont think they were 'screwed on' tight enough to cope with that!
So we had to go out hacking yesterday completely bare and he hobbled a bit on the really stony tracks we went on but he coped incredibly well with the 3.5 hour ride. We did also have a bit of a blip at the end of last week - he was out one hour longer than normal (4 hours instead of 3!!) and he came in with quite bad bruising on his back hooves. I panicked a bit and have kept him in over the weekend! He seems fine but I aint risking it! Also bought a Riders Rasp last week and have had a go - for a beginner to all this it is very easy to use and I have rounded off a few of the chips we had from going over the stones. Would like to be able to use a 'proper' rasp though but my farrier didnt seem that chuffed when I mentioned that... 
I'm a little annoyed with him anyway as he wont take my friends horse on (whos shod feet are in a real mess) because "he's fed up of being messed around by new clients and he cant trust anyone" ...
I darent tell him that I'm thinking about going with a trimmer because it'll end in a fall out because I'll be "messing him around" and he is a good farrier ... I just have to decide whether the benefit to Repsols feet will be enough to sacrafice quite a good relationship with a good farrier...! 
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| horsesfirst |
becnreps - my farrier didn't even notice when I did mine (real rasp) - he thought they were self trimming. I didn't disillusion him.
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| brucea |
Well the few days completely off the grass, and then back to our routine of dry lot in the days and out nights seems to be doing the trick and Link's a good bit happier in his paws. he was jumping tonight with my daughter and thoroughly enjoying themselves! | ||
| cptrayes |
Radar did four hours this Saturday hunting. Other people slip all over the road when their horse is excited. Not us !
I had control this time too, and we jumped quite a bit and galloped a whole lot and had a grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrand time 
C |
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| poghag |
Just wanted to share a little, long-awaited triumph. Eslewhere is Pog's long long story from where he turned up at an East London riding school, some kind of illegitimate, discarded 4 year old, with no name, papers, or history, and a pretty alarming biting habit. There's probably the story of one of the first times I sat on him, and he stuck his head in the air and wall-of-deathed the school for laps on end. There's also the story of how the riding school manager let me "take him eventing" for a year (2007) so we could sell him, as he wasn't really working out as a school horse (surprise!). There's a few stories of elimination after elimination (we even got eliminated between fences at his final affiliated do), as he clearly wasn't enjoying being an event horse, any more than he was enjoying being a riding school horse. Then there's the story of how I bought him, as he was going back to the dealer to be swapped for a couple of cobs. But most of the blog is nearly 2 years devoted to all sorts of things... including 5 months off ridden work (back problems stemming, apparently, from debatable foot-balance; change of farrier early 2008 to NB shoes, then fully barefoot October 08, coming up a year anniversary!), pretty much a year of not jumping, and 18 months not competing at all... all trying to gain his trust/confidence/happiness to allow us to just get out there and do the fun stuff I've longed for for years.
And here he is! It's baby stuff for now; first intro-sized (90cm) thing next month. But the Pog's now had 3 clear rounds xc since re-starting competing again last month, and I'm really hoping they're the first of many more. Was worried about slippage, but he's fast fast fast and no problems yet! Little log http://www.chrisdownphotography.co.uk/photo_4714586.html Green brush http://www.chrisdownphotography.co.uk/photo_4713955.html Hedge http://www.chrisdownphotography.co.uk/photo_4720305.html Sleepers http://www.chrisdownphotography.co.uk/photo_4714604.html 10 seconds under the bogey time for 8th in the novice! And pairs with my best mate Sam, on Ed. Sam has battled cancer this year, and we last did a pairs round together in 1989. So this lovely, flying clear was pretty emotional all round  .
http://www.chrisdownphotography.co.uk/photo_4720397.html 40 seconds under the bogey time for 9th in the pairs. Sorry if this all sounds a bit trumpet blowing... it's been such a journey getting here I'm so proud, and relieved, that Pog is finally finding his cojones and truly enjoying himself!!! Thank you for having a look! 
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| sarahh |
Well done you, wonderful to see such a happy lookign horse & rider, all the time you've put in has clearly really paid off.
And as for the trumpet blowing, we LOVE hearing about the successes of other barefooters, keep them coming! Gorgeous boy too x |
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| SueH |
Jake's first (non-compete) endurance event was the Dee Valley ride which I posted on earlier but pics of Jakey now up:
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com...ents/42065/guest/73dcbaaff458ab3/ http://www.onlinepictureproof.com...ents/42065/guest/bdd9692c13845d6/ x Sue |
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| evie |
Hera is doing well - she's been here 3 and a half weeks now, and is coping with a little grass admirably as we strip graze her round the track, as long as she has her Global Herbs laminitis prone supplement 25ml twice daily. Tried to reduce it as advised on the label but each time she's been noticeably less comfortable on the stone area so she'll stay on that dose until there is absolutely no grass left but that'll take a while as we're only just getting round the bottom loop.
Poddling the mile round the block in walk and trot very happily barefoot for conditioning purposes a few times a week, with a longer ride a couple of times a week in boots. Happy all round really! |
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| Nic |
Really lovely pics, Pog, and a great story too What a smart boy he is now. Sue, Jake looks great but you look a bit worried Hope you actually had a nice day
N |
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| SueH |
Nic - that's my concentrating face. Not sure why. Perhaps it was the ridiculous number of non-horsey gates which really spoiled the event actually. I was lost in thought...meanwhile Jake just trots along very happily !
Such a shame you cant see his tootsies! |
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| Jill |
Sue, lovely pics.
Coolhalter
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| poghag |
Thanks for nice comments folks 
Inspired by SueH to add piccy from Newmarket ride at the start of September; 20 miles, trot and canter (not to mention GALLLLLLOPPPPPP!!!!!) much of the way. http://www.photoboxgallery.com/sh...d=264184629&vendor_id=3007776 He did this trot for about 20-odd minutes at a time; we were caught up by a couple of polo ponies in their lollop-canter, so Poglet trotted alongside in lanky-mode. Polo pony riders said they'd never seen anything like it. It's not warmblood-expressive by any stretch of the imagination, but my golly it covers the turf! Only time I touched the bit reins was coming up behind other horses in canter (Pog says cantering slowly is just rubbish, and there's no point listening to requests for whoa until he's overtaken everybody... and we didn't want to offend other folks!). And when we hit the all-weather gallop and pressed the "go" button, oh.....my.....goodness...... had to grab a piece of mane he bounded off so fast. Awesome!!! Sorry; not adding anything constructive about management or feeding, as we're only approaching our first anniversary barefoot and I'm only just beginning to grasp that I need to look further into his diet for further foot fantasticness!!! |
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| horsesfirst |
Little QH has had her ups and downs; feet not as good as they were (by a long chalk) but she is still enthusiastic in her work. Unfortunately 'expert' help and LT recommended chaff have done her feet a mischief, flares, bruising and loss of concavity. But hopefully that little local difficulty has been addressed. Owner still struggling a bit with concept of grass/bare paddock etc but is definitely on the way.
Grace is struggling on arena surfaces but is ok on grass and concrete. Infection seems to be gone and her feet are starting to resemble 'proper' barefoot feet, albeit very immature ones that need lots of work. |
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| brucea |
Well - getting much colder in the mornings up here and the lads are slightly sharper. Wondered yesterday if the first ground frost might not be too far away.
Bramble has been a bit footy on his right fore with an abscess at the rear of his central sulcus - just keeping it clean and open. The new pea gravel is helping enormously and the hooves are much drier and free of thrush than they were. Apollo is hairy happy air-fern cob. Link has the odd pulse in that right foot that caused problems earlier in the year so I'm sticking with my routine of having him in the dry lot for 12 hours of the day. There's nothing obvious happening with the foot, but he is slightly sensitive over rough stones (he has been all summer) and he occasionally limps when he is turning to the right. There seemed to be a pocket of old necrotic stuff at the white line very near the heel - so I do wonder if we are just seeing the long term clearing of a deep seated abscess. I'm much better now too - still a bit tender round the middle - but was in the saddle for a few minutes last night and it was OK. Wouldn't want to canter yet. The big square dressing is now off so I don't have to endure statements being prefixed by "My Dad, the former TellyTubby..." from my daughter. Kids are cruel really... |
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| Roobarbs Mum |
Thought I would make a start on my performance journal, as it were, by saying that I took Roobarb for his first taste of Endurance riding on Sunday - only led him to the venue for a look round but he walked over some really sharp stones, on tarmac with gritty bits and concrete without a flinch
He even managed a few, ok, quite a lot of, steps of piaffe along some really stony parts which even the shod horses were slowing down on and got lots of amazed looks at the fact he was barefoot. I'm hoping to keep him barefoot and do the magical 160km so , fingers crossed, if I can manage the diet and the grass intake we should have a decent chance of acheiving it. Lucy |
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| hobnob |
We still seem fine down this way. Now grazing 3 sides of the track with one more to strip graze slowly!
Tapewormed at the weekend and all well too ! |
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| becnreps |
Just a quick update to say that I am really impressed with Repsol's behaviour at the moment.
I went out on a hack lastnight, just a short one but he felt so much happier, up for it and much more forward going. When he was in the lesson on Saturday, he was very forward going too. I think that the main reason that this sudden change in behaviour has happened is because he has lost around 30kgs. He's on his new good diet which includes MgO and his crest has gone down a lot and isn't as rock solid and his fat pads on his rump have really gone down a lot. He seems much happier in general - in the stable he is rarely even slightly grumpy (he used to dislike being groomed and swish his tail a lot if you bothered him when he was quiet in the stable!) and always looks bright eyed. Also, I have never seen him look so shiny! I think it is the linseed meal. On the footiness front - we aren't really getting any further with it, still pretty hobbly on the stony ground ... but we are still having to turn out for a few hours in the day. I cant believe I will say this but ... roll on winter! I'm not looking forward to wearing 10 layers (literally ... ) and getting chilblains on my toes but I am looking forward to not constantly studying the grass growth on our lawn!!
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| brucea |
What a good start though - you must be well pleased! Exactly what we found with out cresty lumpy pony - about 3 weeks after starting MgO the crest and pads started to disappear. |
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| becnreps |
I am so pleased ... I keep a mini diary of everything that happens with him and he's been having the MgO for 4 weeks on Friday and they're really starting to go down.
Amazing stuff!
I dont know if it's coincidence too ... but (fingers crossed) the white line separation/flare is nowhere near as bad as it was last month before I changed his diet. Also - since I started - I've only had to do one lot of white lightning on his front hooves and there's been no signs of thrush since!
And to lose 30kgs! Although ... I found out the ingredients in Baileys Lo-Cal balancer (what Reps had before) yesterday: Grass Meal, Distillers Grains, Wheatfeed, Micronised Soya, Dicalcium Phosphate, Molasses, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamins and Minerals, Yea-Sacc®1026 Yeast Culture AND: Starch 10% Sugar 2% Glad we got away from that ... !
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| Nic |
I love it when people start reading labels Funny old thing that they don't put "Barley, syrup, wheat, oil and a small amount of mineral pre-mix" on the bag in big colourful letters...
Sadly the same is true of every feed company, so the small print is our best friend
N |
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| Jo Mitchell |
Pie and I had a classical riding lesson on Saturday with Kamini Aga (was Ferdi Eilberg's yard manager and first rider for 5 years) no boots and his feet and performance were perfect. He was also quite well behaved despite being below a field of mares who were trying to play with him (the arena is cut into the field and so the horses who are in that field are above you... very bizarre experience!.
Went on on 20mile pleasure ride on Sunday from Haworth to Grainwater Bridge and back... boots all round and glad of it... proper stoney limestone tracks!!! Lovely views, lovely weather, fantastic canters on top of the moors.. Although we were both exhausted when we got home... you rise up and out of 3 valley's both there and back, the hills are all about 15 degree's going up and down! Showjumping all over for the summer.. may go on a day ticket to some indoor events at the Yorkshire Riding Centre over winter if I get my act together and time permits, Feet on all the horses looking really good, maybe due to me having been given a yearling gelding who is making everyone move around much more... Pie definitely seems to think they all need to chase about much more... and the land is lovely and dry. Got one more Trec event booked for 11th October at Cartmel Racecourse in Cumbria then it's just hacking for winter and some lessons.. |
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| brucea |
Say hello to Becky Hine if you see her Jo! | ||
| rose |
Roll on this dry weather. Our grass is turning to dust and I can at last give my girl a bigger space. She is now out on a previously grazed area of about a thrid of an acre rather than her tiny space. I will restrict her again when the weather changes but in the mean time she seems to be enjoying her new found freedom. I rode out today boots on the front only and she was fine. | ||
| Helen N |
Rooster has just completed his first 80k endurance ride, he managed around 70k barefoot but I found that I needed to put his boots on all round for the last bit. There was a lot of roadwork, he was tiring and starting to drag his hind feet squaring his toes right back to the white line. Once booted he started to stride out again and completed the ride in fine style, passing the vet at the end. My feeling is that fitness is the key here, had he been that bit more fit then he wouldn't have dragged his toes and worn them. Ah, well he will have an easier time now for a while then I will have to get him mega fit for next season Rooster has done 635kms (nearly 400 miles) competively this year, both barefoot and booted - I am very proud of him
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| Sarah |
Woop woop Helen! Fab stuff I bet you are chuffed.
My news..... not posted anything for a while but its not because the boys haven't been busy. Morris http://www.performancebarefoot.co.uk/barefootyoungster4.html I'll be creating a video of his first competitive ride soon! Fari http://www.performancebarefoot.co.uk/faripage7.html and yesterday he stormed round a fun ride and jumped over smaller jumps beautifully. I have a series of three fab pictures which I'll up load later. Hopefully he can get back his confidence jumping and I can get him fit enough to go out with the Cheshire Farmers in November. Fox is still recovering from his tendon injury, walking out in hand and up to 1/2 hour and hopefully he can get back to light work after Xmas. Jest ..... ye ha I think he has finally recovered two years later after septecaemia! Took him for a bit of rope twirling and he thought it all strange but enjoyed himself. God help me when I have four horses to ride. Happy barefoot'n all S x |
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| Terry |
Well done Helen, the boy did good Looks like we will both be doing some pole work and lots of fittening early on!!
Sarah, you will be my size, although I think you are already when working four, key is to keep going and not stop inbetween! One more ride of the season left for Abu and Saqr, the Red Ragon a lovely testing ride to end the season on. Saqr has achieved above and beyond what was expected this year, since arriving from living in a heard in Ciaro 20 months ago he has been broken in and sucessfully completed all 6 rides this year. Abu continues to be his mentor riding along side him in competitions. Medraar finished the season on his first race ride, giving a credible ride at 16k/phr prior to me ritiring him at 75km due to a deteriration in his gut sounds. Homework this winter is lots of schooling and lateral work as OH has told me it's like schooling planks when she gets on them in the school!! Terry |
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| Helen N |
Thanks Sarah and Terry Good luck for the Red Dragon I'm having a horse-free week visiting my folks in Devon.
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| SueH |
Helen N well done to you and the boys !
Sarah - 4 horses eeek: Have you thought of popping to circus for some training tips: I have a picture of you exercising them circus-stylee: standing with one foot each on Morris and Jesta, and ponying Fari and Fox either side in circus-stylee formation ! May be time for sparkley outfit and possibly some pink Vibrams??? Jake has had two weeks off and already his hooves have grown out of his 'self trim'- big downer of taking time off and also having horse live on a non- abrasive surface like paddock. On the plus side he has spent lots of time doing groundwork and is becoming Mr. Bendy bless him. Clay - improving all the time and moving better; Have walked him along smooth hard driveway to gate and back each day for bit now(its about 50 m drive) more just for some mental stimulation than anything. then Last week performed sound impromptu extended trot with Davis boot full of vinegar soak - sloshing vinegar as he went ). Previously he would pull up as it was too much. So, Friday I walked him out on the lane as trial - surface is not that lovely new smooth tarmac although no loose stones so it was suck it and see. Well I was pretty surprised as he didnt seem to notice the surface. Seemed very happy and rather forward . We've done this teeny walk 3 days now - taking things slow slow slow as its early days. Renegades on the way, so may be he can go bit further with those on. But I'm not planning much - one thing I learned with Jake and clay is just to listen to them. I'm also concious of not wanting to get too hooked on boots as I did Jake.
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| brucea |
Link did a 60cm fun jumping competition with my 12 year old daughter on Saturday and came 5th out of 6 - a bit of a problem with steering between the jumps - but they took the jumps well and even managed the combinations and didn't knock any down. Then had a jumping lesson Sunday (again my daughter, not me!) to try to work on the steering thing.
She's getting the bug, so I may have to buy a GP saddle! Link seems to be generally sound - but there are just moments when I sense something is just not quite right - it is so so subtle indeed - almost I think I am imagining it at times. Cob waddled over some jumps but frankly he just doesn't see the point in it, the first couple are fun, but from then on it's just hard work! Here's him jumping the tiny course earlier this year. 
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| sarahh |
He's so lovely
Hurrah for coloured cobs! More of the same for my 2 in September. Boy has been storming round xc courses (3rd in our last one),Tyler's been having lessons & both have been hacking hacking hacking. as it is the BEST! Did some knarly hills the other week, Boy was the better of the two on them, Ty just seemed more careful. But both cantered up rocks when asked so not too many problems there I'd say! Both had a bit of thrush but with this dry weather turning the paddock into a dust bath it has dried up. Tyler has chipped off the last few bits of not-so good growth, so both pones feet now looking pretty darn good
x |
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| Roobarbs Mum |
Had another lovely ride on Mr Roobarb on Wednesday - had my first canter Unfortunately the path was about 40 miles too short for me to decide if I liked it or loved it so I'll just have to go back and do it again
He's still happy over most ground, just a bit picky over the really big sharp stones but moving forwards and not offering to go on the grass or anything. Just got to get my head round the feeding side of stuff over winter as he'll be moving from an 8 acre field with loads of old, tough grass to a 4 acre field with less grass and almost ad-lib haylage. Lucy |
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| brucea |
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| Nic |
Bruce. could you move this post to the October thread, please, or start a new topic?
FWIW, I would give it a week or so if he has improved, to see if that continues....
N |
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