An update from all of us at Rockley

A quick update from us here at Rockley in these strange and worrying times. As many of you know, we live in a very remote part of Exmoor. We are fortunate enough to be half a mile from the nearest road, which is single track, leads nowhere and therefore has virtually no passing traffic and we are surrounded by our own land.  

We are all fine at the moment but we are very conscious that we, like everyone, have to play our part and we have naturally stopped all but essential trips off the farm and have also cancelled our normal online grocery deliveries, so as to hopefully free up slots for people who can no longer get out. 

As we are able to rehabilitate horses safely here without coming into contact with others we have decided to continue working for now. By doing this we will not only carry on helping horses and owners but will also provide employment and support businesses like farm and feed suppliers. We enormously appreciate everyone who has, in their turn, continued to support us. 

Of course owners or transporter need to make the trip here when horses are brought down and go home but this only happens at the beginning and end of their 12 week stay. We had new horses arrive this weekend and observed the recommended rules for social distancing when owners arrived, also making sure before travelling that both we and they were in good health. 

It's ironic that we have always given owners instructions before arrival to minimise the risks of any horses transmitting infectious diseases but have never really worried about us humans. Now of course all that has changed, not so much to protect us but to protect others. 

We normally encourage owners to visit their horses as often as possible but during at least the next 12 weeks this of course will change, as for everyone else. We will try and post more frequent photos and updates as often as possible, to be a small compensation for owners so please bear with us.

After that rather gloomy preface, I hope to lighten the mood by introducing Henry, a cheerful cob who is already at home bustling about on the track and has endeared himself to us all with his jolly outlook on life.

Like most cobs Henry has feet which look robust but he has long toes and despite his apparently beefy frog is landing toe first, with a slight lateral imbalance on his left front. 

As you can see, his long toes are already starting to chip a little and his feet should remodel quite a bit over the next few weeks.

There is a lot to like about how Henry's feet look; they just need to function better as well.

Henry's footage is here: https://vimeo.com/399680549 If you struggle to see how he is landing you should be able to pause the footage as well.