Weekend jobs

There is a lack of blog posts this week which I will rectify soon, but we were so busy at the weekend putting a new ramp on my lorry and installing new drainage in the yard that I didn't have time to take update photos of the rehab horses. 

This is the smart new ramp, which unlike the old one should stand up to my obsessive pressure-washing...and the digger for the drains made it into the photo as well!

They have all been working well this week but just when I had time to get their photos and footage (this morning) the fog descended which means filming has to wait till tomorrow.

Still, we have a great forecast for the next few days so I am hopeful that I will be up to date with everyone by the end of the week!

Best foot forward

I want to use this post to look at just one foot on one horse because its a great illustration of how feet change and why its important that they improve.

 This foot belongs to Rose who has now been here for just over 6 weeks. She arrived with one foot - this one - much worse than the other and this was the foot she was lamer on.

Its clear to see why, as anyone who is familiar with the comparison shots I post here will already be able to see. The back of the foot in the upper photo, taken the day she arrived, is weak and under-run, providing little support.

After 6 weeks there is an improvement in the frog, the heels are less under-run and the whole foot is stronger. Her other foot has improved as well but the changes are more dramatic in this foot because it was worse to begin with. 

This shot is a good illustration of the fact that high heels are not very useful to a horse with palmar hoof pain. They force loading onto the walls which as a result under-run even further; they also reduce stimulus to the frog and digital cushion which means less capacity to shock-aborb in the palmar hoof.

This is not the best photo but you can still see that its a stronger, more developed palmar hoof today.  

Finally, compare the stance and the heels between these 2 photos and consider which is the more stable limb. Rose still lands worse on this foot than her left foot but it is catching up rapidly and I hope that in a few more weeks she will be much more balanced.  

Eventing barefoot

One of the concerns most commonly raised about riding a horse without shoes is jumping - specifically, jumping on grass and how on earth do horses cope without studs?

There are lots of issues with studs, not least that their effects are unresearched and they can cause severe injury (some interesting points are raised in this article: "The use and effect of studs") but today I just want to point to Mango, a little orange horse who last week flew round the Badminton grass roots course fast, clear, under the time, without slipping and without shoes.

I've known this horse and his incredibly dedicated owner for several years and they have gone from strength to strength all through their own hard work. It was a huge privilege to watch them storm round the course more confidently and more fluently than many of the shod combinations.

You can read the whole story, with some fantastic photos, on their own blog I've Been Mangoed and there is some short slow motion footage here as well: https://vimeo.com/215960345.

Just goes to show that a well-balanced, well-schooled, healthy horse does better on his own 4 feet.

Ridgeway Ride RESULT!

We had a wonderful weekend riding the Ridgeway on our awe-inspiring horses. Over 3 days we covered 49 miles of incredible countryside, which despite being in one of the busiest parts of England felt remote and unspoiled and we were surrounded by history at every step as the Ridgeway has been a well-used trackway for 6,000 years. 

We had a fantastic time and the horses did us more than proud, looking as fresh and well at the end of day 3 as at the start of our ride. Their feet had no problems at all coping with the mileage or the sometimes very tough chalk and flint.
 

Best of all we have reached our target of raising £2900 for Wilberry's Wonder Pony, the bone cancer charity we were supporting. If anyone else wants to donate the link is here: https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/RRRR

 Thanks so much to Annette who did the lion's share of the organisation, Cathy, her mum who catered for us and provided superb picnics every day. Thanks to Peter, Lucy, Helen, Annette and Fiona for great company and most of all to our noble steeds, Kira, Teak, Mrs Hoggitt, Pocholo, Prince and Felix.

There is footage here of us on the Barbury Castle gallops!

...and here are the feet at the end of all those miles...Hoggitt...

 ...Kira... 

 ...Felix...

 ...Pocholo...

...Prince...

....and Teak...

I love the fact that each horse's hooves look totally different but they were all equally competent. There's a lesson there somewhere... 

One month comparison photos - Zac

Zac arrived on April 2nd and these photos were taken a month later. The upper photo in each case is the April shot. 

The very special Ridgeway weekend

This weekend there is going to be a mid-season Rockley Rehabs' Reunion and its possibly even more special than usual. This time 6 of us  - plus of course our gallant horses - will be riding the historic Ridgeway, the prehistoric trackway across the spine of the south of England over 3 days, finishing (we hope!) on bank holiday Monday. 

We are raising money for this inspirational charity which was set up by event rider Hannah Francis as she faced terminal cancer. The charity raises money for cancer research and you can find out more about the causes and Hannah here: https://www.willberrywonderpony.org

For anyone who feels they would like to support us, there is a fundraising page here (I have piggybacked onto Annette's page as it won't let me open my own!) https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/AnnetteAndresen

I hope that next week I will posting lots of great photos from the ride  - please think of us over the weekend and donate if you can - thank you!

#willberrywonderpony #kickingcancersbutt #rockleyrehabsrock

PS: As at Thursday at 4pm the 5Rs team has already raised over £1300 - thank you so much! Everyone else, please support us if you can and have not already :-) The team pages are here: https://www.justgiving.com/companyteams/RRRR

Rose's 3 week update - changing hooves which are landing badly

Rose is, as you can see, making some fairly dramatic changes to her feet. She was landing very toe first when she arrived and although she is improving she is not yet landing heel first on the concrete. 

However she is definitely building up her palmar hoof so I am hopeful that she will be strong enough for a better landing soon. 

 

This was her lamest foot when she arrived. Of course it is still under-run and still has a long way to go before it is a healthy foot but there are encouraging signs that she is heading the right way with a much healthier frog and bars and heels which are becoming more supportive. 

These are the first small steps towards healthier hooves. Rose has not progressed as far or as fast as some of the other horses who arrived at the same time as her but like them she is developing a stronger palmar hoof which is the precursor to a better landing.  

I suspect there will be a very different angle of growth visible at the toe as well in a few more weeks. 

Basically this is a foot which is still weak but is starting to function like a foot again. The long hoof wall has not been trimmed so all the changes in her feet have happened simply with increased movement and stimulation from the surfaces on the tracks. 

Although Rose is not yet landing as well as I hope she will be in a few weeks the changes in her feet show the importance of allowing horses to move on conformable surfaces when they have weak feet. 

These surfaces provide essential stimulus to the frog, heels and soles even when horses are not landing optimally and so allow weak areas of the hoof to begin to develop without excessive strain.