Rockley Meet

Yesterday we had our meet, for the Exmoor Foxhounds, and it was a perfect Spring day - despite being the 27th Feb (!)...

I love to see riders, hounds and followers all eating and drinking in the sunshine, and we then had the fun of taking out our own horses - I rode Conto, Andy took Charlie, and a friend rode Felix, and we had a wonderful day :-) A lovely break in a really busy few weeks...

Lots on!

We have a really busy few weeks on at the moment...

We have just had Mary Bromiley holding her second clinic here, for the UKNHCP students and practitioners, which was as usual fantastically educational for all of us and enabled us to learn a huge amount more about the horses in our care.

Then next Saturday Ben Hart is running a horse handling and behaviour clinic, open to everyone, and I am hoping we will have some interesting horses here for that (!)...

A few days more and then at the beginning of March there is the first UKNHCP orientation clinic, open to our new intake of students.

In between all this, there are horses to be exercised and trimmed, as always, and lots going on on the farm as well, although I am hoping that the lambs mostly hold off until later in March, so i doubt we will have time to be bored!

New residents, and the sun still shining

Monday, and yet another day of blue skies, warm sunshine and its just a joy to be on Exmoor!

Yes, its freezing at night, but there is nearly a full moon and the stars are incredible, so what does it matter - the horses, cows and sheep are loving this weather, and we had our first lamb on Friday morning, so it feels like Spring!

Another new resident arrived on Sunday, a handsome eventer who has been diagnosed with navicular and has come here on vet referral. He has fitted in well, and is proving to be a poppet, making friends almost immediately with Conto and Felix.

Hoof photos will follow, and we hope to improve those a LOT over the next few weeks...

Finally, Conto has made it to the big time with a full day hunting on Saturday, and he got many compliments on his manners and good looks :-) He seemed to love his day out, and finished up wth extended trot up the road back to his trailer! What a good chap he is.

Good boy Jack :-)

Jack made up today for his not-so-brave performance yesterday by being extra specially good today :-) Andy hacked him and I took Conto for a quick blast round the fields, as Con only had a very short day hunting yesterday. Jack was very well-behaved, and happy not to be out in front for quite so much of the way, unlike yesterday!

I grabbed a quick photo when we got home, just before the light went...Andy doesn't usually ride in ye olde Englisshe hunting seat, by the way (!)...

A glorious week

..and its been feeling like Spring. T-shirt weather practically, and cloudless blue skies. It has cheered up all of us - humnas, horses, cattle, sheep - its a bit like having a weeks' holiday in Spain without leaving Exmoor :-)

The horses are all going well, and are enjoying the extra attention given to them by Samuel, my nephew who is staying for half term.

Felix and Conto went hunting yesterday, with a friend taking Felix, as he could stay out for a full day and I couldn't - he has been most unimpressed with short days over the last couple fo weeks so deserved a proper balst, and certainly got one yesterday.

We are taking Charlie for his second clear round jumping at the Calvert's indoor school tomorrow - he was great last time, and quickly mastered tiny coloured jumps and the fact of being indoors, so we are hoping to build on that tomorrow.

Ghost has been working nicely for Anita, and Jack has been working slightly less nicely for me - to be fair he was asked to go out in front yesterday afternoon, and this was a little too far out of his comfort zone, so it took us 15 minutes to get to the end of the drive (about quarter of a mile) as we had to stop and look at things in amazement many times on the way. Of course we walked home purposefully and quite happily, but its all part of the learning curve ;-)

I'll forgive him, as he was angelic to clip at the weekend and never moved a muscle :-)

I've done it again...

...darn it - what with horses, a hoofcare business, a (small) farm and hunting on ones' days off, the blog barely gets a look in...Can't believe I last posted on Thursday...!

The good news is that the cob mare is doing very well, apparently - stomping off over all terrain with her owner, and has been moving better than ever, so we are all very pleased.

I went to see Hercules again today, who I posted about in an earlier blog, who had terrible central sulcus splits in his frogs along with high heels.

We are slowly getting the heels back under control and his owner has done a great job on drying out and disinfecting his frogs. The back of his foot has stabilised a lot, and I am hoping it will not be too long before his heels and frogs are back to health.

His movement has improved now that he is not struggling with the poor biomechanics of high heels and long toes, and with better weather round the corner (I hope) things will get easier.

Here's an awful warning for us all....The same owner also looks after a pony, who has had severe laminitis in the past. Its growing in much better feet, and is livelier than its ever been, very happy to take small children riding and getting better and better on tough terrain, BUT it was laminitic (to the point of being almost immobile) on a very bare paddock in January - and its not the only one....just ask your local vet....anyone who is feeling complacent about their grass, BEWARE!!!