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Tuesday, 12 May 2009

Another day at the Golden Horseshoe...on foot this time!

I had a free afternoon today, and a friend was competing in the 80km ride, so I went up to spectate at the GH.  Its always fascinating watching a high level competition, especially when its a discipline you aren't familiar with, and the endurance bods know a thing or two about horses and competing (!), so it was a very interesting afternoon.   

I'd seen some of the riders who finished today at the start on the first day, and while there were some beautiful horses in superb condition, there were also one or two who didn't look fit enough, to me, for the terrain.  However, the weather was great for the horses (though somewhat chillly for those of us who were standing around!) and most seemed to finish happily, even if some appeared a bit tired. 

On a very positive note, I saw one lovely barefoot horse, which finished the 2 x 40km event with a Gold award AND the fastest time in the class.  They had to present to the farrier (not the same one as had been there on Sunday), who commented "Nice feet.  Why don't you shoe them?".  And yes, it was a serious question :-)

There was an awesome Exmoor pony in the same event, unshod behind and an absolute little powerhouse :-)  I think that ended up with either a silver or bronze award - no mean feet when you have legs about half as long as any other horse on the course ;-)

The friend who I went to cheer on recruited me to trot her horse up for her, which was nervewracking to say the least, as he is a so-and-so to trot up (fair enough, probably reckons he has done enough during the day not to have to run up and down AGAIN at the end of it!) but they also finished with a Gold award, fabulous result!  It was such a fun day I'm almost tempted to get into endurance....!!
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9 comments:

  1. Rebecca K15 May 2009 at 09:48

    Hi,

    That 'lovely barefoot horse' was my girl, Ellie, who I am immensely proud of.

    And yes, wasn't the farrier's comment 'amusing'?! Maybe a slight concern for his own pocket? Who knows?!

    Ellie's breeders have mooted the idea of sponsoring a barefoot award at the Horseshoe since it is such an achievement and, as yet, unrecognised. Unrecoginsed officially, that is. We have had numerous congratulatory messages from individuals, which has been wonderful.

    Now that I've found your blog, I look forward to keeping up with your barefoot news.

    ATB,

    Rebecca.

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  2. Nic Barker15 May 2009 at 11:40

    Hi Rebecca, and many congratulations to you and Ellie - I chatted briefly to your husband and her as they were walking around :-)

    I haven't spent a day at the GH before, and it was interesting how many horses were either booted or bare, even if only behind.

    That particular farrier is a little, shall we say, unreconstructed, and his view isn't totally representative - there are many even down here who are very supportive and interested in barefoot horses, so I hope you meet one of those next year!

    Was the vet positive? I knew several of them, and they have also made huge progress in their awareness of barefoot over the past few years :-)

    Congrats again, and hope to meet you next year!

    Nic

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  3. Nic Barker15 May 2009 at 11:42

    PS: Rebecca, is Ellie's breeder a guy called John who breeds QHs in South Wales? If so, I met him and another horse he bred when he was down here recently.

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  4. Rebecca K15 May 2009 at 14:42

    Hi Nic,

    The vets made no comment either way about her being barefoot. At some of the rides we have done, I have met some lovely farriers who are extremely encouraging. So I know that everyone's different with different opinions on the matter.

    I asked Barbara, the ride organiser, whether she had considered a barefoot award and she said that this is definitely something which will be going on the agenda for future years, which is great news. She also seemed to imply that Ellie was the first horse ever to complete an entire class at the Horseshoe barefoot on all 4 with no boots. It just goes to prove that it can be done.

    Ellie's breeders are called Jan and Dom and they live in the Lake District. They breed Crabbet's Arabians.

    Here's a link to their site if you're interested:

    http://www.arabianhorse.co.uk/serenhome.htm#hanson

    All of their horses are barefoot which is how I came to get into the wonderful world of barefoot myself!

    ATB

    Rebecca.

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  5. Nic Barker16 May 2009 at 10:20

    It can definitely be done :-) We hunt, rather than do endurance, but like you have found it rather enjoyable to discover what horses hooves are capable of and amaze a few people in the process :-)

    There are obviously different breeders using the same affix, hence my confusion - didn't think Ellie looked like a QH anyway (!)

    All the best,

    Nic

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  6. Martine Lettau17 May 2009 at 10:20

    Hi :)
    Congratulations on the GH award!! ;) Great idea to have a barefoot award.
    I do endurance with my Spanish Mustang Stallion Jim. Last year we did 65k barefoot and am hpoing to do another 65 in a couple of weeks and then an 80k to upgrade for advanced.
    None of my horses have ever been shod and never will be if I have anything to with it.
    I learned to trim my own about 4 years ago, and haven't looked back since.
    Would like to link to this blog if you want to reciprocate.

    Martine;)

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  7. Nic Barker17 May 2009 at 12:43

    Martine, you are welcome to link - thanks for your comment!

    Nic

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  8. Rebecca K18 May 2009 at 08:11

    Hi Nic,

    Just to say that it looks like Ellie's barefoot success has achieved international recognition!

    Here's the link:

    Hi,

    It was really lovely to meet you yesterday and have a good chat. Hope you have warmed up now!!

    It seems that Ellie's fame has reached internationaly proportions:

    http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/news/2009/05/093.shtml

    ATB

    Rebecca.

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  9. Rebecca K18 May 2009 at 08:12

    Sorry Nic, Don't know why you ended up with the first bit of a mesage to someone else! Sorry about that!

    Rebecca

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