No rain in Spain - a Pocholo update

Lots of you will remember Pocholo, a smart Andalusian who was here last year for rehab following a palmar hoof pain diagnosis. He subsequently moved back to Spain, as his owner Annette moved for work to Hong Kong but she still visits him regularly. This is her latest update (and LOOK - its SUNNY, its not muddy and people are riding in t-shirts!!!!!).

"I've just got back from seeing Pocholo in Spain and thought I'd drop you a mail with an update, as a year ago he was halfway through his stint at Rockley!  In short, he is doing brilliantly and I had an amazing couple of weeks with him.  He is fitter, straighter, more powerful and happier than I've ever seen him.  I used to be paranoid about his shoulders when I rode, as the first sign of things going wrong was him getting quite tight when walking, but he walked out beautifully and was so loose.

He had had two weeks off when we arrived (along with all the other horses) but was still very fit as they use him 2 or 3 times a week on the day rides, which are around 4 hours at all paces through the sand-dune forest and local beaches.  On our first ride on the Monday, he coped with most surfaces well but was a little 'ouch-y' at times on firm tracks with small stones.  He did a second day with my boyfriend, plus a short pub ride mid-week, then I took him again on the Friday.  By then, he was 100% on all surfaces, which just goes to show how important work is to maintain the condition of the feet through regular work.

His feet look quite different to when he was in the UK, I suspect this is because most work is on sand, which is very deep at this time of year (they've had no rain since May!!!!).  His hooves are very concave and the frogs are even smaller than in April, however he's coping so well on all surfaces that I don't want to worry too much about how they look.

[This is absolutely true. Horses kept and worked predominantly on deep soft surfaces like sand have very different needs to horses working on flat hard surfaces and their hooves will look totally different].

The digital cushion looks good despite the frogs and they seem to be wearing evenly.  He's on hay (which is actually a type of straw), coarse mix (nondescript, comes in big white sacks with no label!), pink powder and magox, plus oil for a week a month. So I just wanted to say thank you again for turning him around!  

I hope all is well on Exmoor and not too wet...Annette"[Think she is being ironic - chance would be a fine thing!]