The new boy...

...is confusingly called Bailey ;-) He is the latest, terribly handsome, rehab horse (I have a very long-standing soft spot for dun horses!) and is landing classically toe first at the moment. He has been shod in Natural Balance shoes up til now.

There will of course be lots more about him as he progresses but for now here are a couple of photos and his "day one" footage, above or in high definition at: http://www.vimeo.com/13159538.

"Horses hooves need support"

There are lots of phrases and ideas which are bandied about in connection with hooves, and in the past I, like many people, have often accepted them at face value without really thinking through whether they actually make sense or not.

The use of bar shoes and wedges, which I talked about last week, is one example. Seems a good idea superficially, but when you think about it more carefully, there are problems.

The idea that horses' hooves need "support" is another classic. I vividly remember a friend of mine, who is an equine bodyworker, telling me that she would never take her horses' shoes off "because I believe their hooves need support".

Support is an emotive word - it implies protection, care and cossetting, and suggests that by providing it we are doing the horse an enormous favour - perhaps even preventing him from harm. Surely only a monster would seek to deprive the horse of "support"?

"Support" is a word which is also frequently used in conjunction with remedial shoeing - low, under-run heels need "support" from a shoe. Again, it sounds like the best thing for a weak hoof.

Unfortunately, this type of external "support" has one huge drawback - it reduces stimulus to the frog and also tends to mean that the hoof loads heavily on the hoof wall; over time the internal support structures - particularly the digital cushion - weaken.

Its a terrible dilemma for the horse owner, especially if the horse is lame and it nerve-blocks to the caudal hoof. I recently saw a comment from an owner about exactly this type of horse; she had even considered taking it barefoot but had decided that her horse had such weak hooves that this would be disastrous - he needed the "support" of shoes because, without them, his heels would be "on the ground". The irony is that without stimulus from "the ground", his heels are likely never to improve.

Storm contrast

Here is an interesting set of photos - interesting if you are a hoof anorak, that is.... The top photo is of Storm's LF a while before he came here. You can see the heel buttress and that there is a lot of heel above the frog - if you laid a rasp across the back of the foot there would be a considerable gap between heel and frog.

The hoof is otherwise healthy-looking; it might look as if the heels are too high, though but in fact its the frog which is under-developed. You can imagine that this type of foot would have a tendency to land toe first because of the weak caudal hoof.

By comparison the 2 lower photos show Storm as he is at the moment. The frog has changed texture and is much more substantial - its a virtuous circle - the frog and caudal hoof are stronger so he is much more able to land heel first, making the frog and caudal hoof stronger so he is much more able to land heel first, making the frog and caudal hoof stronger...You get the general idea...!

A WHAT?!?!?!

The hunters are back in work for real now - you can tell because all 5 of them went out on exercise yesterday(!)...Sam, Edward and Richard (aka the Rockley Pony Clubbers) were all roped in to help put the miles on the hooves, and did a great job. Edward only spoiled it slightly by taking one look at Charlie and saying we should enter him in a ploughing match...

However, Charlie and I pay no attention to this gross aspersion - we prefer the opinion of our Master, who says that Charlie looks "MAGNIFICENT"! Its a good thing Charlie has never asked "Does my bum look big in this?" because the answer would invariably be yes, but how else is he supposed to gallop up the hills for the next 9 months....???

Quote of the week...

...from Frankie's new farrier (who is pro-barefoot, has a very handsome truck dog and sounds like a gem!):

"Sometimes I think a lot of farriers don't realise how much damage shoes do..."

There are only 2 ways to train a horse...

I've been thinking recently about the myriad "training methods" for horses which are out there at the moment, each with their own guru (as often as not) and each presenting itself as THE way to train.

When you look more closely, there are numerous similarities and overlapping themes which link them (even if they try to deny it!) but the individual trainers are understandably more interested in emphasising why they are different - which in such a crowded marketplace is only to be expected.

From the horse's point of view, though, its much simpler - there are only 2 ways to train a horse to do something (lets call it Plan A). You either (the "Carrot") make Plan A intrinsically attractive so that the horse is happy to do it or (the "Stick") you make Plan B so unattractive that Plan A becomes the lesser of 2 evils.

In the real world, of course, there can be occasions when both techniques are used at once, and often neither is right or wrong. For instance, you can get a horse in from the field and away from his friends by putting a headcollar on and leading him, or (if he loves his breakfast!) you can simply let him know that breakfast is served and watch him gallop in of his own accord.

Still, I find the "Carrot" and "Stick" a useful way to demystify training techniques and look at horse's behaviour. Here, for example, we often have rehab horses who have "behavioural" issues - sharp, lazy, bad to load or travel or whatever. I am not a "trainer" - my job is not primarily to solve these behaviours but to improve hoof health, and therefore soundness, and get each horse moving as well as possible.

What is fascinating, though, is the number of times that "behavioural" problems simply go away once horses are sounder and have better feet. Its not because we used a "Stick" to make the horse behave differently, but because of the "Carrot": the horse now finds easy and comfortable something which was previously painful or difficult - end of training problem.

Admittedly, once a horse is feeling really well, you can have a whole new set of challenges to deal with ;-)

Frankie - vet's assessment

An exciting follow up to yesterday's blog update on Frankie...He is now back home and his owner kindly arranged for him to go back to his original vet, Jason Tupper at the Royal Veterinary College, for re-assessment.

Frankie has quite a complicated history, being intermittently lame on both left and right front legs over an 18 month period. He would come sound for a short time but the lameness would recur when he came back into work. The left front was (and remains) his weaker foot, and his original veterinary assessment was that he was up to 5/10 lame, at his worst, on the left and up to 2/10 lame on the right.

The great news is that he has now been re-assessed and passed, sound :-)

His vet was not only pleased with his improvement but is really interested to see how Frankie gets on over the next 6-12 months.

I've put a short clip comparing his trot up here on arrival with how he was when he left: http://www.vimeo.com/12913304