Nothing is quite as simple as it seems

I read an interesting post on Wiola's blog the other day.  She was reflecting on whether horses prefer being in or out, and her post includes a link to another blog by a writer who obviously believes horses shouldn't be kept inside for most of the time.

Well, fair enough - I think most of us are aware that horses aren't at their best, either mentally or physically, when they are kept stabled for too long.  However, as Wiola says in her post, it can work for some horses particularly if they are in a very busy routine with lots of out-of-the-box activity for much of the day.

She also highlights how incredibly adaptable horses are: they commonly tolerate being kept in different extremes - from 24/7 turnout with no shelter to 24/7 stabling - and adjust surprisingly well in most cases to less than ideal domestic environments - its one of the secrets of their success, after all.

With the horses here, I am fortunate to be able to give them lots of choice most of the time.  One of the joys of having tracks is that you don't have to choose between stables or turnout.

 On a track, horses can get the benefits of turnout - foraging, movement and social interaction - even when the weather is too wet or grass too sugary for access to fields to be a good idea but you can also provide some of the benefits of stabling - shelter, dry footing and hay or haylage (with the downside of having to muck out, of course - nothing is all upsides!).

The interesting thing, though, is that once you give horses these choices, their decision-making appears more complex.  As Wiola says, there are constants which horses always want - food, water, companionship - but if these are available both inside and outside, then things become more interesting.

Horses (at Rockley at least) don't always prefer being outside.  Last Tuesday, when we had severe storms, most of the horses spent most of the night in the barn.   During the summer, on hot days when the flies are bothersome, they will also spend as much time as they can inside.  Conversely, on a bright moonlit night they will spend as much time as possible outside.  They aren't overly bothered by rain - its wind, and light, which determines where they want to be.

If you are used to horses being stabled individually at night, its interesting to observe that horses actually are happiest in groups, whether inside or outside.  After all, in a field they tend to sleep in groups so why should it be any different inside?

Our barn is set up traditionally, with large boxes, but when I open these up at night in the winter its not uncommon to find 3 horses all resting in one box when I go in last thing.

So when you are asking if your horses prefer being in or out, there are other questions you need to take into account - the answer is unlikely to be a simple yes or no :-)

Do they have companionship, whether in or out (horses will not use shelters if they are being bullied but some also hate being inside alone)?

Do they have access to forage, whether in or out (in the winter lots of horses appear to "prefer" coming off the fields simply because grazing is poor or non-existent)?

Do they have the ability to get out of the wind (a shelter which is facing into the wind will never be popular)?

What is the footing like?  Horses will often avoid boggy, poached land out of preference whether its a field or a track, so provide well-drained, dry areas if you can.

Is there enough space for horses to get inside without feeling threatened (there is no point having a 12ft shelter and expecting 3 or 4 horses to be able to use it)?

And even if you think you know the answers, they can surprise you!  On Tuesday morning the weather here was so grim and wild that I was prepared to leave the horses in, if they wanted, after they had been fed - they had clearly been inside most of the night sheltering from the storm, the winds were gusting at 60-70mph and we had horizontal rain sheeting in from the west, inches and inches of it.

After breakfast, though, they made it pretty obvious that they wanted to be allowed out, even though the weather to me looked horrendous.  Sure enough, about half an hour later the rain had stopped and the wind was dropping - as the horses obviously knew it would...

Progressing in the fog...

...or the further adventures of the Rockley Pony Club, in session for the first time in 2012...

Present were Stacy and Flynn (officially the Old Stagers, as Flynn is going home soon), Emma and Nico (aka the Bouncing Bomb), Sarah and Solar (who impressed me no end with his bravery through floods which he hadn't encountered before) and last but by no means least - since they were in front the whole way - Sophie and Thomas ("I am the smallest but clearly I have to be in the lead AT ALL TIMES and NO-ONE is passing me!).

Sophie, Thomas, Stacy and Flynn braving the weather

Sarah and Solar, heading in the right direction

Emma making essential pre-flight checks :-)

None of these horses are at the end of their rehab - even Flynn has at least 2-3 months to go before his feet are as good as they can be, but every step they take now is a step forward rather than a step back. 

The barefoot college

This caught my eye  - for obvious reasons - on Facebook but after I had clicked on the link and started the video I was hooked :-)

The speaker, who has a great sense of humour and is obviously an incredibly ground-breaking thinker, is talking about giving people solutions and enabling them to share skills and educate each other.  At his Barefoot College there are no certificates given out.  Instead, he believes that you should be "certified by the community you serve".  Fantastic!

http://www.ted.com/talks/bunker_roy.html#.TwfPMO2BSoB.facebook

Yesterday 6 weeks, today 7 weeks...

Today's rehab update focusses on Mr Knightley - he likes a decent kip as much as the next horse but luckily this hasn't stopped him improving his hooves. 

Mr Knightley has been here for 7 weeks, so he is a week ahead of Ted, whom I blogged about yesterday.  

Mr Knightley had been unshod for a long time before he arrived but, as you guys already know, although that can often be a step forward it doesn't guarantee healthy hooves.  Mr K came from a dry, hot environment but as his owner had spotted, he had quite a bad central sulcus infection in 3 out of 4 feet as well as poor hoof balance which had led to hind limb problems as well as front limb problems. 

Knightley's frogs still aren't perfect but his hooves are in much better proportion than they were when he arrived and have healthier soles as well. 

Knightley's hooves from the side give a clue as to how much his feet are changing.  The top photo shows him on the day he arrived and the lower photo is the same hoof today - a clear angle change and rapid growth over the last few weeks. 

Of course, not all of the hoof growth has happened over the last 7 weeks but its great to see his hooves rapidly strengthening. 

These photos give the clearest indications of why barefoot isn't the whole story.  Out of shoes on day 1 - above - Knightley still had high heels and a weak frog which wasn't strong enough to allow for a heel first landing.  You can also see the central sulcus split, or sheared heel.   

After 7 weeks, the hoof wall is lower, the frog and caudal hoof is much stronger and he is definitely getting there, even though he has a way to go.   

More updates to follow!

Nearly 6 weeks

Ted has now been here nearly 6 weeks and is the first update of 2012 - I have masses to put up so bear with me and I will try to get updates on all the rehab horses posted in the next few days.   Unfortunately the weather has made photos difficult - its dark even in  the barn, even during so-called daylight hours, so I apologise for the lighting issues(!).  

Flash isn't an option, as it distorts hoof angles, which is the last thing Ted needs - he has enough going on already!  Here are his feet at day one, which you may recall from the last update...

Here he is a few days afterwards - you can see how the foot initially looks collapsed without the wedges.  The angles are actually pretty much the same but without being jacked up behind the whole foot appears longer.

Its interesting that the wedge makes the hoof pastern axis appear better, but without actually building up the internal structures of the foot at all.

Below is the same foot taken yesterday - and if you look at the line of new growth, you can see that Ted is already determined to grow a hoof at a healthier angle - and one which will improve the whole hoof, from the inside out.  

 He has the most dramatic angle change I've seen since Zan started growing a new hoof capsule - it makes his toe look even longer but  - as you can see from the sole shots - there is nothing to be done from a trimming point of view without being excessively invasive.

Once the new angle is complete, his toe will be shorter and his heel in the right place - without the need for wedges or fillers.  More importantly, a stronger caudal hoof will allow him to land better: heel first instead of toe first.

Here is his LF - the worst foot - in his remedial shoe and today.  As is usually the case, the shoe was providing stability but not allowing the hoof to strengthen - that only happens when it can actually start to work.   Look at how long his hoof wall was in shoes - even though his foot still looks long at the toe, its much shorter and stronger than it was in bar shoes.  

And for completeness, his sole shot from a few days out of shoes...

and today...

...a much better frog and a hoof which is starting to get back to correct medio-lateral balance.

Over a thousand miles...

Its only the first week of January, but on Exmoor we're more than halfway through our hunting season and - incredibly (especially as I have been busier than ever and not able to get out as often as I would like) - our own 4 horses have already covered more than 1,000 hunting miles barefoot this season.

As usual, Felix and Charlie lead the way - both have more than 300 miles under their hooves and together they have clocked up more than 700 miles so far.  They should, with luck, and if their other seasons are any guide, have many more miles to go.

Bailey and Dexter don't get out as frequently but have nevertheless done well, especially as Dex is only in his first season and Exmoor is a tough test for any horse.

For me, their mileage is even more impressive because for the last couple of months the whole of Exmoor has been saturated.  We get a lot of rain at the best of times but this winter is something else - even farmers who have been here for decades are saying they haven't seen it as wet.

For the horses, who are already dealing with steep hills and sharp descents, this means that every mile is even harder work, through deep, slippery ground which is a drag on muscles and tendons.  Here's to some drier ground in the next few weeks...!

Progress and the healthy hoof

Its that odd time of year - the hiatus before the New Year really gets under way.  My inclination is to look forward and be optimistic but its still midwinter, the days are short and the weather is unkind and its a time when you can't avoid being realistic.

Over the last year, more horses than ever have come here for rehab and more and more owners have educated themselves about hoof health and lameness.

But will this be the year that vets start educating themselves about hooves?

Of course I've been fortunate enough to meet some brilliant vets - sceptical but open-minded, which is the best combination.  But I've also met complete indifference and sadly this is the more common reaction.

As I said last year, I'd understand completely if the view was "we're interested but we need more research".  I would be ecstatic if someone was intrigued enough to use the research results I've got and analyse them further, or develop more research - which is something I don't have the skills to do.

I find indifference frustrating, though, particularly when for many of these horses everything else has been tried and has failed.

This is a post I seem to write in one form or another most years; maybe next year I will be writing a different post.

I think for that to happen, though, vets would need to become familiar with something which I think most of them have never seen: a healthy, hard-working unshod hoof.

I know many of you will have read the following quote before, but its so good that I make no apologies for posting it again.  It still sends a chill down my spine whenever I read it.  It was written by David Wootton in his excellent book, "Bad Medicine"; if you don't know it, do read it if you've got a minute, because its an incredible piece of writing:

"Think for a moment what surgery was like before the invention of anaesthesia in 1842...  Imagine taking pride above all in the speed with which you wield the knife - speed was essential, for the shock of an operation could itself be a major factor in bringing about the patient's death.  


Now think about this: in 1795 a doctor discovered that inhaling nitrous oxide killed pain..yet no surgeon experimented with this.  The use of anaesthetics was pioneered not by surgeons but by humble dentists.  


One of the first practitioners of painless dentistry, Horace Wells, was driven to suicide by the hostility of the medical profession.


When anaesthesia was first employed in London in 1846 it was called a "Yankee dodge".  In other words, practising anaesthesia felt like cheating.   Most of the characteristics that the surgeon had developed - the indifference, the strength, the pride, the sheer speed - were suddenly irrelevant. 


 Why did it take 50 years to invent anaesthesia?  Any answer has to recognise the emotional investment that surgeons had made in becoming a certain sort of person with a certain sort of skills, and the difficulty of abandoning that self-image.


If we turn to other discoveries we find that they too have the puzzling feature of unnecessary delay...if we start looking at progress we find we actually need to tell a story of delay as well as a story of discovery, and in order to make sense of these delays we need to turn away from the inflexible logic of discovery and look at other factors: the role of emotions, the limits of imagination, the conservatism of institutions.


If you want to think about what progress really means, then you need to imagine what it was like to have become so accustomed to the screams of patients that they seemed perfectly natural and normal...you must first understand what stands in the way of progress"