Ahhhhhhh!

Just got this lovely photo of Dom, back home, being ridden by Georgia - so sweet! 

Nikki says: "Georgia had him doing some lovely figure 8s in walk and trot today. Dom was, as ever a total star for her."  :-)

NFU, Horse and Hound and KUDOS to Catherine!

I posted here recently about the exciting news that rehab owner Catherine Hodson had been successful in her fight against NFU. Her lovely mare, Rose, came to Rockley in 2010 and, as she was insured with NFU and came on vet referral, NFU should have met 50% of the costs of her livery under their "alternative therapy" clause.

They refused (although they had paid out for other horses) and Catherine was incredibly persistent. She refused to let NFU off the hook, sticking with the case over months and months, even when they appealed against the initial decision until finally the ombudsman confirmed the appeal in her favour. NFU have now agreed to pay out, and the decision was picked up and reported in this week's Horse and Hound as well :-)

There is a nice article on page 7, with a photo of Rose (who is very glamorous), and Rockley gets a mention too - thanks to Flora Watkins of HandH for a lovely piece - here's a snippet for you:

"Miss Hodson told HandH she had alwasy shod her horses until Rose, a Dutch warmbloood, began suffering from navicular. Miss Hodson, a lecturer in equine science researched the options and decided that Rockley Farm - which advocates controlled exercise over a variety of surfaces and dietary changes - would give Rose the best chance. Her vet agreed to write a referral...Following treatment at Rockley Farm Rose has been sound and in ridden work since November 2010."

In the article, Catherine also makes the very good point: "If I'd said to [NFU] "I want my vet to come up every day until I've used up all the £5,000 of my policy" they would have paid. But they wouldn't pay the £780 for Rockley."

H&H also quotes the Ombudsman's decision that our rehab has "proven efficacious results" and does not represent some "alternative therapy of dubious nature and quality" which NFU should not have to pay for :-)

I am very pleased for us and even more pleased not just for Catherine - who has slogged through masses of tedious paperwork (the WORST thing in the world) to get this result - but for all the other owners who are with NFU. Some of them are fighting claims at the moment. More (I hope) will not have to in future because of Catherine's trail-blazing efforts.

THANK YOU once again, Catherine - from ALL of us - we are very, very grateful, we salute you, and we WILL buy you many celebratory drinks at the RRR in September :-)

Grass, your horse and managing the risks

Its the time of year when its transparently obvious that one of the biggest challenges for horse-owners in the UK is grass. Even those who didn't believe what they were seeing in March are now in no doubt!

This isn't just an issue for owners of rehab horses (whom I always send home with reams of nutritional info and who are bored rigid of me banging on about diet and grass!)...

...its not even just an issue for owners of barefoot horses (though problems with grass show up earlier barefoot than shod)... Its something all horse owners should be aware of.

Laminitis is a major danger for horses in the UK, with our mild, warm climate, high rainfall and extensive pasture - often carefully managed to yield the richest possible grass(!).  But way before laminitis, there are warning signs when horses become footy or sole sensitive - and this is the time when preventative measures are most useful and take effect most quickly.

Grazing and how to manage it - and your horse - is something which I know is a big issue for many owners, so I've put this quick table together. Of course, its simplistic, but it gives you an idea of some of the risk factors - for your horse and in your fields - and as a quick guide I hope its useful (if you click on it, you can see a larger version).

Basically, the more of the factors in "red" that apply to your grazing OR your horse, the higher the risk (not necessarily of laminitis but certainly enough to cause footiness) - and 2 or more are what I would class a fairly high risk.  This is based solely on my own experience and that of owners across the country, so its not infallible but the patterns are the ones I see and hear about year after year, in horse after horse. 

The more of the factors in "green" that you can introduce, the safer you can make things. I realise that some things you won't be able to change, but at least this gives you an idea of what may help.

I'm very fortunate at Rockley that we are in an area designated by the powers that be as "Severely Disadvantaged Upland" :-) In other words, land where no dairy cow would survive for more than five minutes, where the fields are too steep for intensive agriculture and where the climate is too cold for modern grass varieties - so, perfect for horses, then!

Even so, I would never turn horses out 24/7in spring and summer. After all, our long hours of daylight mean that today the sun rose at 4.30am and its still light at 9.30pm - that's an awfully long time for the grass to grow. So at the moment I am turning out at about 7-8pm and bringing horses in at about 7am to go onto the tracks. However, as well as limited turnout, I have the benefit of old pasture, organic management and a cool climate, which together makes for fairly "safe" grazing.

In your yard getting to a "safe", "green"state may be a fairly complex picture where you need to factor in the type of grazing, climate, your horse's health and exercise levels. If some of these factors are outside your control you could easily tip into the "red" and have a horse who becomes footy or even (at worst case) laminitic, so its not something you want to take lightly...

...BUT most UK yards are set up for horses to have at least some time at grass, and let's face it - the horses love it! There is also the fact that we all (me included!) enjoy seeing our horses in beautiful fields, happily grazing, with lots of space to move.

So what to do?

Of course you may be able to ensure that your horse is never footy or laminitic by completely removing all grass, and in extreme cases this maybe necessary, but that's a fairly drastic solution and one which could be far more draconian than you need.

Most owners who have barefoot horses keep them on "normal" livery yards, where they have more-or-less safe grass, more-or-less rigid rules about turn-out and horses who are more-or-less sensitive to grass. Most owners - often through trial and error - can develop a cost-effective, practical system which keeps their horse safe so don't despair, even if you have a few set-backs along the way.

Management options

To get their horses into the "green" and out of the "red" some owners use grazing muzzles, some ask their yards for night-time turnout, some use dry-lots or arenas for turn-out. Most feed a sensible mineral supplement (like Pro Balance, Pro Hoof or Equimins Meta Balance). Some balance minerals to their forage. Some use tracks, some (fortunate people!) don't need to make any changes. Those with horses who have serious metabolic disorders may find that drugs like pergolide or metformin are a big help.

As always, its a case of doing what is practical for you, at your yard, for your horse, seeing what you can achieve - and above all, listening to your horse.  There is rarely one solution - most often its putting together several good management options which make the difference and get you out of the "red" and back into the "green".

If you still aren't sure whether grass is the issue, either take your horse off grass for a few days or think back to how he/she was in January. If either made a big improvement to comfort levels then chances are its the grass...

Of course, if there are elements beyond your control and you can't stop your horse from being footy, its not the end of the world if you use boots or shoes for the spring and summer.  This is obviously a less practical option for horses who - like our rehab horses - have navicular/DDFT type problems, but if you have horse with good caudal hoof health, it can be a sensible short term solution.

Abbey's road

Abbey came here just over 3 weeks ago, after making a fairly epic trip from France.  He arrived in what were termed "onion" shoes - not sure if its just a French thing or whether it got a bit lost in translation, but in any event they were a form of remedial shoes supposed to help his lameness and sidebone. 

He was already landing heel first but his medio-lateral balance was off and he wasn't loading evenly, though naturally you can't see that from the photos(!). 

I actually think his foot balance has already begun to improve and his foot looks much more supportive, though being only a few weeks out of shoes he is not yet comfortable on tough surfaces. 

As well as his onion shoes, he had pads which were effectively hiding rather weedy, thrushy frogs...

...which I am glad to say are starting to look more functional. You can see however that he still has a way to go before his heels are as supportive as they need to be. 

Finally, here are his caudal shots...balancing up nicely I hope you'll agree?!

RRR 2012 - book now to avoid disappointment!

Lea and I have finalised the details for the RRR 2012 with the very gracious Fiona from MKEC :-) Dates, as you know, are Friday 21st - Sunday 23rd September at Milton Keynes Eventing Centre.

Lea has put together a booking form and its available to download on the RRR Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/217935004889324/479360505413438/?notif_t=like .

Please fill it in and send it - with your payment (cheques payable to Natural Hoofcare Limited) - to Lea. If you've got any queries you can email either me or Lea at deerhound68@hotmail.co.uk
Please head your email RRR 2012 :-)

The cost (bringing a horse) is £50 (Saturday and Sunday); £70 (Friday afternoon til Sunday afternoon) or £35 for Saturday only. Camping (plus loos and showers - we WILL be spoilt this year) are included, as are the MKEC fab facilities - full details are in last week's post.

If you aren't able to bring your horse, you can come on your own for only £10 (which also includes camping) - again, please fill in the form so Lea has numbers and your details.

We have 50 spaces, so its rehab horses first, and please book by 10th August for a guaranteed place. After this, if there are spaces free we will let you know (and those of you who have already emailed, we will keep your details and get back to you if we have room). Hope to see you there!

The scholarship boy, new pals and progress

M, the Rockley scholarship boy, finally arrived this weekend. He is a TB (ex-racehorse) who has had lameness issues for around 2 years which remedial farriery didn't improve.

As usual with new arrivals, once he had been filmed and photographed he went out with Charlie and Felix. M quickly realised that Felix was the main man, but Felix had decreed that M could not join the cool gang until he had completed a refresher course in basic social skills with Charlie (Felix sent him back a couple of times just to make sure...).

Having passed Meeting-and-Greeting 101, he graduated to mingling with Legend, Abbey and Dali. I suspect he will need a few days in the relatively undemanding company of the boys before he is able to tackle meeting the girls, but we will see. I will of course post his hoof pics in the next few days.

Finally, by Sunday night the boys were all able to mooch together out in the fields - a lovely sight on a June evening...

The girls have also made progress recently.  Roo has started work under saddle and has proved a pleasure to ride, even though she makes some of the most evil faces you can imagine at the boys. Pics of her (and Abbey and Legend) are to follow this week, along with RRR 2012 news, so the blog will be busy.

Eva has also improved and I am including this clip for her owners, who have been away and so haven't been able to see her for a few weeks. On MRI she was diagnosed with a severe DDFT tear to her RF which extended from the pastern to the insertion and she was given a poor prognosis for a return to work. 

I don't have comparison footage, and the usual caveats about my arena (which has a very tough surface) apply, but Eva was still significantly lame RF/LH a few weeks ago and has made good progress since then. Although she still has a way to go, I hope her owners are as pleased with her as I am :-)

Useful things: Natty Web Development

This is a quick post in the "Useful things" series - not horse or hoof related, but incredibly useful if you either need a website or have one already (like me) which was previously hosted by an absolutely terrible company.

The Rockley Farm website has been running a good few years and I occasionally revamp or update it but since October last year I have been having lots of problems as the site host was taken over not once but twice and ended up with a company who shall remain nameless but who were about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

It was clear that I not only needed to update the site but also transfer the domain to a new host.  I went to Natty Web Development, who already came recommended, but the supposedly straightforward job of uploading the new site turned out to be incredibly fiddly. It was nobody's fault, just one of those tedious technical hitches which need a lot of time, patience, expertise and inspirational guesswork to resolve.

I, naturally, possess none of these attributes, particularly where computers and the internet are concered, so its entirely thanks to Martin at Natty and his endless telephone and email support that I have a website which was finally uploaded and is now running more smoothly than it has for a long time :-)

So, if you either need a website written or help improving an existing site, I unreservedly commend Martin and his team to you - a friendlier, more helpful, more knowledgeable, more cost effective service would be very hard to find!