Hill work, Exmoor style!

When Krista was down visiting Buddy at the weekend we went off-road and she was very impressed with our hills and how well Buddy coped on steep, slippery terrain. I thought she might enjoy these photos of us going down a proper hill out hunting...

You can just see the huntsman in the middle of the picture, and that's our intrepid master in blue.

Huntsman is still in sight - and Charlie has one ear on him and one on hounds, of course.

This is the sort of hill which  - when I first hunted on Exmoor - I would have assumed horses couldn't get down. Turns out they can ;-) 

 It never looks quite as dramatic in a photo but it is quite steep...

 After all, those in front are only a few feet ahead of us but already a LOT further down :-)

 Charlie is an old hand at traversing Pixie Rocks - in fact it was on this very track that he had to suddenly step up to the plate and be the huntsman's horse, many seasons ago. It was quite a challenge for a youngster but he was, as always, a very good boy.

 Looking down...

 and looking up...even a bit of blue sky!

Buddy's 8 week update

Buddy, a 6 yr old eventer, has now been here 8 weeks. His owner was down this weekend and we are both really pleased with his progress. He has massively improved on a circle (he had been assessed as 2/10 lame by his vet) and has for the first time started to open out in front and drive through from behind. 

He is also steadily becoming more competent on hard surfaces and these changes are borne out by the changes in his feet. Above is his RF on arrival - not the foot he was lamest on but the worse foot in terms of structure and appearance. 

There are many more changes he needs to make but he is beginning to develop stronger and thicker soles and his palmar hoof is considerably stronger, meaning he can now land consistently heel first. 

Lateral shots show that he is more stable in the palmar hoof and more willing to load it as opposed to standing on tiptoe as he was above. As a result the hairline is less distorted though again he has a long way to go as he only has an inch or so of good hoof capsule at the moment. 

The LF was his lamer foot but was less contracted.

Still its also becoming steadily stronger and more healthy.

Lateral shots again show the new angle of hoof growth  - only an inch today but in a few months he will have a whole new hoof capsule and should be feeling ready to take on the world. 

Alfie goes home

Alfie the Morgan went home yesterday (after a slight false start when his lorry had a tantrum). I've been really pleased with how well he has done and it was very satisfying to be able to lunge him for his owner, Sue, on a lovely sunny day and for him to be strutting his stuff and showing off his best posh trotting  - and cantering...(!)

Alfie arrived in shoes but had the tremendous advantage of feet which hadn't been shod till he was 8 years old so he had a head-start when it came to rebuilding a well-developed palmar hoof. 

As usual,  the frog and digital cushion is the key to a better landing and improved soundness. Compare the proportions of his foot and how much more influential the back of the foot is in the photo taken on his last day. Bear in mind too that his foot should improve further over the next 3 months. 

...and this is why the palmar hoof is more substantial out of shoes...

Very sad news

Many of you will have already seen the post about M on the Phoenix forum.  M of course was the scholarship horse who was here over the summer and he went home in September. He had many issues before he arrived - dire feet, of course but also an unexplained RH lameness which did not block to the foot and which had been ongoing for some time.

Rachel, his owner, had done everything for him - she'd had her forage analysed, fed him  the best diet sshe possibly could and had also worked extensively not just with me but with her vet and a bodyworker to try and give him every chance.

Very sadly despite the best efforts of everyone who knew him the RH lameness got worse and at the end of last week Rachel made the heartbreaking decision to have M put to sleep.

Its a tragic end to our first scholarship but M not only taught all of us a tremendous amount but left us with some very happy memories. My favourite footage of him was some we took in July when he was having lots of fun exploring the hayfields with his buddies.

Big Dave and bodywork

Big Dave has been here for nearly 8 weeks  - for anyone who has joined the blog since he arrived, we cal him Big Dave because he is over 19hh and completely dwarfs all the other horses at Rockley. 

Dave is the gentlest soul and is obsessed with our 6 month old foal, Bryher (currently 13.3hh), who likewise adores Dave and is never happier than when Dave is either grooming him or picking him up by his rug. No, I don't have a photo but will try to get one...

Dave arrived (the photo above is on day one) with soft tissue and bone damage diagnosed to his RF but a major problem for him was also the fact that he was - as you can see - very weak behind. This was partly a function of his size and age - he is only 7 yrs old  - but was something we needed to try and improve to allow him to get back into consistent work.

As you can see from the photo taken yesterday, he is still weak behind but is, I think, stronger than he was on arrival and he also seems to be coping better with hills and turns. These photos are a good illustration of how fundamental feet are to the comfort of the whole horse - bodywork can only be truly effective once feet are healthy and can properly support the horse. 

His front feet were landing heel first when he arrived but he wasn't loading evenly - instead landing laterally and tipping onto the medial side. Its hard to compare the photos because his feet are admittedly muddier in the lower photo but he is sounder on his RF than he was initially and I hope that this, together with a stronger hind-end, will make a big difference. 

Beano's 5 week update

Beano is a trakehner who arrived here in December already long term barefoot but with a weak palmar hoof and a history of sensitivity to hard ground. 

As you can see, there was already a lot to like about his feet - good concavity, healthy frogs and fairly even loading - and he was therefore able to do more at an earlier stage than some horses who come here.

Changes and improvements in already good feet do still occur but of course are less dramatic. Still its nice to see that his frog and palmar hoof are becoming stronger and are developing better structure.

The main difference from the lateral shot is the shorter toe - there is a difference in angle as he was standing on a slope in the lower photo (too dark in the barn!) which is a bit misleading. I'll try and get his next update on a brighter day! 

Your Horse article!

I had a call back in November from a writer who was doing an article on barefoot for Your Horse magazine and its in the current issue :-)

They have featured gorgeous Bailey, a rehab from over 2 years ago - and as always huge thanks to Lainey, who agreed to tell his story yet again to the journalist. He makes a very fitting pin-up!

I've been involved in a quite a few articles for horsey magazines over the years but I think this is definitely one of the clearest and most informative.

I hope it will not only encourage lots of owners but also give them the tools to make an informed choice about whether to go barefoot or whether to stay shod - after all, as all of you know all too well, its not simply a case of whipping shoes off and hoping for the best!