It doesn't take long to settle in...

I love seeing new horses settled in, and after a busy week with both Taz and Nicky arriving its satisfying to see them already part of the gang and enjoying their new routine.

 Taz needs a kip in the afternoon in preparation for another night of partying out in the fields.

 Once out there, eating with best mate Zan seems a better idea after all...

 Meanwhile Nicky goes for a stroll accompanied by her new and most faithful admirer, Dillon - it was love at first sight...

Lots of good stuff

I had an email from Kate, who owns Saffy, the KWPN mare who went home a few weeks ago.  Kate is very pregnant but has been fantastically committed to keeping Saffy working now she is back home:

"Saffy is doing well. I have managed to keep her lovely and trim which I am extremely chuffed about. She had her first ever gallop last week. Yes for the first time in 4 years she hit a gear she never even knew she had under saddle! I was so impressed with her and grinning from ear to ear. I have so missed my pony the last 2 years.


She is thoroughly enjoying her hacking out and this is where she is happiest to trot forward and even canter. She is still a bit of an elephant in the menage, because she is unbalanced she makes no effort to swing through when trotting, and I think she gets some what bored. And she definitely will not canter yet out here. I did however introduce trotting poles today which woke her up and she really enjoyed it so I think variety is the key."

Not many expectant mums would still be doing fast work and trotting poles (!) and its great to hear that Saffy is doing so well :-)

Setting off from the meet - Dex is wondering whats going on but is up for it!

Time also for news of Dexter, who came to live here permanently when Kelly had to move to London for work.

A bit of a canter!

Charlie says: You'll have this hunting lark worked out in no time, mate

As far as we all know, he has never hunted before but he seemed to find it rather entertaining - after all, its what you do when you live on Exmoor...!

Best side to the camera, darling!

A brilliant vet, an open-minded owner, another new arrival

All change again at Rockley this week, with Nicky now settled in and best pals with Dillon, Lenny going home (comparison photos of him should be up here over the weekend) and big (BIG - 17.2hh!)  new boy Taz arriving. 

New arrivals of course are always exciting - after discussing a horse via email and photos and reading their veterinary reports, as well as speaking to their owners and vets, its always a big moment finally meeting the horse and there is always a sense of anticipation as he or she emerges from the lorry.

Although horses always come here under veterinary referral, with their vet's consent, its often the case that the owner has been the one who has first found out about our rehab and they have taken the initial steps towards finding out more and discussing with me and their vet whether rehab here would be suitable.

Taz however is one of a (currently) select group of horses who has a vet who is not only aware of the rehab programme at Rockley but has actually been here and ridden one of my own horses as well as being intimately acquainted with an ex-rehab horse :-)

I first met Polly Dick when her friend's horse, Paul, was a rehab horse here in 2009 and  I also posted about her last year.   I was thrilled when - as a vet now in practice in Lincolnshire - she recommended that Taz should come here not as a last resort but as a "first resort".

As you can see, Taz is also blessed with an excellent farrier who is extremely interested in learning more about barefoot and an incredibly dedicated owner - all in all, he has life sewn up :-)  More on him soon but meanwhile here is his initial footage.

Taz from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

PS:  YAY!! Our tractors have both been resurrected by Nigel Kingdon, tractor healer extraordinaire, and due once again to the good offices of Edward who brought his own (fully functioning) tractor round to tow my poor little Massey Ferguson out of the hay field when nothing else could... Combustion engines are beyond me - think I'll stick to repairing horses.... :-)

Hound puppies are GO!

As this week's theme is the start of the hunting season, what better than a hound puppy vid?

This is one which Nettle, Nelson and Nutmeg made specially :-)  They hope you like it!


Hound puppies are go! from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

Meanwhile its all go here but its taking me a little while to get all the new footage and photos up together - more tomorrow!

New girl Nicky

New girl Nicky arrived on Sunday but with all the rushing around getting haylage in, it wasn't till yesterday that I had the chance to take her photos and initial video footage.

Nicky is a QH mare who has been lame for a considerable time.  She was referred to the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket where she was found to have navicular bone damage and extensive soft tissue damage, including to collateral, impar and annular ligaments as well as to the DDFT.

She has had various treatments previously, including remedial farriery and Tildren and more recently being taken out of shoes, but she has remained persistently lame.  Her vet has been extremely helpful but is understandably dubious as to whether Nicky's lameness can be improved.

Looking at her photos and videos there is the usual collection of suspects - weak heels and frogs, long toes and what looks like a loading imbalance, with one heel bulb being distorted.

It was hardly even necessary to slow her footage down, as her poor toe first landing was obvious even to the naked eye but its always nice to have lots to work on :-)  More on Nicky soon!

Nicky from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

Its started!

Charlie says: "Its 6am...shouldn't I still be asleep?"

"There is the HOUND LORRY!"

An incredibly beautiful morning on Exmoor - a privilege to be out.

Very hazy, with amazing light which my camera can't really capture!

The moor looks completely different in the summer.

Even Bailey is happy to stop and admire the view - and watch hounds!

Its 8am, and now we are starting to think about cups of tea back at the trailers...

Goldfinch, who was one of our puppies back in 2008, says hello on her way back to the lorry. 

By the skin of our teeth...

We've got all our grass in - in the nick of time - barely half an hour before the heavens opened.  Hugely relieved but it was an incredibly stressful few days (and sleepless nights) as the weather was against us and the reliability of the forecasting dire.

Normal blog service will resume tomorrow but in the meantime thanks to Nicky and Terri for their understanding while they were at Rockley this weekend with their horses, as it wasn't quite as calm as usual(!).  Thank you to all of you for your good wishes and positive thoughts - it may have made the difference in keeping the rain off long enough to get everything baled :-)

Massive thanks to Sam for coming and helping out on Sunday morning and most of all, undying gratitude to Edward, who saved our bacon when not one but both of our tractors decided to die on the job and was still wrapping bales at 9pm last night.  THANK YOU, EDWARD!