Easter on Exmoor (we went hunting, obviously!)

Charlie, focusing as always on huntsman and hounds...

Here we go...Felix points out the huntsman is to our left...

Yup, its as steep as it looks :-)

Harry and Jackie, having a quick pit-stop

Charlie, looking as if the season has just started, not as if he is in his 9th month of the season!

10 days to go

Anyone who is planning to apply for the Rockley Scholarship, remember that the closing date is 16th April so your emails and references need to be in by then.

All the details of how to apply are on the page above and there is still time to get your applications in :-)

Happy birthday Kelly! Honestly, 25 isn't SO old :-)

Well, that's us back to reality - after 22 degrees, sunny and dry for the last 3 weeks, yesterday it started snowing. We then had hail, rain, more snow, sleet, a brief dry spell and drizzle. Luckily this wasn't enough to deter Kelly, who had come up to spend some quality time with Dexter on the eve of her 25th birthday...

 Dexter hates the rain, but not even the bitter north wind and her lack of appropriate clothing was enough to put Kelly off, so Bryan, Buster and I bravely accompanied them, notwithstanding Bryan's utter gloom about the dramatic deterioration in the temperature of his holiday resort.

Dexter demonstrates that despite his puzzling hoof he is more than capable of roadwork and posh trotting - and Kelly and I took our minds off the wintry weather by planning a day taking Felix and Dex competing XC later in the year!

Happy birthday Kelly, from Dexter and all of us at Rockley :-)

Bryan - totally under-rated yesterday so needs top billing today...

I made a terrible error in yesterday's blog.  I blithely said that Bryan had jumped at county level, only to be contacted by his PA who clarified that he had in fact not only jumped at international 4 star level but had also been on a Nations Cup team in his time(!).  I knew he was good but I hadn't realised quite what illustrious circles he moves in - not helped by the fact that Bryan himself has the most charming manners and would be last horse in the world to give himself airs and graces.

So today's post comes with a big apology and a notional kow-tow to Big Barefoot Bryan.

You have to admit, though, that he is doing a pretty good job of improving his hooves.  Comparing the photo from the day he arrived to now (2 months on), he has completely grown out the nail holes from his  shoes.  The horizontal mark is a good indicator of hoof growth and you can also see an angle change at the top of the hoof capsule.

Already his toe is shorter and his heels are also becoming less under-run though it will take another 4-5 months before the new growth is complete.

A big contrast in his sole shot too - the proportions of the foot above indicate that the palmar/caudal hoof is not being used, which was confirmed by Bryan's video footage when he arrived. 

Here he is a few weeks in...and today.  Look at how far the bars and heels have shifted backwards, as his hoof starts to load more effectively - its a virtuous circle. 

Here is a frog which is responding to work and a hoof which is able to work as it should - engaging at the back for shock-absorption and to allow for correct landing and loading of the limb above.

Finally the caudal shot.  The hoof below looks as if it actually capable of some proper work - and compare also the length of the hoof wall.  In the earlier photo the lateral side is longer but by now they are starting to even up as the load on the foot becomes more balanced. 

PS: I hope it goes without saying that its not trimming which has made Bryan's feet change...

For good measure, here is his updated footage.  He was landing toe first or flat on all 4 feet when he arrived, though his weakest limbs were LF/LH.  Its interesting to watch how the hind limb landings improve first and the last to improve is the LF.  I will update his footage again before he goes home, as his landings should then be better established and more definitely heel first. 

Bryan from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

Horses to confound all stereotypes

I am getting Bryan's updates ready to put on the blog this week.  He is a big, 17.2hh Belgian warmblood, a showjumper who has competed at county level and I hope will do so again [ETA: I am told that he has actually competed at national and international level - oops!  Sorry Bryan, I had no idea you were quite such a superstar!].  He does not, to put it mildly, conform to many people's idea of the sort of horse who would benefit from being out of shoes.

Then I got to thinking about Domino - as different from Bryan as chalk from cheese - a proper cob, lots of bone, lots of hair - who has the same size girth as Bryan despite being several hands smaller.  

Dom's owner was told that he wouldn't go barefoot because as a cob he was too heavy a type to cope without shoes.  So - what's YOUR stereotype...?

We have had horses here of all shapes and sizes :-) There are lots of people who think that horses "can't go barefoot" because they do a particular job, or belong to a specific breed - that's when the argument about genetics is wheeled out, along with the theory that thoroughbreds have had "the feet bred off them".

I really don't buy that, because the full thoroughbreds we've had through rehab have all done incredibly well and have some of the most radically changing feet.

I don't think hoof health is dependent on breed at all. We have a huge variety of horses for rehab: several Dutch warmbloods (KWPN); Belgian, Danish and Polish warmbloods; Irish Draughts, a Hanoverian, a Trakehner; we've had quarter horses, an Andalusian, Selle Francais, numerous Irish sports horses, Scottish and Welsh bred horses.  All of them have hooves which can and did improve given the right circumstances.

We've had horses as big as 17.2hh and as small as 14hh. We've had eventers, showjumpers, dressage horses, happy hackers, ex-racehorses, endurance horses, show horses, hunters, reiners.  We've had 5 and 6 year olds at the beginning of their careers and horses in their late teens who've been there, done that and got the t-shirt.

The one thing we don't have is horses who do nothing :-)   

Don't be constrained by the stereotype: hooves are dynamic, adaptable and capable of improvement, no matter what the horse.

Georgia finds her feet

Georgia came here with a fairly gloomy prognosis from her vet, who had described in great detail to me over the phone all that was wrong with her feet (DDFT damage, fibrocartilage erosion, flat feet, collapsed heels etc). He felt at the time that the best that we could hope for was a "reasonably sound retired horse".

Couple this with the fact that she had a hind limb extensor tendon injury and it was clear that her rehab could be an uphill struggle. However over the last 8 weeks Georgia has made good progress, from a tense, unlevel horse (above) to one who is starting to rebalance herself and move much more correctly. 

Georgia on a circle from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

The reason for this is that her hooves are undergoing some fairly radical rebalancing as well. The steep angle change you can see in the lower photo is the hoof growth over the last 8 weeks.  

From the top its obvious that the new hoof capsule will not only give her a shorter toe and stronger heels but there will also be a significant shift in medio-lateral balance.

Her palmar/caudal hoof is not yet as robust as it needs to be - and it won't be at its best until the new hoof capsule has completely grown in. Nevertheless, even with just a few weeks under her belt she is developing a stronger hoof which better supports her limb - so less strain on ligaments and tendons as well.

As you can see, her frog is nowhere near as strong as it should be (compare with Felix's hooves in this post) but its improved enough already to allow her to land better, particularly behind. 

Georgia from Nic Barker on Vimeo.

The One Trick Pony

I had my camera yesterday when we were out hunting with Felix and Charlie  - a lovely cool, cloudy day and after a couple of weeks of sunshine the moor has dried up a bit, so its no longer the bottomless morass we've been traversing all winter!

Charlie always makes us smile when he is out because he is a totally transformed horse when he is hunting.  At home, if he has missed a day and has to go out exercising its clear its done under protest.  He will amble along if he is led but under saddle has a tendency to assess how far he feels he should go (usually no more than a mile or so, especically if its hot).  When he reaches that point he simply stops and looks at the view, ignoring any attempt to make him go further.  Exercising, in his opinion, is a Waste of Time.

Out hunting, he is a different horse: utterly committed - he has a job to do, and its one which he loves. No matter what, he never takes his eyes off the huntsman and hounds and he is happiest up at the front with the master all day, making sure he isn't missing anything.

After all, you never know when the huntsman or the master might need a spare horse, in which case Charlie is there!

Charlie may be a one trick pony, but he is very good at his one trick :-)