One in a million

These two pictures are almost exactly four months apart. In the second picture the Grey is somewhat cleaner and a bit more muscled. But apart from that I think they look pretty similar. This is what I aim for in keeping her and it isn't always easy. This horse can drop weight almost overnight and while she can end up looking like a hat rack in a couple of weeks, it can take months to put the weight back on. That said in the summer she can get fairly porky.

She has taught me to feed by eye. Weighing rations is a good idea and I always know roughly how much she is eating by weight, but I don't stick rigidly to the scales when feeding her, it just wouldn't work. There are so many variables including what she has managed to forage in the field, the weather, the cows (they stress her out sometimes) and how many snacks she has managed to weedle out of passers by.

She is currently having just enough breakfast to sneak her supplements into. Breakfast is boiled linseed and about 200g of no sugar or mollasses alfalfa.

She is a long way from a top show or competition horse, but she is one in a million to me.

Bulking up their butts

This is one of the hills at Firle that we will use to bulk up the girls butts. The dots in the middle ground are a group of walkers. Horizontally they are probably less than 100 ft away. But what I haven't captured so well is that it is quite a long way down.

High performance barefoot

This is at Firle. I last rode here well over 10 years ago. Its great riding country, however there is an abundance of flint which can test the tenderfooted. But these cows seem to be having a great time!

Feet can grow really fast

The side on shots show the same foot in January, March and April. Our trimmer was out of action during February and March and you can see how despite lots of road work the foot just 'ran away'.


The heel shots show March and April. The heels had got too long and the Grey was moving like a drunken camel. With her heels a more comfy length (for her) she goes like an express train on greased rails.



These shots show the solar domes on the front feet. Despite less than perfect heels/frogs and living mostly on a rather soggy grass track she is still rock crunching.

Spot the difference - take two

These are all pictures of the same foot (you can see the pigment in the sole is the same). The first one was taken on the 24th January 2009 and the last was taken this morning, 22 April 2009. The main change in management has been washing, drying and then spraying the frog with a variety of potions (testing for efficacy and ease/safety of use.) This foot is not picture perfect, but the horse (the Grey in this blog) seems happy, rock crunching and apparently tireless.

Everything has gone blue

I have a new camera phone and it seems to make everything blue, so apologies for this picture. The out of focus is my fault though! But I thought even though its not perfect, this picture does show how well Madam is muscling up. We have just got back from scooting about the common and many gossip sessions made us rather late back. Its amazing how many people want to stop and talk. Fortunately the girls are good natured about it.

Target practice

Madam is quick to comment on just about everything. If she were a person she would be the nosey neighbour twitching their curtains and writing to the newspapers to complain.

I doubt she is trying to make her stable easier to muck out. I have a suspicion she thinks my breakfast making is not up to scratch....

Ooops I did it again

Normally I spend hours plotting routes, sometimes I just follow my nose. This usually means I either get very lost, go much further than I had allowed for or both. Today I didn't get lost, but we did go much further than expected. The girls felt so well, we just kept adding in extra little bits. We ended up doing nearly 16 miles, mostly on the road.

The big news is the Grey managed a) to be ridden down hill b) coped with the whole distance (ridden) c) the girls are learning each others bad habits, Madam had a go at spooking at drains and the Grey tried her hoof at napping.

On the way back we ran parallel to the steam railway - and ended up practically on top of the engine as we nearly crossed a bridge as it went under. The girls were brilliant, me rather less so.

Rufus Ride

Sorry no pictures. Madam has successfully completed her first endurance ride. Just a baby one of 23km, but psychologically huge. I was worried about her 'Mum'. Her 'Mum' was worried about her feet. I don't think Madam worried about anything, except could she catch up with whichever horse happened to be in front of her.

She did surprise us - we had always thought her too laid back to be very competitive, but not any more!

We had a bit of drama, one competitor came off 200 yards from the finish and was knocked out. Took the ambulance over an hour to arrive.

Madam's pulse on starting was 46 and at the finish it was 48. She floated during the trot up, we were so proud of her and the stewards were kind enough to be encouraging of our barefoot efforts.

Tall feet and flares

Trimmer came today, lovely guy, but declared the girls were 'perfect'. But Madam has flares, with a little bruising in the wall at the heel and the Grey has very tall feet. Her attachment is good, so rather than flaring she ends up walking on 'cans'.

This presents something of a dilemma. I may end up doing the training so I can trim them myself. For now I rasp a bit off the walls for the Grey and roll Madam. Then I ride them out. They both go much better, so I breathe a sigh of relief. For now.

Experiment with flooring

Our land is rented and is in a heavily regulated area. So a 'proper' gravel, hard core etc track is out. But I do want to do some passive conditioning with the girls if I can. So we are having a go at solving two problems at once. The other problem is the field shelter's dirt floor is permanently sodden.

This is Madam trying out the new ballast floor (mix of sand and shingle). She looks happy enough, but then she will always pose for a camera.

OH dug the dirt floor out, put a slope on it and lined it with a permeable membrane and put in a drain. The we put a ton of ballast on top. All hand barrowed by yours truly (who said barefoot was easy.......).

So far it is working well. The floor is no longer wet and the girls feet are benefiting from the passive conditioning. I was worried about it getting stinky, but we clean it out daily and if one of the girls pees on it we slosh it with dilute disinfectant.

And a big plus is our landlord has agreed to us doing a discrete area outside the field shelter too.

The downside is at the moment only one horse can be conditioned at a time, because Madam doesn't do sharing and even though the shelter is just about big enough for two, she won't let the Grey in.

Spot the difference?

These pictures were taken 29 days apart. The frogs look fairly terrible, but I think in the second picture the deep central cleft is filling in and looking rather less grotty? I have been using an OTC Athlete's Foot spray for two weeks and as everything else has remained the same it is probably safe to assume that the spray has made all the difference.

When I bring the horse in at night, I scrub the foot thoroughly with plain water, dry it with paper towels and then spray. The can says to use twice daily, but once seems to be working okay.

Sleeping is an important part of getting fit

The girls aren't working particularly hard, but they are being very careful to make sure they get enough sleep. The first two pictures show them having a post breakfast snooze - note how Madam is posing for the camera as usual. The last picture shows them just after an exercise session. Madam appears to be asleep on her feet!

They are currently working 5 days a week and are racking up about 25 miles a week, our target is to average 50-70 miles a week, so we have a way to go yet.

Bogeyman training

Madam takes a keen interest in everything, including having her photo taken. She learns really quickly and is very easy going which is just as well.

Today's exercise was meant to be a straightforward 5 mile walk on a simple, quiet, road circuit. We got past the various bright yellow tree cutting, ditch digging etc machines very well. And the chickens that exploded from the hedge.

But on the way home we were 'properly' attacked by a dog. We have spent a lot of time training the girls how to deal with the gobby 'all mouth no trousers' type and they are pretty good. But this one was seriously trying to sink its teeth into Madam's front legs. She was really good, she hopped up and down a bit trying to keep her legs out of the way and went backwards a little, but was really incredibly calm in the circumstances. And the dog just kept coming, in spite of the fact that it was risking getting squashed. I accidently dropped the Grey, who was brilliant, tucked herself out of the way and stood on command.

Eventually the owner dragged the dog away, I caught the Grey and we went on our way. But this was on a road, on a blind bend. How different if would have been if a) the girls had panicked b) a car had come round the corner. Unfortunately we know from experience about b) as this scenario is very similar to how the Grey got badly injured a few years ago.

We work hard to train the girls for all circumstances, I wish dog owners (and yes we have a dog) would do the same.

Aunty Beeb was right again

3pm today, it was warm enough for the Grey to fall asleep in the sun (if you squint you can see she isn't even tied up). Half an hour later and the field was blanketed with hail. We were out doing hill work, but scooted back before we all got too wet and cold. Then early to bed for the girls. OH was busy repairing the damage to the fencing wraught by last nights gales. The BBC weather forecast predicted a hail shower sometime between 3-7pm. Right again!

Does my bum look big in this?

I wasn't sure it was wise to take the girls out today. They had yesterday off and were feeling quite fresh. It was raining and quite windy but even so they were actually very well behaved. We passed a pub today - the first picture is them admiring themselves in the windows.

Before I caught them they both did their best to demonstrate how well they are feeling. Madam kicked so high she hit the tree branches (above her head in the second picture) with her hind legs. The third picture shows the 'lame' Grey giving Madam a run for her money. And yes they have trashed the grazing in that part of the paddock. This is the electric fence that Madam climbs through whenever the electric is off or the batteries run low.

Making strides

This is Madam's Mum riding her and leading the Grey. To me they look pretty happy. We never thought we'd see the day. In the field Madam can be pretty bossy and is quick to lift a leg at the Grey. She is even worse if you try and lead them in-hand together. But touch wood we seem to have got them working together like this. Although it doesn't work so well if you ride the Grey and lead Madam.

This weekend they did over 7 miles on roads and tracks on Saturday, to help wear their feet down and 6 miles on grass with canter intervals on Sunday to build their fitness. But Madam did the cantering without the Grey in tow. We ride the Grey whenever she is sound enough, but multiple injuries, not least coming worst off in an altercation with a car make it very tricky. However she stays sounder if we can keep her as fit as possible.

Are you feeling footy?

The grass is growing faster than the girls can scoff it, even though we have really restricted their grazing area. As yet it is too wet to fully implement their summer track, but it won't be long.

We were concerned the sugar in the grass might start to show as footiness, especially in Madam. But so far, judging by performance they are ok.

I took them out ride and lead today and headed for a bit of gravel track. Madam kept offering trot even on the really horrible bits. Then she jumped a line of bricks set into the ground. I guess her feet are feeling ok.

We were worried that they would bicker during the ride and lead, but bar a bit of 'competitive trotting' so far its been ok. They seem to realise that it is really important that they behave and they rise to the challenge beautifully.

Contracted heels and the smell of socks

Here are Pickles, the Grey Mare's feet; LF, RF, LH, RH. You can see how awful her frogs are in front. But believe me this is the improved version and they are still a work in progress.

Her heels got very contracted and who can say why, because bar two or three sets of shoes she has always been barefoot. It may have been because my farrier was advised to leave her heels longer, or because her suspensory injuries made it too painful to put her heels down.

She is currently more or less heel first landing, she doesn't have classic thrush, there is no discharge or black goo and no real smell, apart from the faintest whiff of socks. I have tried the usual range of potions, recommended and otherwise. To date we seem to be making the best progress with an OTC athletes foot spray. Certainly in the past 5 days that I have been using it there has been a noticeable firming up and improvement in consistency of the frogs and the deep crevices seem to be filling in rather than eroding. I will continue to take photos and if I get any really good ones I will post them for comparison.

Strong personalities

When I was growing up the aim was always to be good enough as a rider to be able to get the best out of any horse. Nothing was too much of a challenge and if at first you didn't succeed you just had more lessons and kept trying. And if you fell off you were embarrassed at your incompetence and you just got back on.

Now it seems to be that horses are expected to be automatons. Quiet at all times no matter what the duress and if anything doesn't run to plan it must be their fault and they either get sent to a 'trainer' or the sale yard. Wny is this? And where is the fun? Why not just get a motorbike or a mobility scooter!

I like horses with personality and preferably a bit of 'sass'. Madam is perfect in this respect. She is a kind, sweet and very genuine horse, but she is nobodys fool and she takes a keen interest in everything. This picture is her supervising me making the feeds last night. You will see she is already in her fly rug.