Heart and his Harem - Tracey and her Travels

Here I will hopefully entertain and inform you as I explain interesting daily happenings in and away from my yard - When we go to compete, following the birth and growth of a foal, the transition of a horses hooves to barefoot soundness etc. Basically anything that has to do with the daily life of me with my horses.

Mar 10, 2010, Way to go Chance!

Woop woop! Chance dropped and rolled RIGHT OVER this morning. A sure sign of a healthy horse (or pony). I had just washed all the mud off him Gggrrrrrrrrrrrr! But I more than forgave him, for seeing such a joyous sight.

Mar 6, 2010, Hoof Boots - The shoe of the future!

Making the transition, or a permanent new, healthy alternative for your equine companion is easier with hoof boots.

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Mar 2, 2010, DRI-RIDER! Oh yes!!

My new waterproof full-chaps from www.justchaps.es got a test and a half today as the rains have returned. And as we know here in Spain it doesn´t rain but it pours!

DRI-RIDERS lived up to their name, not only keeping me bone dry, but also just the right temperature. I was worried I´d cook inside them as they have a fine fleece lining and as much as it rains here it doesn´t get cold like in the UK.

So me suitably clad, the horses also got to test their new waterproof exercise sheets from Decathlon. They worked just fine to. Though I don´t think the horses were over impressed! Training in the pouring rain did speed Heart up though - in a rush to get home. Suska is going to need a new name if she keeps going the way she has started. Something like ´White Lightening´ might be apt!

I just need to sort some waterproof gloves now! Because lets face it, this rain is showing no signs of letting up and life just has to go on. Now day 73 give or take a day of sun here and there!

Feb 28, 2010, Exposing ourselves!

LL and I had a fun day at the equestrian centre in Estepona yesterday. It was great to meet some people who read my little editorial in the monthly magazine Andalucia Life and to have a few others approach me with cries of "you´re the barefoot lady".

Besides selling a few pairs of our funky chaps, the word is obviously beginning to spread regarding barefoot horse husbandry. A couple of people seriously picked my brains on the subject and one asked me to look at their horse there and then.

In the luxurious large stall I found a clearly well fed and cared for horse. But one more miserable I haven´t seen even amongst the beaten, abused and starved animals I have sadly encountered over the years. His ridiculously high hooves, with their underslung contracted heels, long toes and extremely stinky bacteria infestation weren´t just the cause of his stumbling that the person informed me he constantly did, but also the cause of a skin allergy the poor boy was also suffering. This being a direct result of an unhappy horse. Of course I was looked upon as barking mad - you get used to it - but if they resolve the hoof problems they are guaranteed to resolve the allergy. The "trapped" deformed hooves are limiting blood circulation, weakening the horses ability to fight infections and, just like humans, when stressed side affects can be physical and not just necessarily mental.

Though only there until early afternoon it was a tiring day. LL didn´t stop chatting and handing out leaflets. We were both on our feet all the time. But it was a day well spent. And the rain held off (yeah!), despite a lady rather dramatically running past us all calling out "there´s a storm coming, there´s a storm coming", causing me to look behind me in case it was about to bite me on the butt!

(and I don´t think LL folded her arms once LOL)

Feb 21, 2010, Pregnant Mare Scare

Oh Misty, we love her so much and don´t want anything to happen to her. Now we have the added worry of her unborn foal after the vet confirmed she is carrying little liquid (amniotic fluid) to protect it. Then just to scare us she, like all of them, went fruit loop when turned out yesterday, took a bend to fast, skidded, slipped and fell completely on her side. She then fought to get up, legs not finding purchase, and all we could do was look on with our hearts in our mouths.

Fortunately she suffered only one tiny superficial cut, and so far all seems calm on the foal front, but I sure didn´t sleep well last night.

Now the rain is pouring down again - ugh! So everyone is back indoors and FUF

Feb 15, 2010, A Grand Passion

“Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of Solitaire. It is a grand passion. It seizes a person whole and, once it has done so, he will have to accept that his life will be radically changed.”

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Just reminding myself why I´m glooping around in knee-deep mud, with a suspicion that my wellies have given up on me due to the sogginess inside. I love my horses, I do, I do. But I would also love some dry weather now - PLEASE!

Talk about 40 days and 40 nights.................. lumber ordered, plans drawn up!

Feb 12, 2010, MUD FEVER! RAIN SCALD! COLIC!

Sounds like a horror movie doesn´t it? Any one of these illnesses are a nightmare for the horse and it´s owner. The obvious, with fatal possiblities, is colic.

At this time of year keep an eye on your horses feed. Supplies often change and may have been kept in storage. At the first signs of your horse being off his feed, having a temperature or changes in his manure, don´t hesitate to call the vet. Better he has a wasted trip than your horse an impacted gut!

With all the rain we´ve been having in southern Spain Mud fever is a real threat to our equine friends that live out. If they don´t have a dry area to stand on make sure you take them out of their paddock every day, clean their hooves and lower legs and leave them to stand on dry ground for a few hours. Even if mud fever doesn´t occur this also helps to keep them warm. Their coats can withstand any amount of cold and wet, but if their feet are constantly in boggy ground they will get very cold.

Rain scold, or rain rot as it is also known, loves this climate. The bacteria which causes it loves all this rain and humidity to breed in. And something I didn´t learn until recently is that rain scold is contagious! Though not life threatening as the name suggests lots of water and a little warmth cause this illness to raise it´s ugly head in the form of lots of scab´s and hair loss. The hind quarters are usually the first affected along with the back. It also may affect the back of the fetlock and front of the cannon bone.

If you suspect rain scold in your horse call your vet for treatment. Ointment types are not suitable as they trap in moisture and it needs to be kept very dry for the condition to cease. Don´t share brushes, saddle pads etc and if your horse is prone to having a scratch on a particular post or tree, don´t let others scratch there as this is how the bacteria can be passed on. It is not a fungus. Some believe it lives in the soil, but this has not been proven. What I do know is that it´s not very pretty! Although it fortunately doesn´t hurt your horse.

Feb 11, 2010, Chance´s Progress

For those of you that aren´t keeping up to date with the fantastic progress of our rescue pony via Facebook, here´s a little idea of how Chance is doing.

In 8 weeks he has been trimmed following natural balance protocol 8 times (this also includes keeping him on a high fibre, low fat diet and lots of exercise). The little pony that could barely walk when he arrived now trots, canters and bucks around his paddock. There is still a long road ahead until his hooves are completely stable, the coffin bone has fully re-suspended and he will be completely sound again. But we see no reason why he wont even be rideable within a year - thats presuming he knows all about it!

Obviously we have no idea of what schooling Chance has had, but we do know he is becoming a very happy, kissy, affectionate chap. He has made lots of new friends and is currently showing our latest ´client´, a young stallion, how to be a horse after spending some time shut up in a stable. Chance is very brave and inquisitive and very trusting. We hope he will be happy with us and realises that he is safe now.

Feb 6, 2010, That was an expensive dinner!

I´m a very FUF. We didn´t get to compete last month because our track was (and has been officially declared) a disaster zone after all the rain, meaning we couldn´t get the horse box out. After our best efforts to fix things up ourselves we managed to get the box out yesterday for todays competition in Puerto Real, Cádiz.

Heart is a fantastic traveller. Never breaks a sweat, never even moves. Let´s face it having travelled all the way from Texas as a mere 3 year-old he´s an old pro. (and when he arrived all the way from there he wasn´t even slightly flustered). But yesterday as we mooched along the motorway we heard a real thud come from the box! Arriving at our destination Heart showed slight signs of being ´off´. He wasn´t lame but something was not quite right.

We got him settled into his stall, watered and left with some hay whilst we went to pay for the stall and the inscription for the competition. I took Heart for the preliminary Vet check and all was well, apart from him missing a beat every 4th or 5th stride. As he wasn´t lame he wasn´t disqualified but even without the vets advise I knew we needed to keep a close eye on him.

Soaking his front right (the problem foot!) in cold water then walking him out and repeating the process a few times, it seemed to get better so we tucked him up for the night with his dinner and rug on. Big damp air comes in from the coast there!

This morning I walked Heart out and it was apparent the problem is in his shoulder. Despite warming him up well, and it appearing better, I wasn´t convinced and knew I had to pull him from the competition. So now you know why I´m a FUF.

Poor hubby had filled all the water buckets, roped off our cooling station, prepared the electrolyte feeds etc etc and we had to then put it all away, load Heart back in the box and come home.

So driving 150 km for the night in a hotel and a rather pleasant dinner was maybe our valentine treat!

Feb 4, 2010, Making friends

The new kid on the block has had a few days stall rest after his castration with only twice daily outings to keep his limbs moving and the wound draining. Today he got out into a paddock, albeit muddy (!), and what a happy chappy he was. But within no time he drew up to the fence line opposite the paddock of Chance, our rescued pony, where I saw Chance had also taken up residence. The pair of them started calling each other like star-crossed lovers. This went on for some time, so I made a decision.

I´m not known for messing about or holding things back when my senses tell me its right (and touch wood, no harms come of it yet!). I took Chance up to the gate and let the two of them sniff and snort at each other. I looked for stallion signs of aggression (pinned back ears, biting, front legs pawing and lashing out) and saw none. Quite the contrary the pair of them squealed at each other like a couple of mares. Big girlies! So I turned Chance in with poor Billy no mates. Then the phone rang! Apparently I´d lost over an hour watching the two of them make friends. Clearly not one more dominant over the other, they took it in turns to follow each other around the paddock and panic when the other one had moved away just ´a little´ to far.

This is lesson number one for Billy ´found a mate´on his road to learning to be a horse again.

Jan 31, 2010, Give me a confident, trusting gelding any day - 1

My dearly beloved has just handed me a lovely cuppa ( you can take the brit out of England but .........) which of course resolves all ails and ills.

A lovely new boy came this weekend to make the transition to barefoot BUT his ground manners a little amiss it took nearly two hours to de-shoe him. Partly as he was seriously stressed about the whole thing (his feet being touched, new unknown people handling him, new smells/environment etc), partly that the nails were so far cut into his hooves and partly that it had been a while since he had been a ´horse´. At the end of the day it all took it´s toll on my back -thank heavens for the cure-all ´cuppa´.

Circumstances often dictate that a horse can´t be kept as it´s owner would like and not through ignorance of the owner but due to circumstance. So horses find themselves shut up in stalls 22 if not 24 hours a day. Those that don´t develop stable vices at the very least forget how to be a horse. You may wonder what on earth I am talking about! But you take any stressed out horse that has spent any period of time stable-bound, from a stable, and turn it out in a paddock, even on its own, and within 24 hours you have a very different animal in front of you. A horse far more relaxed and confident. Because yes, a horse that appears aggressive or nervous/timid (either one dangerous by any other name) is more than likely a horse that has forgotten or never knew how to behave like a horse. So being a flight animal it´s defense is to either run, cower or attack. This all depends on sex, circumstance and situation.

Jan 31, 2010, Give me a confident, trusting gelding any day - 2

This is a subject with many avenues which I realise I fall short of covering here, so please don´t criticise - a blog only permits so many words - as I don´t want to blanket them all under the same roof but if any one wants to discuss a particular route further let me know and I´m more than happy to continue the discussion.

At the end of the day the owner of this particular boy is one of the intelligent ones. Having realised they don´t have the experience to deal with a stallion and with no intentions to use him as a stud they have made the decision to castrate him. He will be able to live in a herd as nature intended and have a better, far more relaxed partnership with his owner. A happy horse with a happy owner and a far healthier relationship for both at the end of the day. There are FAR to many people out there that keep a stallion for kudos and neither they or the horse are ever truly happy. :-(And if someone knows why I would love to be informed, but a gelding makes a happier, trustworthy more low-maintenance horse than any other - mares are such muck magnets!!!

Jan 20, 2010, Crazy Horses

Don´t dare speak to me, don´t even breath - thats the moment when the horses have all been turned out after days in captivity and they go WILD. Soaking up the atmosphere of horses being happy, healthy horses is fabulous. It´s a special moment not to be interrupted by trivial things like breathing! Off the took galloping, bucking, side-flicking, rearing and eventually, of course, rolling in the muddiest parts they could find. There were whinnies as they looked for a friend, nickers as they found them and then mutual grooming began. I could loose hours watching this.

These are the 10 minutes compensation for 10 hours of yard work. Worth every second.

Jan 16, 2010, Georgie

In only 3 months with us Georgie has learnt how to be a horse. His place in the herd has been chosen for him by the others after his initial arrival, all guns blazing, with clearly the need to prove something on his part. He was very aggressive in the field, despite being a gentle boy in the yard. We soon discovered it was due to insecurity, nerves, as is often the case with bully´s.

Once he found his place in the herd, he soon began to change in the yard as well. With a very choppy, short stride on arrival, the removal of his shoes coupled with him finding a new security in the herd allowed him to start thinking more about what he was doing in the here and now and not be rushing on to the next thing. Georgie´s stride soon started to lengthen and smooth out. The introduction of the bitless bridle has bought him even more into the moment. He watches his feet, his back is coming up, his head down and his respect for his rider growing. Georgie now listens to what is asked of him instead of presuming and rushing through it. His papers say 14 but we think he is more like 17 and also that he is a hispanoarabe, despite his papers saying PRE. Whatever his age or bloodlines it doesn´t matter, because he is happy and healthy and getting fitter by the week.

Shoeless, not clueless! No metal jacket!! It´s working for Georgie.

Jan 16, 2010, Sunshine and Paella!

The weather has warmed, the wind has blown and if the rain stays away, tomorrow the paddocks will be dry enough to turn all my poor fed-up frogs back out again.

They´ve had a little bit of turn-out, a little bit of free-lunging and a lot of boredom! Despite various stall toys and routine changes they are far, far happier out.

Heart went like a tank his first ride out. Chance took off, literally, over the fence to which he was tied! But that was more to do with the fact that his new love, Talulah, had casually untied herself and was mooching across the picadero. Chance reared up and popped over the bar into the picadero, the length of his rope obviously dictating he could go no further! I´m talking about 1,30m. Taller than him at the withers! I decided to untie him and see what further mischief he might do. He took off cantering and bucking across the picadero. Ok, it´s only soft sand, but it´s still 100% improvement on 6 weeks ago.

Due for another trim Chance was put on hold until tomorrow as my husband prepared a fabulous paella for lunch - and lunch didn´t finish until 7pm! The sun shone all day, all the horses got ridden and primped and brushed. Madness (of the fun kind) occurred at the end of the day when my ´LL of the folded arms´ and barmy husband had a jump off. LL did fabulously as Georgie (the horse!) rode in his bitless bridle for the first time today. He´s still getting accustomed to the new signals, but already showing greater signs of relaxation onto the bridle. Georgie was a very ´head in the clouds´ boy when he came to us. Overloaded with a jointed pelham, curb chain and rounders. He is now official ´no metal´- shoeless and bitless.

Jan 13, 2010, Consultation

Unable to attend the clinic, we offer the best possible consultation via email.

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Jan 10, 2010, Horse Facts

Interesting facts and amusing trivia all about horses. Hopefully you´ll find everything you wanted to know!

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Jan 10, 2010, Courses - Seminars

Information about our courses, how to apply for a place.

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Jan 7, 2010, Soft silly human - that´s me

I have given in to my silly human side and put all the horses in. Enough of the knee deep mud and constant rain, now the freezing temperatures are coming - I can´t bare it.

Human feelings aside, constant pouring is not so bad for horses if their feet are on ´dry´ ground, but our soil is unforgiving and soaked to the nines. So today I bought everyone in, gave them and their rugs a shower, trimmed quite a few sets of hooves and tucked them up in their boxes.

Chance had his 5th trim and his poor hooves look awful as you can clearly now see all the bruising and possible old bleeds coming out. The hoof walls are covered in red colouration. But he is actually walking so much better and clearly more comfortable. He allows me a good few minutes at a time on his front left before snatching it back - due to not wanting his weight on his front right as that is his worst. He has also taken to nuzzling me on the back when I trim his hooves, working his way up until he is blowing in my ear! All very passionate, not sure my husband would approve LOL

TALULAH - yes, my lovely filly finally got some well deserved attention today. Only a little ground work but she responded super fast. I have high hopes for this girl (only slightly biased! What am I talking about, I think like that about all my horses and even my clients horses!!) She is beautiful, conformationally very correct and VERY intelligent. She is also very passionate - I wonder if it´s something in the water here - and comes for schnuggles, scritches, nuzzles and cuddles at every opportunity.

Dec 28, 2009, Rain stopped play!.....

....and leaving the house, and feeding the horses. With enough rain falling in 8 days to fulfill the years quota we are all feeling very soggy. It came down in sheets and has literally taken the track to our yard away. Poor in-laws spent from 23rd incomunicado and we returned on 27th, carrying our bags down on shanksys pony.

Up to our knees in mud the gravel paths and patches in the paddocks have dissappeared so there is nowhere dry for the horses to stand. The soil here is like clay so every step you take you sink well in, and come out a couple of centimeters taller! Now I am torn between putting everyone in for a few days - which they don´t like, fretting and calling constantly - or leave them out in the elements as the rain is starting up again having given us only 24 hours of respite - which I don´t like! Nature knows best. The horses will fare just fine outdoors. Only my soft human conscience that cant bare it. I will have to suffer LOL

Chance spent a few days in due to the severe weather and the loss of Lady Lali. He is now out in a paddock adjacent to two lovely boys. A little wary of yet more new ´friends´, he is certainly better off than being alone. Chance can´t share with anyone yet, as he is still to slow and weak and would probably be bullied - thats herd life! But sharing a fence line is the next best thing.

I gave him his 4th trim today, in as many weeks. Dare I say the difference from when he arrived is amazing. Though still a very long way to go Chance walks far better and mentally is far healthier too.