Saturday 22 October 2011

When horses go back home...

A few updates came in on former rehab horses while I was off line, and I wanted to cram other stuff onto the blog this week so they have been postponed, but I thought might be an ideal blog post for the weekend!
First off, a lovely email from Lady's family, with this gorgeous photo of Lauren and Lady.  Lynn emailed me in response to the "Rollercoaster" post last week, which I very much appreciated:

"I thought I would drop you a line to say that Lady is doing really well, she is now chilling in her field all week and enjoys light hacks at the weekend. We have had no problems with her for months now and limiting her access to grass has meant she has remained sound throughout! 

This is the first summer we have enjoyed her to the max and Lauren is now super confident.

They are a great team to watch charging all over Dartmoor!! We have stuck to the diet you gave Lady last year and all though we cannot get her out enough to self trim Jane was down last week and thinks she is doing great.

Well done to the whole family, and of course to Jane Stevens, who is looking after Lady's feet.

Also good news about Oscar and Dilly, who continue to go from strength to strength.  Their feet are "overseen" by farrier James Nash and its been very helpful to chat to him about their progress.  They are doing so well that they are even inspiring others on their yard to consider going barefoot - leading by example is the way to go!
Fayley posted about Isha on the UKNHCP forum:

"I am now doing more with Isha barefoot than I ever did shod - hacking at least 4 times a week for at least 1 to 2 hours on varied surfaces, beach gallops, cantering pretty much wherever we fancy (starting to feel a bit like I did as a child on my tearaway pony - so many opportunities to whoop and say 'oooh we can squeeze a canter in here!') and Isha is happy to go 'off piste' and clamber banks, walls, down stream banks etc, something she would refuse to do when shod. I'm aiming to be showjumping again next year, just gotta get myself brave enough to do it  

Every now and then people make strange remarks about her being barefoot and ask why I'm doing it, and I find myself starting our story with  'well she was diagnosed with navicular syndrome' without a second thought about it, its only when I see their shocked faces that I remember the stigma attached to the word, I've forgotten that its something to worry about"
Bailey and Lainey are now combining dressage with hunting - latest news is that Bailey is fully clipped and also working on medium canter :-)  Photos are required...
Frankie and Cristina are jumping XC - they have failed to get any photos - but its fantastic to hear about, even without illustrations!
Lucy is still amazing everyone with her ability to cover any terrain with her fab new feet - she has now grown a whole new hoof capsule and is apparently having a wonderful time up in Yorkshire. 

Finally a real blast from the past - Blue, who was here in 2008, and whose owner I lost touch with, is apparently doing marvellously.  I caught up on his news via an owner who knows him and is interested in sending her horse here - small world!

I've also got news about Paul, who first came here 2 years ago and has returned for a short break - but he will get a blog post of his own plus foot photos!

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