Repeat Offender

Henry

...I love this horse, and Trakehners as you now know are clever and cunning.  They are sharp and light on their feet, they can tip toe and pirouette.  They spin, side step and do fancy Prix StGeorge dressage maneovers in their field.  So is it any surprise they are also very good at shifting shoes...however strongly they are attached!?

Farriers have scratched their chins in amazement at the level of cunning Trakehners will adopt to get a shoe off in fact.

...but Henry takes it to a new level.

He'd get the Gold medal for shoe-shifting if it were an Olympic sport.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure they don't lose them more often than is to be expected, its supremely muddy and wet everywhere, and galloping around - which isn't optional at WW -  is a risky strategy if you want all shoes kept on.

But Henry can twist them too, which is a task in itself!

Poor farrier Dean.

Henry is a repeat offender, and look at the twist in that shoe by Lemmy, even the cat can't understand it!

...more more more...

ponies, and how I can't live without them...
Tom and Henry are sooooo much happier with shoes on people, they're dashing about and doing those fancy foot manoeuvers Trakehners are so famous for!

..a pedi 'cure'...

...the farrier came...hoo-bloody-ray!
Don't let it be said that I'm stuck in my ways, or am unwilling to try new things.  But having spent eight weeks barefoot the boys are finally sound again with shoes back on.


Barefoot doesn't suit every horse or sensitive owner (mentioning no names), but they are happy clomping about the yard now, and so I'm happy too.

Yesterday afternoon Steve's van rattled down the driveway, the boys were right out in the fields grazing.  They waited until he'd parked and walked to the yard, and put themselves into their stables to wait for Steve to shoe them!  You couldn't make this stuff up.  Suffice it to say, Tom & Henry invited farriery yesterday, and got it.








See the pictures:

Happy hooves, happy horses, happy butler.

a Merry Xmas

...where did Coco get her idea for a logo from I wonder?...





BE CREATIVE:
...and how, with a little time and elbow grease, you can transform some old metal into wonderful Xmas presents:

If, like me, you have a bucket somewhere, full of old and recovered, pulled and rusting shoes, and though you'd never want them back on your horse, you just can't bear to part with them, look no further than a Xmas present solution.


NOTE: Steve has plundered this 'pot' a few times looking for a quick-fix so Henry can have shoes on both feet in an emergency, so having some available is a good idea, so? don't use all the 'best' shoes for this gift soloution.

The idea began when a friend Gorgeous Paul (yes, the same GP who designed the Tom&Henry tops for M&S, and author of Opulent Scrawls: 'how to live life gorgeously'), asked me for one of Tom & Henry's shoes...it got me thinking...because GP wouldn't want an old rusty shoe, with bent nails still in it and caked in Essex mud would he?  definitely not!

Then I asked myself, what could I do to the shoes to make them nice enough for GP to allow them in his abode?

Paint them. So here we go:

First, de-nail the old shoes with pliers, you can knock them from underneath and unless the shoes are very rusty, they should loosen and pop out easily, alternatively have your farrier do it. If, like this single shoe here, they are in there for good, just twist the nails off at the surface (they are quite soft), and grind them flat.

Then get a stiff wire brush and clean the loose surface of decay, mud and rust off, out of the grooves and nail holes, the better you do this job, the better the surface of the finished product will be, and for Paul, it'd have to be perfect.

Then, once they're clean, using a little wire, make a hook, thread it through a nail hole, and hang the shoes up, where they will eventually stay to dry.

Spray a fine coat as instructed on the can, of primer suitable for cars. 2 coats will be fine, allow plenty of time to dry between coats, do it in a well ventilated area, preferably outside. 

IMPORTANT SAFETY TIP FROM JOHN:
Wear a mask too, you dont want paint in your lungs, true story.
 

Once the base coat is dry, spray your chosen top colour onto the shoes, remember these gifts are likely to be kept indoors, so do a neat job.  

The sky is the limit since car spray comes in lots of colours, fluorescent and metallic too! Here Lemmy is 'helping' making sure I do a neat job.

I made a 'washing line' in my yard, and hung them there, outdoors, so very well ventilated. wear something old and gloves are a good idea too.

I used metallic colours for mine, since it's so 'on-trend' for this season: gold, silver and bronze.  Plus I did a neon orange one too for fun...looks great too!

 

Add a top coat of lacquer if necessary, 'bobs your uncle', recycle, reuse and redecorate, everyone will love them!








 




If you're feeling very creative you can even over-paint them with a design or someones name, or use a metallic pen if a paintbrush is too tricky, you can get them in any art shop. Thread a ribbon through a nail hole for hanging too.

Once dry, I will wrap them in tissue, and tie it off with a ribbon.

Tuesday's blog will have an update, and there'll be photos to show you how they turned out, I promise you a treat, and a guest appearance too.



Merry Holidays Everyone, safe riding.

TCJpart61 ...Feet

FOR WANT OF A SHOE,
THE BATTLE WAS LOST:

Keeping your horses' feet in tip-top condition means a careful combination of management techniques, the right feed with the correct nutrients in it, a great farrier, and a keen eye to notice any changes in the hoof, however subtle.

This time of year, when the ground has gone from totally wet and saturated to rock solid hard and dry back to soggy again in a matter of weeks, it's the time we need to be vigilant with our horses' feet.  As the hoof repeatedly becomes saturated then dries out it can crack causing problems due to the expansion and contraction of the hoof wall.  All this movement in the horn causes clenches to become loose, and shoes start coming off as a consequence...as Henry's is about to do. 

Keep you farrier on speed-dial, and keep your eye out for any signs of change.

There are of course topical treatments you can apply to your horses' hoof wall to moisturise, but Steve contests that an animal with the correct diet and management shouldn't need any of these things....having said that I buy a very costly hoof-supplement and I don't tell him, because I know he wouldn't approve, but it makes me feel better as I have an insurance against nutrition-based hoof problems.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.

For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

 


My obsession with my horses’ feet began with my pony Brandy, he was old and developed Cushings disease.  In itself not a problem, but it meant my poor Brandy suffered prolonged and almost continuous laminitis.  



I learned a lot about feet over that time and developed a greater respect for my farrier, who’s job it was ultimately to help Brandy live a pain-free life.

 

Tom & Henry have never had laminitis.  I am very careful with what I feed them and make sure their fields aren’t too lush, by grazing them appropriately and cutting them when necessary.  But, just because they don't suffer with Laminitis, that doesn't mean I don't buy products that are suitable for horses that do. 

Look for the Hoof Kind stamp and the Laminitis Trust stamp of approval on feeds.  if like me you buy these, you can guarantee you're doing all you can to keep the sugar they consume to the bare minimum.

 

Horses are designed to roam free over hundreds of acres of scrubby land, with little nutritious tufts of grass available, but a greater selection of edible herbs and grasses than they get now.  The bulk of their natural diet should be low-calorie forage.

So I keep my land well and truly grazed on, short and never over fertilised – once every three years only.

 
Their dinner is simple and forage based BUT I do buy a costly hoof supplement to top up any possible gap in the nutrition where hooves are concerned. It is my thing.

I deliberately buy hoof-kind products – those with  laminitis approved stamp.

Tom & Henry get shod every 5 weeks, on the front only.  I would prefer to have them barefoot but they have quite shallow feet, meaning their frogs are shallow, and with all the stones and gravel around our village, they would be foot-sore all the time and I just couldn’t bear it. 

It's difficult to decide what to do with so much contradictory advice, I wouldn't consider any changes to Tom & Henry's management without first discussing it with Steve.  Your own farrier knows your horses' feet, he will be able to give you a steer if you have any questions.

Of course, one day Steve will retire, then Tom & Henry might go barefoot...that'll give me a few years to get used to the idea!