White Horse Pilgrim

Contrast

Morning was veiled by a curtain of rain. Even the sheep huddled beneath spindly trees seeking fragmentary shelter. Brena and I huddled in her field shelter whilst the trimmer attended to her hooves. I was damp from fetching her, she was wet and muddy from rolling, and the trimmer became filthy from her work on such a dismal morning. And this is summer?

The rain varied from thick drizzle to heavy downpour as the wind pushed by bands of cloud of varying greys. Beneath us the ground reverted to its natural state, which is sodden and sticky.

At least the beast's feet were awarded good marks for balance and strength. Brena is standing up well to long hours of work on the hard chalk trails. Most of her old pre-barefoot hoof has gone. The new now predominates. Soon it will have taken over.

I slept a little at lunchtime, awakeing to a sky clearing in the wake of a departed frontal system fleeing before the stiff cool wind. Rain came and rain went, and the sea wind kept on blowing across this island.

No further invitation was needed. It was off to the barn, hitch railer, load horse and head out, all one slick practiced operation. Then up to the ridge where the car park was empty thanks to the uninviting morning.

There was a lot of mud to scrape off. The upwind side was easy. Brushing the other side it was best to shut my eyes and mouth against a thick cloud of dust, grooming by feel.

Then off along quiet trails, past a group of well-prepared campers (they even had a tiny tent for their dog!) and away. Wind pulled as sun warmed, and I was grateful for three layers of clothes. What has happened to summer?

In the valley trails were wet and slippery, but on the hilltop all that rain had percolated through the chalk already leaving the way hard and dry. Such is this land, a contrast between hard and soft, open and closed, shared and intimate.

It's like a multi-faceted friend, one who is diverse, whose mood varies, who has a long and varied history, yet ultimately can be seen as integrated and whole. Yes, this land is like an old acquaintance to whom I have returned after exile.

Hoof boot trial

I did get out to try Brena with hoof boots. But it was fraught getting there. The road to the barn was jammed because of a wreck on another more important road. Then my trailer was blocked in by parked cars at the barn.

I did use some quite choice expressions to describe the situation at the barn whereby several people had left their cars blocking the trailers. It seems that one belonged to the manager's boyfriend. at the time I didn't think that these blunt and expressive statements had been overheard. But I was wrong. So I received a call from the manager saying that I could park my trailer anywhere except where hay loading is taking place. At last. Now my trailer is on the nice mown grass in front of the barn, with another trailer, and there it will be parked.

Very delayed we rode. I had one pair of Old Macs in the truck, and those went on Brena's front feet. They fitted fairly well, but made no obvious difference to her gait or behaviour. So I suppose that her feet feel just fine on the hard ground, however she doesn't want to race around because of the hardness underfoot.

Now I have found the other two hoof boots. I wonder whether to try Brena in four tomorrow? I did figure that perhaps I should use the neoprene gaiters because her heels seemed as if they might get rubbed. The state of the hair on the bulbs of her heels just made me suspect that a problem could occur. I'll decide in the morning. She's a week off a trim so do I want her feet more abraded and chipped, or does a bit of extra wear and tear not really matter?

 

Boots

Today I dug out Doru's old hoof boots to see whether they fitted Brena.

They did. She isn't a big horse however Old Mac size 10 boots - the largest size - fit her front and hind feet. They are a nice fit without gaiters and perhaops a bit on the snug side with gaiters.

Doru's feet, meanwhile, have grown since the days that he used hoof boots. His heels in particular are much wider. However, being retired, he has no need for hoof boots.

Brena has good solid feet. However they are getting quite chipped now from extensive work over stony ground. I might need to start using hoof boots to protect her feet from unusual wear and tear.

I was curious to see how she would react to these strange things on her feet. There was a bit of scraping feet through the dust and a plaintive raising of a foot as if to ask me what I had done. Then we went for a walk and, apart from the slap of plastic on the hard ground, everything was normal.

I think that next I'll leave the boots on her for an hour or two in the field so that she can begin tio get really used to them. Then we'll make a short ride with them on.

That's Brena's "wear & tear" issue resolved. Mine is my hip joints and lower back. I've just started taking glucosamine suplhate tablets. Perhaps they will help? Well I guess that is to be expected with a young horse and a high-mileage rider.

Trimming and trailering

Both Doru and Brena had their feet trimmed today.

The work was done up at the field since I expected the barn to be busy with horse show activities. I was wrong: the barn was merely sleepy as a collection fo young woemn who had been up for much of the night waited for energy drinks to kick in. But it was pleasant up at the field in the sun.

The girls had one scare during the night. A hunter, who is a friend of the farmer, went by. It wasn't the gun that alarmed them so much as the fact that he has a shaved head and the image of a brain tattooed onto his exposed scalp.

The trimmer is getting married next month. She wonders how fearsome tan lines will combine with a strapless dress.

That one's beyond my wisdom. However I gather that her hairdresser will try to make straight locks as full and curly as possible.

We men have life easy.

The horses have excellent feet. Doru's are hard as ever and nicely shaped. Brena's feet are even harder. Her hinds were low on their outsides at each previous trim. But now they have grown out level. I won't need to boot her hinds with wedge pads. I am happy, and relieved.

The only odd thing is the bruising that is growing out. That seems to be a relic of concussion last summer when she was working shod in Italy. However, bruises notwithstanding, she is absolutely sound even on hard stony ground.

After trimming I led Brena down to an awakening yard and my trailer already hitched to my truck.

Brena has not been particularly forthcoming about loading. Therefore I was surprised and delighted when she walked straight on without a qualm, settling down to devour a net of hay.

It was but a short drive to the feet of the hills. She travelled beautifully and left the trailer calmly backwards on request.

We had a good ride. Perhaps it's inevitable that the first few minutes of any ride with Brena will be a little lively and involve much staring at distant objects. Yet she isn't going to run off. I can keep her on a loose rein. My calmness quietens her. So much in life, in and out of work, comes down to leadership.

Brena is curious and observant. But that is not the same thing as flightiness.

She feeds off my emotional state, whether I am agitated or calm. The key is to get on her calm at the start of a ride. That means not drinking a lot of coffee in the morning. It means mental effort to focus on quietness. It means looking away from things that are commonplace but which I imagine might alarm Brena. Leadership is hard.

I guess that she and I are growing closer.

During less than half an hour in the trailer Brena defacated twice and staled. That reminded me that I need to treat the trailer's wooden floor with preservative - another job that will be a pleasure because it will be for my horse and I.

A week away

I face another week away for work, this time on a training course. Much of it, I think, will be spent looking at financial data and case studies. I find this kind of thing interesting in its own sort of way, related mainly to the satisfaction of making sense from a jumble of information. However I won't be able to post whilst away.

Brena was tired today after her longest ride since October. She ambled down to the gate rather than cantering, then stood quietly to be groomed. A great deal of white and brown hair came off her, dappling the ground around her feet and covering my clothes.

Our ride was restrained and sensible. At one point she stumbled, having been paying too much attention to distant things that attracted her curiosity. It was a far quieter perambulation of the farm than Thursday and Friday's energetic efforts.

I trimmed some expoliating frog that was hanging off two feet. I am glad to see some growth taking place. Soon all of the old growth from when she was shod will have disappeared. This growth will also allow the slight imbalance in her hind feet to be corrected.

The photos show her left front, which did not require any attention. It's a little chipped by the hard and in places stony ground but holding up well. However we are fortunate to have so much grass to ride on, and hardly to need to set foot on a metalled road.

Brena's feet are quite upright. However I wonder what changes will occur as she remains barefoot for longer. How much wider will her heels become, and how much larger will her frogs grow?

Anyway I'd better pack and get ready to set off. I want to complete my journey before dark.

Feet

Today I worked at home, getting a fair volume of paperwork out of the way. What a great thing it is to be able to log onto the work server remotely. Well, good for them and good for me anyway. That is fair enough.

I did slip over to the barn at lunchtime. I love the way that Brena trots or canters down to the gate. She seems so happy to see me.

I parked up, slipped throuth the fence with a carrot to catch her, and tied her to the ring on the field shelter. She's dusty but otherwise clean therefore simple to groom. Soon a saddle was fitted and we were ready to go. We did have a nice short but quiet ride around the farm prior to a fairly prompt return to work.

I am pleased at how her feet are turning out. The first shot shows her left front last October.

The second was taken yesterday. To start with her heels are less under-run. The angle of the foot is better now that the hoof has had five months to grow out. But it will take another six months for a complete new hood to have grown.

I do like her good hard strong feet. It's so good to have a robust healthy horse.

Last Sunday whilst riding out a passer-by noticed that she is unshod. Not many people pick up on this.

We should go out again over the weekend. One last piece of the trailer breastbar has been made. I didn't take the measurement quite right. Explaining this I asked for a modification to be made by the maker and a bill sent. But he did the work and has sent the piece sans bill because I owned up to what I had done. Most people, he said, would claim that he made the mistake.

 

Goals

Basically I am a "journey" person. It's what happens along the way that interests me.

Nevertheless that training course did make me reflect on "goals" for life and work. The latter are easy enough, of course. Usually they are set for me. If not I can usually figure out what needs to be done. As I get paid it seems quite reasonable to be proactive here.

One personal goal at work is go climb one grade further up the tree. I'm already working at that level but without the grade being confirmed (or, more to the point, paid). The extra money will create a comfort zone. That comfort will mean a lot to me.

But what about the rest of life?

Well a goal has been to allow the horses' feet to develop healthily barefoot. Here is Brena's right front. Progress is being made.

I'd like to see Brena confident and reliable on the trail. In part that's a "journey" thing. The goal (really a test) is a safe happy week away riding.

Within two or three years I'd like to own a decent horse trailer. One of these would be nice.

 I think that one more horseback expedition is in order too. Perhaps in three or four years time? I'm not sure where. Somewhere a bit adventurous without being dangerous.

Everything else is either aspirational or really rather long term. (Maybe an aspiration is a goal without dates or firm plans?)

Aspirations include moving to a bigger house. Danielle would like that. A bit more space and a larger garden are quite appealing. However a property with enough land for a horse or two seems unaffordable which is a pity.

Emotional wholeness doesn't fit anywhere easily. It's not a goal as there isn't a defined outcome that leads to a box being ticked. But it's more than "journey" because so much change and growth takes place too. There is a writing project associated. I'd like to see that edited and published if there is a chance that it will help others.

I'd like to get a novel published too. A first attempt is part-written. But it evolves as I grow. I'm moving too fast to complete it quite yet. So it remains an aspiration.

Progressing archery, mounted or otherwise, is for the journey. It will come into its own when the time is right.

As for the long term where would we like to live? For me somewhere quieter and cheaper with access to good riding. Warmer too? But it's complicated by Danielle being almost a decade younger than me. We'll need to be in a place that is pleasant but where she has access to suitable employment.

Oh, and enjoy the journey - that seems like a good aim, whether one calls it a goal, aspiration or indeed anything else.

Weekend rides and visitors

The weekend came and with it two days free for riding. Larynn brought her horse Josh who is on an exercise regime requiring in hand walking. So we made two mud-spattered windwept drizzly walks around the farm, the other two pedestrians having to trot from time to time in order to keep up with Brena's fast walk.

I've learnt a little more about Brena. She is keen to go forward, especially during the first quarter hour of a ride. That is when she will try to break into a trot and then argue when told to slow down. Arranging the first mile of the ride to face away from home helps, so of course does relaxing so that Brena perceives calmness. She is a clever horse, a little pushy, very fit too. Basically I am riding a 'real' horse, one who is good natured and capable, intelligent and possessed of a well developed personality.

On the way back towards the barn horses in a field alongside the trail ran across to see us then cantered along the fence line. Brena did not even try to follow their energetic lead, and that was on a loose rein. I did not even need to take up a contact. It reminds me that Brena's desire to trot early in the ride is a matter of assertiveness not the result of a flighty disposition (which I knew however it's always encouraging when a horse chooses to be sensible).

I was impressed too at how Brena walked out barefoot. Other than slipping less on the mud there was no difference compared to riding her shod. Crossing gravel and stones she showed no discomfort. Indeed she chose hard surfaces other grass, which is completely opposite to Doru when he transitioned to barefoot. This is very encouraging.

Anyway work will take me away from home for the next four days. Most likely I'll post again on Wednesday as my work laptop security settings block blog activity.

Brena iron-free

Yesterday Helen the trimmer paid a visit. Brena's shoes were removed and barefoot hoof care commenced.

It was an interesting exercise on a very windy day when gusts scurried down the length of the barn, leaves blew, doors banged and people came in wet from the rain.

Brena fidgeted, leant on the trimmer, snatched feet away and generally behaved like a bit of a punk. Then the big mare realised that the lady removing shoes and trimming was quiet and kind. Once this realisation sunk in Brena's demeanour changed. She began to lift her feet nicely and behave well.

 In fact Brena's feet rated fairly well for those newly barefoot. My impression was that her feet look appreciably better than when I first met her in October last year. Her toes are a little long but not unduly so. (Front feet measured 17cm long by 15.5cm wide, that's 6.7" by 6.1". These may be expected to shorten slightly in which case Doru's Old Mac G2 boots - size 10, the largest - will fit.) Her heels are not collapsed and her frogs are not contracted.

After trimming we walked Brena about outside. She walked quite happily across the gravel yard suggesting that recent trims had removed relatively little sole. (The trimmer thinks that she may gain a little sensitivity as she becomes used to being barefoot.)

Of course in this foul weather I haven't managed to take any fresh pictures. So here's a shot of Brena in Tuscany. I shall have to promise her warmth and sunshine for next year. (I'd like to promise myself these things!)

So my new horse and I are forging ahead. We're learning about one-another. Her feet are being transitioned to the best possible health. I'm getting back into the habit of riding. Indeed I am getting used to a horse who is both kind and energetic, affectionate and egocentric.

I have a sense that Brena and I really are a good match.

Bare feet review

It's two years since Doru's shoes were removed for the last time. I decided to review how his feet have changed.

These four photos show his left front and left hind feet, as they are today and (for comparison) with his last shoes placed on the feet for reference. The shoes are sitting upside down so that the clips don't get in the way of placing them for the photos.

Comparison shows that his frogs are much wider, the quarters are strong and much further apart, and the hooves are slightly shorter.

Two years ago Doru was regarded as well shod! Shoes could be fitted almost straight out of the box with little alteration, and he hadn't the long toes and collapsed heels so often seen around here.

The hind foot has changed too, with a great wide frog and strong quarters, and a noticeably shorter foot too.

Soles are thick and hard, so Doru can walk across stony ground without discomfort. In the present dry weather, hard stony ground is the norm.

Again the shape of the foot is nothing like that of the old shoe.

Incidentally, Doru is mid-way between trims on a six week cycle, and is trimmed by a professional barefoot practitioner.