My Barefoot Horse: Hoofwall Update and "Boot Club"

Doesn't Harley look tall in this picture?

I am happy to report that the hoof wall separation created by reducing the hoof wall bevel (a technique which I have now rejected) is growing out nicely.  I trimmed his front feet at exactly two weeks, so that there was not an opportunity for his hoof wall to reach the ground.  I also trimmed his bars, which I think look quite nice.

Left front: A small crevice at either quarter remains, but should be gone very soon.

Right front: Similar improvements are present due to new hoof wall growth.

Yes!  The separation that extended all the way into his heel is gone!  New heel had replaced the crevice, which he wore away on his own, before I even picked up the rasp.  That is a tremendous relief and it demonstrates how much hoof wall he can produce and that he does do some of the maintenance trimming himself.

Right front comparison: The same heel two weeks ago.

Fresh rolls and straight legs (Where did his hind legs go?)

Close-up #1

Close-up #2

In other hoof news, I have decided to join "Boot Club", as in hoof boots.  As the owner and hoof care provider of a barefoot horse, you may be surprised to learn that I do not own a single pair of hoof boots.  I mostly work Harley in the ring, which has a startling number of rocks amidst the sand, but I also take him out on the trail.  I have done this with him for years without a thought about hoof boots, even though there are other horses on the property that do wear them. 

Last weekend I went on a group trail ride.  It was the first big trail ride since the ticks and chiggers appeared in the woods.  I basically avoid the woods like the plague all summer, because of those nasty arachnids.  It is just about time for them to die off for the year, to I agreed to go out on a trail ride.  Two of the horses in the group were wearing hoof boots and their riders commented that there was a rocky part that bothered their horses.  As usual, I listened but did not worry about it.  Harley walks over gravel without a problem.  But then we got to the rocky part and I understood what they were talking about...

There were a lot of stones.  The water runoff from last spring or during the summer, must have washed away more of the sand uncovering the rounded river stones.  It has a been months since I have been out there, but I think there are more stones in a couple sections of the trail.  I was surprised to find that Harley was "footy" over them, meaning that he was walking carefully and gently.  He even "ducked" a few times, which feels like he stepped on something that hurt.  Needless to say this was upsetting to me.  The horses with the boots walked over the rocks like they were not there.  I was surprised that the rounded stones bothered him so much.  He walks over crushed driveway stone freely when grazing in the stable yard and those are pretty jagged rocks.  There are also tons of rounded stones in the riding ring and we walk, trot, and canter over them.  I guess the sand in the ring allows the rocks to sink away from his foot if he lands on one.  The ground beneath the stones on the trail had no give.

After our ride, I thought about it from a whole-horse perspective.  Diet is usually the culprit for footiness, but hoof conditioning is also a factor.  Since he had not been trimmed for two weeks at the time of the trail ride, I do not think it was my trim (I have never had a problem there.), but he is growing out hoof wall separation, so maybe there is something to that.  Experimenting with his diet is not a small factor, because of his hardkeeper status and boarding limitations (I cannot offer free-choice hay, for example), and I do not see myself trail riding enough to condition  his feet to stony terrain.  After thinking about it, the responsible thing seems to be to purchase hoof boots.  I only trail ride occasionally, and I do not want to risk injuring his feet, whatever the cause of his dislike for the stones may be.  I think that a nice pair of hoof boots is probably something that I should already own for him, so now is the time...

...to join "Boot Club".  There are no rules that say I cannot talk about said club, so here we go!

A popular hoof boot for trail riding at my barn is the Easyboot Glove.  It has been recommended that I purchase pads with the boots, but I am also told that the Easyboot pads wear through too quickly.  Not sure what to do about that.

I think I am going to order a size 2.  I tried a 1.5 and a 2 on him.  I was able to squeeze the 1.5 on without pads.  The 2 fits with or without pads and just looks better to me.  I know the glove is a snug fit, but I think the smaller size looked crooked after he pushed his foot into it.  He also picked his feet up high when he walked in the 1.5.  Is it possible for the boot to be too tight?

Harley walked and trotted with long strides and without a hiccup in the 2.  I am a little worried about getting the size right, because I do not want them to come off, especially when he canters.  I plan on ordering the "power straps" just in case.  I measured his feet and I found both fronts to be 120 mm long and 115 mm wide.  I was surprised that the dimensions were so close.  His feet do not look that round to me.  Looking at the sizing chart, I am pretty sure that I did something wrong.  Ironically, I think the bevel makes measuring difficult.  Do I measure the weight-bearing surface or to the edge of the bevel?  His feet are about 125 mm long if I account for the rounded bevel, but the width doesn't really change.  Do I measure something that I rasped off and if so, how?

Boot advice welcome.

Girth Check Video

I filmed a short video to demonstrate how I check for girth tightness at the horse's sternum starring Harley, of course.  I hope you enjoy it and remember, safety first!

See Rider Confessions for the back story and more information.

Rider Confessions

I ride Harley with a loose girth.

At least, that is what people have been telling me over the years.
And by "people" I mean,

the barn owner.
my teacher.
other riders.
random barn folks hanging on the fence.
a gate steward at a horse show.
a judge at a horse show.

"Feels tight enough to me!"  Harley wears a special contoured girth, made by Prestige, to prevent the saddle from being pulled into his shoulders due to a forward girth spot.  Worth every penny!

In contrast, there are a handful of individuals who have told me that the girth does not need to be super tight if the saddle fits horse and rider and I have read something here and there to support their claims.  One of them was a tack professional who designs saddle pads and shims.  The other one was a therapeutic riding professional at a certification workshop.  She was one of the workshop trainers for instructors and insisted that we check for girth tightness at the sternum of the horse.  She explained that if you check for girth tightness at the side, and especially if the girth has elastic ends, you will almost always be able to feel that you can tighten it up a hole or two.  I guess this would be true until you run out of holes in the billets!

The workshop trainer asked us to compare the tightness of the girth at the sides and then at the sternum for a horse whose girth had been "tightened up" in typical fashion for lessons.  At the horse's sides, the girth had some give and I could easily pull it away from his body.  It felt like I could raise it up one more hole.  When I felt the girth at the sternum, it almost felt like he was being split in two!  I could barely squeeze my fingers between the girth and his body.  The workshop trainer told us about the soreness that can develop at the girth spot on horses who are consistently worked with a girth that is too tight.  A little prodding or pressure applied at the side of the girth spot may be enough to cause the muscles to tense up or the horse's facial expression to show discomfort.  Horses in chronic pain from the girth or other tack may become frustrated and show stronger vices, like ear pinning, head tossing, biting, side-stepping, walking off, or more dangerous behaviors under saddle.  As riding instructors, she stressed that it was very important for us to look out for the well-being and happiness of our equine staff.  This was as important for our riders and volunteers as it was for the horse.  A pony in discomfort can become a dangerous pony very quickly and, of course, no one wants to cause an animal any pain.  Girthiness is to be taken seriously as the symptom of a greater problem.

I took this lesson to heart and started checking the girths of all my therapeutic lesson horses at the sternum.  I also taught my volunteers to do the same.  I had to loosen more girths than I tightened in the beginning, but before long my group of helpers became very good at checking and tightening girths correctly.  My lesson horses seemed happier.  Some even displayed a reduction in unwanted behavior, like head-tossing while being girthed-up.  It is required practice to check the girth several times in a therapeutic lesson, especially if the rider is not independent or able-bodied, so I was constantly monitoring the safety of the girth tightness that I chose for my horses.  The "sternum test" really worked!  It was an enlightening experience.

I started applying this practice to my own horse.  He had not displayed "girthy" behavior, but I still wanted him to be comfortable when I asked him to work.  I tightened the girth until it felt secure at the sternum.  Looking from the ground, the girth rested snuggly against his sides.  I have known horses that hold their breath and pop out their rib cage to protect themselves from the girth, but Harley was not doing this.  I rode my horse.  The saddle did not shift.  If we went on trails and moved at speed or traveled up and down hills, like at the Turkey Trot, my tack stayed secure.  Even when Harley is having a "bouncy" day, my saddle stays put.  I never think about the girth when I am riding until someone at ground level looks at my saddle billets with wide eyes.

I cannot tell you how many times this had happened.  I am standing next to some horse person and he or she glances at the girth for my saddle and suddenly the person's eyes get big.  Next, I hear that my girth is too loose.  I have tried handling this situation in a number of ways.  In the beginning I always got off and tightened the girth.  I did not want to worry anyone about safety, especially at a horse show, and, hey, maybe they were right?  I do not want to get caught hanging under my horse's belly.  Talk about looking like a newbie!  However, sometimes I would tighten the girth or ask someone else to tighten it for me (can't seem to reach a dressage girth from the saddle), and then later that same day another person would make the same discovery about my girth.  I cannot just keep tightening it!

Other times, I attempted to explain to whomever was trying to save me from certain death, that the girth was tight at the sternum.  At this point the person's eyes would usually glaze over or he or she would raise an eyebrow in disbelief.  Something about anatomy terms seems to have that effect.  Of course, people whom I see all the time, like the barn owner, would listen to me and usually ignore the girth after that, but that did not take care of random new folks.  This is where "looking young" is not a good thing.  People seem to think that I need help, because I look like I am new to whatever I am doing: riding, teaching, trying on shoes, etc.  Just imagine being treated like a novice in everything that you do whenever you meet new people.  It gets old really fast.  Trust me.

The strategy that has worked the best so far when informed that I am in eminent danger, because the girth securing my saddle is too loose, is to very nonchalantly say,

"It is always like that".

For some reason random people are more likely to accept complacency then they are thoughtful technique.  On one occasion, the other person dropped the issue immediately and responded back with,

"Oh, people always say that to me, too."

I am baffled by this, but if it keeps the savers off my back, I am willing to play along.  Maybe they assume that I am less concerned with safety than they are or too ignorant in my riding practice to bother with.  I do not want to be rude to someone who is trying to look out for a stranger's safety, because there is something to be said for that, but I also need an effective counter response so that I can continue on my way.

Although I use the "sternum test" for all the horses that I tack up, Harley is the only one who triggers action in "concerned girth activists".  This has happened with more than one saddle/girth combination.  Since I cannot see what his girth looks like when I am on his back, I cannot share their perspective.  Do you think that he could have figured out a way to hold himself away from the girth, so that it looks dramatically loose?  He is slap-sided, which probably exacerbates the visual effect.  I only get these comments when he is standing still and only after riding for a while.  When I get off to untack, his girth looks exactly the same as it did when I tacked up.  I have tried putting his girth up an extra hole on each side (elastic on both), just in case, but I learned at my last lesson that the "looseness" is still apparent, because my teacher lost her thought while explaining something to me at the end of our lesson.  Her eyes, which had dropped to the girth, widened and she stopped midsentence to look up at me and say,

"Your girth has like this much space."  She was using her thumb and index finger to measure out about an inch.  I had been caught up in the wonderful stuff that she was saying about our work during the lesson and almost didn't realize what she was talking about at first.  In the same situation, I am sure that I would feel obligated to share the same information with my own student.  My expression sank a bit as I sighed, smiled a little, and whispered,

"It's always like that..."

Winter Musings and Saddle Flashback

The day was sunny and clear on Monday, but the temperatures were below freezing for all but a few hours in the middle of the day.  I was off of work and itching to ride, but when I saw how much Harley was enjoying his day off, I decided just to let him chill and relax.  Besides, the ground is hard and not conducive to dressage work in the arena.  We could go for a walk in the woods, but the temperatures did not make it all that inviting.  Removing Harley's blanket and robbing him of his warm little pocket of air did not seem like a very considerate thing to do, so instead I just cleaned his feet, took some pictures, and gave him some love.  As far as I could tell, he was more than pleased with this arrangement.

Harley is considering working part-time as a blanket model.

I am happy to report that his new blanket is holding up very well.  He is wearing the Landa Freestyle Turnout by Weatherbeeta.  This past weekend was the first time that it was cold enough for him to wear the blanket during the day (instead of just at night).  I was so pleased by how content and happy he was, even when the wind was blowing and the temperatures were in the twenties.  If I place my hand under his blanket, there is a nice layer of warm air trapped between his fur and the blanket.  His blanket is not heavy, but seems to be doing a good job of working with his winter coat, which is thick and fluffy.  I removed the leg straps when I first bought the blanket, because they looked like they would cause an uncomfortable wedgie.  The blanket stays put without them and does not hinder his movement.  I can tell that he lays down in the blanket, but, so far, the pine needles, sand, and dirt come off easily with a little brushing.

I do not like winter, but I will combat the cold to ride if the ground still has some give.  Here we are in January 2009:

Harley always looks cute...

...but I am cringing, because these pictures were taken in our old saddle.  Notice the inverted neck and dropped back.

Meanwhile, I am either tipped forward or thrown high to the sky when rising to the trot.  My stirrups are up a couple holes, because this helped me compensate for my tack.  When they were long, my leg would swing back while my upper body swung forward.  Not a fun way to ride.  I also noticed that Harley's lifted diagonal pair is not matched up in this shot.  The saddle was blocking his shoulders.

This post has accidentally become a saddle analysis!  Here you can see how I am jamming my foot and heel.  I am bracing to prevent myself from being tipped forward, which happened habitually in this tack.  I started doing a couple hundred crunches a night, but did not understand why I could not stay upright.  Little did I know, I was fighting the tack!

This picture actually makes me sad, because Harley is making such a good effort despite his uncomfortable saddle.  So am I!  By the end of 2009, I had sold this saddle and we were riding in the much loved Albion.  I will write a saddle journey post at some point.  The trouble is that it is not an experience that I want to relive in writing or otherwise any time soon!

Much happier picture.  I feel better now.

Despite the recent onset of actual winter-like temperatures, I am very grateful that there is not fluffy white-stuff on the ground.  Fluffy white-stuff is not my friend and makes life very frustrating.  So I will take the sunny, cold days with a smile and some hay for Harley.  Warm riding weather will be here before we know it.  I am sure that we will be able to squeeze in a few days before spring.

*Kiss*

Video: Jumping Fun Day!

Harley has been such a good boy, that I felt it was about time for a fun day.  Cross-training or just a change of pace is so important for an athlete's mind and body, horse or human.  Sometimes our "Fun Day" is a trail ride.  Sometimes we play at liberty or free jump.  Groundwork (lungeing, long lining, or body awareness exercises) is also a great alternative.  Trick training is an enjoyable food-related option.

I was thinking about a trail ride, but a few horses went out and came back with chiggers, so that changed my mind.  Then, I remembered that I brought my jumping saddle home for a safety check and promptly forgot about it.  August has been a much more bearable month than July temperature-wise, so I brushed off my jumping saddle and decided that Harley was long overdue for some jumping fun!

Not trying to break any height records.  Just having some fun!

If you want some background information, I wrote about teaching Harley to jump in "Fun with Free Jumping".

A word about my jumping saddle.

I have a Wintec Jumping Pro, an old brown one with a wide channel, changeable gullets, faux suede covering the seat and knee rolls, and Cair panels.  It was a midnight impulse purchase on Ebay a couple years ago after a realized that my dressage saddle just wasn't cutting it for jumping.  I do not recommend impulse Ebay purchases or impulse saddle purchases of any kind, as I have been burned in the past, but this saddle has definitely earned its place in the tack room.  When Harley and I embarked on our long journey for a dressage saddle that fit both of us, this cheap*, used, jumping saddle was the only thing I could ride him in comfortably.  Or at least, he was comfortable.  I had to get used to hiked up stirrups and a seat that was much farther behind my feet than I was accustomed.  I also had to get used to riding without so much of my leg around the horse.  This contributed to the discovery that Harley hates (HATES) rider legs that go too far back.  Riding with my legs in the jumping position reinforced this, as I was unable to swing my lower leg near his flanks and he was gleeful at the handicap with which I was... eh hem... saddled.

*My husband does not think $400 is cheap.  Just wait until he gets bitten by the horse bug and goes saddle shopping for the first time!  ;)

I have a sincere appreciation for my jumping saddle, but I also have a love-hate relationship with this fuzzy, brown, synthetic piece of tack.  I love it, because it is light as a feather and the best, most comfortable saddle for jumping.  I am not speaking from a long list of jumping saddles here.  The truth is that I used to only ride in all-purpose saddles and now that I have ridden in dressage saddles and saddles cut for jumping, I have to say that a saddle designed for the job makes a world of difference.  All-purpose saddles are okay for lots of different activities, but do not really shine like a specialized saddle.  I do not fault them, because all-purpose was designed to be well-rounded!

Now my jumping saddle is no fun at the trot.  This is why I hate it.  Rising trot is a chore and a dressage rider is lost without her trotwork.  I have to constantly think about keeping my legs in front of me and my seat back towards the cantle, because otherwise I end up posting on the pommel (ouch!).  Harley loses impulsion, probably because he thinks I am going to fall off with all my fussing to keep all my body parts in place, and so I also have to remind my usually game horse to keep the pace.  After a few obligatory trot circuits I can hardly stand it, so we finally canter.

In the canter, the jumping saddle sings.

This saddle was made for cantering.  It was made for cantering and jumping.  Everything seems to fall into place and I forget that I am a dressage rider and I love to ride with relaxed leg muscles and my feet under my seat bones.  The jumps come up and the saddle just seems to put me in the right position all on its own.  It is not about the Wintec brand.  I have tried some of the Wintec dressage models and they did not give me the awe factor like the Jumping Pro.  Maybe if I jumped regularly or jumped large fences I would feel differently, but there is just something about this saddle.  It makes for a darn good fun day!

Here is a video of Harley and I having some fun with jumping.  This is the first time that we have jumped together since last summer, so the jumps are not meant to be mentally or physically taxing.  This is actually the first time ever that we have jumped a series of jumps continuously, which is probably why Harley breaks before the third jump.  When I urged him on, his reaction was

"Oh, this one too?  COOL!"

You will also notice that I circle around and repeat jumps that we bump or jump from the outside lead, because I want him to gymnasticize both leads, even if we are just having fun.  I ride very instinctively when I jump, because it was the first type of riding that I learned.  Not to be cliche, but it makes me feel like a kid again.

The last jump in the video felt the best.  He actually "locked on" and jumped with gusto.  I think that I need to make the other obstacles at least that size to get his attention.

Oh, and it would not be a fun day without a flying change.  Not in Harley's book.  ;)

Enjoy!

Harley's Carrot-face

I have been wanting to get a video of this for some time now.  I set up the tripod, hit record, and walked into the tack room.  You can hear the plastic bag rustling as I retrieve some baby carrots.  Harley is so cute!

Wait a second.

Is Harley wearing his jumping saddle?

Stay tuned...

Rider Confessions

Happy First Day of Summer!

Rider Confession #1:
I used to ride until I was dehydrated.   

This was when I was a teenager and in my early twenties.  I remember getting off the horse, both of us covered in sweat, and my abdomen seizing up.  I very nearly blacked out a couple times and often felt like I was going to be sick.  I was just lucky that my lesson horse never tied up, but I nearly did.  Have you ever experienced a "Charlie Horse" in a hamstring muscle?  How about both hamstrings at the same time?

Looking back, I wish that my instructor had moderated our workout by forcing more breaks.  She did hand me my water bottle during the lesson, but I probably should have been taking electrolytes, too.  In her defense, I would not cancel a lesson just because the sun was blazing into the 90's and our arena was uncovered.  Maybe she thought that I would learn my lesson and start regulating my own saddle time to accommodate health concerns.  This possibility just occurred to me now, so I guess that I failed the "hands-on" learning approach.  Now that I have Harley and ten more years under my belt, I am much more conscious of hydration and keeping both of us healthy in the summer months.  What was that saying about age and wisdom?  Or was it youth and folly?  Personally, I think it was the "Charlie Horses."

Rider Confession #2: 
Hans Christian Anderson's 
"The Princess and the Pea" 
is the story of my life.

Literally and figuratively, I am not a princess.  But when it comes to the whole pea part of the story, well...  

...Let's just say that I get blisters by merely looking at a new pair of shoes and if I wear anything other than leather gloves, the skin rubs off my fingers.  As a young rider, I suffered from perpetual raw patches on my inner calves, because I rode in paddock boots with jodphurs.  The stirrup leathers grabbed and twisted the skin off my calves every time that I rode.  Every time.  The pain of warm bath water hitting open skin is unforgettable, but just in case the sensation escaped my memory, I got to relive it a little bit with my new high boots earlier this spring (Discount-box boots vs. FedEx-box boots).

When I purchase clothes, comfort is my number one priority.  I am often discouraged to find irritating materials incorporated in riding clothing, like the elastic band around the ankle in riding pants.  It feels like my skin under the band is burning.  I tried riding Harley bareback in shorts one time.  Every surface of skin that was in contact with his hair grew large, red hives.  I had hives on top of hives.  It was scary and disheartening.  I was trying to be carefree on a hot summer day only to find myself rushing home to take Benadryl.  My mom would tell you that I spent the beginning of my riding career with my eyes half swollen shut and snot running from my nose.  When I was on stable duty, I used to wear a surgical mask when I cleaned stalls to avoid an allergy rush before my riding lesson.  My early dressage trainer and her husband knew that "this kid is for real" when I showed up to the barn with a fresh package of masks and antihistamines. 

As for the leather gloves, I used to wrap my fingers in baseball tape before I discovered the merits of purchasing more expensive riding gloves.  That also reflects the amount of contact that I used to have in my hands.  Learning to sit the trot was another ordeal altogether, complicated by never really riding in a saddle that fit my petite frame.  Even if the saddle has recessed stirrup bars, the buckle from the stirrup leathers hurt my inner thigh, which leads me to my next confession.

 Rider Confession #3: 

I do webbers.

Clean and comfy.  No extra holes to punch or leathers to trim.

I ride with leather webbers instead of stirrup leathers on my dressage saddle.  They are Bates brand, black leather with a nylon core that is not supposed to stretch.  I purchased nifty little sleeves to cover the metal "T" that sets the webber to a comfortable length.  Now I do not have to feel the bulk of the leathers, the pinch of the "T", or the immovable buckle under my thigh.  I also think that they look quite sharp.

Harley gets to be comfy, too, with his contoured girth.

It's the little things that count.

 

No more pinching leathers and even less between me and my horse.  Bliss.

Final Confession:
I have endured my share of pain for the sake of my passion, but, like all horse girls, the thought of not riding never crossed my mind. 

One-Handed Bridling!

This is not spectacular and really just for fun, but here is a video of me attempting to bridle Harley with one hand.  Or more accurately, me attempting to bridle Harley with one hand and take video with the other.

I asked him to take the bit twice, because I realized that I forgot to look at the LCD screen while recording and I thought maybe all the camera saw was blond fur.

I cannot take credit for teaching Harley to bridle this way.  He came up with this technique on his own, as I used to put his bridle on with the standard hand-over-nose, hold-bit-up-to-teeth style.  One day he just started dropping his head and reaching for the bit.  This falls under the category of "I can do it myself" for Harley.

Harley goes in a loose ring French link snaffle with curved bars.  :)

Are we done?  'Cause I have another appointment with this empty feed bucket.