K:: Update: Russia and the trailer of terror.

Important behaviourism #1: Horses are as we all know a herd animal, naturally they want to cooperate. Given the chance Russia will always find himself close to me when I'm about the yard.

Important behaviourism #2: He only has to be shown something once in order to understand the concept, so we know tricks won't work.

Sunday, we walked him through the trailer, reducing the 2.5 hour time down to 40 minutes, still a long time but ultimately a huge improvement. So how did we do it- by basically ignoring the very reason we were there. Firstly we placed the trailer between the exercise area and the route back to his beloved companion spice.

Hayley and myself were catching up on the trailer with an old friend Charlotte. To our surprise Russia was very keen to be involved in our conversation and slowly began the creep up the ramp.

Still he wouldn't take the plunge and bring those back feet on the ramp. So, Hayley stood behind him, Charlotte took the lead rein and I had the pleasure of his wonderful agile front legs. I encouraged him to walk forward, Hayley kept pressure behind him, but only enough for him to know if he stepped back he would so onto her and Charlotte bribed. With some coaxing, and a little patience, the back feet were on the ramp and he walked through the trailer.

Yes, we did it. And we will do it all again next week. We did it our way, the horse was happy to do what we asked, not once had a fight with us and we all felt there was a vast improvement.

Important points to note:

Horses will bide their time. Stepping backwards is his way of taking the process backwards.

If we apply force, they will apply more - the outcome is humans will always lose the strength battle.

Herd animals want to be with the herd, allowing them to make that choice when the trailer is the only option to get there is a good start with a positive outcome.

K:: When nothing goes right, go left.

Russia doesn’t like the trailer; he isn’t frightened and I have quickly learnt that he has the most amazing defense mechanism of any horse I have met. He shuts down, eye’s glaze over and plants his feet. Great a 500kg animal that refuses to move.

Leaving the yard Saturday he stopped at the bottom of the ramp. Hayley and I pushed him back 100ft, walked him forward and repeated. Each time he stopped at the ramp. We quickly learnt he didn’t like to go backwards and on the third attempt he ran up the ramp. Great, job done horse fixed we thought. How wrong we could be.

Coming home, Russia stopped at the bottom of the ramp. This time he wouldn’t go backwards, too clever to fall for that trick twice, he wouldn’t walk forwards and his shear strength snapped my very beautiful new leather head-collar!!  Not only this; both Hayley and I are wearing fantastic bruises from the antics.  Two hours after the first attempt and every clever idea we could think of, we finally walked him on foot by foot and were on our way home.

What did we learn? A LOT
Always ensure the long-reins you're about to use as a guide are solid - mine have a velcro connector. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry first as I saw Hayley lay on the ground after one gigantic pull!!
Never travel a youngster in your beautiful new leather head-collar – its bound to be broken.

Never assume because you have achieved something once that the problem is fixed – practice makes perfect and your horse could decide he wants to give you a false sense of security.

You won’t ruin your relationship from one bad day. Russia has forgiven me and I have forgiven him. We both needed a sleep after the day.  

A horse that is desensitized to most things isn’t frightened and therefore will think nothing of a broom up the bum!

From the weekend I plan to document how Russia is going to learn to love the trailer – starting this week with the trailer gaining a new home on the gravel track in the field. 

H:: Drifter's bare necessity!

I didn't realise it at the time, but in September 2011 my whole perspective on horses was about to change for the better. Drifter was forging badly in shoes and after being reassured by my farrier, then numerous vets telling me different things, I decided to do my own research and read online about what would be best for him. This is when I stumbled across the UKNHCP forum and realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks. I knew precious little about my horses health, and as someone who had always looked for an alternative way of keeping horses I couldn't believe I hadn't questioned it before.  Shoes weren't the be all and end all of a sound riding horse, and after reading through very few posts, I had made up my mind that the shoes were coming off.

September 2011 - A day after the shoes came off - surfaces were no problem

His right fore 3months bare - 2 distinct event lines which coincide with our worming cycle and when he had a colic scare

Drifter does everything barefoot now; we used boots during his transition, but they have been tucked away in a box and haven't been used in over a year and a half now. His feet are fascinating and the event lines tell me the month he was wormed, when I gave him too much grass, or when he escaped and ate other liveries feeds!! Drifter forges little in comparison to when he had shoes and trips nowhere near as much. He is also a very clumsy horse, and the fact that he can feel his feet, has definitely helped with his his proprioception. I now question everything I do with my horses from wormers, to shampoos and lotions I use, from training principles to medication. I want to learn about every part of my horses health, so that I personally make the decisions about what is best for my dear friends, and not just trust someone else to do it for me!

Enjoying some barefoot xc schooling April 2014