I am so proud of my gelding, Liable! He's 15 yrs old now. I haven't ridden him but once since I had my knee done back in Feb. but I brought him to the house, round-penned him and really gave him a one-day clinic. He was great! Then early this morning, we were asked to take the first flight. He was fabulous! soft and responsive, no silly stuff like he can do at times. We ran fast over rough territory after a bob-tailed coyote. There were four riders that rode barefoot horses in the hunt, one of them being the huntsman's wife. Her horse would have been destroyed years ago had I not told her about barefoot and trimmed her horse then showed her how to trim. Her husband, bless his heart, has a new horse shod on all four. I guess he feels he must have shoes on his horse because he is the professional huntsman but I always hate to see nice horses ruined for life with shoes! There are other  people in our hunt that shoe their horses too and I just think, ignorance is bliss! For them, its harder to do something different when they've always done what they've always done. So they'll eventually put their horses down for lamenss while I continue to ride my barefoot horses.

 
Rainy day 10/14/2009
 
Well Billy and I were going to ride up in the mountains but, with the rain and cold temps, I cancelled our reservations. He also has been hurting all over and hasn't ridden his horse in over a month. I decided to update my website with some photos I took of Cody's boiled out feet. I could have hunted today but I'm still giving Dewees a break and I put my saddle with a fitter to get it restuffed, a long over-due expensive necessity. Its a good saddle and I couldn't replace it for what it is costing me to have it repaired but still, there are some really nice saddles out there that I would love to be able to afford. Stubben has these new ones that let air flow to the crotch. I like that feature!
 
 

I had to take Dewees to the vet. She got into some ground bees in the pasture and got stung all over her back. Poor baby! I tried rubbing a topical antihistimine but she was feeling so bad she started looking like she might colic so I went ahead and paid the vet for an exam and stronger meds. She's better but kept me from hunting today. That's ok though because I had to boil out Cody's feet. YUK!!! I also have an on-going landscape project that has kept me very back sore. Well gotta go out and pull apart Cody's feet. I took photos before I boiled them. They had good concavity and they have taken 3 days to boil enough to pull apart. From the many hooves I've boiled out I know that the healthiest ones take the longest to boil out while the shod, si

 
 
I don't really think anyone from our hunt reads this blog so.... I can say what I want.
How fricking frustrating it is to ride with people who shoe their horses and don't have a clue about natural horsemanship!!! I had two people in front of me fussing and cussing their horses, yanking and clanking their teeth against their gag bits as they clanked their shod hooves, tripping and forging and generally making it noisy and unpleasant! I tried to enjoy my horse,  she, well-behaved, due to all my natural horsemanship training, quietly and smoothly negotiating the trappy trails in her bitless bridle and bare feet. Sometimes I feel like the beautiful svelt woman amidst a bunch of fat girls. They hate me just because... Hey, I WISH I was svelt and beautiful!! But my horse is!!!  (well beautiful but a little chubby) and her training shows, the way I ride bitless and shoeless, you  would think some of those people that have all these problems with their horses would see the difference! Whatever! I even brought some of my new brochures and announced my educational program coming in Nov. and were they interested? Are you kidding me??!! Only intelligent, caring horse owners are interested in natural horse keeping and riding methods. Those other people are only interested in paying vet and farrier bills then complaining about all the money they spend on their "stupid" horses which buck, kick or otherwise hurt them.
 
Boots 09/20/2009
 
Boots should be fitted correctly and used when needed. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. I learned this the hard way but you don't have to! I recommend soaking boots (I like the blue Davis boots best as they hold up to use and have more stretch and flexibility than the more expensive Easy Boot Soakers.) You can buy Davis soaking boots thru Valley Vet for the best price and fast free shipping!
When it comes to riding boots I like the Old Mac G2s. They have quite a lot of improvement in design from the original Old Macs. I like the boot to fit very tight as with age and use, it will stretch. I use front boots usually but in very rocky terrain I might use hinds also. you can put studs in them, they do not impede hoof mechanism and they don't come off.
I do have one pair of Renegades. I think they are very good boots especially for low heeled horses as they do not rub the heels. They will come off though as the closures are velcro. I like buckles better. The Simple boot by Cavallo seems to be a good boot but again it has velcro. When velcro meets with mud and ice it does not work well. I fox hunt so I use boots hard and in all kinds of conditions so I don't want to have to look down and check to see if my horse has lost a boot. But I will use them because you just never know when your horse might step on something that even a hard healthy hoof has no defence, like a broken drink bottle or other sharp object like a nail in a board stiking up.
During transition, boots both soaking and riding are necessary I believe. Soaking boots are the most important for horses that are dealing with founder issues as you can insert a pad to help ease pain. Its like a mobile hoof clinic and short of paving your place with rubber mats, it's a lot easier to stick some pads in a pair of boots.
 
 
Lynn and I made a one day trip down and back to deliver her camel to a trainer near Atlanta. He's a little old fashioned (not a camel whisperer!) but seems to get the job done.
I trimmed a tiny foundered pony the day before and I was so sore from bending over and doing a strenous trim. Photos before and after will be posted soon.
Sunday was hunt school. Turkeys can hide!
 
Hunt school 09/13/2009
 
Be careful what you wish for....I got to lead the first flight today. Dewees is a good horse but she's used to having at least the huntsman or a whipper-in in front. But we had to go off and around the country and we got to a ditch with a pipe that until we got to it, had a big old turkey in it! Dewees spooked and I hung on but just barely. After that she fully expected another turkey to jump out somewhere but she was good and kept going. We took the first flight on a couple of gallops and jumped quite a bit. Then after the hounds had made their intro to the field, I was asked to take anyone who wanted to jump out to jump some more. Dewees was very good except one jump in a dark patch of woods. When she was satisfied there was no turkey, she jumped.
 
 
A friend invited Billy and I to go for a trail ride by the Haw river to the Grove Vineyards where there was an event going on with food, wine tasting, art and music. It was fun!
 
 
I have two older friends. One has health issues but both are a little fearful of cantering their horses so when they came over to my house for a schooling ride, I got on each horse and cantered them for their owners. One of the horses is a young draft Hackney cross. I also trim him so it's neat to ride the result! His canter depart was better to the left than to the right where I got a taste of his Hackney trot. The other horse is a Standardbred and has some joint adaptation on one of his front feet where the DDFT and joint has dropped down into a coonfoot conformation. But he had a comfortable canter that was kinda like a gaited horse canter.
The next day was hunt school. We had a great turnout (35-40 people) and I met some nice young folks that rode behind me. The young girl is an eventer that is starting her business training and teaching a high school riding program. Both their horses were keen to go. Dewees was perfect as usual. She eased over the trails, creek crossings and jumps like a been-there-done-that horse should. Took care of her moma dispite the antics of Chris's horse's leaping and lunging in front of her and the snorting goings on behind her. She's fat and out of shape but she was a good girl. Got to get her back into condition though.
 
Trail riding 09/04/2009
 
Billy and I rode last night in the moonlight. Lynn and I rode this morning at North East park. I'm going with her to take Humphry the camel to a trainer. What I'm think though is after he's trained, where is she going to ride him? Out hunting? Trail riding? Down the side of the road? Maybe they have camel shows. I have seen camels do dressage.