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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 27, 2012 10:30:00 GMT 1
I seem to have wandered so far off the point on the thread begun by Em about bits that I thought it was probably time to start a new thread! Nic's blog today is particularly of interest because it reproduces emails from owners, one of whose horses Possibly both but I don't know about Clare) has benefited from the barefoot rehab programme at Rockley:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-story-from-owners-side.htmlThis was Amy's mare's progress report just before she left Rockley Farm:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/eva-and-frog.htmlAnd this is Nic's blog about the essential part movement plays in lameness rehab:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/rehab-movement-box-rest-and.htmlDawn Perkins P.S. The two-day course sounds absolutely fantastic. As with the horses themselves, it gives Avril's students an opportunity for what they have learnt on the first day to sink in a bit, so that they can put some of it into practice on the second day. It was sure to be a success and I'm so pleased the weather (once again!) was kind.
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 27, 2012 11:10:38 GMT 1
I should, of course, have said that I completely understand that not everyone shares the interest I have in this particular form of rehabilitation. I would also stress that Nic has a long track record of getting horses sound, as acknowledged by the Insurance Ombudsman, which is why I am happy to paste in links to her website.
I have realised, since my early posts on the subject, that there are, as with any practice or profession, practitioners with different degrees of competence, knowledge and true ability to "read" horses. I am now only comfortable with providing information from Nic's website because I believe the source material to be 100% reliable. I do not have any personal or commercial links with her.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 28, 2012 9:50:30 GMT 1
Because of geographical distances, it's not often that owners whose horses have been successfully rehabilitated are able to get together but Nic's (now annual) rehab reunion gives an unusual opportunity to see several previously lame (even completely written off) horses riding out together. In 2011, it was over the extremely hilly and stony terrain of Exmoor, although a more central location has been chosen for this September's reunion:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/morning-after-weekend-before.htmlThe Charlie, Dexter and Bailey referred to in the blog are Nic and Andy's own horses - all lame with serious hoof problems prior to barefoot rehabilitation and all of whom I have referred to, at various times) on the other thread. In one photo, Nic is riding her own horse Felix with no bridle and I have already pasted a link on the other thread to a video of them jumping barefoot and brideless through the soggy fields, cantering on the road and riding over stony tracks. This is today's blog about Pocholo, one of the rehabs mentioned in the reunion blog. What is interesting is that, being barefoot, his hoof was able to adapt first of all to conditions in the UK and now to the much drier conditions in Spain. His hoof has not been constrained and so is able to quickly adapt without compromising soundness (although note the reference to the need for exercise to keep the hooves sound):- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/no-rain-in-spain-pocholo-update.htmlThese are three of the blogs referring to his progress whilst he was still at Rockley Farm. Once again, note Nic's reference to having done no trimming:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/frogs-heels-stilts-and-hairlines.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/how-to-look-after-your-frogs-aka.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/comparison-trotwork-pocholo.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 28, 2012 20:38:13 GMT 1
This must be one of the very few blogs of Nic's which I hadn't read before. I avidly read the MSC website (forum, blog, Facebook, any new Foundation Training Videos, Horses for Sale, etc!) and the Rockley Farm blog every day (usually more than once!) but must have missed this one of Nic's. It relates to an email from someone who hunts their horse barefoot in the USA. What is interesting is that they hunt mainly over rocky surfaces (proving that horses do NOT have to be shod simply because they will be doing lots of work on hard surfaces) and also that this person found that it was trimming the feet regularly which was causing her horse to be less sound. When she stopped trimming and lightly rasped instead, the horse became sound! The inspiration for this change in approach had come from her reading Nic's blogs on "celery":- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/same-horse-and-how-to-use-celery-rrr-1.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 29, 2012 9:00:21 GMT 1
The Rockley Farm blog today is incredibly interesting because there is a continuation from yesterday of Pocholo's owner's email to another owner whose horse is experiencing lameness problems. In it, she pastes a link regarding dressage horses and a study which showed how shoeing changes the shape of their hooves.
There are also links to some of Nic's relevant "key post blogs" and Nic's explanation of how bar shoes and wedges simply give the hoof the appearance of having the correct pastern angle instead of letting the horse develop the actual correct angle.
As I keep reading these "before and after" stories, I am continually surprised that this has not been taken up more widely. The next rehab reunion will take place in September at the Milton Keynes Eventing Centre and it will be very interesting (bearing in mind that some owners will not be able to make it because of other commitments) to see just how many healthy, happy barefoot ex-rehab horses (many of whom were written off by their vets) turn up.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Aug 29, 2012 9:01:47 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 2, 2012 12:17:39 GMT 1
We visited friends on Exmoor at the weekend and I practically had to be restrained from regaling them with enthusiastic reports of both Avril and Nic!
We went to the local sheepdog trials and, helping my friend in the tea tent was the wife of someone (Edward) who does work for Nic and who has ridden some of her rehab horses out hunting following their successful treatment at Rockley Farm! It was such a coincidence. My friend had not realised that this person had any connection with Nic and it happened to come up in conversation because of what I had been telling my friend about Nic and the rehabilitation work she does.
This person is as enthusiastic about, and convinced by, Nic's treatment and general approach to barefoot as I am. She has, as a result, set up her own track system and her own horse has not now been trimmed for two and a half years! She is absolutely committed to ensuring that her horse has plenty of barefoot roadwork and work on varied surfaces and is a complete convert to the whole concept.
My poor friend has now been the recipient of masses of links from me to information about both Mysafecobs and Rockley Farm. I just hope our friendship can survive it!
I am keeping everything crossed that Avrill is continuing to make a good recovery. Having told my friend about her, I was selecting specific links from the website and had the pleasure of looking again at videos and pages which I haven't looked at for a while.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 2, 2012 14:35:28 GMT 1
And this is just a reminder of two of the horses who started the ball rolling as far as Nic Barker's interest in barefoot rehabilitation is concerned:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/p/ghosts-video.htmlGhost was put down at the age of 25 due to melanomas. He was working happily almost up to the end. He was Nic's own horse and her very first rehab horse, although she didn't realise it at the time - she just wanted to find a way of helping him. And Bailey:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/p/bailey.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/cracks-shoes-and-barefoot.htmlThese are the hunting mileages which the barefoot horses (mainly rehabs) have clocked up (up and down steep hillsides and along stony tracks and roads) since 2009:- BAREFOOT HUNTING MILEAGE FOR 2009-2010: 2420 MILES Felix: 713.1 miles (1147.6km) Charlie: 640.1 miles (1030.14 km) Bailey: 430.5 miles (692.82 km) Angel: 233 miles (397.47 km) Jacko: 209.6 miles (337.32 km) Hector: 193.7 miles (311.73 km) BAREFOOT HUNTING MILEAGE FOR 2010-2011: 2621.6 MILES Felix: 846.8 miles Charlie: 639.8 miles Angel: 526.9 miles Bailey: 396.5 miles Jacko: 211.6 miles [Days lost to fog/snow/ice: 21] BAREFOOT HUNTING MILEAGE FOR 2011-2012 Felix (8th season): 720.3 miles Charlie (6th season): 527.5 miles Bailey (8th season): 259.6 miles Dexter (1st season): 128.5 miles [Days lost to fog/snow/ice: 13] BAREFOOT HUNTING MILEAGE FOR 2012-2013 Charlie (7th season): 51.2 miles Felix (9th season): 38.3 miles Dexter (2nd season): 17.6 miles Bailey (9th season): 21.3 miles [Days lost to fog/snow/ice]: 1 And these are Dexter's hooves. Left to their own devices, he is sound. Trimmed, he is lame. He needs those flares and you can see from the above hunting mileages that he did over 128 miles barefoot over the most challenging terrain that most horses will ever come across in this country - and in his very first season following his rehab at Rockley Farm! rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/jumping-to-conclusions.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 3, 2012 13:28:56 GMT 1
Another interesting "before and after" (well, "before and during") update from Rockley Farm:- Candy soon after arrival at Rockley:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/new-girl-candy-and-more-on-legend.htmlAnd now (about two thirds of the way through her rehab at Rockley, which will be followed by another few months back at home until she has grown out a completely new hoof capsule):- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-importance-of-looking-at-legs-not.htmlOnce again, Nic has not trimmed her hooves at all during rehab because trimming, in her experience, only serves to compromise the strength of the back of the hoof - which needs building up. Instead, movement on the track, diet and structured exercise have brought about the improvements. Also - as always - when the horse is allowed to grow the shaped hooves it needs (rather than a human's idea of how they should look!) they become stronger and more capable. Candy's owner's comment at the end of Nic's blog tells the story. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 3, 2012 13:48:55 GMT 1
One thing I forgot to mention regarding Candy is that Nic compares (in her blog about Candy's arrival at Rockley) the rate of new hoof growth between Candy and Legend. Candy had come out of shoes on the same day that Legend arrived at Rockley (also out of shoes by then because of increasing pain) but Legend's rate of new hoof growth during that same period had been much faster.
The difference between them is that Candy had been on rest and very restricted turnout during that period, whereas Legend had been on the Rockley surfaces (initially the conformable pea gravel), with as much movement as he wanted to have.
Both horses had had their shoes removed but the Rockley rehab regime - with unlimited opportunities for movement on varied surfaces within the horse's comfort zone - and the Rockley diet restriction and mineral supplementation seems to have given Legend much more opportunity for faster new hoof growth.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 4, 2012 19:39:07 GMT 1
I pasted a link on the other thread a while ago about an attempt by Nic and her (very supportive) vet, Anna, to obtain "before and after" ultrasound images of a couple of the rehabs at Rockley Farm. This was being done because neither their owners nor Nic herself can afford repeat MRI scans, without which it is almost impossible to prove conclusively - and to the satisfaction of most vets - that Nic's treatment works (and works more quickly and cheaply than conventional treatments):- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/its-starti-think.htmlClearly, there are certain restrictions on obtaining the most perfect images because Nic will not, under any circumstances, (and I doubt very much that any owners would, either) permit any of the rehabs to have their frogs pared. However, Nic and Anna have been repeating the ultrasound on those rehabs and she will be blogging about it shortly. I am keeping my fingers crossed and will paste a link to the results, whatever they may be. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 5, 2012 15:23:25 GMT 1
This blog from Rockley Farm concerns Dali, a KWPN who had been lame since 2010 and for whom conventional treatments, including remedial farriery, had not helped at all. His vet had said that he would not be able to cope barefoot and the prognosis was that his condition would worsen, which it did until he went to Rockley Farm for barefoot rehabilitation. Almost from the moment he began barefoot rehab, there have been remarkable improvements, which are still ongoing. He is now coming to the end of his rehabilitation at Rockley Farm. Of course, although great changes have happened to his hooves within that time, his lameness is of such long standing that his owner will have to carry on the treatment (under Nic's guidance and advice) at home until a whole new hoof capsule has grown in and (which will take some months) damaged bone has had a chance to remodel as much as it can:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-impossible-we-do-at-once-miracles.htmlThis was Nic's blog when he had been at Rockley for only six weeks! rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dali-6-week-update.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 6, 2012 15:22:40 GMT 1
I am proud to confess a personal interest in Nic's blog today. Some time ago - and because there are now so many owners who would love their horse to go to Rockley Farm but who cannot afford it or who have already used up their insurance cover - Nic announced that there would be a "scholarship" whereby owners could apply for a one-off scholarship for free treatment, paying only £10 per week towards feed. There were many applications and the successful horse was M, an ex-racehorse with a multitude of problems. Like Dali (my post yesterday), he had been lame for some considerable time and had various other problems, too:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/m-one-youve-been-waiting-for.htmlFor anyone who is interested, these are his periodic updates after treatment commenced:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/ms-3-week-update.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/ms-5-week-pics.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/8-weeks-m-update.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/ive-got-behind-on-filming-but-as-i-have.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/those-who-say-that-something-cannot-be.htmlThis is his update today:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/m-is-for.htmlThese are the details of the scholarship, from which you can see that, following the lead of Steve Leigh of Nature's Way, I donated a small sum towards the cost of M's transport. It's not something that would have occurred to me but I thought it was such a good idea of Steve's and my Wonderful Husband agreed that we could pitch in to help (hopefully) raise the profile of the barefoot rehabilitation and, thereby, help more horses who might otherwise be put to sleep or retired long before their time. rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/rockley-scholarship.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/winner-of-rockley-scholarship-2012-is.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/newsflash-scholarship-addition-plus.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/scholarship-grows.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/scholarship-boy-new-pals-and-progress.htmlM has had so many problems of various kinds but his owner is totally committed and dedicated to helping him and I am keeping my fingers firmly crossed that Nic will continue to weave her particular brand of magic over him and all the others who have been written off by their vets. Fifty horses have now completed Rockley Farm rehab in accordance with the very strict protocol of "Project Dexter" (named after the very first horse who formed part of the research and who featured in a recent post and who now hunts happily barefoot on Exmoor!). Nic has actually rehabbed many more horses than fifty but the strict protocol is such that, for example, the same vet has to assess the horse before and after treatment. Some vets are not particularly helpful in this respect and, with some practices, it is not possible. Even though the horse has been successfully rehabbed and is back in work, it cannot form part of the research data. Very frustrating! Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 7, 2012 8:14:57 GMT 1
Another example today of how much a hoof can radically change (in this case in just one month!) when the optimum conditions are provided. As Nic points out time and time again, this is NOT due to trimming, which would have weakened the hooves and delayed the improvements. I have already mentioned that when we took Cynthis Cooper to meet her in the summer (which was also my first and only meeting with Nic), Cynthia actually took a photograph of Nic's trimming and rasping tools, which were covered in layers of dust! rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/fast-changes-dynamic-hooves-over-month.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Sept 9, 2012 12:24:17 GMT 1
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