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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 6, 2012 15:25:32 GMT 1
This is a blog I posted about a little while ago concerning Dali. He had been lame for a very long time and his prognosis was that he would continue to deteriorate, (which he did until he went to Rockley Farm):- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-impossible-we-do-at-once-miracles.htmlHowever, this is the blog about him today - happily continuing to progress barefoot and - as a bonus - now working in a bitless bridle! The short footage provided by his owner shows a very comfortable pair of pricked ears:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/dali-onwards-and-upwards.htmlFor anyone who might be interested in his rate of progress while at Rockley Farm, these are some of the earlier blogs:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/dali-difference-and-dynamism.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/dali-2-and-half-weeks.htmlrockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/dali-6-week-update.htmlAnd this is the owner's Facebook page about Dali. It seems she sold her jewellery to raise the money for transport to Rockley Farm, such was her determination to get him there. She also mentions that, prior to his treatment at Rockley, he had had an injection into the navicular bursa in 2011, which seemed to help - until his wedges were put back on! This seems to be such a familiar story - most of the horses who are sent to Rockley have shown marked deterioration following the application of remedial shoes. Although this can relieve symptoms in the short term, Nic's experience is that they contribute to worsening lameness because they do not allow the back part of the foot or the circulation to work properly and the hoof is thus prevented from healing itself. In some cases, the wedges have caused considerable pain. Such horses have invariably been given a very poor prognosis for return to work and some owners have been advised that the horse should be euthanased. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 6, 2012 16:15:12 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 7, 2012 15:41:02 GMT 1
Following on with the theme of barefoot competition and the entrenched belief that horses need shoes for grip, I noticed this when looking up breed information on Avelignese horses:-
The Avelignese, like its close relative the Haflinger, will have naturally very strong hoofs that require very little care or maintenance. Even horses used for tourism are rarely shod as their strong hooves are less slippery and better suited to the rough terrain than slippery metal shoes that might pose more of a safety hazard.
Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 16, 2012 8:55:19 GMT 1
Another fascinating blog from Nic Barker today, once again challenging the orthodox view of trimming the hooves to look pretty or "balanced". It features Dexter again - the horse who became the first case study in "Project Dexter" and which now includes more than fifty rehab horses who have met the very strict research protocol:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/bizarre-hooves-why-they-occur-and-what.htmlI am more and more convinced that, wherever possible, leaving the horse to self-trim is the surest way of avoiding the (sadly all too frequent) incidents of trim-related lameness. Given the right nutrition, minerals and enough work on varied surfaces (and in the absence of serious metabolic disorders), a horse seems to be able to trim its own feet to suit its own unique biomechanics, just as it would do in the wild. Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 16, 2012 18:15:39 GMT 1
Following on from Nic's blog this morning and the comments from rehab owners (and one American follower of the blog), this is the rockleyfarm Facebook entry for today (16th October), to which other rehab owners have added their comments. Eva, Dom and Legend (whose feet resembled flippers while the new hoof capsule was growing in but which improved dramatically without any trimming whatsoever and whose owner is now able to ride him again after a very long period of very severe lameness indeed) are all recent rehabs and I have already posted about their progress:- www.facebook.com/pages/Rockley-Farm/129496323778726As always, the comments from the owners confirm Nic's belief that the horse knows what hooves it needs in order for it to remain sound, however bizarre or unattractive they may appear to us! Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 17, 2012 8:11:16 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 19, 2012 9:34:39 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 24, 2012 8:50:30 GMT 1
Another interesting blog from Nic Barker this morning. This time, the horse concerned is Charlie, one of her own hunters. I have posted about him before but this blog gives the complete potted history. I actually met the lovely Charlie (and was asked to hold him for a while) when we took Cynthia Cooper to meet Nic in September this year. It was my first and only visit to Rockley Farm and Nic was working flat out the whole time we were there. However, she very helpfully answered all Cynthia's questions and allowed her to take photographs of the various horses' feet. She also showed Cynthia the only two angles from which you can judge whether a hoof is loading evenly - i.e. NOT from the front! Cynthia is herself a barefoot trimmer in Tasmania and trims all fourteen of her own horses. She was intrigued by Nic's experiences with the rehab horses. Like many barefoot trimmers and farriers, she had been taught that horses hooves had to be "balanced" and "corrected" when they showed any kind of deviation. Whilst talking about Charlie, Nic mentioned that, although he had been lame in shoes and was sound out of them and hunted regularly over Exmoor, he would still (unlike Felix) avoid very stony ground during the time when he was being lightly trimmed (just with a rasp, I believe) by Nic's students. As soon as all trimming stopped, however, he became completely sound on all surfaces and at all paces! This was one of the many examples which led Nic to realise that more harm than good is often done by trimming and is the reason she no longer teaches barefoot trimming and, instead, coined the "celery" principle, i.e. don't go near a horse's hooves with anything sharper than a stick of celery.. One very interesting observation by the previous owners is the fact that Charlie's lameness "couldn't" be to do with his feet because his feet were "excellent" (i.e. trimmed to be symmetrical from the front view!). Charlie, as with so many of the rehabs, knows what hooves he needs and, thankfully, Nic allows him to grow them:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/charlie-and-check-ligaments.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Oct 26, 2012 9:17:20 GMT 1
Another interesting blog from Nic Barker today. This time, it concerns a thoroughbred horse, Thomas, who was taken out of shoes at the beginning of this year and was doing well but was sent to Rockley Farm for further improvement. This is his four-week update following the Rockley regime of free access to tracks and varied surfaces coupled with controlled exercise but no trimming (the horses seem to do that perfectly well themselves):- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/barefoot-thoroughbred-hooves.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Nov 7, 2012 17:44:26 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Nov 15, 2012 10:17:04 GMT 1
A frustrated plea from the heart to the veterinary community by Nic Barker this morning. There are two particularly interesting points: (1) She had received a letter from a current veterinary student who was expressing frustration that barefoot hoof management is not included at all on the veterinary course, and (2) The link to a paper produced by an American vet:- rockleyfarm.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/dear-vet.htmlDawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Nov 15, 2012 15:43:10 GMT 1
And just to illustrate the level of resistance to the idea amongst vets that horses can perform perfectly well barefoot, given the right conditions, there is a comment from Rolie's owner on the Rockley Farm Facebook page for today (15th November 2012):- en-gb.facebook.com/pages/Rockley-Farm/129496323778726I have previously pasted in the links on this thread to Rolie's progress after arrival at Rockley Farm. I don't wonder that there is so much despair felt by Nic and owners when a successfully rehabbed horse, who is working perfectly well barefoot, is still deemed by his vet to need shoes if he will be doing much roadwork! Dawn Perkins
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Nov 16, 2012 9:22:12 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Dec 3, 2012 10:00:13 GMT 1
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Post by Dawn Perkins on Dec 3, 2012 19:59:13 GMT 1
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