Pea Gravel - Touch It Up for the Winter

We touched up our pea gravel this weekend. Put down about 4 more inches on top of our old gravel. The area is 48' x 6' wide and only took about 3 yards of gravel. It is located under the overhang of our barn, so the horses have to walk through it to get to water, and in the winter, they spend a lot of time in the pea gravel to get out of the wet weather.

Why pea gravel? Because it is malleable, it fills in the voids in the hoof where healthy tissues would be and increases blood circulation by 90%, which in turns speeds up healing and new cell growth dramatically (study by Dr. Robert Bowker, MSU). It supports the coffin bone of the hoof and relieves peripheral loading by distributing weight over the whole hoof. Pea gravel makes great footing for areas horses spend a lot of time standing around in. It gives the horse a malleable area to stand or lay and gives the hooves a drying out time during the winter and wet season. Standing on pea gravel is like a good foot massage for the horse. It's like standing on foam pads for horses!

Interested in reading more about pea gravel, peripheral loading, and the effects it has on hooves? Read this: http://www.thehorseshoof.com/Art_Pad.html

If you have a horse with "flat soles" and would like to develop more concavity, start an area of 4-6" of pea gravel and see if that helps!

Parelli Level Three Pass

This year, I have been working on my horsemanship.... we put in an arena and I have been focusing on my relationship with my girls, mostly Anna and Feather, and building Luigi's confidence. I have been playing mostly with the new Parelli Patterns system. I like it because it is a blueprint - something to follow step by step everyday, and I have been getting horses that love it! They come running to me in the pasture when I call for them, they stay by my side, and they want to be the "chosen" one. They are more confident and are having fun when we are playing together. Not robotic, and they are certainly not being drilled, which was a criticism of the older Parelli system. My horses are truly happy and having fun!

So I sent in my Level Three Audition videos for fun, just to see where I was at, and sure enough, they all came back with a Pass! So I am now an official Level Three graduate, which is quite an accomplishment and something I have been working on for three years or so with Anna.

Here are our videos on YouTube - they are not great, not practiced, but rather, just a session filmed of me playing with Anna:

Freestyle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE0C7qf7bpY

Liberty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ_wzO1OxIM

Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1eWxFxLV-0

Next year, Feather and I are going to spend a month at Parelli, and work towards Level 4 and also the professionals program.

Yes, I do give lessons and will take horses in for starting and training... One of the benefits of being a hoof trimmer is that I have worked with a lot of different horse personalities and I have experience in what works for each. I really look at myself as a horse-human relationship counselor. I can see how to understand your horse more, and to make the interaction with your horse much more enjoyable and positive for all parties involved!

I have experience starting wild mustangs as well as lots of trail and endurance riding experience. So if you would like any help with your horse, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Wanted: Demo Horse

Wanted:

Demo Horse

FREE

· Shoe Removal

· Boot Fit (boots not included)

· Barefoot Set Up Trim

Clinic for Pacific Hoof Care Professionals

Saturday, October 31, 10:00 am

Must be located on the Georgetown Divide,

or trailer to Cool Olmstead Loop

Contact Tracy Browne at 530-885-5847

tracy@hoofhelp.com

Boot Fitting and Shoe Removal Clinic

We will be having about boot fitting and shoe removal clinic here in Greenwood on August 15 and November 7. Please let me know if you would like to attend. Cost is $175. Covers all the major hoof boots on the market, how to fit them, put them on, in what scenarios to use them, padding, modifications to the boots, fixing boots, etc. Lots of hands on with the horses.

9:00 – 9:30 Introductions, coffee, breakfast, etc

9:30 – Shoe Removal Video and showing the technique – the “Secret”

**Or a live horse shoe removal if I can arrange it**

10:00 – Why boots? In what situations? Without specific boot types yet.

10:30 – Specific Hoof boots

Overview

Show the boot

Pass it around

Advantages

Disadvantages

Which hoof shape

When to use it

What type of riding

How to fit it

Boots Covered – Gloves, Edge, Epics, Bares, Boas, Renegades, Simple Boots, Old Macs Original and G2, Delta Boots, Swiss, EasySoakers, Easyboots and Soft Rides

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch – bring your own or go out

1:30 – Padding system

Thick Pads, Thin Pad, Dome Pads, Comfort Pad System, Shocktamers, Equithane, Gel Pads --- How to use them, in what situations

2:15 – Easy Foam and Equithane info

When to do it, Technique

2:45 – Horse Demo – How to put the boots on

3:00 – Pull out all of the boots and put them on the horses

Find which boot fits each horse the best

4:00 – Wrap up and discussion

Yoga for Equestrians

Tune up your body for riding!

8-week course focusing on:
Hip openers, hamstrings, lower back, and shoulders
Learn to work with your horse in an energetic, yogic fashion
and correlate your body to that of your horse.

The class will address:
Riding anxiety, muscle soreness and joint pain

Learn:
Breath control exercises that will help calm any anxieties
and bring you into the present moment with your horse.
Does your horse have a stiff, tight back? Maybe you do, too -
this class will help you heal your own body in order to get
top performance out of your horse's body.

Sign up early at The Yoga Place - class limited to 12
Classes: Thursdays (June 4 - July 23)
Time: 9:00—10:30 am
Fee: $88 for 8-class series

Mika's First Endurance Ride

So my student, Mika, and I rode the Nevada Derby 25 together. Mika is 9 years old, and recently received her Level 1 string from Parelli. Attached is an article she wrote about her experience at the ride:

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Mika's Endurance Ride

By Mika Pitre

In April I did my first endurance ride. I have just passed my level 1 in Parelli Natural Horsemanship and my coach, Tracy Browne, invited me to be her junior partner in the Nevada Derby in Winnemucca Nevada. The Nevada Derby has a 50 and 25-mile ride. We chose to ride the 25 miler. I took my 25-year-old Appaloosa, Geraldine and Tracy brought her 23-year-old Spanish Arabian, Princess. I think they may have been the oldest horses there.

Before the ride I took out some horse spray my mom had packed for me and I sprayed my horse with it and when I tried to brush it out it turned her mane and tail purple, so the vet called her a purple roan instead of a blue roan. The first day we woke up to ice on our sleeping bags. I knew it was going to be a freezing cold morning. Before we were able to start out on the ride we had to go through vet check. There were four vet checks on this ride. The first check was in the mourning before we took off and two in the middle of the ride and one at the end when we came in. At each one the vets checked my horse’s pulse, digestion, muscle tone, anal tone, they checked her gums and I had to trot her out and back while they looked for soundness and attitude. An attitude check is where they are looking for how the horse leads. Is she moving lightly or pulling on the lead and are her ears forward and happy or not. At one check Tracy’s Princess got a B for her attitude because her head wasn’t up like most Arabians. Princess is a very calm left-brained Arabian.

Up on my horse my toes and fingers were numb and I had a hard time slowing my old gray mare down. Tracy and I were the only ones riding Savvy. Most of the Normal riders started out early and I think they wanted to race. On the 25-mile ride I saw rabbits, birds and my first Pronghorn Antelope. I even saw Stud Piles. Stud Piles are piles of wild horse poop where a wild stallion returns to poop and mark his territory. Nevada has a lot of wild horses and burros. Our pit crew was my Mom, Dad and little sister, Kiyana. They would come meet us at the checkpoint stops to feed us and check up on us. Back at camp Dad was camp cook while Kiyana and Mom kept the stalls clean and the horse groomed. I think if you are doing an endurance ride you should take a pit crew like I did. There were four vet checks on this ride. The first check was in the morning before we took off and two in middle of the ride and one at the end when we came in. We finished the ride towards the last of the group of riders because we were riding Savvy the whole time, but our horses were happy and not exhausted. That evening Tracy and I decided to do the 15-mile ride the next day. This is a fun ride for people and horses new to endurance riding.

On the 15 miler I mostly saw sagebrush and domesticated horses, burros and dogs. We rode by the Painted Mountains. These mountains look like they have streaks of reddish browns and orange painted across them. This shorter ride had only two vet checks. One check is in the morning and one when we came in at the end of the ride. On this last check the vet got very excited when Geraldine peed because this shows how well the horse is doing. My horse Geraldine got straight A’s on all her vet checks and I am very proud of her.

I am very thankful that Tracy invited me on this ride and introduced me to endurance riding. Next time I would like to try the Nevada Derby 50 miler.

Lucy Found a New Home

Tamara Cisek, my trimmer friend extraordinaire, took Lucy home with her! Their personalities are a perfect fit! Tamara is an advanced Parelli student, and Lucy and her worked wonderfully together. I am so happy that all of the foundatation work that Lucy has will be put to good work. Tamara was looking for her next all round super horse, and Lucy has that in her to be versitile and fun. Good luck Tamara and Lucy!! A happy end for the Mustang Makeover Finalist! This was the best home she could ever want.