hello...

I quite hadn't intended to have a month-long break from writing, but there you go... Blame it on the heat that has now been delighting us in Finland for over a month. It's been fab, although a little challenging, as can't work horses in the heat of the day. I have also learned that in hot countries people exercise their horses either really early in the morning or very late at night. 

Here in Finland, even though warm summers are a common occurrence, consistent temperatures in the high-20s or low-30s, for over a month, is not a common occurrence. Usually, heat waves are done within a two-week period or so... But I am not complaining. It's been great and horses have been super-chilled. 

Perhaps the reason I haven't written much is that our life has been a bit samey of late... In a good way, though. We have been hacking a lot, having some flatwork lessons and been jumping too. General life, I guess. I have also been trimming Rainbow's hooves myself! I do have a trimmer coming to see us this Friday to check my handiwork. Luckily R is so calm she has let me faff with her feet a fair amount... For I am not yet very quick at it! Also, it's been extra 'fun' to do it in the heat; weight loss guaranteed, sweat so much.

My next challenge, which I am sure I will find motivation to write about soon enough, is probably trying out bitless. I have been wanting to do it a long time but feel now it's the right time. 

i ordered an Orbitless bitless bridle for Rainbow upon a recommendation from a friend in the UK who uses it on her horse. I also bought a Monty Roberts Dually Halter finally, as feel it might be useful in teaching R the concept of bitless and also for other groundwork type working with her. 

Then I also purchased a riding pad for riding without a saddle. I have now tried bareback with Rainbow a couple of times but it's not super-comfortable trying, for example, trotting. So the pictured Best Friend riding pad was a godsend. I have tried it once and will try make working without a saddle a fairly regular thing for us. 

Images below are curtesy of Orbitless Bridle and Best Friend. Linked as above.

Have a lovely weekend

Rest and enjoy the sun.

Rainbow in the field this morning

Awww

Posing

"Are you OK?" At this point I got a bit worried, she just dozed and made heavy breathing noises.

Instead of getting up she lied down altogether. I was convinced I had a dead horse in my hands. (She did get up eventually, she just wanted to snooze in the morning sun!)

Our first Finnish dressage comp

Not a spectacular entry to the 'scene' with a 53.10% score, but we both tried our best to squint our way around the Walk Trot type test in the blazing sunshine.

tight perm

Lovely hacks with new Finnish friends

Hooves and busy times

I haven't been intentionally silent but have just had a couple of fairly eventful weeks.

Have had some problems with Rainbow's feet of late. I think the move and sudden life in the field 24/7 has taken its toll a bit and Rainbow became a bit footy on gravel and hard surfaces. We had one really nice hack with a friend over the Midsummer weekend, where we went to the canter straight we'd discovered, and did some really nice canters. But couldn't help that R was really uncomfortable on gravel roads. There are loads of those in Finland. So I have had to 'relent' (although it isn't really relenting, just recognising the facts and doing what's right) and buy boots for Rainbow to use on hard and gravelly surfaces. Combination of the move, rich pasture and gravel roads means I have been on tenterhooks to look for signs of bruising (which she has had in couple of feet) and warm/hot hooves, in case of having early signs of laminitis, although hooves are not always hotter or warmer than normal when a horse has laminitis, so don't be fooled!! Always find out why horse is behaving differently to how it normally is. But being prey animals they often disguise their pain/discomfort until it's so bad something has to be done. So keeping a close eye on your horse is and any changes is always a must.

I have been worrying about her a lot, googling stuff and taking her away from the pasture, limiting grazing, a bit and resting her in the stable, in case it was early laminitis. Although I must say for anyone reading this: laminitis when a horse is stiff and doesn't want to move or rests his front legs in a funny forward way, means it's really bad and really painful for the horse. You should never 'wait' until this happens!! Laminitis, from what I have understood, can be a lot more subtle and it is claimed 90% of domestic horses have laminitic 'incidents' in their lifetime. It comes from rich pasture (= too much sugar) and from weight gain. The thing is that an unshod horse will show sensitivity in his feet (from too much sugar) much quicker than a shod one. When I was really worried about Rainbow I heard TWICE in the space of 24 hours, from two different people, suggesting I should just shoe her and she would stop being sensitive. So the standard point of view of majority (I assume) of 'oldskool' horse people is to 'paint over the cracks'. So never mind the horse is showing something isn't right – I know, I will put shoes on and that means its healed! Super. Just super. 

Anyway, that's not what I do. I look for the cause (rather than just treat the symptom) and try to fix it. I have spoken to people and it has been suggested I take back all her feeding in the sense that she doesn't get too many 'rich' feeds in addition to the summer grass and that the summer grass is limited too. I am still in two minds about this, as what I give Rainbow is a general Summer vitamin and mineral mix, which I just mix in some sugar* beet (*not sugary despite the name!), just to get the vit+min powder down. It's only a very small amount – probably less than a litre in its total quantity, which is not much for a 500 kg horse a day... More on what I feed her can be found here. Anyway, I think I will see if reducing the vits and mins a bit help... Might just give her an occasional feed to top up any unbalances but otherwise let her body take what it needs from grass... Although grass is not the sole feed of horses... In an ideal world they wouldn't graze on farmed pastures but eat shrubs, herbs, trees, plants in nature, which all help with their own antidotes etc... A variety of stuff.

Lots of exercise is important for a horse with laminitis (although I am not saying R definitely has full on laminitis, but just possible signs of it). So by making her comfortable with the boots, I ensure I can exercise her and thus keep grass belly at bay. I know this is a bit of an undertaking, as my horse has a tendency to be a bit round rather than really lean type, but I need to work on this, as it's important for her wellbeing.

As you can see, lots of thoughts going through my mind, trying to work out what's best for her in this summer season. But I have to be understanding also that moving from one country to another IS a big thing for a horse, and I would be naive if I thought she wouldn't show any signs of anything in this transition period. She's coped really well so far with the whole thing, but I need to be mindful.

I have other things to write about, like, for instance, had a joint lesson with Johanna who came with her horse Emmi to our yard for a flatwork session.  



Unfortunately we had to cut our lesson short, as that day Rainbow wasn't very well because of her feet and I hadn't put the boots on, as hadn't thought she needs them in the school at the moment, too. But our school surface is a bit hard and stony in places... But I am glad Johanna and Emmi had a good session!

Last weekend, I drove down to near Loppi to Vainikan Aitta for a hoof trimming course. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. But I was also encouraged that I realised I know more than I give myself credit for, especially the nutritional and environmental stuff the instructors talked about in the beginning of the day, were very much how I have been trying to do things so far. 

I took some pictures but they are quite graphic, so I won't publish all of them, due to being dissections of hooves and we practised trimming on cadaver hooves. If you are sensitive, don't view the images below. All I have to say is thanks to all those horses who 'gave' their hooves to practise on... They have helped more horses to have a better hoof health and mindful owners who know what to look for and how to look after them.

Coffin bones - they determine the shape of the sole and the rest of the hoof.

Cadaver hooves after we trimmed them - mine is furthest on the right. Don't be alarmed by the weird holes in them. They were for us to 'bore into', to see how deep a sole is and how they differ from horse to horse. No living horses were harmed!

We have dressage competition at our yard this weekend. Planning on doing the walk+trot-type beginner's test. Was practising today for the first time – have cut it rather fine but all the hoof stuff, work and other things have taken it out of me to concentrate... Mum came to read out instructions on the sidelines today, which was really helpful. No pics, I am afraid...

I will leave you with this image, as I think it's lovely. Very much shows me how therapeutic horses can be. No matter how rough a day, but a bit of 'muzzle therapy' and all is well in the world again.