13 February
Today we had a quieter day. For Willy I would say it was a rest day. We watched some videos at Willy's place and Willy talked about how important it is to be clear and definite with horses. It is never "maybe" or "perhaps" it is always "yes" or "no". This makes an interesting link to my other project "Riding in the hoofprints of Richard the Lionheart" in the Limousin. Richard was known as "Oc e No", which is Occitane (the old language of the region) for "yes or no". Like Willy, Richard was also a great horseman!
Today Tamtam had a tonic for his liver and kidneys. Willy dosed him with 60mls of Colosan directly using a syringe. He administered it in 3 separate 20ml doses. http://www.schaette.de/shop/Colosan. It is worth noting that this is 3 times the dose recommended by the company! Willy had told me that he uses the products in other ways than the company recommends. Here it is in practice. He told me we will worm Eric and Tamtam together on Monday with the Equest Pramox.
Willy asked what I have been thinking as a result of what he has showed me. I told him that I have been thinking a lot about the way I keep my horses. I had thought I needed to buy more land but now I think otherwise. If I have a set budget it is better to have a round lunge pen installed and keep the horses on straw and use the feed. That way I don't need lots of land! What I have will suffice! We think that by turning our horse out we are giving them a natural life....but our horses aren't natural..they are man made...most of them could not survive in the wild.They are happy when they are together with plenty of fresh air and good food and a lots to see.They are ready and happy to work for us and they are safe and secure in their box. Even so there is something in my mind that says that standing around in a small area for 23 hours a day and then coming out and working for an hour is not the right way. I have watched Eric in the paddock at home and he is constantly moving......browsing around.....lots of gentle exercise and rolling....a bit of playing....I think my method of turning out in the day in winter and at night in summer probably provides the best of both worlds. But we shall see!!
Re turnout, it really depends on what your horse is doing, what the turnout is like, what the weather is and many other factors. For sport horses my ideal would be a stable with an outdoor level sand area where they can socialise but a surface which does not allow them to slip but they can roll to satisfy that deep horsey urge. But as long as they are properly looked after and exercised being in most of the time is not a problem.
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