21 February Holland here we come

Sunday 21 February 2016

Our bags are packed and we are ready to go to Holland with the two lovely mares. But first we have work to do! Before we leave we have to collect the two New Forest pony stallions from La Chassagne and bring them to Le Frelut as Serge, the farrier, will be arriving to shoe them and Bridget (a young mare already stabled at Le Frelut – actually in the box next to Eric).

Serge is always happy to talk about his work so I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions. One of my TREC friends had told me that she likes to give her horse’s feet a rest from shoes during the winter. I asked Serge his opinion on this. He said that there were a number of issues with this including loss of fitness, loss of hoof shape and the loss of the opportunity to train during a time of the year when there are usually no competitions. If the horse is well shod and well cared for then wearing shoes all the time is not a problem….in fact it is essential for most sports horses. I know for myself that if I stop a certain activity it is much harder to restart again. I also think that if, like me, you only have one horse to work, then my preference is to continue working my horse with shoes through the winter.

Serge also explained that he uses slim nails when he shoes and puts them in high. He said that if the horse loses a shoe when shod in this way the chance of hoof damage are minimised. I didn’t even realise that there were different thicknesses of hoof nails! Apparently the slimmer ones are more expensive.

So far I haven’t talked about Francois. Why? Because I have to be honest and say that I wasn’t sure he would take to life as Willy’s apprentice. However, he has proved me wrong and has lasted the first two weeks! More than that, he is always with Willy by 8am in the morning for first feeding and is always there for the last feed of the day at 7pm. Long hours!  He is managing most of the day without coffee or cigarettes, which I have never seen before! He doesn’t have time as Will keeps him very busy. Willy has him handling all the horses including the young stallions. He is learning about the importance of contact and being positive “Willy pas moyenne”. Willy has even had him helping with the debourrage of a variety of youngsters….including dismounting and remounting from both sides and the rear!!! He has ridden in the school and out on hacks and has experienced a number of near falls.

Today Willy asked Francois to remove the shoes of the ponies. He demonstrated the technique on one foot and then left Francois to do the rest. I reckon it is probably the hardest he has worked in his life! Willy used to do all his own horse’s feet….it is only now that he is doing less and using a farrier again.

I worked Eric lose in the manege before we left. He did about 40minutes over raised trotting poles and then canter. He didn’t cough once. He listened to me all the time. I was really pleased with him.

Another question a friend asked was about the sudden change of diet for the horses and how they had coped with it. Thanks for the question Roz! It made me realise that actually Eric’s diet hadn’t changed much at all! He was, and continues to be bedded, on straw which he nibbles when he feels like it. The forage mix Willy feeds contains straw, hay and alfalfa……again foods he was used to…..and the Destrier Sport granule he was fed at the Gammas stud contains the same cereal ingredients as appear in Willy’s forage mix. The difference is that with the mix Eric can choose to leave what he doesn’t need….with the granule he has no choice.

For Tamtam it is a little different. He is eating well but his droppings are still are not right. We don’t think it is the change of diet…we think it is the heavy parasite burden he has been carrying and the toxic effects of the wormer. Tamtam will have another dung and blood check when he has been at Le Frelut for 30 days.

Willy told us that the next phase of saving Tamtam will be working on his behaviour. For the project to be a success Tamtam must learn to trust Francois and myself. And if he doesn’t trust us on the ground he won’t trust us when ridden! When we return we will start to take Tamtam out in hand. We will take him to the pig farm and he will learn to ford the river. After the resistance he put up to loading the other day I think we are going to have our hands full. But Willy will win….I am sure of it.

Before leaving for Holland I had the opportunity to talk to Elouise, a young rider who keeps her horse with Willy. She told me that

-         She first met Willy when a friend who had done a course with him had told her that he was looking for someone to ride his young horses. She had tried Vigo but he didn’t suit her and so Jena Charles Pirot got the ride. Later Willy asked her to try Leonardo and Lucatoni and her relationship with Willy has grown from that;

-         She had learned to watch and listen to her horse. To strive to increase her horse’s energy and to lean how to control and direct that energy;

-         She had learned how important it is that the horse has correct nutrition. She has noticed that the horses at Willy’s never have colic, laminitas or ulcers and she believes this is because the horses eat their food slowly and carefully without stress;

-         She has learned to detect small changes in performance. She has ridden horses with problems and then after they have been rehabilitated so she knows the difference in the feeling;

-         She recognises the importance of a good diagnosis for a problem.That it is important to have a good support team and that the most important aspect of each team member is their open-ness to learning;

-         She has learned the importance of work outside the school and lots of variety to keep the horse in good morale;

-         She likes to use the pessoa for lunging and uses the leather bit for correction from time to time;

-         She is an athlete herself (she runs) and so she understands what it feels like to train and the importance of variety and recovery time;

-         She has noticed that a lot of stables are run by the clock. The rider doesn’t notice the change as he is too busy thinking about the next horse he has to ride. The horses at Willy’s are worked to a timetable based on “quality” of training rather “quantity”;

-         Most horses are permanently low in energy. When a horse is truly on top form and in full energy we have to be capable of controlling that energy….which means that we have to work on ourselves;

-         Some horses are so dominant and intractable it is necessary that we teach him the lesson that we can take away his escape route. Willy uses an old Indian technique of tying up one of the horse’s front legs in the manege. This renders the horse incapable of his flight instinct and in the wild would mean certain death. A horse who has experienced this has much more respect for the human who does this to him. (I have witnessed this being done to a young stallion. There was no stress and no harm was done.)

We left for Holland at 2pm and arrived at 9.30pm. The horses traveled with no hay and no travel boots. Geertrude told me that they have found that both can cause as many problems as they solve on long journeys. The camera allowed us to keep an eye on the horses and is a real godsend. I wouldn’t want to do the journey in a trailer although I know a dutch friend who does. Again without hay or travel boots.

The private stables we arrived at were sheer luxury. The horses had a leg stretch and a roll in the indoor manege before being left to eat and sleep in their luxury boxes. We stayed the night in the luxury of the owner's mansion near S’Hertogenboch. I have stayed in a lot of 5 star hotels throughout the world and this matches the best of them! The warmth and hospitality of our welcome was a match to the comfort of our rooms. Tomorrow we will talk to the owners and work the horses. Can’t wait!