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"On Track" Diary
( a record of developing Natural Horse Boarding at La Basse Pèze )
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October 2008 - after many weeks of reading and debate we have decided to create our track system. We have decided to give the boys ALL of the land for the winter (9acres) and to OBSERVE them closely in order to see how THEY use it.
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November 2008 - Our first task was to create a place where the horses can cross the leat to access the fields to the south of the house. Whilst doing this we dug out the banks to make it more accessible and to create a watering hole. We used rocks and stones to both create a crossing and to dam some of the water. They now have running spring water and a stoney crossing (but still enjoy leaping across and turning the banks into pure mud !) They are spending a lot of time galloping from the top paddocks to the bottom and back again.
Digging the leat
Horses need minerals – Boots and Louie spent a long time licking the piles of mud we dug out.
Horses love to play – each one of the boys came to ‘help’ and to paw at and drink the water and tramp through the bullrushes. Despite lots of blowing and snorting, they all stayed with us until the job was finished and then crossed with great glee and galloped out of sight!
December 2008 - the weather has caught up with us – still, we have managed to put in more gates and small parts of track! We didn’t have to feed hay until 20th as the grass continued to grow late this year - I started by placing small pilesof hay around the land and on the small tracks which we have made, to encourage movement. At the end of the month we made a short track from the field to the back of the barn. We graded off this area to find mainly rocks and stone - and placed the hay feeder there - no more standing around in ankle deep mud! The small track we created is working well - the horses are still looking for grass which means they come and go to the feeder and are walking about much more than when it was in the field. They also have to go down to the leat for a drink ( I almost fell soft and provided water by the hay, but remembered that movement is the name of the game!).
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Horses need to live naturally – all of the horses are very hairy and dirty but have a lovely clean, dry layer under the surface hair.
Declic's Winter Coat
Horses love to play -this month Boots and Louie discovered the ‘leaf pit ‘ and have rolled and played in it lots, pawing at the leaves and rearing together. The weather has been very windy and there has been a lot of galloping around and ‘jousting’.
January 2009 - All horses to yard for monthly close check. All looking good - Boots and Declic have lost a little weight (unheard of normally!) and Louie has put on ( good, he's a growing boy!) Their feet are in really good shape and have changed quite a lot - wish we had taken photo's before! Rain and gales caused the leat to overflow onto the field and the crossing was covered in fast flowing water but the horses continue to cross. Our 'yard' behind the barn puddled quite a lot and it was disappointing to see mud appear, just keep looking to spring!
February 2009 - Willow cuttings from lakeside are transplanted along parts of the track. Have taped off most of top track now - small problem of water on top paddock - may have to land drain it. Horses seem glad of human contact and are very relaxed and co-operative. Pruned the trees which overhang the track and harrowed it so that grass is as good as it can be to start the horses completely 'on track'. Despite 4degrees, the youngsters have spent a lot of time rolling in the wettest parts of the fields. The weather has gone from snow to really hot and sunny this month. We have had lots of visitors- some who love horses but know nothing about them, Daisy to ride and Jake to have his first ever ride! Jayne set off on her first ride of the year and had to turn back as it was just freezing!
The most exciting part of the track so far is now completed - it was an area of wasted ground and so we have graded it off to make a completely bare stretch which we have compacted with the digger, hoping that it will bake dry. We had great fun trying out the gradients on the quad bike!
The leat and crossings are a complete mud bath now but I am sure they will be fine by spring!
Read Pete Ramey book "Making Natural Hoof Care Work for You"- thought provoking - he writes well ( recommended reading ). The reading made us realize that we have a very skilled farrier. We had interesting discussions with him re natural hoof care and have decided that he has a depth of knowledge and skill which we do not want to loose. Only one of our horses has ever worn shoes (fronts) and he no longer has them. NONE of them have EVER been LAME and all have GOOD STRONG FEET - thanks Gregoir!
Horses feet trimmed ( first time since October!)
March 2009 - firstly, apologies to those who are following our progress and for the late replies to those who have contacted us- we have had a very busy, exciting but frustrating month!The weather started with gales and rain - the track which we graded was incredibly slippery and so we had to modify it to drain better. The whole of the track has now been (temporarily) fenced off. Our neighbour has solved the water problem on the top track and it has dried out well.
The weather suddenly became hot and the land began to dry quickly - - fence-post time! It was a shock to realise how many fence posts we needed to complete the inner fencing. A very good friend allowed us to copice his wood - 4 days later we started putting in the posts ( by hand!). Following great debates, we finally decided to put electric tape on them. In the middle of the month we took a much earned holiday and came back to find that Louie had developed his jumping skills - we need to think carefully about the height of the inside fence - my 'ideal' of just one low strip is definately not going to work.!
This month we have seriously started our search for a mare to lead the herd. We don't have a lot of money as we have spent it on setting up the project, however,we can offer a very good home. If anyone has, or knows of a mare who needs a good home, please contact us (05 53 52 55 04 / bp.chevaux@gmail.com) Ideally we need a mare 14.2hh+ who can join us soon and establish herself happily "on track" with the boys.
We have received lots of enthusiasm and encouragement for our project from vets and farriers and plan to do some rehabilitation work as we progress.
We were sent a book about herbs for horses - thank you Roisin Dore- we will be referring to it soon as we plant up the track!
Well, as this is being written, our fencing is being delivered - off to start the exciting task of finally putting it up!!!!!!!
"not out of the woods yet "
Yes! we have done it!! Today is March 31st and this afternoon, with much excitement and support from good friends, we have let the horses onto the bottom track. They were all closely inspected and weighed beforehand and they will now live completely "on track". It is a joy to see them moving around and grazing happily without the worry (for us) of excess spring grass. We took videos of them exploring the track but none of us are clever enough to add them to the website yet - keep looking!
We plan to complete the top area of the track very soon - now that the 'helping hooves' have moved off.
"which way?" "this way"
April 2009 - well, within 24hrs of being on the track, most of the cuttings which were planted had been pulled out (despite being fenced off!). The horses were moving a lot, but mainly back and forth, they didn't seem to realise that they could go right round. We had read that keeping them moving round can be a problem and started to worry about how we were going to achieve it, however, we needn't have worried - within a few days they were using the whole of the track as we intended.
After a week on track, we started to bring Louie into a top paddock to have more grass - there was a lot of shouting and galloping around on the track but he ignored it and a second day of this found the others settled and accepting the changes as they occured. Our track will be used by horses and humans alike - our belief is that we do not need to keep it as a "no humans allowed" zone (quote PP.). At Basse Pèze we believe in living in harmony with our animals. The weather was very hot and visitors walked the track - closely followed by all of the horses!
Boots and Declic had their first ride out of the season ( since Sept. 2008) - both were fit and active and obviously enjoyed themselves. They have all returned to work now - Declic has been working nicely in the round pen and school, Boots is back under saddle after being backed last year and turned away for the winter and Louie has started ground work in the round pen.
We spent a lot of time looking at mares this month - thank you for all the contacts! A big "thank you " to Trudi and Glen Hasker (Hasker Enterprise, saddlery & repairs, St. Yrieix le Perche 05 55 75 55 78) for telling us about a very special mare who joined us on the 28th!!
Lillie caused GREAT EXCITEMENT for the boys and we were thrilled to see her explore and enjoy the freedom of the "track". Watching the herd organise themselves into hierarchy was absolutely fascinating - all the things we know and read about but rarely have the priviledge to observe in close proximity. We were unable to photograph much of the first few hours as there was so much galloping around, but here are a few of the 'morning after'!
May 2009 - well, a month on, Lillie has settled well. The organising of the herd was fascinating, though at times hard, as a human being, to watch - there was a lot of jostling for position and Declic certainly kept the new mare out on the edge until he was certain about her. They now appear settled with Lillie leading and Declic bringing up the rear and making most of the decisions.
It has been a month of both relief and anticipation - it is such a relief not to have to worry about the horses piling on weight as they have done in past years at this time, but, true to form as a human being, I started to worry about whether or not they were getting enough to eat! We divided up the paddocks and have given access to extra grazing for a while in the mornings and again in the evenings - because they have to leave the paddocks and walk to the leat for water, they bring themselves off the grass and usually rest, or wander the track, rather than go back.
All the worrying and wondering was alleviated at the 'end of the month weigh in' - we found that Boots and Declic ( who were both over weight and are 'good dooers') had both lost weight and that Louie ( who was my main concern as he is growing and can look a bit leggy) has put on a little weight which is good - he is using his energy to grow as well as taking lots of excercise and developing muscle. Lillie is just about the right weight and so, next month we will be able to judge how things are going for her.
The farrier visited and was pleased to not have much trimming to do. We have a special interest in Lillie's feet - she has always worn shoes and has an old injury to her front foot which my farrier thinks has been a break - her foot is at a slight angle but she does not appear to be troubled by this - it will be very interesting to see how she adapts to life 'on track'. Lillie has lived a lot of her life in a barn - she really seems to enjoy her new found freedom and wears the boys out when they go for their regular gallops round!
The biggest headache of the month has been GRASS!!!! It's getting longer and longer in the paddocks - we have decided to top it this year - it's hard work, but not as hard as getting excess weight off horses!!
Jayne will be at the Rio Barret training day on June 30th where she will be giving a talk about Natural Horse Boarding and the 'on track' system at La Basse Peze. Please come and meet us for an interesting day with like-minded folk..
June 2009 - Well, June has been another busy month. Lots of visitors and lots of grass cutting!. We have stayed with our regime of opening paddocks in the morning and evening and it has paid off. The horses eat well in the mornings and then leave to camp in the shade of the big trees where they can look across all of the valley and see everything that is going on. The evening ritual at the watering place is wonderful to watch- this is one of the areas where the herd hierarchy is most noticable. Often in the evenings we watch, in silence,without disturbing (even our Border Collie lies still and watches!) the horses know very well that we are in proximity but they see us as no threat and we feel prviiledged to be able to watch.
The grass in the inner paddocks has grown long and it is now starting to dry out. When the horses have eaten the best bits (as they do!) we top off the remainder and rest the area. We have thought long and hard about "followers" but this year have decided to continue with this plan and see what happens.
We were pleased that after the storms early in the month, the areas which are baked hard mud didn't become slippery as they had done previously. Large areas of the track are now well baked and the horses take dust baths where their hooves have pulverised it.
During torrential hail storms with thunder, lightening and gales, the horses stood completely motionless in one of the most open areas, without seeking shelter in, or under, anything - they obviously felt safe in the wide open where they could 'read' the weather and run if they needed to - a lesson from the wild - how often do we, as humans, trap our horses indoors because we think the weather is bad?!
At the end of the month, Rio Barret (Oakwood horsemanship) gave two training days locally. We were asked to make a presentation of Basse Peze 'On Track'. Barefoot trimmers also made a presentation and a lot of discussion took place about health and diet of horses. We were pleased to see that all of the points raised about the holistic care of horses pointed to the track system being an excellent way to keep them. We were amazed by the response of the audience and to see just how interested people were. If you know of an event at which people would be interested in a presentation, please contact us!
July 2009 - July has been a very busy but exciting month. Following our talk at the Natural Horsemanship Day, Rio Barret was our first ‘known’ visitor to the track – she said that she found it very interesting and that many of the slight reservations which she had had about such systems had been alleviated – strangely enough, they were the same as our initial thoughts – will the horses have enough room to play etc.?
We have had to be tough at times – we were not vigilant enough about opening different paddocks and so the horses began to ‘hang around’ gateways and wait for them to be opened – it is hard to be tough sometimes, but they soon began to move and look again. They are all maintaining their weight well, but not gaining, which is excellent.
Jayne began to be concerned that the leat was becoming a little boggy and had pools of grim looking water at the edges (human thoughts!) and so decided to remove some of the plants which had started to grow – the result was a faster flow of water but there were no dams left and so no boggy bits to wade and roll in! However, Boots and Lillie enjoyed eating the muddy plants which were pulled out and more have started to grow back, so it wasn’t too much of a mistake!
A huge storm brought enough rain to fill the culvert and the leaf pit became another soggy place in which to roll and cool off. We expected parts of the track to be slippery, but they weren’t – the ground really is compacted now!
The dry weather has not affected the horses feet in any adverse way – we are lucky to have the leat and surrounding bog for them to cross. The farrier called this month and commented on how well Lillies’ “thoroughbred feet” have improved – 2 months “on track” without shoes has done her good. It has also helped her to relax enormously – we took her on as a ‘borderline’ horse and she has made huge leaps ( not literally!) In the beginning she had huge attachment issues which made her difficult to handle at times but these have now disappeared. She was also quite dangerous to ride ( showing her fears by bucking and rearing simultaneously). We took her on to give her a chance and are lucky that we have the time, knowledge and experience to work with her – she does not need to be a riding horse, however, with the freedom of the track and gentle trust building work on the ground, she is becoming an interesting playmate and is now able to trust human beings enough to accept a quiet rider, although clearly she has never been educated as a riding horse, except to race!
Our work with Lillie has stimulated a lot of interest and support and we are currently considering our first re-hab horse.
We have received a lot of enquiries on a variety of topics and so have added several new pages to the website – please look at ‘what we can offer you’ ,, 'Gites for couples 2010' and our new link page - if you have a site which you think would be a useful link, please contact us by email and let us know about it.
August 2009 - August has been hot, hot, hot! We had no rain for such a long time that the overflow from the lake, which feeds the leat, began to run quite slowly, however, this was remedied by damming the end of the leat and it soon filled out again - we were worried that we would have to give the horses tap water! The lack of rain and incredible heat of the sun has caused the paddocks which were grazed and then topped, to dry out completely (luckily we still have others!) We have ordered our winter hay early - last year we did not have to feed hay until christmas but this year the grass has grown back very slowly due to the heat and lack of rain. The horses have again neither lost or gained weight - we have decided to start giving them more time on the paddocks now as the grass is not so rich, so open up late evening and leave the gate open all night. Surprisingly, the have often left the paddock by morning and wandered off to 'check out' all the nooks and crannies of the track!
The good news is that Lillie is progressing slowly but surely. The sad news is that the horse we were looking at for re-hab was sent to the butcher before we had a chance to say "yes"! We were sad and disappointed but realise that it is not the same here as in UK.
Rio Barrett is returning in October and will be available to give a limited number of lessons - please email us for details as soon as possible if you are interested!
Interest in the track and in our ways of working with the horses continues to grow - this month we had visits from barefoot trimmers. We have some new ideas in the pipeline - watch this space!!
September 2009:- We have still had no rain to speak of - we are already feeding a little hay but are aware that when we do get some rain the grass will sprout with a vengeance as the ground is so warm! Luckily the leat is still providing a water supply and the horses are enjoying wading in when they get hot. A lot of the track is now bare soil and baked almost as hard as rock - the horses pulverise it as they gallop round and then take dust baths when they are hot and sticky.
A lot of the month has been taken up choosing and introducing new horses. Three new, completely unhandled youngsters have arrived! Take a look at the 'new arrivals' page to see them! The track has proved invaluable for introducing new horses to an established herd - if you would like any advice on this 'minefield' subject, please contact us as there is far too much to write here!
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