Friday 27 June 2014

No shoes.

I have a horse and for the two years I've owned him, and for 10yrs prior to that, he has been wearing steel shoes on his hooves. I have never been comfortable with this as I feel that a horse should not have steel shoes nailed onto his perfectly healthy hoof, but I have taken my farrier's advice and kept on with the 7 weekly cycle of shoes off, clean up the hoof and then re-apply a fresh set if steel shoes. I have on occasion read articles which have led me to question the sensibility of applying steel shoes to the hoof but each time I broach the subject I am told that my horses hooves would crumble if I take the shoes off. As anyone with a horse knows, no hoof no horse, and so I have backed down and re-applied the steel rings. Recently I re-visited the whole barefoot debate and did more research and on the strength of this research I have taken the shoes off of my lovely boy Ben, a 14 yr old American Standard Bred. Yes he is a little tentative walking over stony ground, but then so would I be for a few weeks without shoes on. Yes he has a little damage to the hoof wall, he has had NAILS driven through them at 7 weekly intervals. I intend to keep a good eye on his hooves and make sure they are trimmed when they need it to ensure a good transition from shoes to barefoot. I will post progress here for the world to see. Wish Ben and I luck, I'm sure we won't need it, after all we are going back to what comes naturally. It has to be better for the wellfare of the horse. These photos are taken on the day of shoe removal. 


Nearly there.





Well here we are, nearly finished. The exterior is complete we now need to work on the inside to create our Mediterranean oasis in the heart if south west Scotland. Painting is complete we now need to get the terracotta tiles down then oil and wax them before putting in some furniture and plants. We now get a great view down the Dalrymple valley to the viaduct and we can also look down into the pond and see the Koi and other fish. :-D All we need now is some sunshine. 

Slate on

Well there are still tradesmen out there who take a pride in their work and can add a little embellishment to their work also. The roofer who has just completed our extension roof has put a pattern into the roof by trimming some of the slates. It gives the impression of someone who is proud of their work and who wishes to leave his mark. I for one am glad he did, I think it looks great.