K.R.H Natural horse care

21/03/2025

Do horses move more on track than in a open field?

There have been studies done and if I can find the link, I'll share it in the comments.

I wanted to share my own observations of the horses on my track. 😀

I understand why people may think that horses on track don't move as much. I've seen some comments on fb posts saying that all they do is stand at a haynet.

Yes, in a way that is true, they do stand and eat. However what I've noticed with my herd is that they don't stand there and finish a complete haynet. As it starts to get low, probably when it's about half full, they move onto the next hay station and do the same with that one. At some point they head up to the trough for water. The trough is away from all the hay stations at the very top of the hill. (And my God that hill is a good one. 🥵). So they visit the same hay station at least twice in a 24 hour period.

Mid morning they head for a snooze all together under the tree on the right side of the track. This is one of their favourite areas and they always go there to rest together. For that reason, I have no hay stations there. After their snooze they then go in search for more hay which could be any of the 5 hay stations I have out on track.

I don't always use all 5 of them.
If I have put out hay in one hay station for 3 or 4 days on the trot, the horses look for it in that hay station so I change it up to keep them 'searching' which essentially keeps them moving. There have been times where they have gone to an empty hay station and waiting for a minute or two, for me to bring the hay to them, only to quickly realise I'm changing things up, again.

At each hay station, they have 3 places to eat from. (Either a hay pole, hay crate or tied to the fence). I have two hay suppliers and stuff some haynets with one type of hay, and others with the other type of hay. They love both kinds but favor one slightly more over the other. I often see them switching haynets depending on whats in what.
I love watching herd dynamics and from what I've observed... Dante' is boss and I've seen him share with all the other horses, but I have also seen him move them all off the hay also. The girls prefer not to share with each other so Kit is likely to move Thumba on. If Thumba moves to the same haynet that Easter and Dante' are sharing, Dante' will move Easter off the hay. 3 is a crowd as they say. Basically what I'm getting at is there can be movement with in a hay station as well due to herd dynamics. There is always enough haynets out in one hay station that none of them go without.

The field next door to us have a dog walker that comes every day to walk a bunch of dogs. The horses have been seen to head up to the top and watch the dogs go zoomies. I'm sure my horse would love to go join in, he is like a big dog 🤣.

I currently feed the horses a bucket feed every day and I make sure they come to me to get it. I feed at random times in the day so they are never waiting by the gate.

Que more reasons they move. And every time they move, the track creates a longer path in which they will travel rather than 'short cutting' it across an open field.

20/03/2025

The sound of good solid barefoot feet, add in the songs of birds on a beautiful sunny day = music to my ears.
My client and her gorgeous horse William, out hacking bitless and bootless.

17/03/2025

13/03/2025

Making the weekends easier for my lovely weekend lady and taking a bulk load of haynets down to the bottom of the field.

Of course it decides to sleet and of course I'm not wearing a coat so hid away in a huws gray bag until it blew over 🤣

12/03/2025

Track systems and natural horse care challenge far more than just our horse's level of fitness.

When you embrace this way of keeping horses, there is this liberating freedom that accompanies it.

Feelings can be tricky. They're a fundamental part of life but if we're not careful, we can sometimes let those feelings overrule our horse's needs, becoming muffled background noise.

We begin over-rugging because we feel the cold ourselves.

We choose the yard with restricted turnout over other alternatives, because we feel we'll miss them too much if they're not 5 minutes down the road.

We isolate them to single-use paddocks because we fear the possibility of them getting hurt.

We follow the majority without question, because we're scared to go against the grain.

However, sometimes, our feelings of passion and genuine love is what also pushes us to dig deeper, do better and turn up for our horses in ways we haven't before.

When you embrace natural horse care, and our horses become much more than play things or pets, you also embrace research, facts, risk, controversial thoughts and opinions, the risk of being wrong and alternative methods.

Our decisions shouldn't be based on the feelings we hold that serve us and only us, but those feelings that come from loving a horse unconditionally and the willingness to look past our own needs to fulfil theirs

12/03/2025

Lovely Norman is as old as me!
He has such a sparkle in his eye and for a Shetland x, he was a true gentleman to have his feet trimmed today.

Got to love a golden Oldie 💛

11/03/2025

It's been just over a week since Kit moved in and she has been such a joy to have around. 🥰
The herd have really benefited from having another horse join them. They all seem much more settled as a 4.

I've been super lucky to have found 4 super easy horses to look after as a first time livery owner and 3 wonderful people to be apart of my yard/ team ❤️. I'm very happy to share this amazing place with them and incredibly excited for the future.
This is only the beginning and I'm loving the journey!!!

Keep watching this space 🥰

10/03/2025

This is Rose and today, she was a super star to be trimmed.

I've seen Rose once before; our first visit was mainly getting to know one another and starting our friendship with a good foundation.
She is a sweet mare with a loveable charm but she is young and big!
Rose is a Suffolk punch x and when I first met her, she didn't quite understand what we wanted of her.
Her step mum has worked super hard and today, Rose got it!
There are still some area's we can improve on but overall I'm super happy.

The better behaved the horse is, the better job I can do. Rose just needs patience, of which I have endless amounts. 🥰
Good girl Rose.

07/03/2025

Exploring the abundance of off road hacking we have on our door step. And the farmer has put in some lovely easy to open and close bridleway gates! 🤩

06/03/2025

3 sharing 1 haynet, and Easter has 2 nets to himself. 😅

05/03/2025

It was my pleasure to meet and work with Bambi today.

Bambi is young ISH/ warmblood. A very nice mix if you ask me. She's recently been very unwell and with a lot of love and care from her mum, she's picking right back up and starting to put on weight.
Adding anything unnatural into their body will have an effect on their gutt and equally their hooves so Bambi's most recent event lines will likely be due to the Steroids she has been on.
Her mum and I had some good talks about what to look out for when it comes to warning signs of Laminitis.

Here is a good health checklist so you can identify if your horse is feeling the affects of the grass etc.
https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/health-check-list

There are lots of things we can do to help the grass affected horse. Taking them off of grass and putting them onto a Paddock paradise is the number 1 benefit. Message me to find out more.

04/03/2025

The new girl has settled into the herd perfectly and is enjoying track life 🥰

03/03/2025

This morning I had the pleasure of trimming these two regal characters.
Two very chilled out big lads, William and Arther then spent the afternoon, sun bathing with their mum. 🥰

02/03/2025

Yesterday we welcomed Kit to the herd.
The boys are delighted with her and in true Thumbalina style, she's indifferent.

Kit is a young tb; the introduction was cool, calm and collected.
They all said hello, and off they went in their separate directions.

I've noticed since having the horses in the middle, they are a lot more independent rather than being a close nit herd like they were on the track. Once Kit is fully settled, I'll be closing off the middle and they will be back on track, hopefully this time for good!

28/02/2025

Thank you sunshine 🌞 this will help dry out the track.

28/02/2025

I have a few times slots available for trimming on the 7th March and 12th March.

Horse not due just yet but interested in my services? No problem! Get in touch and I'll get you booked in ready for when they are due.
I can get booked up pretty quick so don't hesitate, let's pick a date that's good for you! (I'm happy to trim well behaved horses with out you there if you can't make it).

1 hour radius of Towcester, nn12
(Or further afield with fuel added on.)