The Perfect Hoof
In practice, we know that the “perfect hoof” doesn’t exist – but it does not stop us from trying to portray it… Of all the photos I’ve seen, this is the one that really stands out in my mind as being the public portrayal of perfect and the natural portrayal of mistreated: To the uninitiated, […]
Natuurlijk is niet natuurlijk…
Om de zoveel tijd – eigenlijk vrij regelmatig – vindt men een artikel in een tijdschrift, krant of op een website dat van de gehele beweging rondom natuurlijke verzorging onzin probeert te maken. Vaker zijn het de mensen van de traditionele “ambachten” die bang zijn dat hun veilige inkomstenbronnen in gevaar komen. Dit is natuurlijk […]
Unnatural Horsemanship
Yesterday was another session in Hippotherapy at the Poedertoren in Herselt, Belgium. And I wish to immediately point out that the title has nothing to do with hippotherapy nor with the Poedertoren! It has everything to do with travelling some 80km into Belgium and seeing sights which should have long been banished out of our […]
Hippica v. Nature
Once again I am very grateful to Pierre Enoff for an evocative piece of filmwork. This movie can be found on YouTube but is not playable in certain regions because YouTube, like iTunes and other America-based services (and some Europe-based ones), does not seem to realise that European legislation requires that services available in one […]
Keeping Warm Feet
Horses are, like humans and all other mammals, warm blooded (including the so-called cold-blood breeds). This means that the body’s temperature is regulated internally and not by external influences (the sun). A direct result of this is the minimal variation in temperature noted over the whole body. Some areas are slightly warmer because of the […]
Site News
Sabots Libres is expanding! The website is now accompanied by a twitter account @sabotslibres, a Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Sabot.Libres.NHC, Google+ (although that is more difficult to find!) and entries under the name sabotslibres on Delicious, Digg, Reddit and StumbleUpon. Not only that but the site is going multi-lingual. Initially Dutch will be added, followed hopefully by […]
Locomotion
The arguments for shoeing horses have manifold foundations. Obviously many of the arguments from the farriers world are financial and economic oriented. Farriers are afraid of losing their livelihood and consider that they are the only people qualified or with sufficient knowledge to work on horses feet. Sadly, Most farriers still ply their trade using […]
Transhumance
It’s the last week before Christmas and once again I am spending the week in the Pyrenees in the company of seventy-plus horses and a smattering of people. We are taking the horses from their summer grounds, some 1800 metres up in the Pyrenees to their winter grounds some 1400 metres lower in the Aude. […]
De Poedertoren
Last Sunday was spent at open day at de Poedertoren in Herselt, Belgium where they specialize in free roaming, and unshod, bitless riding. Emiel Voest gave his demonstration of Freestyle training – not completely unlike what I try to accomplish. Jossy Reinvoet gave his demonstration around his recent conversion to the Equestrian High School. And […]