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There is something appealing about alliteration. It must be the repetitive sound as the words roll off the tongue. Then there is the way the mind is focused on their individual meaning. The sounds may be similar but do the words semantically belong together? At first glance these seem to. After all, they all seem to have something to do with horses. Of course, some might argue that horses are no longer kept in a herd, while others might assert that horseshoes have no business being on hooves, while still others who have attended a course with Hempfling might claim that he is opposed to horses not having shoes or being kept in a herd. Whatever the case, these are the words that define this post, so let us just get on with it.

Recovery and relapse

In my last post I mentioned that we had removed Pip from the herd to give her hoof a chance to recover and that Anaïs had to join her, to prevent her from fretting and running up and down. I had started to use NT-Dry fight the bacteria in Pip’s right forehoof to recover and she was convalescing well. I had also bought her a pair of jogging shoes for her scheduled re-entry into the herd.

The view over the Costa del Sol from Mijas

Vicki and I were very fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the week of Christmas with her twin sister, Agathe, and the latter’s partner, Ron, in a large country house on the outskirts of Mijas on the Costa del Sol in southern Spain with a small herd of horses including Agathe’s mare, Ochet, in a stable complex next door. There we enjoyed good company and warm temperatures with the exception of Christmas day, when we were hammered by a storm, which was so severe that we had to bring the local pooch indoors. Poor Carmen was so distraught that she knocked over the chair on which my brand new leather jacket was hanging and promptly proceeded to devour the collar. And here I was thinking that dogs preferred meat rather than the container in which it is housed. Fortunately, the travel insurance paid out in full so ultimately no real harm was done.

Ron, Vicki leading Esclava and Agathe leading Ochet

Less fortunate was the fact that upon our return I discovered that Pip had suffered a minor relapse. Belgium had been inundated with rain and the mares were standing in puddles of water and urine. Infection in a vulnerable hoof was virtually inevitable. Of course, this made it clear to me that we were not dealing with anything other than an infection in the hoof despite our vet’s lofty (and ultimately expensive … for us) theories to the contrary, so there was no reason why the mares could not return to the herd while Pip recovered, especially now that we had shoes for her to wear.

Back into the herd with shoes

Because our mares had been located in a small enclosure just next to the huge barn to which the herd has access, they still managed to maintain some contact with the other horses. This meant that their reintroduction into the herd proceeded with significantly less drama than the first time round. Apart from one or two minor nicks and scratches, our equine ladies have come through fine and the herd has settled down into an uneventful routine. Pip’s front feet initially posed a challenge when it came to the jogging shoes. Because her heels are much lower on the right, she required a size 14 to accommodate the lower bulbs but the same size was too big for the left hoof, because it is higher on the heel. I ended up having to order a second pair of boots a size smaller. This however turned out to be a blessing rather than the curse I initially thought it was.

Pip showing off her new jogging shoes

Here in the Benelux we have been experiencing unseasonably warm weather with plenty of rain. Conditions in the herd enclosure are consequently much wetter than normal. Pip’s jogging shoes go on in the late afternoon and come off in the morning, so she is wearing them about 15 hours a day. Because we have two pairs to work with, I can take one lot home to dry out on the heater, while she wears the other. I apply NT-Dry when I put on the shoes and they allow the powder to do its healing work, while simultaneously protecting Pip’s hooves as they grow stronger.

Rediscovering the hoof

The theory that a horse’s hooves will adjust to the conditions in which it finds itself remains very much that, an idea which may or may not be convincing, until you actually see for yourself what an amazing living organism a hoof is. Since our mares have been in their new surroundings in Belgium with a surface that is much harder than what they were accustomed to in the Netherlands, I have been watching their hooves adjust to these more demanding conditions. And now that we are successfully treating Pip’s vulnerable forehoof, I am seeing these changes in that hoof as well. It is like rediscovering the hoof. Whereas our mares hobbled around as though treading on glowing embers in the beginning, they are now both walking out without any sign of tenderness and are even managing to trot with ease over the hard centre of the indoor arena. I look at their hooves and I can see why. The soles have become significantly thicker, even that of Pip’s right forehoof. If you want to check how thick a horse’s sole is, look at the groove around the point of the frog closest to the toe. That is the thinnest part of the sole. As a rule of thumb, the deeper the groove is, the thicker the sole.

The mystery of the missing buckle

Yes, Pip is still wearing her shoes everyday or should I say was. Yesterday we discovered that the steel buckle had broken off one of the shoes without tearing the strong nylon to which it was attached. It would appear that we are dealing with a faulty buckle rather than a structural flaw in the shoe. What it means though is that, until we can get a replacement (a great test of our warranty rights), Pip will only be able to wear shoes every other day. Part of me is wondering whether this is not simply what should be happening anyway, because my mare has been making such amazing progress. Interestingly enough, I have just discovered that in the meantime a new version of these shoes has been released. Called the Equine Fusion Ultimate, it has no external ties or buckles and it is made of a material which is better able to withstand wet conditions. Something for the future perhaps. You can find out more about it here.

Kiss my shoes

Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling is a firm believer in horseshoes. I never thought that I would ever confess that I am too. There is a place for horseshoes in the hoof convalescence process or where a horse requires additional protection when jumping, for instance, or negotiating rocky terrain. Of course, what Hempfling and I mean when we talk about horseshoes, is where we differ. The Oxford Dictionary is going to have to update its definition as well. Given what the Norwegians are doing, the current definition of “a shoe for a horse formed of a narrow band of iron in the form of an extended circular arc and secured to the hoof with nails” (see it here) is obsolete.

 Another video showing Equine Fusion jogging shoes in action

At this point in time I cannot think of a single legitimate reason from the horse’s point of view why anyone would want to hammer a metal shoe onto the live organism that is a horse’s hoof. We now have flexible shoes that provide protection when it is required and which can be removed when it is not. The shoes are easily cleaned by hosing them down or they can be tossed into a washing machine. They represent a solution which is not only convenient but which is also far cheaper than the six-to-eight weekly visits of a farrier. Of course you cannot leave them on permanently but why would you want to? For human convenience perhaps? But is that a good enough reason for your equine buddy, the creature you claim to love?

Equine Touch

Our Equine Touch studies are surging ahead. Vicki and I have just completed our Level 3 theory and practical components. At the beginning of February we will be attending the Level 3 course for the third time to brush up before taking the Level 3 exam at the end of the course. This means that we are having to practice and our horses are the lucky recipients of our attention. Pip has never been a likely candidate to become an Equine Touch junkie. More times than not she has refused to allow either of us to perform ET on her. This I have attributed to her readily excitable nature. In the past week to 10 days, however, Vicki and I have been noticing a major change in my mare. She has calmed down significantly and my contact with her has grown noticeably closer. I suspect that her health care regime has something to do with it. She has experienced considerable pain and I have been helping her to recover everyday for many weeks now. It is as though she knows this, that I am there for her. Our bond is deepening as a result. Perhaps she is ready for more ET now.

Training and riding

Because of the major improvement in Pip’s  feet, I have resumed our “straightness training” or what I prefer to call body balancing. Wherever they are and whatever they are doing, the mares normally come to us when we call them from the gate to the herd enclosure. Pip usually also comes to me when I call her to start a new activity in the manège. She seems to be enjoying a resumption of our former routine but our contact and understanding of each other is now much closer.

Pip in a favourite pose

It is my hope that Pip will allow me to start riding her in the not too distant future. Once I feel that she is capable of carrying me without suffering any injury, I intend to ask her and see how she responds. If she makes it clear that she is not happy with the idea, I will stop. If she allows me to ride her, I will do so without a bit and only in measured doses. It is not my intention to burden her with more than she wishes to accept, which means that I will have to give her the freedom to express her displeasure if she feels inclined to do so. This is an approach which is not much different from the one that I am employing now as we continue to help Pip develop her strength and learn to move straight, while having fun together.

Sexy marketing

Those of you who have been following this blog for some time will know that, although I am critical of Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling, I essentially appreciate much of what he has been and is still doing for horses and the humans who choose to be with them. More importantly, I owe much of my own self-development and the contact that I enjoy with Pip to his inspiration and approach. What I have had great difficulty with is Hempfling’s insistence that all paths to the horse must inevitably take you to his training facility in Denmark. Perhaps the most important reason for this lies in the fact that I know too many people who have returned with burnt fingers as it were, some of who are friends or individuals for whom I have a great deal of respect or admiration. It is therefore very welcome to see Hempfling embarking on a new venture which seeks to convey his message to the world rather than get the world to go to him.

 Hempfling’s latest video: more sexy marketing

You can read about it here. Hempfling is currently providing a course entitled A Foundation in Personal Development and Horses through the Horse Conscious website. For US$ 470.00 anyone from around the world who is interested can attend five webinars with Hempfling. All you need is a relatively fast internet connection. Arguably, charging almost US$500.00 for five webinars still represents a corner shop business model but perhaps this will change in the future. The marketing is slick and sexy and the carrot is, as always, Would you like a relationship like this with your horse?, the “this” referring to the well-known video of Hempfling dancing with the Lipizzaner stallion, Ferdinand, which Hempfling has used as a commercial on YouTube for ages now.

Replicate me, baby

Looking behind the sexy marketing is what I perceive to be a hugely significant move on the part of Hempfling and one which I personally hope he will persist with, a move that was also marked by the launch of his Facebook page last year. He is finally discovering that the internet offers him the opportunity to share his wealth of knowledge and experience with millions of people at a price that ordinary people can afford but, because of the huge numbers involved, has the potential to make him far more famous and richer than he already is, not that he needs or wants this, of course. Through her online straightness training course, the Netherlands’ Marijke de Jong has already demonstrated that it is possible to produce a single set of online training materials and to use them again and again to help people around the world and generate far more income with far less effort. Hempfling arguably has much more to share with the world. I think of his approach to living in the moment, towards self-development, his body awareness exercises, his body language techniques, his knowledge of horses and tack, and so forth.

 An example of Marijke de Jong’s online courses

At a certain point Hempfling was advertising a set of DVDs on his old website. It has never seen the light of day. Everything he does with horses is recorded. I imagine that he is sitting on a wealth of video material which many people would be prepared to pay to see. Now perhaps is the time for him to start to produce these materials, to put them online and by doing so to replicate them more effectively and efficiently than he could ever do on a disk. Share your knowledge with the world at an affordable price, Klaus. You have the potential to help many horses and humans by doing so, not to mention yourself: a win-win situation for everyone. Cecile, if you still read this blog to alert Hempfling to anything that I write about him, now is a good time to ring his bell!

Competition in Denmark

Finally, I would like to leave you with a video of another horseperson in Denmark. She is also doing amazing things with horses. Her name is Marianne Florman. You can find out more about her here (www.florman.dk) here (www.horsessense.dk). Hempfling has serious competition in Denmark not only in relation to horses but also personal development. And the competition is much younger and more beautiful, albeit not quite as smart or slick.

 Marianne Florman and her horses. Not so sure about jumping on the horse’s back.

Tags: Equine Touch, hoof care, horses, humans, Klaus Ferdinand Hempfling