Carr & Day & Martin Hoof Care range - update

The structure in a horse's feet are solely responsible for supporting the full weight of the horse over a small area. Therefor, routine hoof care is extremely important as any problems in the feet can be detrimental to mobility and health. By taking care of your horses feet you're ensuring you've got a good foundation to start with.

Back in February when Carr & Day & Martin asked me if I would be interested in joining in with a product test on their Hoof Care range I jumped at the chance.

Ziggy arrived with me 12-months ago with very brittle feet that weren't in good condition at all and I'm always keen to keep Ceaser's looking fantastic and show-ready, so a hoof care regime is important to me. 

I've been applying the cornucrescine daily along with the selected oil every couple of days and I'm sure you'll agree the pictures of Ceaser's feet speak a thousands words. 

The trial is 12-months long but already both me and my farrier are beginning to see changes in both horses feet. He didn't see Ziggy for a good few weeks but could not believe the difference when he did.

For three months over the very wet and winter weather I have been applying the Cornucrescine ointment every few days and then the Hoof Barrier which does exactly what it says on the tin; protects your horses hooves from very wet and muddy conditions which can weaken the them causing them to crack - which is also a reason we end up finding ample amounts of shoes in the mud.

Once the weather warmed up around April time we switched over to using the Hoof Oil with Tea Tree in that can be used as your daily routine. This also looks and smells fantastic and gives the feet a gorgeous finishing touch making it perfect for the show ring!

Something like this trial isn't going to show immediate results over night but already, after just 5 months we're beginning to see changes in the condition of both horses feet.

If you'd like anymore information about Carr & Day & Martin's Hoof Care range please get in touch!

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Getting ready for the Senior Inter-Regionals

Since finding out Ceaser and I have been selected for the Senior Inter-Regional team competition I've been putting all my effort into ensuring we don't let the team down and do a blooming good job! 

Inbetween cantering up hills, schooling at every given chance and getting as much winter coat out as I can I also decided to go out and do a music class this weekend to give us a pre regionals warm

up! 

My test time was rather quite late for what I'm usually used to and I found it bizarre not leaving at 8am to go off competing. Instead I didn't need to leave the yard until 3ish to compete at 5:20. 

I arrived at the venue with plenty of time to spare and tried a new warm up plan of getting on an hour before my test, walking for half an hour and then picking him up and warming up properly for half an hour.

Taking our schooling slow at home and spending lots of time in walk doing transitions, leg yield and shoulder fore has worked a treat, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try the plan when out competing.

Luckily the warm up wasn't too busy outdoors as lots of people were warming up indoors away from the weather threatening to rain which worked in my favour. The minute I got on Ceaser felt like he was giving everything his all. The moment I picked up trot I knew I was going to have a god ride. He was responsive, his transitions were spot on and he didn't need much encouragement to do some lovely leg yielding steps on both reins for me. 

My instructor and I have really been working hard on making sure he doesn't take a hold of the left rein and fall trough the right shoulder, so I paid lots of attention to getting him to take both reins and work through and from behind. 

The canter work was fantastic and our medium trots felt powerful and didn't need much asking for. In all honesty I was smiling from ear to ear and that was before we had gone in the ring! 

Soon enough it was our time to go and I knew it was a decent class with some tough competition in. My instructors words from the day before rang in my ear that I just needed to go and enjoy myself and have a confidence boosting round, rather than push myself and him. 

I paid special attention to not rushing, which is easier in the music as I've worked out now where my transitions need to come in the music and to which beat - which helps! 

As I started my canter work I found myself smiling and enjoying every second of it, more so as we trotted up the centre line for the final time and I knew it had felt like the best test we had done in a while. 

The score was irrelevant at this point.  I had gotten the feeling that things were finally starting to come together and it was the best ride I'd had on him in a long time apart from during lessons. 

I popped him back on the box and clicked online on my mobile to check the scores and couldn't believe my eyes to see he had won the restricted section with 68.61% but was also 2% infront of second place and would have been second in the open section which had some fantastic combinations in! The comments from the judge were very confidence boosting and I now feel as ready as I'll ever be for the Inter-Regionals! 

I'm sure you'll also agree Ceaser looked stunning covered in Carr & Day & Martins Canter Coat Shine and Tea Tree Hoof Oil! 

Wish us luck! 

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