Meadow View Track Livery

Do you Quarantine new horses when they arrive?

We do but not in a stable and with as much enrichment and stimulation as possible 😉

From the minute our newbies step off the box, they walk straight onto their own section of track and get a taste of what life on a track is all about 💚

🌾 They have 2 hay stations - This means they aren't just stood eating in the same spot, instead they are encouraged to move from box to box in search of hay.

💦 They have water at the furthest point away.

🧂 They have Dead Sea Salt Water.

🪵 They have logs to help with proprioception.

💤 They have thick rubber matted areas which are very popular for snoozing.

👀 They have a clear view of the rest of the track so they can watch their new friends and how they use their track day & night.

Isolation is not what we are about and as much as we don't like to see them on their own, Quarantine is a must, and a necessity to keep our horses safe 💯

We do our best to make it as interesting & stimulating as we possibly can until we get the negative result from a Guttural Pouch Wash which gives us the all clear to move on to the next phase...Over the fence introductions 🐴😍🐴

📸 Our newbie, Buddy, the morning after his arrival, super chill in his new home, happily eating hay 🌾

And foot dip & disinfectant spray as part of our biosecurity practice 👌🏼

👀 Well who do we have here then??? 👀

This is our newbie Buddy 🖤

He is a very sweet boy who has come to experience a more natural and species appropriate lifestyle.
Track life is very different from the environment he has been used to all his life but he has settled very quickly and is already enjoying getting his steps in moving up and down his section of track, moving from hay station to hay station and water 👌🏼

From here Buddy can see all of his new friends and can observe them day & night to see what they do and how they choose to use their track 🐎

We are very excited for Buddy's transition to track life.
It's a big change for him, and his human, but we have no doubt that they are going love being a part of the MVT Herd & Family 💚

The oldest & youngest members of our herd 🤍💛

22 years between them but both reaping the benefits from living on a track 🐎

Granted one needs more daily care, rugging and feed than the other but they are both thriving and living out with Friends, Forage & Freedom 24/7 💚

Time, understanding & consistency 👌🏼

Just because his brain can, doesn’t mean his body can.

As we progress through the scales of training with our horses, we introduce more complex movements such as half pass, collection, extension and changes.

These movements sit further up the scales for a reason: they require a certain level of physical strength, balance, coordination and conditioning to perform correctly.

Think about it like going to the gym. We might start by squatting with just our body weight. As we become stronger, we add 5kg, then perhaps a barbell, and over time we may work up to squatting more than our own body weight.

But if we then take six weeks off, sustain an injury, or simply get older, would we walk back into the gym and immediately squat the same weight we were lifting before?

Of course not.

Our brain still knows how to perform the movement, but our physical body may no longer have the strength or conditioning required to do it safely.

My grandad is a great example of this. He used to powerlift and, even after having a hip replacement at 88, he was quite happily giving the OT a lesson on how a squat should be performed! 😂

At 95, he can still tell you exactly how to do the exercise correctly. His brain knows the movement perfectly. But there is absolutely no way on earth his body could squat the weight he used to.

The same applies to our horses.

A horse may mentally understand how to perform a flying change, piaffe, passage or more advanced lateral movement, but that doesn't necessarily mean their body is currently strong or conditioned enough to perform it safely and correctly.

It is our responsibility as their humans to consider where they are physically at that moment in time, rather than simply what they know how to do.

Even after just a week away from training, I know I can't expect my own body to immediately return to the same level of strength I had two weeks previously.

Strength requires consistency. Conditioning takes time. And when that consistency is interrupted, we need to adjust our expectations accordingly.

The goal isn't simply to teach a horse how to perform a movement. It is to develop the physical strength and conditioning that allows them to perform it well, comfortably and sustainably.

Something I get asked a lot...

"WHERE ARE YOUR BOOTS FROM?"

They are Kentucky boots from Ba****ck Footwear and they are the comfiest boots I have EVER worn 💯

I've had surgery on both my feet and find it hard to get something I can wear comfortably for a few hours, never mind all day long doing over 25,000 steps up and down the track, but these boots changed my life.
And I didn't even need to wear them in!

These are the normal Kentucky boots which I've trialled this year through Spring & Summer and I'm pleased to say that they've been just as comfy and hard-wearing as the Kentucky Storm Waterproof boots that I've been wearing for the last 3 years.

If you want something comfortable, versatile, stylish & adjustable then these are the boots you're looking for.

Oh and they have a side zip too making them super easy to get on and off...what more could you want!!!!