So if you have been keeping up, Charlie needs to gain some muscle. Of course I turned to an expert, the wonderful Jade Monahan, who is an expert at Bodywork, and who is coming back later this week to do some more Craniosacral work with Charlie. I would never dream of trying to do any bodywork myself as it could cause more harm than good. However I showed Jade my feeble carrot stretches and she said it was ok to carry on. She also showed me a little back massage and front leg stretches that I could do without breaking the pony. I naturally bought a book on massage and skipped through the bones of it, as a guide. Somewhere in the back of my head I remembered Pony Club camp and massage pads. They were leather pads that you banged the horse with. Not entirely convinced that Charlie would enjoy being banged with a leather pad, I bought a spiky brush with some massage balls the other side.
I have been doing all of the above daily, and while brushing him off I had a moment of clarity. In our time short lives, we just do not groom properly! Hands up who just brushes the parts the tack will touch? I do believe we are all guilty. There are so many types of brushes available now, that just one tool will remove the mud and we have a quick flick over. 5 minutes later we are ready to ride, with not a speck of sweat on our brows. Of course, if like our ponies, who live out 24/7, the reason for a quick flick is that we do not want to remove the grease from the coats that will keep them warm in the cold wet winter.
So I consulted the Bible of Horse Management 'The Manual of Horsemanship'. My version was updated in 1983, but still mentions 'Strapping'. Yup the art of grooming, which takes at least 45 minutes, and will require the groom to remove his/her coat to avoid over-heating. 'Strapping' is a basic horse massage which should be done after excersise with either a pad, stable rubber or wisp. The Wisp is made of hay, and should be dampened and used 'vigorously by bringing it down in a bang in the direction of the lay of the coat' paying special attention to hard flat muscles such as the sides of the neck, quarters and thighs.
So now my mind was in a whirl........Back in the old days, horses worked for a living. They were given Sunday afternoons off, to play in a field. This avoided the dreaded Azoturia in horses. Also called 'The Monday Morning Disease' or 'Tying Up'. This is where the horse has painful muscle cramps, when rested in a stable after strenuous excercise, while given the same feed as normal. But this didn't happen in the old days, because the horses were turned out and not fed the usual ration of Oats, but maybe a Bran Mash.
And that led me down a rabbit hole of feeding. Horses in the old days had oats to give them slow releasing energy. So they could work all day pulling coal wagons etc! Now people tend to feed Mixes complete with all the vitamins etc, supposedly needed. Most of them are full of sugar, which gives an energy spike.....and you wonder why your stabled horse, on 2 feeds a day, doing an hour work a day is nuts?
All this thinking has not only hurt my brain, but has brought me to the conclusion that 'convenience' for the time short leisure rider has resulted in a severe lack of Horsemanship and knowledge from the old days. After all, most people 200 years ago only had one horse. It worked for them, and was their transport and livelihood and therefore had to be looked after properly.
I am 56, and still remember when there was only one turnout rug. A heavy canvas New Zealand which slipped to the side. A stable rug was made of Jute and fastened with a surcingle. If it was cold a woolen blanket was secured underneath. If the horse was sweaty, we had string vests which could be thatched with straw. Feed was chaff, oats and sugar beet pulp, with a Bran Mash once a week, or freshly boiled linseed. I fear old knowledge is now being lost.
What do you all think??
