Natural horse care

In my blog Saving Troy and Healing Troy you can read how our paths crossed, how we welcomed Troy in our family and how the healing process began.

To let Troy live close to nature and as close as possible to his nature is very important for me. By letting him do things that are close to the nature of a horse, he can be the true horse that he is. It’s simple things we do. The life of a horse in the wild is also very simple. We take our time to graze and he sniffs around. He enjoys that a lot and he can do it for hours. I also let him eat from the ground, just like wild horses eat too.

Troy & Alfi always enjoy grazing together

Troy is a very curious horse and when we go out for a ride he likes to stop every now and then to have a look around and take everything in. When we pass people, or when people pass us, he always wants to have a look. Which is all fine, but because he tends to keep looking he can make things a little bit awkward sometimes :).

When I just had Troy the veterinarian did the full blood work on him. There were no underlying diseases, but he needed extra vitamins because of his deficiency of nutrition. 

I also needed to find the right people who could help us with his old injury. His ligaments of his right foot were overstretched and because of this he was walking lame for such a long time. He also had a lack of muscle. In the beginning he had a hard time getting up after he laid on the ground and he couldn’t stand on his legs for a very long time. So he was lying on the floor often.

Recovering takes time, a lot of time

I bought muesli that would help him build muscle and gain weight. When a horse is underweight you can not just start giving him lots of food, because then the horse can get colic. This needs to be a slow and balanced process. Recovering takes time, a lot of time. I saw that Troy was reacting well to the food, because he started to get more energy and his coat started to shine, which is also a good sign. For lunch Troy also has alfalfa hay. And this helps him a lot with gaining weight.

“What I want for him is to be able to be a horse in his most natural way, to have quality in life and to live a happy low key life”

This is never fun. But he is comfortable and sleepy because the dentist gives him a minor sedation

To gain weight horses need healthy teeth and they must have an annual appointment with the dentist. I had a special dentist come fror Troy. His teeth were not in a very good shape and his teeth were too straight to chew on his food properly. You can give a horse a lot of hay, but if he can’t chew properly he will not gain weight or take in the nutritions. It’s the chewing that makes sure the digestive system works properly. And with a well working digestive system the horse gains weight and takes in the nutritions. The dentist made an angle in his teeth and since then he is gaining weight much better.

All taped in after his physiotherapy session

For his old injury a  knowledgeable farrier specialized in podiatry treated him. Troy was walking with a heel, they did this to give him more support, but this wasn’t working for him. The farrier cut off his heel bit by bit with every appointment. He also made a special silicon pad for his other food to release some of the pressure. Because his other foot was overcompensating. This treatment worked very well for Troy, he started to walk with more flexibility and more movement throughout his legs and back.

I also found a knowledgeable osteopath. She travels through Spain treating horses. At first she came every month. But now Troy is doing so well that she only needs to come every 3 months for maintenance. Troy reacted very well to her sessions. She would do a full body exam, identify blockages and relieve them. Afterwards she taped him with shiny bright colors. He sometimes looked like he came from the 80ies.

I don’t know if Troy will fully recover from his injury, if he can get to a 100% movement. But that’s not the goal. What I want for him is to be able to be a horse in his most natural way, to have quality in life and to live a happy low key life.

Troy learned that he can trust me and I learned I can trust him

“We have a wonderful collaboration together”

Troy is now a very strong horse, with a strong mind. When I say this proudly to people they often think that he is not manageable anymore, becoming too strong to handle. But that’s not the case. Troy learned that he can trust me and I learned that I can trust him. Sometimes he needs some encouragement when we are out riding, for instance when people are working in the orange fields or cutting the trees. But I don’t push his limits. Sometimes I feel that he is really uncomfortable and then we just take a different direction. We go with the flow! And I know now I can trust Troy when he is getting excited and goes into race mode (he is really fast) when cantering by the water. I know he will listen to my cues and that he will stop. We have a wonderful collaboration together.