Barefoot I: The Case Against Peripheral Loading

Barefoot. This one little world has caused quite a stir in the equestrian world. To some, it conjures up images of die-hard barefoot zealots who preach against the evil torture of horseshoes. To others, it represents hope, and is used as a desperate last-ditch effort to save the life of a beloved equine. The range of emotions this word inspires runs the gamut; a quick read-through of COTH barefoot forum posts contains everything from glowing praise to vitriolic criticism. Unfortunately, barefoot remains a widely misunderstood and complex subject, one that many horse owners dismiss simply because of the deeply-ingrained  tradition of horseshoes.

As most of you know, Salem came to me barefoot; in fact, he had been barefoot his whole life, except for a short stint in shoes during track training. However, he did not have a true "barefoot" trim. Instead, he had what is called a "pasture trim" -- essentially, the farrier trims the hoof exactly as s/he would before applying a shoe, and then leaves the foot bare. This trim removes much sole and frog material -- and since the hoof is not then propped up on shoes, it usually leads to tender-footedness. The trim also loads the hoof peripherally, meaning that the majority of the horse's weight is placed on the hoof walls. While the walls are indeed meant to support a small portion of the horse's weight, they were not designed to carry the majority of the load. Forcing them to do so leads to flaring, cracking, chipping, and increasingly flat feet. Exhibit A:

Salem's left front hoof, 4 weeks post-pasture trim

Also note the under-run heel

Right front hoof, 4 weeks post-pasture trim

Dr. Robert Bowker DVM PhD is one of the leading voices in the pro-barefoot movement. He is a professor at Michigan State University, and he studies horse hooves exclusively. The following is an excerpt from an article about one of Dr. Bowker's clinics, and it further explains the negative affects of peripheral loading:

Peripheral loading occurs when the edge of the hoof (hoof wall) bears more of the weight load. Peripheral loading always occurs with shoes, since they focus the weight upon the hoof wall. A shoe can therefore be called a peripheral loading device. However, peripheral loading can also occur with barefoot trimming, if the trim places more of the weight upon the wall. Over-trimming hoof structures such as the frog, sole and bars, so they have no possibility of sharing in the weight-bearing load, will tend to create more peripheral loading. Allowing the hoof wall to grow too long will create more peripheral loading. Anytime the frog is not in contact with the ground, peripheral loading takes place. To make things more complicated, peripheral loading is completely dependent upon the hoof’s surface—a hard surface increases peripheral loading, while a softer surface decreases it. A solar plug (material packed into the hoof’s concavity) minimizes peripheral loading.

Peripheral loading is a negative situation for the hoof, because it severely interferes with blood flow inside the hoof. Bowker conducted experiments in velocity of blood flow in the hoof using Doppler Ultrasound. What he discovered is that harder surfaces made the blood flow faster, and when it did that, it never “perfused” the tissues. It was just like a rainstorm in the desert (and I’ve seen plenty of those!)—water gushes down in a flood, but never sinks into the ground. The faster the blood flow, the less blood made it to the tissues!


On softer surfaces (pea rock, sand or foam pads) blood flow will slow down and trickle through small vessels—microvenous vessels. On hard surfaces (cement or wood blocks), tissue perfusion dramatically decreases, so blood moves faster through foot—it must stay in the large vessels. Different surfaces will change tissue perfusion, with softer, more forgiving surfaces having the greatest tissue perfusion.


He also documented the effects of more extreme peripheral loading. With a shod hoof, blood flow actually came to a halt for a split second with every heartbeat, at the level of the horse’s fetlock. In a computer model that he developed with some engineers, he measured stresses on the coffin bone, and discovered that a peripheral load encouraged bone to be removed. A solar load encouraged bone to be laid down, or at least not removed.

Many horse owners give barefoot a try, but it oftentimes does not work because the horse is given a pasture trim, which leads to tenderfootedness, flares, chips, and cracks. Of course, the shoes are then put back on, as the owner believes that the horse simply "doesn't have the hooves to go barefoot."  It's a shame, because many (maybe not all) of those horses could most likely remain barefoot if they had been trimmed and transitioned properly.

So, how does a "natural" barefoot trim differ from a pasture trim? Well, I'm certainly no expert, but I have studied the subject enough to have cracked the tip of the information iceberg. Here are the basics:

- During a set-up trim (and possibly for a few trims afterward), some sole might need to be gradually trimmed back in order to remove "false sole" and get down to the live sole plane. After this, the sole will most likely not be trimmed, but allowed to form a thick, tough callus (usually develops to a thickness of 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch)

- The frog, except in rare cases, is not trimmed. The flaps that form might need to be cut back for sanitary purposes, but the rest of the frog is allowed to form a tough callus, like the sole

- The hoof walls are rounded in order to distribute weight correctly and to help with breakover. In the States, we call this a "bevel" or "mustang roll." In England, it is called "dressing" the hoof

- The hoof walls are not allowed to overgrow -- they are kept at or below 1/4 inch above the live sole plane

- The bars should not be removed; rather, they should be trimmed so they are slightly shorter than the hoof wall

- The toes are gradually shortened so that 1/3 of the hoof is in front of the apex of the  frog and 2/3 is behind it

- The weight of the horse is distributed over the wall, frog, bars, and sole, eliminating peripheral loading

These are just the very fundamental points to a natural barefoot trim, and I recommend that anyone seriously interested in the subject does further research. I will admit that keeping a horse barefoot takes a lot of time, effort, and knowledge, but I do believe that it's better for the horse. Here are some photographs of the same hooves shown earlier, after 3 "natural" barefoot trims:

Salem's left front hoof, 4 weeks post-"natural" barefoot trim

(3rd NBT, still not at his "ideal" hoof, but getting there)

Note the rounded edge of the hoof wall,

called a "bevel" or "mustang roll"

Right front hoof, 4 weeks post-natural barefoot trim

 

Note the elimination of all chips, cracks, and flares, plus the tight connection all the way around the hoof. Candy, Salem's trimmer, noted that he had the healthiest hooves of any horse she trims. This was due to 24/7 turn-out, a low-NSC diet, daily spraying with apple cider vinegar/water to eliminate fungus etc., weekly rasping to maintain the mustang roll, and trimming every 4-5 weeks. Of course, the biggest change was the type of trim he received -- as soon as he was switched from a trim that loaded his hooves peripherally to one that distributed his weight properly, his hooves showed immediate improvement.

For more information on barefoot, I highly recommend the following links:

http://www.barefoothorse.com/

http://www.thehorseshoof.com/Art_Bowker.html (links to two of Dr. Bowker's scientific papers, as well as his press release "Physiological Trimming for a Healthy Equine Foot," can be found at the bottom of the page)

http://www.hoofrehab.com/ (the How-To Article section is quite informative) 

(ETA: I am not a proponent of the Strasser trim, as I feel it is far too aggressive and can do a great deal of damage to the horse. The Strasser method promotes carving concavity into the hoof, while the methods of The Oregon School of Natural Hoofcare, Pete Ramey, Jaime Jackson, etc. believe in allowing concavity to naturally develop.)

*grabby hands* Want!!

Rugby's Tuff Stuff, 4 year old 17 hand gelding, $3,999. What a stone-cold fox!

(I seriously need to stop browsing the CANTER website!!)

More on The Heat Front

Just wanted to encourage you all to head over to Equine Ink and read this blog post -- http://equineink.com/2010/06/30/study-shows-horses-are-more-susceptible-to-heat-than-humans/.
She cites a very interesting study from the University of Guelph that found horses are much more sensitive to heat than humans are -- so make sure you're extra careful with your ponies in this wretched heat!

Summer Survival Tips

For those of us who live in South Florida (aka "The Inferno" for roughly six months of each year), the 90-degree days have been pounding down on us for months. And, while you Northerners haven't been suffering for quite as long, I know from personal experience that summer in the Northland can be quite brutal, as well. So, what's an equestrian to do -- turn the horse out to pasture and spend the next few months bunkered down in the AC? Of course not! We're a hard-core lot, and I'm sure most of you have been carrying on in your equestrian endeavors, regardless of the sweltering temperatures. So, I've put together some stay-cool tips for you, your pony, and your faithful canine friends.

For Your Horse:

- Hose and sweat-scrape your horse before you tack up in order to get a head-start on the heat.

- Keep a bucket of water and a sponge handy in the arena, especially if your horse suffers from anhydrosis (an inability to sweat). Periodically sponge your horse down to cool him off. You can also add a bit of rubbing alcohol to the water in order to encourage faster evaporation (and thus faster cooling).

- Make sure, when hosing your horse off, to scrape the water off & re-hose repeatedly until the water you are scraping off your horse is no longer hot. This is extremely important, and something that a lot of people do not understand. Even down here in South Florida, a lot of my fellow equestrians simply hose the horse once and leave it dripping with water, thinking that this will help the horse stay cool. This is simply not true! Look at it this way -- when a horse sweats, the sweat absorbs some of the heat from the horse's body and then evaporates, taking the heat with it. This is how sweating helps to cool a horse (and why it is more difficult for horses and humans to stay cool in high humidity -- sweat is slower to evaporate, which means the heat is "trapped" on the body). The same is true for water -- the act of scraping away the warm water removes the heat from the horse's body. So, remember to hose/scrape/repeat until the water you're scraping off is cool! (Thanks to Solo for reminding me that we all need to make a Public Service Announcement about this issue!)

- Stock up on Horse Quencher! I can't say enough good things about this product, as it has essentially negated that age-old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." It's handy to have on-hand for overheated or dehydrated horses, trailering, showing, and any stressful situation where a horse is not drinking enough. I have yet to meet a horse who wouldn't greedily slurp down an entire bucket of Horse Quencher-enhanced water, lick all the dregs, and look for more. It comes in the stand-by flavors of apple & peppermint, as well as the unusual but equally palatable butterscotch & root beer flavors.

- Misters, whether installed in the barn or a turn-out area, can be a great way to help your horses (and you!) beat the heat. They come in an array of options, from relatively inexpensive to astronomically priced. Do a little research and you can easily install one yourself.

- For horses suffering from anhydrosis, the standard treatment is the supplement One AC (although it now has a few competitors, like Let Em Sweat), plus limiting rides to early morning or late evening. Some say that adding beer (particularly dark beer, like Guinness) to the feed also helps the horse to sweat, but there is no scientific evidence to back up this claim. Feeding beer is certainly not harmful, though, so it may be worth a shot.

- Of course, adding electrolytes is a summer essential for many horses. Just make sure you do your research; here's an enlightening article about electrolytes: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=12000&src=fav. One point this article stresses is that, for most horses, an electrolyte supplement mainly triggers the thirst mechanism in the horse, encouraging him to drink more. It also stresses the importance of having free-choice salt available for your horse at all times.
There is also an alternative to traditional electrolytes -- I know a few people down here in South Florida who always give their horses a bucket of Gatorade after each ride (and their horses love it!).

- Fans are essential for stall-kept horses; however, it is safer to buy a heavy-duty industrial fan with a sealed motor, as there is less incidence of fire with these fans (Farmtek makes some nice models -- and, yes, they are more expensive, but your horse's safety is certainly worth it). Make sure you keep wires out of chewing distance from your horses, and keep the fan as free of dust and cobwebs as possible.

For You:

- Avoid drinking excessive amounts of soda, tea, or other caffeinated beverages, as these can lead to dehydration. Stick with water, lemonade, or sports drinks like Gatorade.

- Last year, I was given several cooling neckbands, which are filled with a special polymer. You soak the neckband in water for a while, which causes the polymer to plump up and hold the water -- you can then put them in the fridge to cool them further, or just put them on. They might not be a fashion statement, but they really do help to keep you cool for quite a while (I used them when the AC in my car was on the fritz, and they were a lifesaver!). I wish I knew exactly where my friend purchased them, but a quick Google search brought up several results. The site www.coolbandanas.com looks promising.

- There used to be a product called Cookie's Cool Caps, which were thin ice packs designed to be placed inside a riding helmet. Unfortunately, they are no longer manufactured; however, you can certainly buy small, flexible gel ice packs and use them in the same way. Also, there are similar products made for hard-hats, which would work just as well in a riding helmet --http://www.miracool.com/hard-hat-cooling.htm (scroll down, and there are many different options).

- Wear cotton clothing and/or special sweating-wicking exercise gear in light colors in order to aid sweat evaporation and heat reflection. While browsing through a Dover catalog recently, I saw a pair of seersucker breeches, which would be ideal for summer riding (although they might elicit a few sideways glances!).

For Your Dog:

- Many people believe that dogs don't sweat at all, but this is a myth; they do sweat, but only a small amount, as they only have sweat glands in their paws (and I believe in their noses, as well). They mainly cool off by panting. However, allowing them to stand in cool water can greatly help them deal with heat.

This is Zoe, my old Bouvier des Flandres.

Best. Dog. Ever.

- I recently bought my Husky a Kool Collar for her to wear during our walks. It contains a reusable icepack, but can also be filled with ice. While it's so small that it probably only offers her minimum heat relief, I do feel that it helps a bit. (I only walk her at night, as she is a very hairy beast and gets overheated quite easily!)

- My next purchase will be a K9 Cooling Vest, which utilizes the same principle of the cooling bandannas for people (it also contains polymers which, when soaked in water, plump up and can help keep the dog cool for several hours). And, if my wallet isn't screaming in agony, I'll also buy her a Canine Cooler Bed -- she currently spends a lot of time on the cool tile floors, but I certainly don't want her to get pressure sores.

- Of course, there is always the option of shaving your puppy during the summer to help him/her stay cool; I just can't personally picture my Husky without all her gorgeous hair! 

Well, I tried to stay away from the blatantly obvious (like, make sure you have fresh water available at all times for both your horse and your dog), so I hope that this post can provide a helpful tip or two for each of my readers. But I know that you guys are pretty savvy, too. So, now it's your turn to educate me -- what additional tips or advice do you have for surviving the hot summer months? What are your favorite stay-cool strategies for you, your horse, or your dog? 

If Wishes Were Horses...

Yep, it was inevitable -- though I have attempted to restrain myself from trolling the CANTER website for prospects, I have not been able to resist its siren song. Hi. My name is Meghann and I am a Thoroughbred-aholic. It has been two and a half months since my last ride. 

But, surely, there's no harm in looking, right? ;-) I am just thankful that the closest CANTER chapter is in the Mid-Atlantic, because if it was any closer I would be scrambling to come up with enough $$$ to support my horsey habit. So, without further ado, here are the ponies for which I am currently pining:

This is OK Bay, a 16.2 hand 6-year-old gelding (who deserves a name change, as he is clearly much better than "OK"). I'm no conformation expert, but to me he looks sturdy and substantial, not to mention extremely smooch-able. I absolutely adore blood bays, especially when they have those cute white feet. I could definitely see him galloping across fields and soaring over ditches and logs. (And he's only $1000 -- total bargain!)

*swoon* I am such a sucker for a grey. Maybe it's because I spent my childhood watching The Horse in The Grey Flannel Suit and Sylvester so many times that I wore out the VHS tapes, but I have a huge soft spot for greys. And, yes, my horse Mac was a big grey TB gelding, so it's a bit of an obsession. But, really, who could possibly resist this tall drink of water? He's a 5-year-old 16.2-16.3 hand gelding named Rugby's Hill (Rugby as a barn name = cuteness!) who is listed for $2,500. Maybe it's the way he's standing, but his right hind looks a bit funky to me; but that's the only fault that I can see. And, honestly, that face certainly makes me forget about any flaws he might have -- adorable!

Zagarello! Alright, I admit that part of this guy's appeal is his name -- but he is also quite a looker. Zag is a 4-year-old 17 hand gelding listed for $1,200. Part of the reason I'm drawn to him is because of his height; I'm only 5'7" but I tend to dwarf horses (I made 17 hand Salem look small!). Zag is cute as a button, young, and marketed as a "lovely event" prospect (something I have been itching to try, myself).

Yes, I'm sure there are about a million more, but I've got to rein myself in somewhere. :-) So, if a bag of money just happens to fall out of the sky tomorrow, which one of these cuties should be my next pony?

Riding Air Bag!

Has anyone else seen these new riding air-vests? They're geared towards eventers (who are required to wear a safety vest during cross-country), but can be used for any discipline. Apparently, some camps are claiming that they're the greatest safety invention since the helmet, while others feel that they're less effective than standard foam-paneled vests.

(Sorry, not sure why this is so pixelated!)

This is the Point Two inflatible air vest, which has a long lanyard that you clip to the stirrup bars of your saddle. If you are thrown from the horse, the lanyard activates the release of carbon dioxide into the "airbags," inflating them. They inflate in approximately half a second, so your neck and back are fully protected by a cushion of air before your body hits the ground (well, in theory). It is available from Smartpak for the low, low price of $699-799, depending on size.

Gaaaah! ALL my pics are fuzzy and pixelated -- ???

This air vest is also Point Two, but it is the custom color version. Because heaven forbid you get caught in some generic black air vest. Ick. Cross-country just wouldn't be the same without bright, glaring colors on every available surface of you and your horse. This vest is available in an array of colors, from Bubble Pink to Bright Orange to High Vis Yellow. What's that sound, you say? Oh, I think it's just George Morris's shrieks of horror and disgust. Oh, and by the way, this vest is offered for the bargain price of $839.95 from Smartpak. What a steal -- buy two or three!

For those of you not fortunate enough to have spare fistfuls of cash, don't fret -- there is a slightly less obnoxiously expensive vest available from Hit Air, pictured above and below. It doesn't come in any fun colors, but it does seem to provide exactly the same protection as the Point Two. This one retails for around $450 -- still crazy expensive, but at least it's an improvement.

And, check it out, you can even use an air vest whilst riding a camel! It doesn't exactly seem like a real dangerous sport, camel riding, what with the humps keeping you in place and the general dislike of moving faster than a snail's pace that most camels seem to exhibit. But, hey, I am all for safety!

Apparently, the rules state that, even if you are wearing an air vest in an XC competition, you must still wear a standard safety vest as well. I'm guessing this is because the air vests are so new and maybe haven't been tested/approved. Sounds like a lot of layering for a sport where you are most likely already sweating bullets.

So, what are your thoughts on the air vest? Great idea or total crock?

In Terminus

Whew! The last few weeks have flown by in such a whirlwind that it's been difficult to keep up with things. Buckle your seatbelts, kiddos, because this post is going to be loooong!

So, where did I last leave off? I believe it was Salem's chiropractic adjustment with the magical and wonderful Dr. Bob. The following day, I gave Salem a break from work and just hand-grazed him for a few hours.Wednesday I put him on the longe line and did about 20-25 minutes of walk/trot work with him, focusing a lot on walk/halt transitions.

Well, what do you know, afterwards I put him on the cross-ties and ran my hand down his left front leg to pick his hoof -- and I felt a large, hard, cool lump on the inside of his cannon bone. Yep, he had popped a splint. Now, it's certainly not unusual for horses to pop a splint, but it usually occurs during heavy work like jumping -- since when is 25 minutes of light longeing considered strenuous?! I swear, I think Salem pushed his Self-Destruct Button! He has seriously been falling apart lately.

Ugly Evil Splint

Close-Up of Ugly Evil Splint

The good news is that Salem was never sore from it -- it didn't seem to bother him in the least, and it had zero heat.The first few days, I iced his leg and left him in standing wraps. Made no difference, but it did make me feel like at least I was doing something. Of course, I immediately started researching about splints, and I read that a lot of people use Surpass on them with great results. So of course, I broke out the Surpass and faithfully rubbed it into that big ugly bump every night.

Unfortunately, a splint means no riding for a few weeks, so we spent the time hand-grazing, doing ground work, grooming, massaging, stretching, and just spending quality time together. I would put him in the front paddock for a change of scenery and just sit underneath the oak trees and watch him stroll around. Ruby had told me a few weeks ago that Salem would be leaving on May 1st, so I really wanted to cherish every second that I had left with him.

A few days after he popped the splint, I found out that the shipping date had been moved up to April 15th. And, being the OCD horsey foster mom that I am, I started planning for Salem's Travel Kit/Supplies. We all know that shipping long distances, moving to a new environment, adapting a new routine, etc. cause a horse to be quite stressed, which can lead to digestive upset and ulcers -- so I would of course need a few tubes of UlcerGuard for both pre-shipping and post-shipping. In addition, he would need a tube of Probios for a boost of probiotics. I also wanted to get a bunch of Horse Quencher, as horses tend to become dehydrated over long hauls. (If you don't have any Horse Quencher, I highly recommend getting a few packs to keep on hand!) The plan was to put a pack of HQ in a bucket of water and have him drink the entire bucket right before getting onto the trailer. Then I would give a few packs to the shippers for the transit, and include some in his "Welcome Pack" for when he arrived at his new farm. I placed an order with Valley Vet, confident that it would arrive in plenty of time.

Imagine my surprise when, on Thursday afternoon (April 8th), I received a call from the horse transporters confirming Salem's pick-up the following morning. (That's why this post is titled "In Terminus" -- it's Latin for "in the end.") I offically went into freak-out mode. I wasn't ready, either emotionally or logistically. Salem's "stuff" was scattered to the four winds, I had only half a bale of hay (I needed at least two for him so he could eat during the whole trip, plus have a bit for when he arrived), I had no UlcerGuard, no Probios, no HorseQuencher...nothing! The feed stores were all about to close. I'm pretty sure I had a small aneurism.

Luckily, I have some great fellow boarders, so I managed to pull together two more bales of hay and three tubes of EGard (generic GastroGuard). I had already bought some aloe vera juice to send up for Salem (it also helps to cut down on stomach acid), so at least I was semi-prepared -- not nearly as together as I had planned, but better than nothing. I had also spent quite a bit of time getting Salem used to wearing his halter fleeces and shipping boots. And I had switched him over to orachard/alfalfa hay instead of his usual timothy, because alfalfa can help reduce stomach acid.

I stayed at the barn until 10:30 Thursday night, packing and planning and fussing over everything. Salem got a bubble bath and a whisker trim, and Jennie was kind enough to pull his insanely thick mane (I pretty much suck at mane maintenance). Friday, I arrived at the barn at 6:30 in the morning to take Salem for one last long hand-graze/walk. We strolled around in the misty, dewy morning heat and enjoyed eachother's company for one last time.

Afterwards, it was time for a quick groom, as I certainly could not send Salem off all dirty and gunky. I kept thinking, "This is the last time I'll ever pick his feet...this is the last time I'll curry him...this is the last blah blah blah," and Salem could definitely tell that something was amiss. He had his Woried Eyes on. 

Check out Jennie's awesome mane-pulling job!

What's going on, FosterMomLady?

This is my Monty Roberts halter, which I loooooove. When you attach a leadrope to either

one of of the training rings, the entire bottom rope section tightens around the jaw.

It's both more gentle and more effective than a chain. (You just can't tie them or cross-tie

them from the training rings!)

Next, it was time to put on Salem's Travelling Outfit -- and, I have to say, he looked insanely cute in it!! Salem was so calm and laidback and Zen about the whole thing. Even when I walked him up to the very scary semi-trailer, he was perfectly behaved.

All geared up in his Shipping Outfit

This pic also shows that his topline needs much work!

That is one shiny pony! I have proven that you do not

need Show Sheen or any other silicone product to make a horse sparkly -- he is

glowing from good health and elbow grease (well, with a little help from

flax seed and Cocosoya)!

Smartpak catalog model in the making

This was Salem's sweet ride -- he was definitely travelling in style!

When the drivers set up the ramp to load Salem, I got a bit nervous -- the ramp was quite steep and I was pretty sure that Salem would not want to set a foot on it. (Wish I had a pic, but I was holding the Ponykins!) The nice thing, though, is that it had wings on the sides and they laid down a nice mat (like this) for traction. One of the drivers asked me, "Do you want me to load him up, or do you want to take him?" I told him that I wanted to take him, so I walked up the ramp and was shocked that Salem immediately and very calmly followed me like he had been walking up Scary Steep Ramps onto Big Scary Semi Trailers his whole life. I'm thinking maybe all of the work I did on having him put his feet where I want them (even on scary stuff like tarps and scary puddles) paid off. I was so proud of him that I almost got a little teared up.

All settled in for the ride

Once Salem was loaded up, I gave him one last peppermint and one last kiss on his muzzle. I had already had my little mushy "goodbye talk" with him on the way to the trailer (cuz ya don't want to look like a total mush in front of the big tough driver guys). I told him to be a good boy for his mommy and that I would definitely see him again sometime.

This was my last view of the Salem Ponykins

I know this might sound a bit stupid, but I really worry that Salem will think that I don't love him or I don't want him or that he wasn't good enough for me. I know it's completely anthropomorphising him, but I can't help it. For six months, I was his Person. We spent time together every day, usually for at least five to six hours. If he was out in his paddock when I arrived, he would run into his stall, whinnying his head off, as soon as he heard my voice. He was my favorite part of the day, and losing him has definitely left a big hole in my heart. Part of me hopes that he misses me, while the other part hopes that he doesn't. All I know is that I thoroughly enjoyed every second that I spent with him. He is such a special horse and I know that Ruby is going to adore him.

So, this is officially the end of the Salem Blog. I am planning on getting another horse in the not-too-distant future, so I will eventually be blogging about that. And I of course plan on keeping up with all of my horsey blog-y friends! Kristen over at Sweet Horse's Breath suggested that I start posting information-type blog posts, which I just might do.

 Thanks for coming on this ride with me, guys! It's been a blast.