Making a PP 6

One thing we have noticed whilst our horses have been living on our track system is how much they move and how much natural fitness they have developed. The need to move to get water, find shelter, catch and find herd companions, to browse the hedges and explore has meant they travel over 10 km per day. This means that our youngster Morris has revealed himself to be one of the fittest four year olds we have ever ridden. The fact that the horses are roaming for twenty four hours a day means we don’t have to ride them each day in order to keep them fit and ‘rideable’. It is particularly noticeable that they are so content mentally that the normal ritual of having to tire a stabled horse out through lunging it for half an hour before you get on it is totally unnecessary.

A variety of surfaces means that the horses hooves are stimulated as they move around. If they were to only have access to a soft surface then internal hoof structures would be less competent when they were out performing under saddle on challenging surfaces.