Oaks Volta has been quite challenging of late. Wes has been quite frustrated with little things cropping up to effect his preparation for competition. As you all know he does everything here at home except the horses teeth. Last year 2 weeks before the Victorian State Titles we decided to get a farrier in to shoe some of the horses to give him a break. It has proved very costly in many ways. Volta showed signs of unhappiness , by that I mean stomping his feet or trying to wipe his bridle off after he was saddled.
Getting a farrier has proved costly in many ways
Now during the first few weeks you think and become aware of these things but finding the niggle is a tough one becasue they cannot actually tell you exactly where or what the issue is. Is it a small or large problem? So many trials and tests to work out how you can fix the problems. It has taken a while to fix but we can say it all started with his feet and as they say no hoof no horse. Wes got in touch with good friend Rohan who came out and started correcting the issues. Both Wes & Rohan are working together and the soreness has improved. But it has created other factors that are more of a challenge to correct.
Is it the feed , tack or health that is effecting my horse?
Wes has a plan and we do not know if it will work until we have put it all in motion. Horses especially stallions can be a fickle animal as many of you know and can be so heart breaking. You think things are all honky dory then wham bam it is so far from being right. Team Joyce have enjoyed bringing Volta along from the weanling stage to a high performance level. Now we endeavour an even more challenging phase to see if Wes can alter his train of thought and encourage him to be more willing on course. We also think not collecting from him at all this season creates frustration as well. You may laugh and think no way ‘ but we think not using them does make a difference to their behaviour. Not his willingness to jump but handling him at home or an event. He is becoming more boofy if that is the right word. Wes & I are not keen on handling a stallion that does not seem happy it can cause other problems.
We have used Cera Ducati this season over everything becasue we have so many gorgeous Volta progeny on the ground. Wes hopes to cross the Ducati / Handsome fillies with Volta blood later. That will be Vivant / Darco . Diamant de Semilly / Askari all imported solid jumping lines. Hopefully one will be a great showjumper for Wesley. Then our final mission of mixing blood will be complete. Our dreams will hopefully come to fruition eventually.
Stay tuned for more news either way we have nothing to loose, this will be one of those life experiences where you gain more knowledge. Lucky we have many lovely youngsters coming through ……
Having a really great farrier is so important. We changed from our trusted long serving farrier to a local as we moved away from our farrier area. This proved to be a nightmare as the new one sent Lily lame within 2 shoeing. He didn’t understand heavy horse feet as had mostly only done TB. Which he did well. So we choose to take her back to our original farrier who truely understood her feet and she was back on track in about 2 shoeings. We have never left him again and know he is so important to having our horses feet looked after by only the best. He recently did Eddy for the first time and told us his feet are so big he had to use his home made draft horse shoes which he had in his trailer sitting there for a whole waiting for the right horse for them to come along. Next shoe he will make them special for Eddy as his did for Lily and we know that our horses are in the best hands. His name is Gary Battersby and lives in Seymour and worth his weight in gold. L
Good luck with Volta, I hope your plan works. I’d love to see back on track.
Cheers Louise
Many thanks Louise for sharing your experiences. You are so right in your words of wisdom above ‘ the farrier is so very important. We are so glad to hear your horses are in such good hands with Gary ‘ once you find some body to reply on best to try and not change if possible. Thanks for your good wishes ‘ time will tell how we fair. As they say Tally ho from here lol. Have a nice week 🙂