Happy New Year!

Well, it's been a lovely break in typical Aussie Christmas weather - hot and dry. Our place is very dry at the moment and we're all doing our rain dances in an attempt to bring on a mini-monsoon to fill our tanks. We just put in a huge 130,000L tank (not the best time of year, obviously!) and hope to get some water into it soon. One of our other three large tanks is already empty.....it's a worry, that's for sure.

We drove down to Melbourne in our little car for Christmas and spent four days away from the farm and the furried and feathered kids. It was lovely to come home even though we had a great time. The kids were champions during the long drive and we all felt pretty chipper at the thought that 2013 was finally drawing to a close. Turning over a new year seems wonderfully refreshing!

On an equine note, Jedi seems to be doing better and better in his new barefoot state. It's already possible to see the ring of change just starting to show below the coronet band showing the stronger, harder, healthier hoof beginning to grow. It's only just gone 4 weeks since his shoes came off and I think he's doing smashingly. I'll post some pics of the changes in my next entry.

There are a couple of interesting developments in Jedi's hooves which I hadn't seen in Tux when he transitioned to barefoot. The first is the big changes in the soles of Jedi's feet. In the first couple of weeks, the soles seemed to become polished as they were exposed to the hard dry ground of our property for the first time. Then, in the last week, the front third (from 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock if the frog points to 12 o'clock) of the sole has been flaking off in quite thick chunks. I accidentally flicked off the first chunk with the hoofpick as I was cleaning out the channels either side of the frog known as the collateral grooves. I noticed dirt underneath other parts of the sole at the apex of the frog and those bits easily came off on the hoofpick too.

The sole underneath is quite pristine, no seedy toe or other fungal problems. I wonder if this is new sole growing under what would have been very packed calloused sole. He has been slightly more sensitive but not a lot so I'm going with that explanation. A thicker, healthier sole is the ultimate goal.

The other observation I've made is in the way Jedi moves. At the moment, he generally lands toe-first in the front and that is probably due to foot sensitivity. At least, that's what I've always been told. I'm not 100% convinced as I also noticed that, when he's being led over the gravel drive to get to his paddock, Jedi will walk correctly (ie heel-first), albeit gingerly. I actually wonder if being shod has changed the way he moves to a toe-first gait. I will watch this over the coming months and see if his movement improves.

The big gouges out his feet are slowly growing out and the seedy toe appears under control. The hot dry conditions definitely help here!

I rode him on the woodchip-covered arena at my friend's place over the road for the first time since my first proper ride with him barefoot and the change is massive. He showed barely any sensitivity on the surface and was putting out a lovely long-strided trot. Very heartening!

I have also found out a bit about his history, thanks to having his microchip number courtesy of my favourite vet, Rochelle Joyce. It turns out Jedi is indeed an unraced TB but has quite a decent pedigree, by racing standards. He is by Not A Single Doubt, a stallion by Redoute's Choice. He has a fair bit of Northern Dancer in his bloodlines too, and his dam is an Irish TB from some decent older lines. He was sold at the Magic Millions as a yearling for $91,600 (I was floored by the fact that he was only a mid-priced yearling - the money some people put into these nags!), but I am yet to find any reason why he didn't race. Maybe some more detective work is needed.....

The next few months will be pretty busy for us with the AEBC intensive clinic coming up in just over 2 weeks, followed by Wallaby Hill HT at the beginning of Feb, the Andrew Mclean/Lucinda Green clinic the week after, then Canberra HT mid-March and on and on it goes. Jedi ain't gonna know what hit him! And neither is my bank balance!

Uno is looking a picture (a very BIG picture) and seems completely recovered of that fracture. The swelling on the front of his fetlock stays, however, but he seems quite sound. Hopefully, that's the end of his dramatic injuries. Are you listening, Uno??

Uno's mum Rose is also looking lovely, though her feet are still dinner plates after pregnancy and some deliberate neglect as we couldn't put her through standing on 3 legs late in her pregnancy. But they're coming good, and she'll be starting some very light work in a month or so (which means I'll have to actually break her in - meh, she practically backed herself as a 2 year old!!). The plan is to just start walking her back and forth across the paddock on a hill for a few minutes each ride, building to 20 minutes or so just before Uno is weaned. That'll give her body a chance to strengthen slowly and it will help her pelvis stabilise and prepare for some work. Uno will benefit with that exercise too!

So, onwards into the new year. 2014 is shaping up to be a cracker!