Experts recommend that you shoe working horses, as it protects the hoof from general wear and tear, cracking and splitting. Some people prefer to save on the cost of shoeing, and have their horses bare foot, but this can only be done with strong healthy hooves and limits the amount of work that can be done on the road to a minimum.
Generally shoes are made of iron, it heats well and can be shaped at hot temperatures and also effectively takes on the wear and tear of heavy work. Alternatives include plastic, winged shoes that are glued on. These are lighter, but more expensive and not often seen.
You cannot just pop into TESCO or ASDA to buy horse shoes, a registered expert known as a farrier has to come and fit your horses shoes.
It is recommended that your farrier visits every four to six weeks to trim, and shoe your horse.
It is also important that your farrier is properly qualified, you can check his qualificatins, here are some to look out for; DipWCF or Diploma of the Worshipful Company of Farriers , FWCF or Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Farriers. This is the highest quallification, and the mark of a profesional, AWCF or the Associateship of the Worshipful Company of Farriers .
First the farrier removes the dirt, and excess frog, and sole tissue, and clips the hoof wall. Once the hoof is the right shape and length, the iron shoes are heated and shaped and once they have cooled sufficiently they are fitted, and adjusted, then cooled and nailed on.
More details on hooves and hoof care can be obtained from your farrier, a knowledgeable person, or a good book.

If you are not already a member of  horse lovers dating, you can register free by clicking here . If you are already a member, here are 6 ways to improve your chances of meeting that special person:

Advanced Search Who’s Online Video Profiles Be as specific as you want – search for your perfect partner using up to 20 different preferences including age, location, height, appearance, lifestyle, background, hobbies… the list goes on and on… and on!!! See who’s logged in at the same time as you and send them an Instant Message* to get chatting in the quickest time possible. With no need to wait around for a reply, you could even end up with an instant date. Introduce yourself to other Members face-to-face by recording a short video clip about yourself*. It’s like having a profile and a photo all-in-one, and other Members will also be able to see that you’re 100% genuine.

Ice Breakers		Inbox Tools		And Much More…
Once you’ve found other Members who fit what you’re looking for, you can introduce yourself to them all in one go by sending your own personal Ice Breaker message to get the conversation started.		Choose whether to see all your incoming contacts in one place, or list Messages, Winks, Favourites and Gifts separately. And don’t forget you can also filter out contacts from people you’re not interested in.		There are lots more ways that Horse Lovers Dating can help you find who and what you’re looking for, such as Dating Diaries, Personality tests, Recommended Members and all sorts of e-mail notifications to let you know when you’ve caught someone’s attention.

with that on its own, the problem lies in that half his mane goes as well! So, rather than a red or blue rossete, it was a pink fifth (last!) that I was looking at. Oh well, I thought he was the best to me, the judge had said he had some way to go, but would win lots of thngs in future. I hoped so.
All the other competitors were clean, welll turned out, and successful. My next class was a last minute entry ( five minutes before!) and it was open showing, which I really only entered to fill the places. We came third (last!) and, the judge seemed quite impressed with the sturdy black gypsy cob except it was a showing class, I forgot my hairnet (almost said haynet!!) and my hat cover was the wrong colour and my horse refused to stand still. Other than that, the judge adored us (haha!!!!!)
Then I had lunch, went to the cones course and watched the competitors. There were only three, but all did very well. Then came ridden veteran,then riding championships ( i wasnt in it, l hadnt achieved a high enough placing) Then came my last class, handy pony. My handy pony (?!!) is a horse, she was not very handy, and we only achieved second (to last!) because the last competitor did almost everything wrong. We moved the coat from peg to peg fine. I dropped the duck and I couldnt steer because i forgot my gloves, the reins were greasy and i was holding a whip, at the same time as trying (and failing) to steer and holding a fishing net. I suceeded in picking up the duck without dismounting, but the steward had to come and help me steer!!! i moved flag from container to container fine, just about got over the jump (only just!!!) and then through the bending poles. Then into a square of poles. My mare stood still for five seconds, then pranced about on the spot for the next five!!! we saluted the judge and trotted out of the ring. I struggled to hold the fiery girl while the judges analysed the results, and then I found out i came second (to last!!)
Perhaps not so much on my part, but alltogether the day was a huge success, and the cake stall alone raised £160.00 pounds!!!
The show is held annually, in july, in hereford, near leominster by KC and the hereford and district driving group (hddg). For more details, see their website; http://www.hddg.co.uk/.

Once the horse is 100% comfortable with all the harness it is time to long rein him in full harness. Once he is comfortable with this, attach traces to his harness and have one person lead him amd another two to hold the traces. The leading person trots the horse along and the other two people hold on and get ‘pulled’ along. Some people recommend getting the horse to pull a tyre, but these can bounce and hit a horse’s rump or legs causing him to take off. If you do choose to use this method great care should be taken to ensure there are no bumps to spook the horse.

Some people get the horses to pull railway sleepers, others prefer to use hay bales.

One person should get the carriage near the horse and bang and clatter it a bit to ensure the horse is comfortable with the noise.

Once your horse is ready, under the instruction of an experienced driver it is time to get your horse pulling a sledge. Your guide will take you through the steps of going about it correctly.

Once your horse is doing all of this calmly and confidently’ it will soon be time to put him to. But before you do this, get him used to the shafts against his sides to avoid problems by getting two wooden poles, old broom handles will do, and stand behind him ( out of the kick zone of course (even if you trust him with your life, he may still be spooked by wooden poles touching his sides)). Carefully rub the poles against his side, to recreate the effect of the shafts.

Once all of these steps have been sucessfully completed, the time has come to put the horse to. For this activity you need at least three people, one to hold the horse, and the other two to carefully lift the shafts over the horses back and gently slide them into place.

Once you have him put to, slowly walk him forward so he can feel the shafts against his sides.. With time and careful handling, you will soon be able to put weight on the carriage and then you will progress to actually driving the horse, teaching him to obey your voice and rein aids and you will be truly off and away!!!

good luck and happy times with your hose!!!

top tip: you will go so much further if you talk to your horse. Dont feel stupid about it, say whatever you like in a calming tone and he will trust you much more.

For more information on carriage driving visit http://www.hddg.co.uk/ to check out other carriage driving aspects and events

Your can read part one of this article here.

A man who is probably extremely fond of his pony seem to have discarded the convention of using horse box and horse traillers to move horses and ponies about when he was seen trying to buy a ticket at Wrexam train station with his grey pony in tow. Picture of the man and his pony captured by CCTV was released by the train station.

Shocked staff watched as the man tried to get on the train at Wrexham General station with the grey pony in tow. Apparently a train conductor refused to let him board the train with his pony, he then return to the ticket booth where he tried to buy two tickets – one for himself and one for his pony.

Arriva Trains Wales (ATW) said horses were not permitted on safety grounds. The RSPCA said it was concerned and was viewing the CCTV tapes.

The man tried to travel on Saturday’s 1902 BST service to Holyhead on Anglesey with his four-legged companion.

The ATW spokeswoman said: “Arriva Trains Wales allows dogs and small animals to travel on board trains.

“All animals, except dogs, must be conveyed within a fully enclosed basket or pet carrier with dimensions not exceeding 85 x 60 x 60cm.

The man has also been reported to have been seen with the pony at accident and emergency of a hospital and at a pub.

In a speech at Dublin Castle on Wednesday, she offered her “sincere thoughts and deep sympathy” to victims of Ireland and the UK’s troubled past.

She went on to praise the “lasting rapport” now between the countries.

An apology had not been expected, the BBC’s Nicholas Witchell said, but the Queen came “pretty close”.

BBC Ireland correspondent Mark Simpson said that having reached “half-time” in the Queen’s four-day trip, there was now “no more politics – just horses and showbiz today”.

The Queen is due to attend a variety show at Dublin’s National Convention Centre on Thursday evening.

source/full story: bbc

The new from BBC below is quite interesting. The lambs thieves seem to have an interesting ways of tranporting what they stole:

Some of the animals were on the back seat of one of the cars while others were discovered packed into the boot.

Officers have now located the owner of the lambs which were found near Oldbury in the West Midlands in the early hours of Thursday.

Six men were arrested on suspicion of theft after the Vauxhall Cavalier and Rover cars were stopped.

Police said the lambs’ owner is from Toddington, Gloucestershire, and he will be reunited with his flock.

The police spokesman said officers found eight lambs in the boot of one of the vehicles with another three on the back seats.

In the second vehicle, four lambs were found in the boot and one in the foot-well.

“The lambs were found to be tightly bound and were obviously distressed,” he said.

LOVE

First things first, love will be our main focus in this article. We all know how difficult it is to spend Christmas alone, New Year’s party with other happy couples, but also one thing is sure: these times have finally went by so you should make room to a new year where anything can (and will) be possible. Right from the start you should dedicate some time to yourself, get to know what you want most from a partner, what do you expect from a relationship and so on. Want to improve your chances of getting noticed on Horse Lovers Dating site? Have a look at your profile and try to do these changes that can definitely make a difference:

-          Update your profile: you should definitely add some photos that show the best of you, maybe you had a great outfit for Christmas’ Party so highlight it on your profile
-          Start a new diary and express what are you looking forward to achieve this new year
-          Go chatting and change memories about how the New Year’s party was for you

WORK

On the other hand, think about how many hours do you spend each time at work…Maybe you even have some extra-things to solve at home, maybe you are doing extra-hours, you will end up seeing that you spend about 10 hours each day with your job, maybe more, a whooping 2,600-3,000 hours each year. Of course, there is not much to be done when it comes to earning a living but you could change the way you are at work – be happy all the time. Avoid office gossips, try to stay positive, neglect negative people and smile more often. Another fantastic way of meeting new people can be related to your job: go out with your co-workers, maybe they have some friends you might find attractive and before you notice, you may end-up within a happy relationship with the person you have always dreamed about.

MONEY

Money are such a sensible subject, especially when we are talking about January, the month where we start looking on our previous month expenses on gifts, parties and so on. But if we consider than January is also a month of sales and discounts, it might be a great time to catch some bargains and once again improve your happiness levels from a financial perspective. Check out clothes’ discounts, find restaurants that offer real bargains, find some fantastic coupons on discounts websites or even participate to free events in your area.

All these might seem so simple at a first-view but they are also fantastic ways to start a new year and definitely improve your happiness from those three points of view.

The report which was compiled by Commission for Rural Communities said people living in a remote village needs to earn 50% above the minimum wage of £5.93 to reach an acceptable living standards. The report said fuel and transport are the main reason for the significant increase in the cost of living in a village.

The index compiled for the report was based on the items people think they need for their household to function properly. Donald Hush commenting on the index said “fuel and transport are the main reason behind this cost, living in a remote rural village you need your own transport to get bye while in urban area there is a public transport system”.

The report also mention the fact that low pay is much more common in the rural area, may rural workers pay fall well short or what they need to keep their household essentials supplied.

The figures the report identified for a single people living in various part of the country follows:

A single person living in a rural town needs £15,600
A single person living in a village needs £17,900
A single person living in a hamlet in remote countryside £18,600

Many rural dweller said higher fuel bill and cars contribute significantly to their household bill. Home in rural areas tends to have poor insulation.