Hoitze is one of our original boys and over the last 9 years has proved himself to be one of the biggest characters on the yard. I think it would be safe to say he should have his own fan club! Hes driven many a bride to her wedding, starred in photoshoots (including for Next catalogue!) and helped dozens of people fall in love with the Friesian after giving them an armchair ride. Theres no doubt he has a bit of a wicked sense of humour and has been responsible for dropping a couple of people out the side door over the years! He could be a perfect gentleman for a novice but if he thought you knew enough hed soon enough test you! Earlier this year he was found to have early signs of arthritis in his hocks so we decided to give him a well earned holiday. We whipped his shoes off, turned him out with a field full of glamorous ladies and decided to let mother nature look after him for the summer. To say he loved it would be an understatement and if any other gelding in neighbouring fields dared to come within 10 feet of the boundary between him and his girls he was there patrolling the fence line! He started to show increased lameness in one of his hind legs, not helped by the fact his feet were not coping particularly well on our rocky ground without shoes. Following discussions with our vet, six weeks ago he was treated with Equidronate, a drug successfully used in the treatment of lameness associated with arthritis. He stayed out with the ladies and with a fresh pair of front shoes on, his feet began to improve and his lameness behind also seemed to disappear. Today was the big day we have waited so long for. I think Hoitze knew as not only was he caked in mud when I got him from the field he then rolled in our very wet fibre sand pen just to make sure he looked like a proper grubby hippo!! Hes not silly, it meant he got pampered for longer (one of his favourite pastimes!!). It was such a wonderful feeling to be back on him. We had an amble down the road with Martine on Model mare Femma (Teunis332) and a few minutes in the arena where I was able to satisfy myself on his soundness. Tonight hes tucked up in his brand new stable where he can chat to stallions Wouter and Droomie through the window. Well start building him up again and with any luck we may be able to offer some of you the opportunity to come and ride this fabulous boy again in the future.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 01:34:12 +0000
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