PSV Mauser enjoying some lucerne at his temporary home - the Shabach Stud in Caledon - while waiting to find out about the next shipment.

We still can’t get over the immense generosity of our friends both at home and abroad, in donating prizes and buying raffle tickets.

At the close of play on Saturday the 31st of March – when we did the Final Draw – with the sales of raffle tickets alone we had raised nearly R50,000!

I imagine you’re keen to find out who the winners were? They were:

• Natalie McIntyre in Australia – who won the 7 night safari with Wild Coast Horseback Adventures
• Jan Englebrecht in the USA – who won the signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in Afrikaans
• Desiree Wadsworth from East London – who won the Perseverance stud service
• Tjakie Naudé from Cape Town – who won the painting by Janet Dixon
• Anthony de la Harpe from Graaff-Reinet – who won the signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in English

Sadly though, that brings our fundraising campaign to a close due to circumstances beyond our control.

We had already sent Mauser to the AHS exclusion zone in the Western Cape, where he has been waiting to go into quarantine. The first shipment that he was scheduled to travel on was cancelled, and we’ve been on tenterhooks to find out when he could get on to another. So we were elated when we heard this weekend that one was available… And we were immediately cast down again when it became clear that it would not get him to the UK in good time for the race.

Regretfully, Laura has had to withdraw from this year’s World Endurance Championships.

We have not given up our plans to take Mauser overseas, and will do that early next year in order not to be caught in this situation again.

All the best, and thank you once again for supporting Laura and Mauser.

Team PSV

Wild Coast Horse Safaris

There are just TWO weeks left to enter Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle before the final draw on 31st March for the GRAND PRIZE and other top tier prizes!  Here’s what you could win….

1. A 7 night Wild Coast Horse Safari for 2 people, worth R35,000
2. An original painting by Janet Dixon from ArtKaroo
3. A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – Afrikaans (which could be worth up to R15,000 on eBay!)
4. A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – English
5. A stud fee for a Perseverance Arabian stallion, worth R5,000

Wild Coast Horse Safari

• worth R35,000

Would you like to ride horses through a stunning game reserve filled with non-dangerous game where the Giraffe, Zebra, Wildebeest and a multitude of different antelope can be closely approached on horseback?

Would you like to ride across rolling hills, and into deep forested kloofs searching for the elusive Kudu & Bush Buck?

Then canter down endless beaches and wonder through rural Xhosa villages all from the back of beautiful, well schooled horses?

The wreck of the Jacaranda

A 3 night 4 days stay at the Endalweni Private Game reserve followed by a 4 night adventure along the Wild Coast will give you an authentic taste of rural Africa. The 7 night 8 day Wild Coast Horse Safari is a wonderful combination of bush & beach riding through a stunning eco environment with breathtaking views from every hill top.

Ideal for most riders who are comfortable in the saddle – can walk, trot & canter on a well schooled horse – and non riders are welcome to join the group as there are plenty of walks and things to do. Advanced riders will be delighted with the different pace options on our responsive and fit horses.

To get a feel for what you’ll be doing if you win that GRAND PRIZE, here is a clip of a Wild Coast Horseback Adventure!

PLEASE NOTE: All riding and itineraries are subject to change due to variations in local conditions, riders abilities, the weather & influences of the sea tides and during the rainy season the conditions of the rivers at the time of riding.
GETTING THERE: Fly to East London, or drive to Endalweni Game Reserve.

Two sets of signed Deon Meyer hardbacks

Deon Meyer, photographed by Philip Matsas

• One set in the original Afrikaans
• One set in English, translated by KL Seegers

‘With Deon Meyer you can’t go wrong. He’s a writer whose work I admire, wait for and then devour.’ Michael Connelly

Deon Meyer‘s books are sold in 23 countries, and have been awarded many prizes around the world: the Deutsche Krimi Prize in Germany, the ATKV Prize and the Boeke Prize Fanatics Choice in South Africa, the Barry Award in the USA and Le Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and Le Prix Mystère de la Critique in France. His latest novels are Sewe Dae and Spoor (Trackers in English), which have both topped the South African bestseller lists. Trackers was also listed as one of the best crime novels of 2011 in the USA, Germany and the UK!

A little bird tells us that a full signed set of Deon Meyer hardbacks could be worth R15,000 on eBay…

‘If you want a glimpse of the soul of the new South Africa in all its glory, and with all the gory details of its problems and corruption, Meyer is your man.’ Matthew Lewin, The Guardian

An original painting by Janet Dixon from ArtKaroo

Aloe by Janet Dixon. Acrylic on canvas stretched over frame.

Janet Dixon grew up in the Karoo, the harsh and intricate beauty of the semi-desert providing a well of inspiration. She loves painting aloes and uses them as a metaphor to allude to the resilience of the natural world as well as the inner world of the human psyche.

A practicing medical doctor, Janet is a keen observer of the human condition. Her medical studies heightened her awareness of the complexities of the human body as a divinely orchestrated “machine”. Janet celebrates these intricacies in her art through the metaphor.

Janet’s first solo exhibition took place in 2008. Her work has been shown in various local exhibitions and is held in private collections around the world.

Janet is one of Laura’s sisters!

A stud fee with one of the Perseverance Stallions

THE BIG QUESTION to ask about your Arabian: Will this horse carry me and my gear across a continent, fighting battles along the way?

If you suspect the answer is no, why not? Your Arabian horse is descended from forebears through thousands of years who could do just that. What has gone wrong? What has your horse lost, and why? You can’t ride on a pretty head. It’s worthless without the rest of the package. If you are a breeder, change your direction, don’t ruin what you have inherited, keep it right for your great-grandchildren.

We use SA Old English Bloodlines to preserve a precious genetic heirloom; the bloodlines that were used to establish the Arabian as a pure breed in South Africa.

By far the most came to SA via the United Kingdom, mainly as a result of the life work of the Blunts in securing very good horses during their travels among the Bedouin and taking them to England to their Crabbet Stud and later some to their satellite stud, Sheikh Obeyd, in Egypt. The majority of Old English horses that made up the foundation of Arabian breeding in South Africa were only a few generations away from those desert-bred horses.

El-Jahrousse Amir is chestnut, PSV Orient, PSV Psychic and PSV Quicksilver are grey, and PSV Magic is dark bay.  We also have several young colts, who are stallions-in-waiting!

PERSEVERANCE Arabian & Endurance Horses – Barefoot, bitless & fearless.

~~~

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been chosen to ride for South Africa at the FEI World Endurance Championships in the United Kingdom in August 2012.

It’s a huge honour: it’s the first time that a barefoot horse will represent South Africa overseas. Now we have a mammoth task ahead of us…  There is no official sponsor for the team, and we need to raise close to R400,000 most of which is for Mauser’s transport and quarantine alone!  But YOU can help, by buying tickets for Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

The Grand Prize is a whopping 7 night holiday for 2 people with Wild Coast Horse Safaris, worth R35,000 (£3.500).

Laura Seegers & PSV Mauser at the Queenstown Ride in February, crusing into 2nd place Standardweights.

Today we’re heading down to Caledon, where PSV Mauser is staying with Laura‘s fellow team-mate, Naomi Muller at the Shabach stud.  The quarantine has been postponed a bit, so he’s having a holiday and Laura is going to get some training in meantime.

Our World Champs partnership cruised into 2nd place Standardweights in his last event before Mauser set off on his big adventure, at the Queenstown Ride in February. He had a few days of rest on Broederstroom, before boarding the horsebox for the first stage in his epic trip. The next stage is quarantine in Cape Town, then 3 months in Mauritius! After that it’s back on the plane to the UK, via Holland, and on to the home of Abbi Tennant‘s family in Hereford where he’ll acclimatise to the English weather. The big day – the FEI World Endurance Championships – takes place in the height of the English summer on 25 August.

But even though our World Champs horse is away, life at the stud carries on as usual. Young horses are being trained, foals are being born and the endurance horses are doing what they do best… eat and win rides!

Last weekend was the Louise Botha ** FEI ride at Koffiefontein in the Free State. Team PSV sent 3 horses, and came home successful. Laura Seegers on PSV Mabruk won the Senior 120km, in 6h28, the fastest time overall. Ashley Gower on PSV Liberty won the Junior 120km, and took Best Condition. Francois Seegers on PSV Kandahar – their first ride together – was Second Heavyweight in the 80km.

And currently, Mauser is standing at number 1 on the ERASA overall horse rankings! So that brings me to Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!  We’ve had a fantastic response from all our friends at home and abroad, and have raised 10% of our high target, with promises of donations still to come. But there’s a long way to go yet, and the third and final draw for the GRAND PRIZE is in just over 3 weeks on 31st March.

Translator & Author! Laura Seegers & Deon Meyer being photographed by award-winning photographer Adriaan Oosthuizen.

The GRAND PRIZE is a 7 day horseback safari with Wild Coast Horseback Adventures, kindly donated by Julie-Anne and Clint Gower.  It’s an amazing prize, worth R35,000 (£3,500), which includes beach rides, game viewing and overnight stays in some fantastic safari lodges on the Wild Coast.

Other Top Tier prizes to be won:

• A stud fee for a Perseverance Arabian stallion, worth R5,000
• An original painting by Janet Dixon from ArtKaroo
• A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – Afrikaans (which could be worth up to R15,000 on eBay!)
• A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – English

Where else in the world could you get such a varied selection of prizes; something for everyone? So get your tickets NOW to be in the running – online by bank transfere in SA or the UK; or via PayPal – and help Laura and her horse achieve a dream!

There is NO official sponsor for the South African team competing at this World Endurance Championships, and the riders have to pay their own way. The horse’s quarantine & transport alone will cost over R200,000.

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

~~~

Previous winners in Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

2nd Draw on 29th February

• Jenny Copley-Foster, Grahamstown – 2 night B&B at Karoopark Guesthouse
• Natalie McIntyre, Queensland, Australia – signed set of all Isobel Dixon’s poetry collections
• Trish Beal-Preston, Queenstown – 2kg Endurance supplement from The Herbal Horse
• Charles Lord, Hofmeyr – artwork by Carlos de Souza
• Julian Murray, Graaff-Reinet – wall mount from Karoo Taxidermy

1st Draw 0n 31st January

• Olivia Bernstein, Port Elizabeth – McNaughtons Books online voucher
• Billy Hare, Cape Town – Mad Hatters @ The Homestead voucher
• Jenny Copley-Foster, Grahamstown – Blue Magnolia voucher

South Africa's king of crime, Deon Meyer and Graaff-Reinet's own endurance champion, Laura Seegers at Perseverance © Adriaan Oosthuizen

Bestselling crimewriter Deon Meyer paid a flying visit – on his touring motorbike – to his translator Laura Seegers, to congratulate her on being selected for the SA team at the FEI World Endurance Championships in England this year.

Laura has just finished doing the English translation for Deon’s latest novel Sewe Dae — which will be published as Seven Days by Hodder & Stoughton — and Deon has donated two sets of his novels as prizes in Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

‘With Deon Meyer you can’t go wrong. He’s a writer whose work I admire, wait for and then devour.’ — Michael Connelly

Deon and friends, Jan du Toit and photographer Adriaan Oosthuizen, were on a motorbike tour of the Karoo. You can follow Deon on Twitter (@MeyerDeon).

~~~

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been chosen to ride for South Africa at the FEI World Endurance Championships in the United Kingdom in August 2012.

It’s a huge honour: it’s the first time that a barefoot horse will represent South Africa overseas. Now we have a mammoth task ahead of us…  There is no official sponsor for the team, and we need to raise close to R400,000 most of which is for Mauser’s transport and quarantine alone!  But YOU can help, by buying tickets for Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

The Grand Prize is a whopping 7 night holiday for 2 people with Wild Coast Horse Safaris, worth R35,000 (£3.500). You could also win signed copies of all of Deon Meyer‘s novels, a painting by Janet Dixon, the full set of Isobel Dixon‘s poetry, The Herbal Horse supplements and  LOADS of other prizes, including a stud fee for one of the Perseverance Arabian stallions.

~~~

My Experiences with Paddock Paradise and horse nutrition by Shelhi Foster Horne

The cover of Paddock Paradise by Jaime Jackson

My journey into barefoot horse nutrition started about a year ago when I attended an AANHCP course given by Nick Hill and Albert Villasevil. I have had my horses barefoot for nearly 6 years and have picked up a little of what I do or don’t like happening to hooves over that time – both from conventional farriers and the odd barefoot farrier and 1 Strasser farrier. But I had never looked at any theory behind barefoot hooves, natural boarding, nutrition or thought too deeply about it. I have 8 horses and ponies from a 10 hh Miniature cross to a 16.1hh Thoroughbred. Most are pasture ornaments and do minimal work but the Thoroughbreds do work hard at times.

My horses were never comfortable walking on our gravel roads and stuck exclusively to the Kikuyu verges and paddocks. I knew Kikuyu wasn’t the best for the feet, had some calcium issue, but that was the extent of my misgivings about it. My horses were healthy, looked and performed fine when asked, and in general we had no problems. Things were not so bad – or so I thought. We had always struggled to keep one Thoroughbred SA by name) in decent condition as he tended to be on the thin side even with more feed than all the other 7 horses and other Thoroughbreds in work.

After doing the course I had loads of new info to process and I had try to figure out what to do with my horses. Clearly the hoof sensitivity was related to diet and lack of movement and Kikuyu was loaded with sugar. So I built my Paddock Paradise – it is about 4km long as we had to have access for cows, tractors, fire-breaks etc. on the farm so it was just easier to go around the beef area than through it. It has steep hills and a little Kikuyu where the track is narrower and where there is veld the track is wider, it crosses a stream twice and includes our stable yard. The horses at first broke through the fences regularly, either by being chased by my dominant mares (3 of them) or just by building up speed and not seeing the single strand electric fence until it was to late. This was soon solved by a few rolls of candy tape and we settled them in and left for a 2 week holiday.

When we got back SA looked like a walking skeleton – he was being fed a popular brand horse feed that he had eaten before but had lost so much weight, had diarrhoea, was itching like mad and had scratched out loads of his hair. So my next step was to cut out the sugar rich bagged feed and find oats. His diarrhoea and itching stopped the day I changed his feed to straight oats – no weaning period as the other feed was clearly not agreeing with him and he slowly started to put on a bit of weight. Liver tests were fine, so nothing to go on there for his weight loss. By now it was May and we started to feed all the other horses oats too and started to feed hay – not an easy task with a huge track and such dominant mares – so we compromised and put round bales at locations far from water.

The horses had settled beautifully into their track, they no longer panicked if one was left alone in the stables – they just walked out and found the herd. They had more muscular hindquarters instead of flabby and soft ones, their hooves got harder and they could now walk on gravel without a thought so we were happy. None were working besides an occasional hack with the kids. They were however thin and eating a lot of oats, Lucerne and beet to try to maintain weight plus add lib hay. What would we do when they needed to work as clearly they could not maintain their weight at present. I was busy trying to find out more on feeding requirements of horses and looking up the NRC figures for horses and reading as much as I could on barefoot trimming – which is where I found reference to Dr Eleanor Kellon in one of Pete Ramey’s notes.

Guide to Equine Supplements & Nutraceuticals by Dr Eleanor Kellon

So I started Dr Kellon’s NRC plus course – what an eye-opener! By August I had completed the first course and started my horses on a mineral balanced diet – at first it was extremely complicated trying to figure out ratios, ingredients, deficiencies, excesses etc., and not helped at all by the fact the horses stopped eating the hay the week I had finally balanced it. Which meant trying to find average mineral figures for Kikuyu and veld, which they were now grazing, to balance to as I could only test my grazing once the spring flush was over and new growth was actually long enough to pick! We let them into an oats pasture during the day to try to hold their weight and to let the grass on the track grow a little – I know it is against the theory of a Paddock Paradise to have grass on the track, but soil erosion in our area is a very real threat and so is degradation of the veld. So I compromised with that and try to keep the rich Kikuyu to a minimum and also have larger areas of veld so they don’t denude everything.

The horses definitely responded to their new diet and started to put on weight (helped by the spring grass, I am sure) but they also lost their coats extremely heavily and were part bald for a week or so. The new coats were amazing to see, they all had dapples. Our bay mare was in fact black and the horses glowed. They had never looked like this previously – their colours were darker and richer, their coats softer and silkier. The addition of Lysine also started the development of top lines which my horses had never had – and I was told it was all in my poor riding/schooling!! Not in a Lysine poor diet. I am happy to say they all developed top lines with no riding at all.

We have had a few ups and downs and had to adjust mineral levels and tweak feeding here and there, but I have not ever had horses that look this good with so little input. I had to convince my dentist that I had not changed any of my horses and that the scrawny little mare from last yr was in fact now this big muscular one I had brought in for him to do!

The hoof quality took a beating with the lack of minerals on the oats diet and fine cracks developed on the outer walls, but the hooves were harder and tougher than ever before. By testing each feed ingredient and understanding how to balance the minerals into correct ratios, I can now maintain my horses year round on a balanced diet. It changes monthly with changes in their grazing habits and work, but it is manageable. Now – in all 8 of our horses – the micro cracks have nearly grown out the bottom and the new hoof growth is so much tighter and stronger. They love their track and are very protective of it as Nick and Albert saw when they came out – the 3 mares came to see who was invading their space and to see us off when we went to find them. I do take them off it during the day when the grass is getting short and graze them behind my sheep – but I now understand how to deal with the imbalances made by the Kikuyu and to correct any mineral issues before they are a problem and how to manage the sugar better. Our stable yard is so much more peaceful and there are not the huge fights and tearing around we used to have with sugar highs and hormone changes.

PSV Mauser - our barefoot World Champs horse - indulging in a rare treat of Kikuyu. The Perseverance horses graze on natural Karoo veld that has great bio-diversity. We long ago stopped feeding branded feeds and changed to simple oats and copra, with added minerals. They only eat mono-crop Kikuyu when helping to mow the lawn!

My horses happily walk out on the dirt roads, their hooves are improving daily despite the odd mistake in our trimming and not being worked as hard as they should. They do not walk the distances in my track they are supposed to but they are walking loads more than ever before and on very steep ground so there is an improvement to hooves and their muscle tone. Their attitudes to life and each other are so much better, and I would not consider changing them off their track or balanced diets again. The hooves are less contracted, tougher and have less thrush even with the wet conditions the horses are living in at the moment.

I have been ready to throw in the towel a few times during the year and wanted to buy a bag of feed and get weight on the horses and forget about feeding the horses to have healthy hooves but luckily did not. I am now on my 4th Dr Kellon course and cannot believe what a difference it has made to my horses. A few friends are now trying the new diet and already seeing changes within a few weeks.

I have learnt there is not much research into horse specific nutrition, a lot is based on human or ruminant research so is totally out of place for horses. Standard nutrition lets our horses down in so many ways, as marketing and misinformation abound in the fight to make a quick buck. Labels are inherently bad at actually telling you what is in a feed and labelling laws are shocking to say the least (they only have to state the bare minimum of information and only what is added to the feed and not what is actually in it.) I have spent hours trying to find mineral levels of common feed additives and spoken to manufacturers of the additives who know nothing about iron contamination or what could be in their product besides what the government needs them to test for, ie the heavy metals. I have resorted to testing most of my own supplements to check for iron levels and other minerals that may be in them, besides what they are actually labelled to contain. I have seen letters from feed importers slating concerned people and blatantly contradicting their own marketing propaganda, so my faith in these companies is at an all time low.

And my favourite in all this – Iron is as toxic as Zinc (NRC states safe upper level for 500kg horse at 5000ppm/day for both Zinc and Iron) but iron is pushed at every angle into our horses (Blud, Redcell etc. all pushed for our horses as healthy)! In fact iron is worse than zinc as horses cannot get rid of it and it builds up in their bodies – one sure sign is bleached coats and red tinges in black manes and tails. Look at your feed label – they will happily add up to 500ppm of iron to a feed (this is the level on the label) after using ingredients that have loads of it in already but they will stick to bare minimum levels of Zinc and Copper the 2 which are short in all equine feed ingredients and critical to balance the high iron, hoof health and prevent the anemia symptoms that iron is pushed for.

For the sake of our horses and their hooves, we need to start to ask questions and become informed about what we put into them so we can change it and get the best out of our horses.

~~~

Shelhi Foster Horne is a Specialised Kinesiologist, Equine & Animal Healing Touch Practitioner. She lives in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, where she and her husband farm sheep, breed parrots and raise dairy heifers. Shelhi has 8 horses, and is busy studying Dr Kellon’s Equine Nutrition courses online.

~~~

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been chosen to ride for South Africa at the FEI World Endurance Championships in the United Kingdom in August 2012.

It’s a huge honour: it’s the first time that a barefoot horse will represent South Africa overseas, but there is no official sponsor for the team… But you can help, by buying tickets for Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

The Grand Prize is a whopping 7 night holiday for 2 people with Wild Coast Horse Safaris, worth R35,000 (£3.500). You could also win signed copies of all of Deon Meyer‘s novels, a painting by Janet Dixon, the full set of Isobel Dixon‘s poetry, The Herbal Horse supplements and  LOADS of other prizes, including a stud fee for one of the Perseverance Arabian stallions.

Looking down into Red Valley through PSV Mauser's ears

PSV Mauser’s last weeks on Broederstroom we spent on mountain training. Climbing up and down steep slopes is very good for developing muscles in the back and hindquarters. Add to that the difficulty of stepping over and between boulders and negotiating precarious pathways downhill. This develops coordination and balance as well as muscular strength. It also makes the horses think for themselves.

Ashley Gower & PSV Matrix heading up the mountain

Fortunately, our  Perseverance horses grow up in this terrain, on the outskirts of Graaff-Reinet in the Great Karoo. They have valleys to gallop down, and mountains and rocky ridges they have to climb in order to get their grazing and water. No paddock ornaments here. They learn the skill of moving across terrain that could be dangerous if they weren’t so completely at home in it. This makes them very safe to ride over awkward obstacles or the terrain we sometimes have to negotiate on endurance rides.

The endurance horses get a lot of long distance roadwork, typically 30 km up the road and back, which builds a lot of stamina but not necessarily all the right muscles. So every now and then we incorporate some climbing into the program. Because the slopes are so steep and covered with boulders, we do it at the walk, uphill and downhill. As long as the horse can cope we don’t get off, because the purpose is to train. (On a ride itself we would get off and lead the horse on extremely steep slopes to conserve energy.)

Francois Seegers & PSV Platinum coming down the mountain

So, as part of his World Endurance Championships training Mauser did 4 days of ridges and mountain slopes in one week. We were usually out for 2 and a half hours a day. He won’t have the chance to see rocks like that again once he goes into quarantine. It was an added pleasure for us to see how many little patches of rooigras (Themeda triandra) have appeared between the rocks. Our grazing management continues to improve grass cover and encourage the return of the most productive species.

Laura Seegers, February 2012

~~~

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been chosen to ride for South Africa at the FEI World Endurance Championships in the United Kingdom in August 2012.

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

It’s a huge honour: it’s the first time that a barefoot horse will represent South Africa overseas. Now, we face a mammoth task. In order to compete, we need to raise close to R400,000 – most of which is for Mauser’s transport and quarantine.  And YOU can help, by buying tickets for Laura & Mauser’s World Champs Raffle!

The Grand Prize is a whopping 7 night holiday for 2 people with Wild Coast Horse Safaris, worth R35,000 (£3.500). You could also win signed copies of all of Deon Meyer‘s novels, a painting by Janet Dixon, the full set of Isobel Dixon‘s poetry, a Carlos de Souza original ostrich egg, a wall mount from Karoo Taxidermy and  LOADS of other prizes, including a stud fee for one of the Perseverance Arabian stallions.

Quizzical! PSV Mauser on his home turf, the Karoo veld.

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket in SOUTH AFRICA

Deposit the correct amount -R100 per ticket – into the PSV Sponsorship Fund at FNB.

• PSV Sponsorship Fund
• Account number: 62334478684
• Branch code: 210-216

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Proof of payment
2. Your name
3. Phone number
4. E-mail
5. Postal address

Your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket in the UNITED KINGDOM

For UK donations/ raffle tickets @ £10 each, please use this RBS account:

• PSV Sponsorship/ Miss L Dixon
• Account number: 10034927
• Branch code: 16-00-23

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Proof of payment
2. Your name
3. Phone number
4. E-mail
5. Postal address

Your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket for the REST OF THE WORLD

For countries other than South Africa and the UK you can use PayPal to make a donation/ buy raffle tickets @ $15 US each:

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Your name
2. Phone number
3. E-mail
4. Postal address
5. Number of tickets you wish to take

We will send you a REQUEST FOR MONEY from PayPal.

On payment your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

Laura & Mauser's WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

Win a 7 night holiday for 2 worth R35,000 with Wild Coast Horse Safaris

Laura & Mauser’s WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS RAFFLE!

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been chosen to ride for South Africa at the FEI WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIPS in the UK on 25 August 2012.

At a rough estimate, we need to raise around R400,000 to allow them to compete. Most of that is the cost of the quarantine and Mauser’s transport, with flights for Laura and her chief groom, Bob, taking a small bite out of it. So, we are raffling off the fantastic prizes that our sponsors have donated, more of which are arriving every day!  All you have to do is buy a raffle ticket for R100 (or £10), and stand a chance of winning one of MANY great prizes!

Target: R400,000 – once Mauser’s transport & quarantine costs are covered, the balance will be shared with the South African endurance team.

Prizes from: author Deon Meyer, Karoo Taxidermy, artist Janet Dixon, Blue Magnolia nursery, poet Isobel Dixon, Mad Hatters @ The Homestead, Pro-pix Photography & Design, Perseverance, McNaughtons Books online, and more!

To buy a ticket, e-mail info@endurancehorse.co.za – more details below – or call Lucy Dixon on 082 5581 702.

Tickets are also available at our friends in Graaff-Reinet: Blue Magnolia nursery, Sarmies coffeeshop, Mad Hatters @ The Homestead and McNaughtons‘ bookshop.

RAFFLE PRIZES

You have 3 chances to win, with 3 draws. After each draw, your ticket number will go back into the hat… The first pick will take place on the 31st of January; the second on the 29th of February; with the final draw for the Grand Prize taking place on the 31st of March. BUT, any donations and other sort of sponsorship will also be very gratefully received!

• The Grand Prize: a 7 night holiday for 2 with Wild Coast Horse Safaris, worth R35,000
• A stud fee for a Perseverance Arabian stallion, worth R5,000
• A wall mount from Karoo Taxidermy, worth R4,300
• An original painting by Janet Dixon from ArtKaroo
• A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – Afrikaans
• A signed set of Deon Meyer‘s novels in hardback – English
• A signed set of Isobel Dixon‘s poetry collections, including Weather Eye (very rare)
• Vouchers from Blue Magnolia nursery
• Vouchers from McNaughtons Bookshop – redeemable online
• Vouchers from The Homestead Coffeeshop
• A voucher from Mark Senekal of Pro-Pix Photography & Design

Read the Raffle Rules & Prize Info

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket in SOUTH AFRICA

Deposit the correct amount -R100 per ticket – into the PSV Sponsorship Fund at FNB.

• PSV Sponsorship Fund
• Account number: 62334478684
• Branch code: 210-216

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Proof of payment
2. Your name
3. Phone number
4. E-mail
5. Postal address

Your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket in the UNITED KINGDOM

For UK donations/ raffle tickets @ £10 each, please use this RBS account:

• PSV Sponsorship/ Miss L Dixon
• Account number: 10034927
• Branch code: 16-00-23

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Proof of payment
2. Your name
3. Phone number
4. E-mail
5. Postal address

Your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

DONATIONS / Buying a ticket for the REST OF THE WORLD

For countries other than South Africa and the UK you can use PayPal to make a donation/ buy raffle tickets @ $15 US each:

Send an e-mail to info@endurancehorse.co.za, with these details:

1. Your name
2. Phone number
3. E-mail
4. Postal address
5. Number of tickets you wish to take

We will send you a REQUEST FOR MONEY from PayPal.

On payment your numbered raffle tickets or receipt will be e-mailed back to you as confirmation!

A relaxed-looking Laura Seegers & PSV Mauser trotting up to the finish line of their first 100 miler together - Christiana, Northern Cape, June 2011

Everyone should do as they see fit with their own horses; that’s the concept of private property. I would have no right to tell someone to take the shoes off their horse. I must see to my own conscience. It is conscience that has led me to take the shoes off all our horses, and also to set up the conditions that make it possible for every horse we own to be masters of their terrain barefoot, just like mustangs and better.

My conscience does not trouble me about doing extreme distance because we breed the sort of horses that enjoy that (they passionately hate going round and round in a school – too boring). If a horse did not enjoy endurance I would not force it, I would either sell it as a pleasure hack or let it do stock work on the farm, but with the bloodlines we use, there are currently none of those.

Crops and spurs are forbidden in FEI endurance so there is no forcing. If a barefoot horse becomes footsore it will slow down to protect itself. The hooves would soon get over tenderness and be harder than before. The hooves adapt to conditions and the horse is able to go further than before. Sore horses do not win. If our horses are doing well barefoot it is because they are happy and healthy.

We used to compete with shoes but I stopped because of the long term changes inside the hoof. It was a moral decision to either stop endurance or find a better way. You may not see it from my perspective, but barefoot riding on properly conditioned hooves, (that’s the key) keeps the horse sound far better than putting shoes on. Shoes are the short-cut.

What the barefoot horsemen have to do to prepare a horse takes longer, is more technical, and requires a lot of self-control and long slow miles to start with. What you see Mauser doing now is the result of him being prepared from birth and through his formative years and novice endurance, to be this capable of doing the distances and terrain he can do with ease barefoot. It’s the longer, tougher road we travel for the benefit of the horse.

We are not trying to force everyone change to barefoot, live and let live, but we do want to demonstrate that there is a choice, that there is a way to compete barefoot, if riders feel it is something they should do. It is reinventing the wheel because European horsemanship has dominated competitive culture and all the knowledge revolves around the shod horse. The knowledge base of barefoot performance has been lost from our culture and needs to be rebuilt from scratch. Ten years ago we still believed that shoeing was a necessary evil, something we had to do in order to compete, but know we know there is an alternative.

Success in competition is the most effective way of proving a point, that horses can do it barefoot. I could lease a horse overseas and qualify on it there, that would be much cheaper than taking our own horse over. But the point isn’t for me to ride in the world champs, but for one of our conditioned barefoot horses to ride there!

It takes years to develop such an athlete. Thus, all the trouble of taking a horse over would be worthwhile if he could put in a good performance without wearing shoes. It would be morale boosting event for many barefoot enthusiasts who are under pressure from their peers to join the crowd and shoe their horses, because they say you can’t be competitive without hoof protection.

We believe it is the healthier way to go for the horse in the long term and therefore worth doing.

Laura Seegers, January 2012

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Laura Seegers & PSV Mauser will be competing for South Africa at the FEI World Endurance Championships in Euston Park, UK in August 2012. This is the first time SA is sending a barefoot horse to the World Champs, and Mauser is only the second barefoot horse to represent SA, following in the hoofprints of PSV Jedi last year!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thank you again if you feel you could sponsor us or buy a ticket for Laura & Mauser’s WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!