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.

• 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.

• 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

~~

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!

PSV Mauser and Francois Seegers at the Schanskraal FEI *** 100 miler. They were they only Heavyweight pair to finish.

Size does matter. There are more endurance horses disadvantaged by being too big, than those that are too small. 14.3 is our favourite size.

Perseverance Mauser is a purebred, 14.3 Arabian gelding. His grandsire was the Polish Arabian stallion Khyberie. Khyberie has produced many top endurance horses. The rest of Mauser’s pedigree is predominantly Crabbet/ Old English.

Mauser is the complete all-rounder – over any distance, in any condition, and with any rider he does incredibly well. This year alone he has done two FEI *** hundred milers, one with a Standardweight rider in 9h49, and the other with a Heavyweight rider in 10h09. He was entered in his first Fauresmith 201km ride, and came 17^th in the Young Riders, and he did brilliantly in the soft sands of Dune 7 at the Walvis Bay African Championships, and placed 11^thin the Heavyweights!

PSV Mauser and Francois Seegers at the FEI ** African Championships in Walvis Bay, August 2011. They placed 10th in the Heavyweights over 120km

Mauser was the Eastern Cape Young Rider Champion horse at rocky Schanskraal in 2010, where he finished the 120km in a blistering 5 hrs 53 min.He also took first place at the 2011 Lormar120km in atrocious conditions – pouring rain and oceans of mud – but this time with a Heavyweight rider.

In April this year in the heat and sand of the South African International Challenge at Modimolle, he completed the 120km in 6h49, to help the Eastern Cape Young Riders team to 3^rd place!

Prior to competing, Mauser underwent an extensive conditioning program to ensure strong legs and hooves. He has completed all his endurance riders with ease, and only failed a vet check once, on pulse. Mauser is a keen horse and enjoys competition, but is easy to ride. He has a big heart and good recovery times, and is also very, very fast. Like most winners he is highly opinionated and tries to take charge if the rider is not strict, but his strong character is part of his success.

Mauser has 1860km on his logbook, and has a long career ahead of him. In the ERASA 2010/2011 distance rankings, Mauser is in 4^th place. All this of course, barefoot, and with never even a boot…

Barefoot horses rebound sooner after competition than shod horses.

Laura Seegers and PSV Mauser have been selected to ride for the South African team at the FEI World Endurance Championships  at Euston Park, United Kingdom on 25 August 2012.  This is a massive honour, as she is one of only six riders chosen.  The others are Naomi Muller, Gillese de Villiers, Eoné Willemse, Corrie van Niekerk and Jacques Grobbelaar.

Laura is the only rider from the Eastern Cape, and this is another important milestone for the barefoot community, as Mauser will be the first barefoot South African horse to compete at a World Championship.

YOU could win a Wild Coast Horse Safari worth R35,000, by buy a R100 (£10) ticket for Laura & Mauser’s WORLD CHAMPS RAFFLE!

UV9900

DOB: 4 January 2004 – 8 years old

Grey gelding – Purebred Arabian, not registered – 14.3 hh

Sire: Lormar Firehawk – Dam: Condara Lee-Ann

PSV Mauser & Ashley at the 2011 South African International Challenge in Modimolle, competing for the Eastern Cape Young Riders. Their team placed 3rd.