Natural Hoofcare Workshop in Crete: Day 2

On the second day, I woke up at the shelter and joined the hikers for breakfast. Two hours before the beginning my second day at Andrea’s yard, I had to have my bed done and my stuff ready; my father would drive me to the yard and, after that, he would return to the shelter to join his comrades. As we were driving down the mountain, pleasant images were appearing all the time before our eyes; picturesque villages, locals working on their fields and, of, course, the stunning view of the sea!

Certainly, we reached the place very early, so I took the chance to carry my things to my car, which had spent the night in Kato Episkopi. The village looked beautiful under the morning sun. The neat houses and bloomy plants looked even prettier as old housewives and pets appeared in front of them. Therefore, I thought it was a good time for photographs!

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I almost forgot about the workshop, given the beauty around me! Thankfully, I arrived at the yard in time for the activities. Before the beginning of day 2, I had the chance to know more about the yard right from Andrea. So, “With Horses Here and Now” is a yard which supports natural horsemanship. In a few words, the yard embraces the idea of communicating with equines in their own language instead of forcing them to communicate with us in the human language.

After breakfast, Stavros said he would trim the hoofs of some more horses of Andrea’s. That day, he would use an electrical angle grinder instead of traditional farrier tools. With each horse that he trimmed, he would begin with turning the device on at low speed next to the animal, so that the animal could get used to the noise of the wheel. To me, it seemed that this method was for very experienced hands only, due to the noise that could upset the horse and the act that you need to know exactly what you need to cut, in what angle and how deep. Andrea, in the end, said that she would prefer the traditional tools.

The programme had to end at least two hours early for me because I wanted to be back home long before sunset.  The reason was safe driving; to return to the valley, I needed to drive up and down a few hills through an old road network which consisted of narrow winding roads, connected by even narrower bridges. And the sun would shine right on my face all along the way!

After this experience, I highly recommend you to add Andrea’s workshops to your equestrian bucket list. Not only will you feel enlightened, but also you will have an awesome time!