Hooray For Hooflex!

Charlotte Friend was the winner of our recent facebook competition for fans with a horse or pony that is kept barefoot to win a bottle of All Natural Hooflex and write a review on it. Charlotte has been using Hooflex on her pony Blue for the last few weeks, this is what she has to say about it:

Hooray for Hooflex! The product was brilliant, it really helped to strengthen Blue's hooves. The product was very easy to apply, and I could really tell the difference in my pony's feet within a week of using Hooflex. My farrier even commented on how well the product had protected my pony's feet. The Hooflex came with very clear instructions on how to use it and as the bottle is so large, it lasts you for ages! Hooflex has been incredible!

Blue had quite strong feet, but sometimes used to hesitate about walking across the yard car park to go out hacking, or along the track to get to the bridleway, as they are quite stony and sore on his feet, but as soon as I started using Hooflex he id not hesitate at all!

I compete him mostly in In-Hand Mountain and Moorland classes as he has just turned 4, but we have started doing a few ridden classes at local shows and we have done very well, as when I got him he had been turned away for most of his life. He is quite unique in competing barefoot in Mountain and Moorland classes as most others are fully shod, especially the Welsh ponies, which he is. I am definitely going to continue to use the product, it has made a considerable difference to my pony's feet. I wouldn't dream of using anything else on him!

The full range of Absorbine products including All Natural Hooflex are available from equestrian retailers and Absorbine stockists. All Natural Hooflex RRP: £23.40

New Hooflex Natural Spray From Absorbine

W.F. Young Inc. Manufacturers of Absorbine ShowSheen, coatcare and grooming products, have launched the New Hooflex Natural Spray as part of their expanding hoofcare range.

Hooflex Natural Spray is a brand new, first of its kind way to apply hoof dressing. This innovative design sprays from any angle, even upside down. The quiet, non-aerosol spray eliminates messy brushes while keeping the product free of dirt and debris. The new natural formula contains six active natural and herbal ingredients including tea tree oil, arnica, comfrey and avocado oil. These help promote strong, healthy hoof growth when barefoot or shod, and maintain the hoof's moisture balance.

Hooflex Natural Spray is available in 148ml non aerosol spray. RRP: £11.99.

The full range of Absorbine Products are available from equestrian retailers and Absorbine stockists.

May PSO Absorbine Best Turned Out Winner

Ashleigh Thornton and her lovely bay mare Bellasize Francil Alice are the well deserving winners of the May Online Photo Shows (PSO) Absorbine sponsored Best Turned Out Class.

Alice is 15.3hh and is a Shire X Cob. She is out of a Shire mare, the famous Bellasize Sovereign is her grandsire and she has turned out to be a miniature Shire/traditional gypsey vanner with plenty of feather. This is the first time Ashleigh has entered PSO and sahe says "I will definitely without a doubt be entering again. The ease of everything is great, friendly people, the amazing prizes and the idea of not having to wake up at 5am to wash Alice's feathers in preparation for a show!"

Ashleigh has had Alice on loan following an advert on horsemart. Ashleigh says "I got a phone call from a friend telling me Alice was for loan whilst I was at my grandmas funeral and knew it was something that was meant to be, so I rang the owner and told her a bit about myself and my experience with horses. She told me what she was wanting and that she had over 40 applicants for the opportunity so we discussed it and that night I went to ride there. Everything seemed to fit into place, the agreement was that I would help with all the jobs in return for free riding, and lessons from a top dressage and showing instructor. It's been great for me and I'm very grateful for this opportunity. In December we bought a Friesian colt to add to the collection of Ramsey, a 30 year old cob, Foggy, a six year old Hunter type and Alice, my favourite who had been there for only a few months before I met her. She was still very green last winter and she had a short tail. She came off a working farm in poor condition where she used to pull harows and chains all day long."

Alice has had a a big change in lifestyle, since Ashleigh has had her the pair have been to plenty of shows. Ashleigh said "we do well in best condition and turnout as well as classes based on conformation such as heavy horse and cob classes, we have also done two equitation classes and we did really well in both of them." Ashleigh is so grateful for this chance to take Alice off out and about "I thank Alice, her owner and my instructor for it all, my riding has improved so much and the best comment ever was 'you work so well together'! So far we have had a win at everu show we have been to and I couldn't be prouder of Alice, not just for the red rosettes but her constant efforts to please. The past six months really have shown what team work can achieve and she's a whole different horse now."

Apart from being the most hard working and willing to please horse Ashleigh has come across, "Alice will also try her best to eat anything: cake, bananas, crisps, crisp packets, chips, evevn the string you tie your competition numbers on with. She undid the bow right in front of the judge once at a show, luckily for us he found it really amusing which added to his positive opinion about her and we won the class! But she really doesn't like croissants and spits them out at you!"

Ashleigh is just finishing her GCSEs this summer, she believes though that "theres nothing like coming home from exams to a horse that will canter over to you, only to play catch-me-if-you-can when the headcollar appears and spending a good half hour watching her canter round the field and ending up sitting down in a field with a headcollar and lead rope tryinyg to convince her to come over."

Ashleigh is also a fan of Absorbine SuperShine Black and says "I wouldn't change it for the world, I swear by the stuff! I never look at any other products when buying hoof shine, I go straight into the shop and its at the till in seconds, I have also used Absorbine ShowSheen on previous horses and occasionally on Alice, although due to her breed/type she has to be as natural as possible so products are kept to a minimum, but I think it achieves a very natural looking gleam on the coat and adds that extra 'wow' for shows!"

Best of luck to Ashleigh and Alice for all their future shows and PSO shows!

Liz and Darcy are April Best Turned Out Winners

Liz Wardman, and her lovely grey mare Darcy are the well deserving winners of the April Online Photo Shows (PSO), Absorbine sponsored Best Turned Out Class.

Liz has owned Darcy for the past 12 years. She bought her as a three year old from the owner of her livery yard, who herself had bought Darcy in Ireland.

Liz used to take Darcy to lots of shows and pleasure rides all over the Midlands until a few years ago. Liz says "one day in a friend's trailer after doing some local jumping, Darcy started collapsing in the trailer on the way home. It was horrible and I will never forget the banging, for some reason that we will never understand she just kept going down and scrambling back up. At one point we we stopped and I stood in the trailer with her and she just leaned to one side and went down again. We had no choice but to get her out of the trailer, as soon as she was out of the trailer she seemed fine, so I tacked her up and rode her the last few miles home." After such scary experience Liz does not travel Darcy anymore, so PSO has become a great activity for the pair, "I first entered PSO in July 2010 and came 3rd in the best lightweight class. Because of our travel problems, PSO is a great way to compete."

Liz does however still hack to their local show to take part in Ridden Hunter and Dressage, Darcy has even competed in handy pony, although she didn't really take to this!

Darcy lives in a livery yard, on full livery, Liz however says "I go 5 days a week rain or shine. Even though it is full livery when I'm there I do most of it myself, it's part of owning a horse." Liz is married with two grown up children and works part-time for a company that makes and installs electrical control panels.

Liz is definitely on the lookout for more Absorbine products now, as never having used them before she is looking forward to trying out her new bottle of ShowSheen Continuous Spray!

April's Prize - New and Improved ShowSheen

For April's http://www.photo-shows.co.uk/ Absorbine Sponsored Best Turned Out Class, the winner will receive a bottle of New and Improved ShowSheen - Now With Silk Proteins & Continuous Spray.

This great new product is enriched with pro-vitamins and silk proteins to nourish the coat and shine and strengthen haie to perfection. It makes coats smooth and sleek, and it accentuates body tone and definition. ShowSheen repels dust, dirt and stains, keeping your horse cleaner for longer. It's perfect for shows as not only does it produce the finest show ring shine - it now comes as a Finishing Mist in a 15oz non-aerosol spray. ShowSheen Finishing mist has a continuous, quiet sprayer that won't spook your horse. It even sprays upside down!

Finishing Mist 444ml, RRP £12.38

March Best Turned Out Class Winner Announced

Erin Shaw's Monsoon is the winner of this Month's Absorbine Sponsored www.photo-shows.co.uk (PSO) Best Turned Out Class In the March Best Turned Out Class, the standard was exceptionally high. The judges had a really tough job to pick the winner out of an astounding 28 entries. Online Photo-Shows (PSO)are clearly going from strength to strength. Although its not hard to see why. The classes are well organised, the prizes are great and there are constant news updates for competitors on the PSO Facebook page. Monsoon looked beautifully turned out and is a worthy winner of a huge PSO rosette and bottle of SuperPoo from Absorbine. Erin, a Tactical Records Officer for Virgin Atlantic has owned the 7 year old 14.3hh Monsoon for nearly five years. Monsoon is a part-bred New Forest pony and it is pure chance that Erin came to own her. Erin says "I wasn't really looking for a horse, but I was browsing Horsequest one day, and there was Monsoon's advert, so I emailed for more information - the more pictures I saw, the more I liked her, so two days later I made the 2 hour journey to see her after work as I was worried that someone might get there before me!" Erin is very glad to have found PSO as Monsoon injured her tendon last September and it has taken a long time for her to recover, it looks as though she will miss most of the summer shows. So PSO is great as it still allows them to compete. Erin hopes to be back competing at showing and dressage once Monsoon is back to full fitness. Last season before Monsoon injured her tendon, they did a couple of County Shows and also had some good scores at Prelim Dressage. As soon as Monsoon is better the plan is to pick up where they left off, and aim for some HOYS qualifiers next year and move up a level in dressage.

Erin says "Monsoon is happiest when covered in mud and poo! So it generally takes 2 shampoos to get her show clean". Hopefully the bottle of SuperPoo will come in handy! Erin also uses Absorbine's ShowSheen and RefreshMint which she uses pretty much daily in the summer. No wonder Monsoon looks so lovely when she goes to a show. Good luck to Erin and Monsoon for PSO and hope the dressage and showing goes well too.

New Hooflex All Natural Dressing

W.F Young, Inc, manufacturers of the Absorbine range of horse care products have launched the new and improved Hooflex All Natural Dressing in the UK.

Hooflex All Natural Dressing uses only herbal ingredients to stimulate circulation and support hoof growth. It's the first all-natural alternative made with ingredients known to help promote shiny, healthy hooves. The product contains no petroleum distillates - only all-natural vegetable oils, and penetrates fast with no greasy residue. Hooflex All Natural Dressing can be used to enhance the natural hoof colour without artificial chemicals or dyes, making it ideal for native ponies, coloured horses and others that require a more natureal look.

The six active natural ingredients it contains are; Tea Tree Oil, Avocado Oil and Arnica, which help promote strong, healthy hoof growth when the horse is barefoot or shod. Lanolin, Soybean and Castor Oils act to deep condition the hoof and highlight the natural shine.

Hooflex All Natural Dressing was created for people that desire a natural approach to horsemanship, and is ideal to maintain hoof moisture balance for horses that are kept barefoot.

Hooflex All Natural Dressing will soon be available in a handy 148ml quiet spray applicator for quick and easy use. It will be really convenient at shows! For now its available in an 887ml container with brush in cap. RRP £23.40

Absorbine Products are widely available through major UK retailers.