{"id":5316,"date":"2014-08-22T21:01:24","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T11:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/?p=5316"},"modified":"2014-08-23T16:10:20","modified_gmt":"2014-08-23T06:10:20","slug":"tribute-kaya-femerling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/tribute-kaya-femerling\/","title":{"rendered":"A tribute to Kaya Femerling"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Kaya
Kaya and her lovely Pippin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kaya Femerling was a Natural Hoof Care Practitioner with a huge passion for helping horses, and people. She ran a thriving practice until diagnosed with cancer, and sadly succumbed to it in early 2014.<\/p>\n

It was an incredible pleasure to have known Kaya during the 2007 Hoofcare Course and over the years as we corresponded about barefoot trimming and bitless riding.<\/p>\n

This is the introduction she wrote about her journey to become a hoof care practitioner that precedes her article\u00a0on the Hoof Care page<\/a> of my website, for which I’m forever grateful.<\/p>\n

I am overlooking the beautiful, rolling, rugged hills of Sundown National Park\u2026<\/span>
Underneath me strong steady breathing. In front of me a thick hairy mane, sweat is running over my hands, which are loosely holding the reins, and all I hear is the rhythmical sound of \u2018Thump\u2026 Thump\u2026 Thump\u2026\u2019 \u2013 rock crunching hooves, mastering the steep rock covered trail ahead with an unbelievable ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am riding a most magnificent Highland pony, called \u2018Buck\u2019 and he is a walking powerhouse!<\/span>
Despite his very hairy appearance he looks noble, almost royal to me. You can definitely see the Spanish horse breed influence in this pony.<\/span>
As we climb the seemingly endless rocky trails (I am a guest at Sue McGregor\u2019s Rosemarkie Stud), I look down and marvel at how Buck\u2019s feet seem to almost dance over the rocks and boulders, effortlessly and without hesitation, his hooves seem to \u2018attack\u2019 the toughest of the tough rocks, as we climb higher and higher up into the hills.<\/span><\/p>\n

I pause for a moment and thoughts are passing by\u2026 I know that none of my \u2018horsey\u2019 friends at home would believe this. Buck\u2019s unshod hooves, hard like concrete, walking over these big sharp rocks as if it was a soft grassy golf course.<\/span>
No \u2018Ouch\u2019, no tenderness, no \u2018tippi-toey\u2019. I feel so lucky that I can experience this ride.<\/span><\/p>\n

It is an \u2018eye opener\u2019 for me!As I come home from my 4 hours of \u2018rock-crunching\u2019 adventure ride, which led me through the most beautiful parts of the \u2018Granite Belt\u2019 (Tenterfield\/Stanthorpe\u2019 area in Northern NSW\/South Eastern QLD), I check Buck\u2019s hooves and I\u2019m amazed and in awe\u2026 his hooves look absolutely \u2018picture perfect\u2019 and as impeccable as when we left home for the ride.<\/span>
Not a single crack, split or dent in the hoof wall or sole, no stone bruises, no chipping whatsoever.This is a healthy horse, with healthy hooves. This is how nature intended horses hooves to be. I feel inspired!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"highlands-on-hill\"
Highland Pony mares and foals at Rosemarkie Stud.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next day, as I am driving home, to the coast of subtropical Byron Bay, where I live, I see fat horses standing up to their bellies in lush green grassy paddocks.<\/span>
The landscape looks like from a kid\u2019s fairy tale book, very \u2018pretty and peaceful\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet I know by now that this kind of environment is the most dangerous and unsuitable environment horses can live in, as perfect as it might look for us humans\u2026As I drive by these \u2018picture paradise\u2019 paddocks I feel very sad for all these horses, because I know from experience how their hooves look like and how hard their bodies are struggling to cope with all the high sugar content in these rich grasses, from which they feed all day long.<\/span><\/p>\n

Many years ago I thought my horses and ponies were happy to live in their soft, green, pasture rich paddocks.<\/span>
I think of \u2018Buck\u2019, and the rugged, tough, dry, rocky country he lives in, with his mates, a herd of healthy, strong hoofed Highland ponies, at Rosemarkie Stud. They are so lucky!<\/span><\/p>\n

My passion for horses started when I was very young. As a girl I grew up in Northern Germany. At that time horse stables were the \u2018Holy Grail\u2019 of horse keeping and horses were confined to their \u2018cage\u2019 (stable) 24\/7 and were fed a diet of massive amounts of oats and hay.
\nMost of the horses were constantly lame and foot sore and often sick with colic. As it happened so frequently it seemed to be \u2018normal\u2019 and nobody questioned the way horses were kept at that time.As the years passed by, some horse owners awareness and conscience started to change. More people started to think about the well being and health of their horses.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"RIP
RIP Kaya – you were a true horse lover.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A huge wave of change happened in the mid 90s. The horses \u2018natural needs\u2019 finally started to be considered.<\/span>
The stable doors opened, horses were suddenly living outdoors all year round, the horses feed changed from oats to \u2018High-energy-fibre-feeds\u2019, treeless saddles were invented, bitless bridles came into fashion and \u2018Natural Horsemanship\u2019 entered even the most old fashioned, traditional German dressage stables.<\/span><\/p>\n

And finally even the tradition of nailing metal shoes on to horse\u2019s hooves was questioned. What a \u2018break through\u2019 that was.<\/span>
In this article<\/a> I want to focus on our horses and pony\u2019s hooves and share my knowledge and experience with you, the reader, so you might feel inspired and encouraged to re-think the way you keep and feed your ponies and how you can care better for your ponies and horses hooves.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaya Femerling was a Natural Hoof Care Practitioner with a huge passion for helping horses, and people. She ran a thriving practice until diagnosed with cancer, and sadly succumbed to it in early 2014. It was an incredible pleasure to have known Kaya during the 2007 Hoofcare Course and over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_thinkrank_schema_form_data":"","_thinkrank_selected_schema_type":"","_thinkrank_additional_schemas":"","_thinkrank_canonical_url":"","_thinkrank_og_title":"","_thinkrank_og_description":"","_thinkrank_og_image":"","_thinkrank_twitter_title":"","_thinkrank_twitter_description":"","_thinkrank_twitter_image":"","_thinkrank_imported_from":"yoast","_thinkrank_focus_keywords":["kaya tribute"],"_thinkrank_focus_keyword":"kaya tribute","_thinkrank_robots_meta_enabled":0,"_thinkrank_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_advanced_robots_meta":"","_thinkrank_exclude_from_search":0,"_thinkrank_exclude_from_archives":0,"_thinkrank_primary_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,162,157],"tags":[163,81,346],"class_list":["post-5316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hoof-care","category-inspirational","category-personality","tag-barefoot","tag-hoof-care","tag-kaya"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5316\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalhorseworld.com\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}