OPENING SUMMER 2023

Based on the outskirts of Longleat, we are a track livery with a difference, not only do we provide a track to mimic the horse’s natural way of living we can also provide working rehab for horses that may have behavioural or physical issues, this can range from horses prone to laminitis, EMS, CPL and cushings to tendon issues and kissing spine, we start by addressing the diet and the track creates the daily movement this allows them freedom, they choose their friends and we supply good quality forage, horses that come for physical or behaviour issues, we believe by using the fundamental basics of straightness training and core conditioning, if you can balance the horse mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually by keeping them as natural as possible, correct diet, movement and foot balance and address any asymmetrical imbalance with the right exercises you will have a happy healthy horse. 

Here at New Moon we take a holistic approach by looking at the whole horse rather than just focusing on the symptom, we are supported by other professionals to help us with any investigations required, we use horse communicators and healers and have Sara on site who is a qualified Emmett practitioner and passed her Reiki 1 & 2.

The reason behind the Track and the benefits 

Up until 2017 I kept my horses in a traditional livery yard with livery yard rules of stabling, I always knew my horses weren’t happy being stabled, Rio was a weaver, crib biter and box walker, he had grade 4 gastric ulcers, arthritis in his back, neck, hocks and fetlocks and used to drop so much weight over winter and still cost me a fortune in hard feed, it was a constant battle and not only stressful for him but also stressful for me, I had to be at the yard first to turn out and last to bring in every single day but back then I didn’t realise there was any other way.

Cruise arrived Oct 2014 and the following spring/ summer we realised that he had laminitis, I would strip graze him to try and limit his grass which was a nightmare having 2 horses that had completely different requirements, he would often jump out, he spent days with a muzzle on which you could see it made him very depressed, he hated stables and being a stiff horse generally after 12 hours in a stable he would walk out like an old man, he also had Impar ligament damage as a 4 year old and suffered with on off lameness for the first 3 years of owning him.

In 2017 we bought a house with our own land, it was only 5.5 acres but I had been reading about track systems so I set up my first track, it was just a grass track around the field to start and then we added the hard-core and set up a small track for the winter, we had 7 stables that we left open 24-7, this was the best thing I could have ever done for my horses, we had a hay box in each corner and a trough at the other end, it was basic but Rio kept his weight over winter and eventually his vices disappeared and I no longer had to feed massive buckets of hard feed, he turned into a completely different horse, he is now calm and relaxed with no signs of gastric ulcers, Cruise has been sound since being on a track, the muzzle is nowhere to seen, he doesn’t take as long to warm up if being schooled or jumped and he is no longer depressed, my horses were finally happy, healthy and sound.

After seeing the benefits to my horses I wanted to help others, we had track liveries in the UK and I started following them, getting ideas and knew we had nothing in the local area, in September 2022 we purchased just under 12 acres on the outskirts of longleat, after a long couple of years searching for the perfect place, we were granted change of use to equestrian 2 months later, we still have little bit of a wait to be able to set up the track exactly how we would like it and I will continue to research new ideas that can be added to the track.

There are so many benefits to keeping a horse on a track as it improves physical health and wellbeing and particularly horses suffering from any of the below:

· Laminitis / grass related illness

· Stable vices

· Navicular/ Impar ligament damage

· EMS/ Cushing’s/ CPL

· Arthritis / stiffness

· Ulcers