Why record-keeping fits the Lusitano
Yes, keep the log. Lusitanos are Iberian horses bred for collected, agile work, and many of them are economical to feed, holding condition on rations that would leave a bigger warmblood looking lean. That combination, hard work on modest feed, is easy to misjudge from memory. A Lusitano can be in full schooling while his hard feed quietly stays at the level set during a busier spell, and the extra condition only becomes obvious in photos or under a weight tape weeks later. Written feeding and farrier entries keep both sides of his management honest.
The feeding record for an Iberian good doer
Note forage type and amount, any hard feed and why it is fed, turnout hours, and the work done, distinguishing easy hacking days from schooling that asks for collection and sustained engagement. Add a weight-tape reading on a fixed day, plus a short condition note covering the neck, ribs, and quarters, since Iberian horses often show extra condition over the crest and behind the shoulder first. When you reduce or increase feed, date the change and write what prompted it. If energy in collected work dips or condition climbs, the log shows whether the shift followed a feed change, a step up in work, a yard move, or a change in hay, and you can adjust one variable at a time instead of guessing.
Farrier entries for a horse bred to sit and turn
Record each shoeing or trim, the interval, whether your Lusitano is shod all round, in front, or barefoot, and anything the farrier notes about heels, balance, or wear. A horse asked to lower the hindquarters and turn tightly loads the hind feet in a distinctive way, so comments about hind shoe wear or medial and lateral balance are worth keeping verbatim. Between appointments, log a lost shoe, a clench rising, or a change in how cleanly he turns or backs up, with dates. Some Lusitanos hold their feet well on dry ground but soften in prolonged wet weather, and a record spanning seasons shows your farrier whether a problem is seasonal or new.
Using the record at handovers and vet visits
Lusitanos frequently work with more than one person: an owner, a trainer, perhaps a working pupil feeding during the week. One shared log prevents the classic duplication where two people each add a feed, and it gives a covering keeper the exact ration and the date the feet are next due. At a vet visit, condition trends written over months carry more weight than an impression formed on the day.
Signs that move from the log to a phone call
Keep logging, but act on certain entries rather than just filing them. Repeated feed left unfinished, a shoe lost twice on the same foot in one cycle, a crack the farrier is watching that suddenly lengthens, or a new reluctance in work that was previously willing all warrant a prompt conversation with your vet or farrier. Arrive with the dates: when the ration last changed, when the feet were last seen, and what the work has been. That is the information those professionals build on, and your log supplies it precisely.
A rhythm that keeps the habit alive
Write feed entries when feeds are made up, farrier entries before you leave the yard, and the weight-tape line on the same weekday each fortnight. Brevity is what makes the habit survive a busy winter. With the record held in KinsLe's Pet Passport, your Lusitano's feeding history and shoeing notes sit in a single packet, ready to share at a vet visit or pass on complete if he ever changes yard or keeper.