Triskele Equine Therapies - Bonnie Sweeney

17/12/2024

That's a wrap for 2024!

This year has been amazing, the business grew at an unprecedented rate, making this year the most successful to date and it is all thanks to my wonderful clients who trust me time and time again with their horses and ponies.

Whether your one of my regulars that's been with me since the beginning or a new client just jumping on board, I have so much gratitude and appreciation for all of you and your beloved equines.

For the first time since before the big C I am taking a short holiday so I can rest and recoup and come back ready to continue into 2025.

Though I'm taking time to rest, I am already taking bookings for January. The confirmed dates for travel are as follows:
4th-5th January - Canberra and surrounds
11th-12th January - Illawarra
16th of January - Shibumi Equestrian Centre

My inbox is still open though I will be a little slower to reply than normal.

I look forward to seeing you all again in the new year 🎊

26/11/2024

📣 Appointments for the last visit to Illawarra in 2024 📣

Due to a cancellation, there are a couple of appointments available during my next visit to the Illawarra on Saturday the 30th of November! This is my last planned visit to the area for 2024, so shoot me a message to secure a spot for your horse before the new year😊

02/11/2024

📣 Upcoming Travel Dates for ✨ November & Decemeber ✨ 📣

The end of the year is racing towards us and as I'm away for half of December I have included the travel dates for both months in this post.

10th of November - Albion Park, Shellharbour, Horsley and Illawarra surrounds. (Some space left in the afternoon).
16th of November - Darkes Forest and surrounds.
21st of November - Shibumi Equestrian Centre
30th of November and 1st of December - Albion Park, Shellharbour, Horsley and Illawarra surrounds.
7th and 8th of December - Canberra and Surrounds inc. Yass.
12th of December Shibumi Equestrian Centre

All other days serving the local area (Southern Highlands, NSW), unless otherwise booked.*

Shoot me a message to book in an appointment for your horse today! 😊

*I will do my best to accommodate out of area clients if I can fit them in on the way to somewhere else, otherwise a new area requires 3+ horses in that area for the day.

16/10/2024

Resharing since it's that time of year again and I'm already seeing horses that are mycotoxin affected.

Mycotoxins

I've been meaning to do a post about Mycotoxins for a while, however, we're getting to the end of their season and it felt superfluous to be posting about it so late. That was, until the weather has continued to create a perfect environment for them to proliferate and I'm still seeing mycotoxin affected horses during treatment.

So, let's get into it.

What are mycotoxins?
According to the world health organization "Mycotoxins are naturally occurring toxins produced by certain moulds (fungi) and can be found in food."

These moulds or fungi can also be found on certain pastures, in hay and in grain products. Some of the fungi have a symbiotic relationship with particular pastures. Unfortunately, the same thing that helps protect and proliferate the grass can be toxic to your horse.

Where are mycotoxins found?
Black or sticky head seed is a warning that the fungi is present. This includes species of grass such as: paspalum, rye, and fescue. However, the fungi may be present without any indicators we can observe.

As previously mentioned, they can also be present in hay and grain.
The fungi grow in warm humid environments. Just like the summer we've just had. As the weather dries out or the temperatures drop the fungi will die off. Making this a seasonal problem (discounting that which is found in feed).

Symptoms of Mycotoxin poisoning include:
❗️ Itchy skin / skin irritation
❗️ Photosensitivity (sun burn / stubborn greasy heel etc)
❗️ Heightened reactive behaviour (increased spooking etc)
❗️ Poor coat / skin condition
❗️ Weight loss and general poor health
❗️ Head tossing
❗️ Neurological symptoms (loss of co-ordination, proprioception, staggers etc)
❗️ Muscle and / or facial twitching
❗️ Infertility / poor fertility, poor milk production
Your horse may suffer from all or only a couple of these symptoms.

So how do you treat it?
The answer is quite simple thankfully. You treat it with a toxin binder. There are many toxin binders on the market but Mycosorb A+ has been formulated specifically for mycotoxins. As an added bonus it won't bind to the nutrients of the horse's food.

If your horse is suffering from mycotoxins, you should see an improvement in their symptoms within a couple of weeks. Sometimes much sooner than that.

12/10/2024

What exercises build your horse's topline?

This has to be one of the questions I get asked the most. Horse people are obsessed with topline, and for good reason. It is essential for a horse to perform at their best. A strong topline means increased strength, flexibility and balance. It reduces the risk of back and hindquarter related injury and improves a horse's ability to carry themself and their rider.

I often hear people asking what to feed to improve a horse's topline and while balanced nutrition is important for muscle growth, nothing will change if the horse isn't working those muscles. So here are some easy exercises to help build your horse's topline.

1. Hill work. This can be both passive and active on your part. My horses used to live in an extremely steep property. I kept the water trough at the top of the hill and gave them free roam over the rest of it. This encourages them to walk up and down the hill several times a day to drink and then return to grazing elsewhere. It has the added benefit of constant posture adjustment and stabilisation as they often grazed on all angles on the slope. If you don't have a hilly paddock then riding or leading them up and down hills is also extremely beneficial.

2. Pole work. Research has shown than ground poles increase the range of motion of the limbs without increasing concussive forces. They naturally encourage the horse to lift through the thoracic sling to accommodate the extra effort. Ground poles are effective at all gaits. You'd be surprised how big a result you can get from just walk poles regularly. They also increase proprioception and coordination.

3. Backing up. I normally advice this on the ground first. Backing up in a straight line with the head in line with the chest and in a relaxed posture on a flat surface. As they get stronger you can start backing them up hills. Slower is better and only a few steps at a time. This is harder for them than it looks.

4. Transitions. Transitions both up and down gaits and within the gait require a lot of work from the horse, so increase the number slowly so as not to overdo it. If your horse is educated enough, you can also practice transitions that skip a gait (eg. walk to canter), but only when the horse is strong and balanced enough.

5. Lateral work. This requires the horse and handler to be educated in lateral work. My favourites for this are haunches-in and shoulder-in. I normally teach this from the ground before doing it under saddle. These also improve flexibility and balance and encourage the horse to step under the point of balance with the hind legs.

Never underestimate the results you can see from exercises done on the ground. You don't need to ride your horse to build topline. In fact, a rider can inhibit the horse's ability to do so.

If you've been giving them the right nutrition and been doing exercises consistently with them without any results, then they may have pain or tension which is preventing the muscles from functioning and building properly, in which case don't hesitate to get your horse checked by your bodyworker.

Image from Pixabay

11/10/2024

If you suspect your horse may be suffering from ulcers this is a great opportunity to get them checked while only paying for sedation!

01/10/2024

📣 Upcoming Travel Dates for ✨ October ✨ 📣

2nd and 5th of October - Albion Park, Shellharbour, Horsley and Illawarra surrounds. (Fully booked).
12th and 13th of October - Central Coast.
17th of October - Shibumi Equestrian Centre
26th and 27th of October - Canberra and Surrounds inc. Yass (26th fully booked, limited appointments on the 27th)

All other days serving the local area (Southern Highlands, NSW), unless otherwise booked.*

Shoot me a message to book in an appointment for your horse today! 😊

*I will do my best to accommodate out of area clients if I can fit them in on the way to somewhere else, otherwise a new area requires 3+ horses in that area for the day.

29/09/2024

Another fantastic trip to Canberra done and dusted. It was a huge weekend, and I loved all of it. I'm now going to enjoy a lie down with a cup of tea and a day off tomorrow before launching back into it on Tuesday.

As always, I have a huge appreciation to all my wonderful clients, without whom I wouldn't be doing my dream job. 💖

14/09/2024

One of my favourite places to work. The horses are always so well looked after and a pleasure to be around 😊

01/09/2024

📣 Upcoming Travel Dates for ✨ September ✨ 📣

7th and 8th of September - Albion Park, Shellharbour, Horsley and Illawarra surrounds. (4 appointments left on the 7th, 8th fully booked).
14th and 15th of September - Central Coast.
19th of September - Shibumi Equestrian Centre
28th and 29th of September - Canberra and Surrounds inc. Yass (28th fully booked, limited appointments on the 29th)

All other days serving the local area (Southern Highlands, NSW), unless otherwise booked.*

Shoot me a message to book in an appointment for your horse today! 😊

*I will do my best to accommodate out of area clients if I can fit them in on the way to somewhere else, otherwise a new area requires 3+ horses in that area for the day.

26/08/2024

This weekend has been an intense three days of learning and greater understanding of equine anatomy, function, form and feel.

I was privileged enough to cross off one of my bucket list items by attending a standing horse dissection clinic with Sharon May-Davis. Her mind and understand of the equine body is truly awe-inspiring.

I feel greatly humbled and honoured to have met her in person and learn directly from her. The last three days have been filled with greater understanding and "uh huh!" moments as I pieced together what I have felt and observed in my work with the "why" of the body.

I look forward to continuing to process and to take what I have learned out into the field to better service the horses that are entrusted to me for bodywork.

Greatest thanks to all involved, The Barefoot Blacksmith for hosting, SMD for her wealth of knowledge and humbling generosity and of course to the beautiful donor horse, whose teachings will go on to help many other horses.

15/08/2024

What Lies Beneath.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I attended a whole horse dissection hosted at Shibumi Equestrian Centre , run by Becks Nairn . This was truly an eye opening experience that made me feel both privileged and humbled. Learning about the body of the horse in anatomy books and video dissection is one thing, but to witness a whole horse as the layers are peeled away in person is entirely different. So many things that I understood theoretically suddenly began to make sense practically.

It has taken me a week to process even a fraction of what was found and what I witnessed and I know I am a long way from being done with mulling over everything. I was fortunate enough to have familiarity with the beautiful soul whose body was used, and have had hands on work with them before, which gave me an extra layer of understanding and many “uh huh” moments as things I had felt and witnessed but not had an explanation for, revealed potential causes. I say potential because at the end of that day we will never know with 100% certainty.

The owners have asked for discretion of the identity of the subject, so I will simply refer to them as “Star”.

One of the behaviours I had identified was an inability or reluctance to raise their head high. I had felt the neck previously and noted that the musculature felt compromised, but I could not identify what the problem was. As we examined the spine on the second day of dissection the group discovered that C7-T1-T2 were completely fused beyond recognition. There was no movement at all between these three vertebrae. In addition to this there was stenosis (narrowing) of the spinal cavity. Star exhibited an ataxic gait for some time, and it is theorised that this narrowing is likely responsible.

This would have been extremely difficult if not impossible to pick up on imaging and palpation due to the deep nature of the structure.

There are so many things that I learned through this whole process and I will no doubt share more over time as my brain continues to ruminate on everything. I am so grateful to all of those involved in organising and hosting the clinic and Star’s body for imparting so much knowledge that I can use to help my clients' horses now and in the future.

14/08/2024

The changes a single treatment can yield can be profound. One of my favourite comparison views is always of the back of the horse.

In both pictures, this horse is standing square on even ground. Before, he had a distinct curve to the right through the entire length of the spine. His rib cage was bulging to the left, and the dorsal aspect of his right scapular was sitting cranially compared to the left, which was neutral.

After treatment, we see the curvature of the spine is gone. As is the bulge of the ribcage and both scapular are closer to a neutral position. There are still asymmetries present in the development of the musculature, which will need to be resolved through exercises. However, much of the alignment disfunction is resolved and the horse is in a better starting place to begin their post treatment exercises.

31/07/2024

Patty was struggling to get his canter left. Originally it was just under saddle and the owners suspected that it may be the rider's cue since he could do it on the lunge, but as time passed the problem began showing up on the lunge as well.

Upon assessment he showed significant restriction down the superficial dorsal and superficial ventral of the fascial kinetic lines, with the worst restriction centring around the TMJ and atlanto-occiptial joints. Much of his first session was focused around the head and neck.

After his first treatment his owner sent me the attached message. Even though I'd done little to nothing with the pelvis the behaviour was all but resolved. In fact, he enjoyed left canter so much he began to pop into it when not asked 😂

During his follow up I found that the work from the previous treatment had held, and I worked on the rest of the body. Quirky Patty is once again ready to offer both canter leads for his royal campaign 🎉👑

30/07/2024

📣 Upcoming Travel Dates for ✨ August ✨ 📣

Wow can't believe we're already heading into August!

3rd and 4th of August - Canberra and Surrounds inc. Yass (3rd fully booked. Some availability on the 4th)
10th and 11th of August - Albion Park, Shellharbour, Horsley and Illawarra surrounds. (10th fully booked. 2 appointments left on the 11th.).
27th and 18th of August - Central Coast
19th of August - Shibumi Equestrian Centre
31st of August and 1st of September - Canberra and Surrounds inc. Yass

All other days serving the local area (Southern Highlands, NSW), unless otherwise booked.*

Shoot me a message to book in an appointment for your horse today! 😊

*I will do my best to accommodate out of area clients if I can fit them in on the way to somewhere else, otherwise a new area requires 3+ horses in that area for the day.

23/07/2024

The horse community is so quick to jump to behavioural issues being due to poor training or poor attitude, but in my experience pain is the leading cause.

A while ago, I was sent a pony for schooling that had napping (not wanting to go forward) and contact issues.

Upon its arrival, I did a through check over of its body and quickly found wolf teeth present (which cause major contact issues) and a bony change in its knee. Because of its wolf teeth, schooling was pointless at this stage, but I also wanted to investigate the knee further before doing any more work with the pony.

When I asked the owner if I could have the pony flexioned and xrayed by a vet, she told me that the pony was only going to be a kids pony anyway, so the knee wasn’t a concern for her. Yet the pony was showing significant napping behaviours, a behaviour that only presents when a horse associates major discomfort with what is being asked of them. And I had a strong feeling that, like most poor behaviours, the issues for this pony were pain related.

Because I wasn’t prepared to work with a horse I didn’t think was structurally sound, I paid for x-rays myself and the findings weren’t good. The pony had several bone spurs in the knee and substantial arthritic changes. More than enough findings to suggest that ridden work was extremely uncomfortable for it and retirement was the kindest option at that stage.

Sadly, this is an issue I see frequently when working with horses with behavioural issues. Most commonly, an owners first ‘go to’ is to have the horse ‘trained’ through the issue, but most of the time the problems we deal with as riders and handlers are not a training issue, but rather a discomfort or pain issue. Sure, a dominant trainer can override the issues for a while, but it doesn’t actually fix them and it severely affects the welfare of the animal in the process.

Before a behavioural issue is addressed through training, the horse should be well evaluated by an expert; including having their teeth checked, feet rebalanced, tendons flexed, legs and spine xrayed, scoped for ulcers, eyes checked, blood tests, seen by a chiropractor or body worker, properly saddle fitted and bit changed and then an assessment of the rider should be made to see where mistakes might be happening in their training. Even if nothing is found in these checks, you cannot rule out deeper pain issues such as adhesions, tumours, muscle tears, reproductive issues, misalignments, digestive issues etc. which can be nearly impossible to find without an autopsy or highly specialised appointments.

At the end of the day, horses are extremely willing and forgiving animals, so if they keep expressing poor behaviour, it is just because the cause of that behaviour has not yet been diagnosed and fixed. We always try to live by the statement, ‘Find the solution, don’t punish the symptoms.’ All behaviour is a form of communication and it’s our job to figure out what our horses are trying to say.