Hartley Animal Wellness

08/01/2025

Some interesting thoughts here after there seems to have been a fair bit of internet chatter about this. Nice to see some peer-reviewed scientific references cited as well.

05/01/2025

Get on board! Free webinar with the fabulous Dr Raquel Butler of Integrated Veterinary Therapeutics!

FREE WEBINAR - Wednesday 5th February 7pm AESDT
The Equine Hip Dynamics: Biomechanics, Pathologies & Rehabilitation

The Hip is a area of common biomechanical alterations yet it is rarely a place of lameness diagnosis due to the diagnostic challenges.
Perhaps it needs to be considered much more!

Join me for this free webinar to explore the dynamics of the hip joint and its anatomical connections!!

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.
When: Feb 5, 2025 07:00 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wckF8g6xQSuVrYt2jLIVQw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

30/12/2024

Please consider donating a bale of hay or two to Elysian Fields Horse & Hound Sanctuary. It's been a dry old Summer and Kate pours her everything into caring for the rescue horses ❤️

As much as I don't like running fundraisers and asking for help, here I am, Miss Independant, reaching out to you guys 😅 this Summer has been brutal and it's only just begun, the pastures are already browning off and I am quite literally down to my last 6 bales of hay. I have poured every ounce of time and energy I have into my boy Kingsley, and as a result, my financial situation is quite dire. I have tried to ignore it the last few weeks, but I can't ignore it any longer. I need to secure a hay truck (320 bales plus delivery) in the next few weeks, or I'm in a bit of a pickle. I don't often let things get this long before I find a solution but my head hasn't been in the 'game' and before the inevitable time that I'll need to say goodbye to Kingsley, I want to make sure my horses have all their hay here as I honestly have no idea how I will be both emotionally and physically once that goodbye happens. I appreciate times that are extremely tough for so many people at the moment, but every tiny bit helps me immensely with so many mouths to feed.
If you can help by either donating or sharing, please click the link below (or in my bio for Instagram). Thank you all so much for your unwavering support, I'm so grateful. Remember, all donations over $2 are tax deductible 😊
https://chuffed.org/project/helpusthroughthisdrysummer

30/12/2024

Starting next year (this week!) I'll be servicing the following areas.
Get in touch if you'd like some thorough, quality bodywork for your horses!

26/12/2024

Great post from Good Horsemanship - Ross Jacobs. Don't apologise for being a pleasure rider - we all ride for pleasure. And trail riders are never "just trail riders" - there's so much skill that goes into having a horse who can navigate that unpredictability with ease 💪🏽

TRAIL RIDERS

I had a conversation with a fellow involved in the thoroughbred racing industry who asked me what sort of people and horses came to my clinics. When I told him, it was beyond him to understand why anyone would own a horse that was not racing or being trained for racing. In previous years I have met people who believed the same thing about horses who were not working as dressage horses, or cow horses, or polo horses, etc.

So I decided to re-post this essay that I wrote about 5 years ago. I hope you enjoy it. I believe it is still relevant.
________________________

I’ve got a bone to pick and it might surprise you to know it is with b-l-o-o-d-y trail riders. I have ridden many thousands of kilometres up and down the eastern half of Australia over many years – sometimes camping in the bush for many months at a time. Plus I get a lot of trail riders coming to my clinics. So I have enough experience and ammunition to make a legitimate complaint.

In fact, I have 2 complaints. The first is easy and I can deal with it in one short paragraph, but the second deserves a rant.

Okay. First up, about half of those that mainly do trail riding describe themselves as “pleasure riders”. Stop it. We are all pleasure riders! I hope we all ride for pleasure – even professional horse people. Being a good horse person is hard and dangerous work, so if you don’t love it, the other rewards (financial, accolades, ribbons) are certainly not enough for me to make it worthwhile. Gaining pleasure from what we do should supercede every other reason for riding horses. So trail riders should stop trying to appropriate the term “pleasure rider.” It’s a term that should apply to every rider of every persuasion.

Now the second and more important reason I am cranky at trail riders is their attitude.

Whenever I meet a new student at a clinic I ask them what do they do with their horse. I would say 4 out of 5 of the trail people say something like, “Oh not much. I just trail ride” or “I just like to potter around on the trail” or “We are not serious. We just like to ride out in the bush.”

They describe trail riding as if they have to apologize for it. It’s as if there is some sort of shame to being a trail rider and they are the second-class citizens of the horse world.

Well, I’m going to tell you those trail riders are not second-class horse people. They are the WARRIOR CLASS of the horse world.

I have come across plenty of people who have had long and highly successful competition careers that wish they had a horse they could safely ride on a trail. They practice their exercises in the safe confines of a riding facility where the most startling and unpredictable thing that can happen is that the horse gets its tiptoes wet in a puddle after a storm or it has to cope with a judge placing a rosette on its bridle. Heaven forbid those precious gold-plated ponies with their diamante browbands would have any sort of challenge that would cause their makeup to run.

Now of course I am having a bit of a laugh making fun of precious show horses, but my problem is not with show horses and their owners. My problem is with the apologetic attitude of trail riders.

I realize that some in the horse world look down on trail riding as not being “real” riding. But that is no excuse for the average trail rider to be hiding in the corner hoping nobody will make fun of their mixed breed pony with the unbraided mane and gone-wild ear fuzz.

To train a good trail horse is proof of a person’s skill as a horseman or woman.

Creek crossings, steep descents, swampy ground, branches whacking their face, the stench of decaying carcasses, inconsiderate car drivers, and bike riders are the things of nightmares for many horses trained in other disciplines. But for a good trail horse and their rider with a spine made of tungsten they are nothing more than another point of interest on their sightseeing tour.

To be able to calm a horse that is losing its manure on a trail is a badge of honour that is worth more than any blue ribbon. When on the other side of every new turn in the trail lies in waiting a horse-eating emu, it is the experienced trail rider that will see them to safety. When behind every bush hides the shadow of the grim reaper ready to unleash mayhem and death, it is the trail rider that will slay death. How many horses that only know the soft feel of a sand arena on their feet can hold their panic in check when the tentacles of an errant blackberry runner grabs their leg and attempts to drag them into the belly of hell?

I realize there are plenty of horses that are skilled in multi-disciplines and are proficient in arena work as well as trail riding. But so many horses live a life confined to just one particular chosen discipline. I believe all horses should be riding horses before they are ever trained for a specialty. That means they should be good trail horses. That means they should be good with traffic, opening gates, crossing bridges and water, mounting from either side. That means they should remain emotionless when their rider removes a jacket or another horse trots up beside them.

Nobody should ever apologize for being “just” a trail rider. Stand proud. Be the best you can be at what you do and you will never have to feel second-class to any other horse person. Remember you are the WARRIOR CLASS.

24/12/2024

Wishing all of my clients and your beautiful creatures a wonderful Christmas.

Thank you all, so very much, for your support of the first year of Hartley Animal Wellness. It's been a privilege working with you and your horses and dogs.

I'm looking forward to having this be my only focus next year, as I've finished up my high school teaching job. I'm excited to be able to grow and continue this amazing journey.

Bring on a year of health, joy and soundness in 2025 🐎🐕

13/12/2024

Are you cross-training with your horse?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/18JnpBDxKi/

Are you cross training? 🏋️💪🏇
In a recent study walking over ground poles resulted in a SIGNIFICANT increase in core muscle activation. Ground poles promote core strength, neuromotor control, and flexibility.
If you’re not already using these, start with the poles on the ground at a walk. As your horse gains strength you can increase speed through the gaits and add height. To increase neuromotor control vary the position and angles of the ground poles requiring your horse to have more precise control of their limbs and body.
You can do these exercises both in hand and under saddle.

10/12/2024

Check it out! 50% off at Equistash Australia!

Our Xmas Sale continues with ALL STOCK now 50% OFF.

Grab a bargain - WHILE STOCKS LAST 🩶🖤

Merry Xmas 🎅 🐎

** DISCOUNT APPLIED AT CHECK-OUT **

08/12/2024

This was a really great shift for gorgeous Sherbet today. I saw her for the first time on Monday last week and she had some fairly significant imbalances that meant I felt a quick follow up would be beneficial.

At the start of today's session, I could feel that her sternum was still sitting really far forward, which was having a big impact on her front end functionality (think stretched pecs and biceps, with contracted shoulders/rhomboids - imagine sticking your own chest really far forward). I spent the first part of the session trying to release the shoulders and rhomboids, release the surrounding fascia and then do some gentle thoracic rocking. This was moving things in the right direction.

I then worked through the back, making sure that she had movement through her thoracic vertebrae, both dorso-ventrally (up and down) and latero-laterally (side-to-side). She had some roaching in the lumbar region that I wanted to explore as well with a combo of Myofascial kinetic lines work and spinal mobilisations. Then I did some wither lift and flexion/extension activations to "switch on" the muscles in this area.

Then I spent ages working through the pelvic area, exploring the attachments at the front and back of the pelvis, and the groin that would have been impacted by the position of the thorax (don't forget, the hind end is where the propulsion comes from in movement). I finished off with some activations to ensure that her core muscles were "switching on" all the way from the tail to the neck. Then we went for a walk and did some movement to help integrate everything we had done.

Really happy to have seen such great results from this session ❤️

08/12/2024

Scruffy and I were reassessed this week by the amazing Adele from PADS in Mudgee for our Public Access Test. This means we have Public Access rights under the Disability Discrimination Act for 2 years, at which point we will be reassessed. This has been our first full year of work and it's been a joy watching Scruffy work to support me in my work at school and on courses, at a dissection with Becks Nairn, my brother and sister-in-law's wedding and many other situations that would have been a huge challenge without him. Very thankful for this fluffy boy.

06/12/2024

A dissection summary of an incredibly overweight horse. Very interesting to note how some of the health issues that were present are known to be linked with obesity in humans. Know how to body condition score your horse. The Pony Club Australia resource that Becks Nairn mentioned in the video is a good place to start. Even an out of work horse shouldn't be above a 3/5.

24/11/2024

Helpful to understand various hoof growth patterns

When looking at horses' feet, we rarely see ones that are perfectly symmetrical. Even if it is subtle, there may be a slightly steeper wall, or a side that is a bit more worn. At the end of a cycle, we can often see the way that hoof has worn over the last however many weeks - maybe a toe worn a bit to one side, or a flare creeping up if the cycle has been a bit long.

As a hoofcare provider, I am always looking to see what these patterns might be telling me, and how I can improve each horse's feet to the best of my ability with what that horse has for conformation, previous injuries, environment in regards to turn out, etc.

Because of this, I have always been fascinated with Ula Krzanowska's posts on "The Hoof Architect," and how Ula sees various patterns in feet and is able to identify them and label them to a specific conformation or how the body is put together above those feet. I reached out to her to chat about her architecture background, how it has helped her with hoofcare, and some common patterns she sees.

You can hear the entire conversation on any podcast app under "The Humble Hoof," or directly at this link: https://thehumblehoof.com/2024/11/22/recognizing-patterns-in-hooves/

And if you want to meet Ula in person, we have a few limited spots left for our clinic next year in Amesbury, MA! You can learn more and register at thehumblehoof.com/product/clinic .

Thank you to our amazing sponsors:

Equithrive offers supplements for everything from metabolic health to joint support – get 20% off your first order at equithrive.com with code HUMBLEHOOF

Cavallo Hoof Boots is offering 15% off a pair of Trek hoof boots at cavallo-inc.com with code HRN

A special shout out to Grid as New, Mud Control Grids – they are a game changer for any mud issues, big or small! – mudcontrolgrids.com

Also be sure to check out HayBoss Feeders – haybossfeeders.com – for all your slow-feeding needs. I get my Hay Boss feeders from Mountain Lane Farm in NH!

23/11/2024

So important! Relationship between dental balance and body balance can't be ignored! Annual dentals are an essential part of horse ownership - I know I've posted about this before, but it's ESSENTIAL! Preferably under sedation with a vet like our wonderful Dr. Kim Bensch! I'll be booking all of mine in for January.