Hartley Animal Wellness

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.

20/11/2024

Only a few more days until Riding Free from Domestic Violence - a beautiful way to raise money for victims of domestic violence.

If you have the capacity to donate, even a little bit, all funds raised go to local, grassroots organisations.

Ride to raise money for domestic violence charities

18/11/2024

The Equiband is such an amazing tool for positively altering movement patterns!

17/11/2024

So proud of CopRice Australian Brumby Challenge 2024 - Rachel Nash and BBPG Banjo Rach and Banjo for their successful journey in the Australian Brumby Challenge. That's a damn good horse, and I'm so excited to see all your future adventures ❤️. Just getting there with him, and having him cope so well with those big asks was the win 🐴

Banjo, you’ve made me laugh and you’ve made me cry, you have tested me and you have certainly humbled me in the last 153 days.

Some days it just doesn’t work, and day 3 just wasn’t our day, but that’s just life in the big city.

As I lay on the ground in front of hundreds of people, I opened my eyes and saw that you hadn’t fled, you’d stood perfectly still waited for me to get up and then you let me get back on you.

“If you can meet with triumph and disaster, and treat those 2 imposters both the same”
Kipling was definitely talking about days 2 and 3.

If it’s results you’re reading for, we came 2nd in the ridden class, and even with all those eyes watching us, Banjo rode like it was just us at at home smooth and soft. We placed 5th overall with a short margin separating us from 3rd and 4th even with our “unplanned dismount”. What some might consider a walk of shame, we treated as a victory lap waving at the crowd and showing them just a glimpse of how wonderful you are. I so deeply respect you Banjo, you showed up every day, and I could not be more proud of you.

You are a great champion, the last thing you taught me was to duck, I just wish it was a bit sooner. Well done my boy 🩵🩵

11/11/2024

Great article from The Horse about "prehab" to improve surgical recovery.

"Habilitation, in the context of physiology, refers to the process of becoming fit for a particular purpose. Therefore, prehabilitation is done pre-surgery to help maintain the patient’s fitness post-surgery."

“The more we can do before surgery to set horses up for success postoperatively, the better,” says Schnabel. “Routinely performing core and mobility exercises with horses preoperatively will put them in the best physical place to succeed postoperatively and actually be able to better balance and protect an injured limb or area of the body during recovery.”

Your horse's recovery from surgery should start long before heading to the OR.

10/11/2024

Wishing my favourite little brumby safe travels and a fun adventure as BBPG Banjo and head down to to show off their beautiful relationship as part of the .

It's been an utter delight watching Rach and Banjo's progress and seeing his little body develop with his workload.

It's my hope that everyone at Equitana will see the complete trust Banjo has in his humans, and the versatility and trainability of these special horses.

Banjo is all taped up with kinesiology tape to support his pelvis and promote blood flow in his legs during the next 2 days of travel, so that he can arrive fresh and ready for Equitana.

Safe travels Rach, Cam, Edwina and the rest of team BBPG Banjo and most of all, have fun ❤️🐴

09/11/2024

What a great day at Megalong Gymkhana. So lovely to see such a great turnout and meet some beautiful horse and rider combos. Congrats to the organising committee for putting on a fun day with something for everyone!

08/11/2024

Come and say hi at Megalong Gymkhana tomorrow!

Equine/Canine Bodyworker
Canine Myo-manipulative Functional Therapist
Certified Animal Dry-Needling Practitioner
Equinology Equine Body Worker (pending externship review)
Recent courses:
EQ103
EQ300-600: Equine Biomechanics, Gait Abnormalities, Lameness

07/11/2024

Highly recommend getting in touch with Clippitty clop rug cleaning for all your cleaning and repair needs! She picks up and drops off and everything comes back beautifully clean and mended ❤️🐎

PRICE LIST FOR WASHING AND WATERPROOFING. QUOTES ON REPAIRS CAN BE DONE OVER THE PHONE 🙂

07/11/2024

I didn't realise how many great free resources are already available from Jec Aristotle Ballou! Check out these wonderful YouTube videos for some training inspo 🐎

Have you had a chance to explore these completely FREE training resources? https://www.youtube.com//videos What other videos would be welcomed topics?

Once you have made your way through those, consider a structured, online program. These never expire, can be used with multiple equine partners, and best of all you can re-visit these at any point. Learn more about my offering here: https://www.jecballou.com/onlinecourses