Straight Forward Coaching

28/09/2016

Gifted trainer 😀

28/09/2016

Lol in case you needed scientific assurance...

Join dolphins, pigeons, and a few other species

23/08/2016

Please enjoy our August comic and feel free to share!

18/08/2016

Why we all love Charlotte

14/06/2016

07/06/2016

30/05/2016

Caretakers drastically underestimated how many horses in their care suffered from back pain in a recent study.

30/05/2016

30/05/2016

The turns into fence 7!

22/05/2016

Looks awesome

20/05/2016

Dressage horses often live long, healthy lives—especially when ridden by riders who have a feel for balance. In fact, the best thing you can do for your horse’s health and longevity is to ride him in

13/05/2016

So exciting!

ODENSE, Denmark, May 13, 2016--Suzanne Hearn, competing outside Australia for the first time, was her nation's leading rider on Remmington in the Odense CDI3* Grand Prix to the start of two European shows to select the team for the Olympics in Rio de Jane

12/05/2016

Got to love a story with a happy ending...

Marek Slodkowski walked into his barn one day and discovered the unthinkable. His horse named Freedom had fallen into a maintenance. Slodkowski had been raising horses on his pasture for 13 years, but never had he experienced anything like this. First, Slodkowski began to stuff the pit with hay. He…

11/05/2016

Have you ever heard of the Madigan Squeeze?

Kitty foaled at 2 a.m. on Thursday morning - I was there to witness the labour and delivery and her baby was born very fast; the sac did not break over the foal's nose, however, so I had to break it. After he was born, he was not quick to stand, and once I helped him to get up, he didn't engage in the typical udder searching - he walked around a bit, and then lay down to go back to sleep; I rubbed him with a clean piece of clothing and scratched his back, and got him up again, but despite all of my efforts, he just was not interested in nursing - even when i guided him to the teats and milked kitty to try to entice him with the milk, he just stood there. Instead of engaging in the typical pattern of nursing, and then lying down, sleeping, and then getting up to nurse again, he just walked around, licked the stall walls - - and he slept standing up!

I called the vet to come out so that he could have the colostrum he needed within the first 6 hours - she came out with an intern, and the foal seemed to be interested in udder searching briefly, but the vet could not get him to latch on either - so we tubed him. She didn't think he had dummy foal syndrome because he was so active and fiesty - and he certainly was. Getting the tube in was a bit of a fight, and it took two of them, with one holding the foal down, and me holding Kitty, to accomplish it.

After the vets left, I tried for more hours without success to get the foal interested in nursing - i knew then that he just was not 'normal', and I was getting a bit panicked as even if presented with the milk, he would not suckle on anything. So, I decided to try the madigan squeeze technique - after i spoke to the repro specialist at the clinic and she thought he might have a mild case of dummy foal syndrome. It was hopeless for me to do it on my own, although I did try. So Jonathan came home a few hours later, and I got him to watch the three part video on the madigan squeeze that friends had posted on this page.

I just had to share the result of the squeeze with adorado's friends, as if I had not seen it in action I don't know that I would have completely believed it. As soon as the ropes were on and we put a bit of pressure on them, the foal's knees weakened, and we helped him down to the stall floor - he was literally in a deep sleep instantly, as if someone had waved a wand over him, or hypnotized him - just as in the video. After just over ten minutes, Jonathan released the pressure on the ropes, and the foal awakened instantly, sat up sternal, and then stood - he immediately went over and latched on, and started nursing. It was literally unbelievable to me! He then lay down, and went to sleep, and then got up and nursed again. Amazing!

Today - three days after he was born, he is still in that pattern - this is just so critical to his healthy future. What a transformation. The madigan squeeze event was literally one of the most amazing things that I have ever been a part of. If you look at the photos I hope that you can see the change in him.

For those who have never head of 'dummy foal syndrome', from what I understand, there are neurotransmitters that keep the foal asleep in utero, and when the foal passes through the birth canal, the levels are supposed to drop. In some cases, where there is oxygen deprivation, or a fast birth, the levels do not drop - so this technique mimics the squeeze of the birth canal, and resets the levels. Amazing! We actually tried it a second time a few hours later, as he seemed to be a bit off the pattern, and it can't hurt a foal if done properly - AND we initially thought that ten minutes and not twenty was the correct time - so we were a bit short at ten minutes. But the affect was not nearly as profound. He did lie down and go to sleep, but it wasn't instantaneous.

Thank you to the amazing person - Dr. Madigan - who discovered this most incredible 'thing' and shared it with the world. And thank you to the friends who posted the videos on it - i was just exhausted for lack of sleep, and time was of the essence. I had read about this before, but never thought we'd put it to use here.

I'm still in awe. :)

Tracy

06/05/2016

Tight nosebands spark a stress response in horses, study shows.

03/05/2016

"I always think the same thing when I go to a championship,” said Jung. "I say to myself, ‘this is a normal competition,’ and don’t put too much pressure on the horse. It’s important to win, but it’s important that you have a good feeling for the horse and that you have a nice round together.” 2016 Rolex Kentucky winner

29/04/2016

Lol, no this side mum!

28/04/2016

Available world wide! http://freeridingnz.com/ Check out my website & buy your copy today To purchase a copy of the DVD http://www.freeridingnz.com/shop/ The...

28/04/2016

Great young rider - and this pony certainly knows its job!

Termine Première au classement Shetland

23/04/2016

Think I have to get some toys for my ponies...

19/04/2016

No wonder he"s so down to earth...

He came on the movie scene in 1980 as a crazed inmate in Brubaker and has played just about everything since, from the chauffeur in Driving Miss Daisy and a redeemed convict in The Shawshank Redemption to Ned Logan in Unforgiven and God in Bruce Almighty. With his calm demeanor and distinctive voice…

11/04/2016

https://youtu.be/FMo-w69I0WA

Video © Isabell Werth - wwww.isabell-werth.com

11/04/2016

http://www.you-and-your-horse.com/?p=277

Do you know the term “load bearing burnout?” I have to admit that I didn’t before reading Tanja Richter’s book “The Illusions of Horse Osteopathy”  (available only in German), even though unfortunately I see an awful lot of horses that are in this state.  So that you know what to expect from load be…

03/04/2016

Lol

😅😅😅😅😅

30/03/2016

Ponies like this are worth as much as any Valegro!

26/03/2016

Lol how to mount a horse?!

23/03/2016

"Nuno Oliviera summed it up pretty nicely when he said that 'putting the horse on the bit means feeling that the poll flexes, the back rises, the haunches become active.'" http://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2015/05/21/classical-training-putting-your-horse-bit

Training Your Horse, Putting the horse on the bit seems simple enough, but the reality of that concept extends far beyond the literal understanding of those words. My idol Nuno Oliveria summed it up pretty nicely when he said that, “putting the horse on the bit means feeling that the poll flexes, th…

19/03/2016

10% OFF ALL WOOLLYBUTT DESIGNS FOR MARCH ONLY. Handmade Australian rugs using Australian fabrics, of unsurpassable fit and quality. https://m.facebook.com/woollybuttdesigns/

18/03/2016

Ever have one of those days?

13/03/2016

Well I never knew! Amazing.