Serendipity Equestrian

08/08/2024

I am rich!!!!

How a horsewoman knows she is rich:

I am rich. I have $15 in my checking account and a golden mare in the barn.

I am rich. I have a car that mostly works and enough gas to get to the barn every day this week.

I am rich. I have boxes of pasta and generic sauce in my pantry and enough hay to feed my horse through the winter.

I am rich. I have enough old coats and sweaters to layer up and stay warm while I do barn chores.

I am rich. I vacation by camping with my horses and going to cheer on my horse riding friends at horse shows. Sometimes I even play too, and spend $1000 to bring home a fifty cent ribbon that I will treasure more than a photo in front of the Eiffel Tower.

I am rich. I have tools: duct tape and baling twine and the know how to fix just about anything with these tools.

I am rich. I find joy in making my own things, making do, and making right. I have a 20 year old saddle, a 35 year old body, and the wonder and joy of a 6 year old child learning that a horse can give her wings.

I am rich.

My wealth is not measured in dollar signs but in horsey snorts and nickers. My riches aren't spent on electronics and fancy clothes but are shared with my human and four footed friends.

Next time someone finds out that I have a horse and says, " You must be rich to afford that" I will smile, and agree.

-Suzanne Waldrop

📸 Photos by Furey

04/17/2024

I am SUPER proud of my first ever attempt at writing a Blog. For this blog, I focused on the impact of the forecasted drought conditions in 2024 and the impact on everyone's mental health with a focus on farmers, first responders, and residents of Okotoks because that is where Active Balance Health Centre is located 💕 Check it out:
https://activebalancehealth.ca/mental-health-in-times-of-drought/

PS - I hate the picture of me but at least it's not the only picture and, an added bonus is Ariella's notorious hair makes an appearance 🤣

Every time we turn on the news, we hear about Alberta's drought. Drought affects more than our neighbouring farmers and ranchers. It also affects more than how green (or in reality - how brown) our lawns are going to be this summer. Believe it or not, drought can directly affect our mental health. A...

06/04/2023

A fun day schooling X-Country!!!

06/19/2022

This was 100% Qwiggley for me 💕

He'll find you

05/20/2022

Very impressive step in the right direction!

FRENCH GOVERNMENT ASK FOR AN OVERHAUL OF EQUINE WELFARE FOR OLYMPICS 2024

I'm a bit late with this news but wanted to share it in case you'd missed it. The French Parliament have produced a lengthy report asking the organising committee of the Olympic Games for a complete overhaul of the rules regarding equestrian sport (completely bypassing the FEI!). Their aim is to make Paris 2024 the Olympic Games of equine welfare.

The report has 46 recommendations to improve welfare across all disciplines. There is a section on the use of equipment, including banning the use of draw reins, the use of gag bits in the cross country and elevator bits being used together with martingales. They are asking for a review of nosebands (including cranks and grackles) and for noseband tightness to be checked using the ISES taper gauge. They would like a ban on riders using hyperflexion anywhere on the showground, referring to hyperflexion as 'any head and neck position where the nose is behind the vertical'.

The report also recommends a ban on use of the whip more than once per event and more than twice during the warm-up. They want to prohibit an overly constrained posture and authorise riding without spurs in dressage.

Are the recommended changes really enough to improve horse welfare in sport? Will this report change anything? If the recommendations are put in place, will the rules actually be enforced? This is a remarkable step for a country's government to take, but there were so many concerns about horse welfare at the Tokyo Olympics, I think this move was absolutely necessary if the public is to continue supporting equestrian sport.

The report has been translated by the brilliant team at Horses and People (thank you!) and is well worth reading. You can read the report here: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/french-parliament-calls-for-horse-welfare-overhaul-at-paris-2024

12/29/2021

Who knew horses have a color preference for buckets!!

There is a general agreement that horses have dichromatic colour vision with similar capabilities to those of human beings with red-green colour deficiencies. However, whether colour perception has an impact on equine preference for drinking water and how pronounced the colour stimulus might be for....

11/21/2021

Some good information!

10 handy facts about lameness

1. A forelimb lameness is identified by looking for the head nod. The head will go up when the lame limb hits the ground and down when the sound limb hits the ground. It is easier to notice the 'head nod', therefore when the head nods, it is the opposite leg that is lame.

2. Check for heat and a pulse. Inflammation brings blood to the area.

3. A horse with arthritic wear and tear (common in older horses), will often get better as he goes, which is known as 'warming out of it'. The lameness will usually be less obvious after a few minutes. Additionally he will often be worse on hard ground (tarmac) in comparison to the ménage. This is due to more concussion on his joints.

4. A horse with soft tissue damage will often get worse as he goes and is often lamer on a soft surface (ménage), as the tissue such as an affected tendon or ligament is being stretched more than it would be on a hard surface with no give.

5. A horse with bilateral forelimb lameness will be harder to detect as the head nod will now be apparent when both limbs hit the ground. However he will show a shorter cranial phase (his forelimbs will not come out very far from underneath him resulting in a 'choppy' gait).

6. If you are struggling to detect lameness get the Slo-Pro app for your mobile phone and record your horse. This will slow everything down until you train your eye into detecting lameness.

7. A hind limb lameness is more difficult to detect. If you watch the horse trotting away from you, the lame leg usually has more movement at the hip. It helps to attach white sticky tape to both hip bones to make this more obvious to the eye.

8. Putting a horse on a circle (lungeing), often shows up a forelimb and hindlimb lameness more easily.

9. If the horse looks lame on one limb, but has a stronger pulse in the opposite limb, it is usually because the sound limb has taken more weight to allow pressure relief of the affected limb.

10. A horse can look completely sound without a rider, and then almost three legged once someone is on board. Therefore if your getting a feeling that something just isn't quite right, do not just jog him up on the straight or on the lunge and assume all is well.

** Shoeing/trimming intervals should be kept as short as possible. Studies have shown that as the toe grows, the foot 'shoots' forward (long toes, low heel), putting excess strain on the flexor tendons. If your horse always looks slightly 'off' just prior to shoeing, then this is a very probable cause and it may be worth shortening your shoeing cycle.

As a horse owner, developing an eye for lameness is one of the greatest skills you can learn. This will not only allow you to have your horse treated more quickly, but will hopefully nip smaller issues in the bud before they escalate into far bigger ones.

E. J Westwood.

11/01/2021

I will be going to see this movie 110%!!!

The beloved British equestrian cartoon series is coming to the big screen as a live-action feature film

10/31/2021

Things you should know before buying a horse:

1. They will multiply. You’ll have one, then suddenly you’ll have another, and the cycle repeats itself for all of eternity. Pro tip: Some horses are the exact same color. This means those free souls who are not horse people aka husbands will not be able to tell the difference. You can have multiple horses of the same color and claim to have only one and your husband will never know.

2. You will buy specific outfits to wear around your horse. They will smell terrible. Then you will go shopping in these outfits and everyone in the grocery store will turn their noses up and avoid you. These outfits will cost more than everyone’s grocery carts combined and yet you will smell and look like a complete pauper.

3. Barn time is not like other time. You might go to the barn planning on spending an hour there, but you won’t leave until the barn feels its time for you to go. A week later you might walk out to see your husband and kids lying in the driveway waiting for dinner. There’s no telling what the barn will decide. It is its own entity. Respect it. Don’t make plans around it.

4. They wear shoes. Like human shoes, except 5x more expensive. Also, they only wear them if they want to. Some days, they’ll take their shoes off and leave them piled up in the mud. It’s impossible to find these shoes after they leave them somewhere.

5. You will be called horse girl. You can take this as you’d like to take it. Some horse girls take it poorly. Some take it well. Sometimes its an insult. Sometimes it’s a mark of respect for a human who is strong enough to keep a 1200Ib “my sole purpose is to die from stomachaches” animal alive.

6. Oh yes, stomachaches. Did we not cover stomach aches yet? My bad. Let me explain. Horses don’t like having stomach aches. When you have a stomachache, you might have a soothing drink and sit down a minute. Horses are not like you. Horses will feel slightly off anywhere in their bodies and will simply decide to give up the ghost. Everything and anything can kill a horse. If it moves, it will kill a horse. If it doesn’t move, it will kill a horse. If you’re not sure if it moves or doesn’t move, it will still kill a horse.

7. Most importantly, horses will change your life. You will cry and laugh at the same time. You will look like a total fool at a show, but you will have the time of your life doing it. You will meet people who’ve got the horse bug too and suddenly you’ll have a second family. You will ride one day and then spend four days trying to learn how to get out of your car without groaning. You will have horse cookies in your laundry and your house will smell like your best friend. You will spend every waking minute and every sleeping half second thinking about them. And, when the moon aligns with the earth just right, the tree sways in the exact manner needed, and the birds quiet for one instant, you will realize you are living inside the dream you had as a child. You will be the princess on a horse.

-- Angelina Vita

07/22/2021

Interesting read!

For those of you who are seeing red at the title of this article, let me start off by saying that if you have your horse seen by someone who professes to be an “equine chiropractor,” and if you’re happy, and if you think that your horse is better – or better yet, if your […]

07/11/2021

I swear this is every horse on our property!

01/27/2021

This is a very interesting read!!!

While most horses are capable of withstanding cold temperatures at rest, when you add exercise, their tolerance may not be as high as you’d expect.

01/27/2020

This is exactly why all our horses live outdoors, with the exception of Qwigs BUT, this is why our barn is open concept and Qwigs has a friend. All horses can interact, allogroom, stand together, and basically do everything they would outside in a heated, comfy barn with no high walls or bars, just a short wall to separate. It may not be "fancy" but all of our horses psychological health is optimal.

Good animal welfare is about more than ensuring your horse’s basic needs are being met, it should also take into consideration his psychological needs.

11/28/2019

"What About Us?"- A Tribute to the Abandoned and Neglected Horses at Auction

"What About Us?"- A Tribute to the Abandoned and Neglected Horses at Auction

Hello everyone! Here is a tribute to the abandoned horses at auction. Please do not send your horse to auction but put in some extra effort to find a good ho...

11/22/2019

Norwegian research: Stretching the top line has several positive effects

This is exactly why I designed my training aid the way I did. The top line is so important!!!

Most riders want their horse to have long, supple movements, yet it is easy to forget that learning and successful training that demand collaboration with the animal has to start with calmness and …

10/31/2019

An amazing article on why horses should not be blanketed in winter - The Soul Of A Horse Blog

I have largely stopped blanketing my horses for the reasons outlined in this article! When it's cold, they get extra hay and all have access to shelters!

This is the best, all encompassing science on why horses should not be blanketed or groomed in winter and fed free-choice grass hay 24/7. Well done! Natalija! All documented and referenced at the end. By: Natalija Aleksandrova Holistic Horse & Hoof Care In order for a mammal to survive, internal bod...

10/10/2019

Horses Can Actually Understand Your Emotions, A New Study Says

https://www.bustle.com/p/do-horses-like-humans-a-new-study-shows-that-they-understand-our-emotions-8969931?utm_term=share

If you have ever owned or spent a lot of time riding with one particular horse, chances are good that you've felt some sort of special connection with them — and wondered if horses even like humans. Maybe you've felt like they were actually your…

08/11/2019

Horses Can Actually Understand Your Emotions, A New Study Says

Horses Can Actually Understand Your Emotions, A New Study Says

If you have ever owned or spent a lot of time riding with one particular horse, chances are good that you've felt some sort of special connection with them — and wondered if horses even like humans. Maybe you've felt like they were actually your…