WREN Equestrian

03/20/2025

As many are familiar with myself and WREN, a large part of our discussion is how horses aren’t equipment. They aren’t hockey gear you wash and put away, dance shoes that neatly (or untidily) sit in their place, or any other inanimate objects used in other sports. They are your teammates, they need care, compassion, forgiveness, and MANY hours of rest.

I firmly believe in my lesson horses having excellent standards of living, and sometimes that means putting riding lessons second. Sometimes that means missing a competition, and for all my students that means learning to care for the living individual they are interacting with.

I ran a lesson program years ago, and got really burned out. My horses did too.

I did a lot of things wrong and I am trying to learn from those now -

A big part of what went wrong was not controlling the general attitude people took to riding and horses. The horses became a vehicle for people, or a tool, and as tools are used, they become used up. As horses respond to the poor feel they are offered, students describe these objections as the horses personality - “hes so stubborn, so ornery!” And so on - and this is how the cycle of poor feel, over aiding, and handling horses like a rock deepens, and continues.

Of course there will always be some “taking from” a horse we all do when learning how to post, how to steer, or how to manage problem solving issues. Mistakes will be made, horses will be bumped, thumped or accidentally pulled.

But the attitude makes up for a lot I believe. If the school insists on the general spirit being not just riding but riding even the school horse with feel, Handling the gentle horse with respect and tact, assuming nothing about their tolerance and being fair and smooth in our handling, that goes a very very long way.

Horsemanship is the art of managing the horse: from haltering to picking hooves to feeding to good riding - not just to get those tasks done, but to get them done in a way that can make a horse feel safe, feel good, feel honored. And even if an amateur makes mistakes here, the intention matters.

Slow down, pay attention, do all things with care and respect. Acknowledge your mistakes but don’t beat yourself up about them. Acknowledge when you get something right, you’ve made a horse feel better, move better, live better. That’s something to be proud of, and take back into the world away from the school.

That’s what riding schools should be teaching - and I believe if we could manage that, if we could insist on that, school horses and instructors both would last a lot longer.

Pictured is Tressa Boulden from Traditions Farm Classical Dressage explaining how to guide the horse with the whole body

03/04/2025

DON'T FORGET TO PRE REGISTER! March Madness starts Monday! Join us every Monday evening in March at 7pm PST! Register once for all 5 webinars, need to miss a week, or only interested in a few? no problem! (but we will still email you the link). These sessions are only available live at this time, so mark your calendars! This event is free for HCBC members but pre-registration is required, non-members can register for $100+tax.

Full line up and registration information available here: https://hcbc.ca/news-events/webinars/

03/03/2025

Good morning everyone!!

Whew! I am currently recovering from an intense bout of RSV (that I hope you were all fortunate enough to avoid because it was rough!), however, it appears Spring is attempting an early arrival. Though I am conscious this may be Fool’s Spring, I am also prepping for a start to restarting/reconditioning season and spring c**t starting.

Outdoor lessons will also likely be able to begin sooner than expected! I’ll be reaching out to parents/guardians soon, and feel free to inquire as well (helps keep me on track! 😆).

Later this week I’ll also have more information posted for some new offerings such as sheath cleaning and consignment sales!

Cheers!

03/03/2025

01/18/2025

A pommel dee ring allows for an easier air vest connection without a bunch of added straps and stuff on your stirrup bars.

01/17/2025

Hello again everyone, hope your 2025 is off to a great start!

Now that Chelsea is coming out of hibernation, there will be some updates posted in the coming days for events, training options, and more!

Currently, I am hoping to acquire more bookings for equine massage. I am currently still in a practicum of sorts, but for the education I do need clients and I am hoping to increase my number of clients and massages I am doing in a month!

So please reach out and let me know if you’d like some massages for your equine friends! It’s $50 per horse, and I try to time it as an 1hr or up to 1 1/2hr’s per horse. I also include some scent therapy (essential oils) for your horse. It is really fun to watch them contemplate scents! Now is also a good time to get some massage in as you’re not as busy, but with all the ice your equines are tense!

Cheers ☺️

12/21/2024

How do hay nets on round bales impact the axial skeleton of the horse?

You all asked, and we delivered with more research! And I promise it has been worth the wait!

Last week, the second portion of our study evaluating hay nets was accepted into the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, and this time we teamed up with an equine chiropractor (thanks Dr. Taylor Rieck) to evaluate changes in the axial skeleton!

Introduction: Many horse owners use hay nets. As our last study demonstrated, they have many benefits including a reduction in hay waste and management of bodyweight and body condition scores. Additionally, we were able to explore the impacts on dental health and did not have any concerns regarding soft tissue damage, tooth wear, or dental abnormalities. But that has led us to our next question, can the act of eating hay from a hay net result in changes to the axial skeleton of the horse, specifically relating to the vertebral column?

Materials and Methods: Because I want this post to be able to stand alone (and some of you may have forgotten what we did since the last research post), I will start from the beginning and I apologize for repeating myself. Thirteen mature geldings were used in this study and assigned to treatments based on weight. The study began in September 2021 and all horses received dental work and were assigned to their treatments, seven started on the no hay net control (CON) and six started on the hay net (NET) treatment and all were fed grass round bales. In September 2022, horses received dental work again and switched treatments in the cross-over design. Throughout the study, these horses lived in identical neighboring pens with shelter, ad libitum water, and free choice grass round bales with the only difference being NET horses had their round bale hay placed in hay nets with 1.75”/4.45 cm openings (graciously provided by Hay Chix) while CON horses did not.

During this study, from May through August of both years, changes in the axial skeleton were evaluated. This time frame was chosen as horses were not being worked in undergraduate courses. In May, when the semester ended, an equine chiropractor adjusted all horses to get them to a baseline. Horses were then evaluated for range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds at 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks post-chiropractic adjustment. Cervical range of motion was evaluated using neck stretches for lateral movement as well as chin-to-chest, chin-to-knees, and chin-to-fetlocks. Pain pressure threshold was evaluated at different points on the body using a pressure algometer which documented the amount of pressure applied until the horse moved away to avoid the pressure. Additionally, another chiropractic adjustment took place at 12-weeks and subluxations (misalignment of bones) were documented and rated on a 0 to 3 scale to indicate none, minor, moderate, or severe subluxations. These scores were combined for each location or vertebral region (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral).

Results: There was an average 8% increase in cervical subluxations observed in NET horses (P0.05) and sacral vertebrae were not analyzed as no subluxations were found.

Another finding was that average cervical range of motion was 5 degrees greater in NET horses compared to CON horses for chin-to-chest and chin-to-fetlock measurements (P≤0.05). No differences were observed in pain-pressure thresholds when comparing treatments (P>0.05).

While not the initial objective of the study, we also saw decreased range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds over time regardless of treatment, which suggests the benefits of chiropractic - but I will save this topic for another post when I can dive into into it deeper!

Discussion: Our main findings were a slight increase in subluxations in the neck for NET horses alongside an increase in cervical range of motion. While these findings initially appear to contradict each other, previous research in humans has found that activities which stimulate voluntary neck movements utilizing a wide range of motion and postures can recruit and strengthen cervical muscles. As a result, prehending hay from a hay net may have simulated exercises to strengthen the neck in these horses, however, these movements may have simultaneously resulted in an increase in cervical subluxations.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that hay nets do have the ability to influence the axial skeleton of the horse with minor changes. However, the researchers believe that the proven benefits of hay nets, including reduced hay waste, prolonged feeding time, and weight management, outweigh any minor changes in the axial skeleton observed in this study. Additionally, results from this study suggest regular chiropractic work can be beneficial for horses regardless of hay net use!

What Next? While this study gathered some very useful information to create a foundation of knowledge, I would love to investigate hanging net height and hole size to determine how these factors may influence the axial skeleton and time to consumption for horses in the future!

Funding: This study was funded by the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and HayChix.

I hope you find these results as fascinating as we did! There is always so much to learn!

Cheers!
Dr. DeBoer

11/26/2024

https://hcbc.ca/membership/membership-benefits/why-join-hcbc/

In January of 2025 with my new insurance coverage it will be a requirement for all activities that students have current HCBC personal liability insurance AND have signed a WREN Equestrian waiver.

Why Join HCBC? Support the Horse Industry in BC by Joining Horse Council! Horse Council BC (HCBC) is the Provincial Organization for Equestrian Sport & Recreation in the province. HCBC also represents the interests of the equine industry in all sectors throughout British Columbia and connects and st...

11/24/2024

This is a last call for anyone interested in riding lessons in an indoor arena into December for their children.

I need a minimum of 4 students, and current days possible are Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe Friday (or Saturday depending). This would continue until roughly the 20th of December, if anyone is interested please get in touch.

Typically with the indoor it is fairly warm, but -12 is usually the cutoff for myself for getting too cold and of course inclement winter weather. However, so far this has not been a problem.

Otherwise for anyone interested, I’ll be looking at beginning lessons again in March 2025.

Cheers! ☺️

11/24/2024

‘Tis the season 🤣

11/24/2024

🎉 Join us for the Annual Second Chance Cheekye Ranch 12 Days of Giving Online Silent Auction!

It is time to make your account on 32 Auctions!!

🐴 Bid on beautiful products from local vendors to support our rescue horses throughout the winter.

Create your account at https://www.32auctions.com/SCCR12daysofgiving2024 and start bidding December 1st at 8am until 8pm on December 12th.

Thank you for your support!