2 Hearts Horsemanship

2 Hearts Horsemanship My sister and I work with horses all over alberta. We teach horses how to be our life partners, through trust and patients be build that bond.

This is our passion not a hobby.

04/08/2023

Spring is here. Time to saddle up and go for rides or get ready for the season of horses.
If anyone needing a hand with their horses just msg us!

05/19/2022

Little Frost needs a new home. She has processed well and almost considered broke. Has had feet done, saddle on, lunges well, has had weight on her back. She can go in any direction you take her. Very sweet little horse

Ok everyone I have a fun guessing game to play. What color is this horse? 🤔 Let's see who gets this right
05/07/2022

Ok everyone I have a fun guessing game to play.

What color is this horse? 🤔
Let's see who gets this right

04/18/2022

Boots and bandages - are we harming our horses as we try to protect them?

Bandaging and booting our horses is becoming more and more popular, especially with the popularity of matchy matchy sets. But are we doing more harm than good? Most people will have come across the articles in magazines and comments from vets saying they are, and yet still they become more and more popular. Why is that? Why do riders still cover their horses in thick fleece bandages or fluffy boots despite the dangers? Tradition I suppose. Wanting to fit in. Or just habit, some will feel like they haven’t finished tacking up if they haven’t put the boots on.

I know this isn’t about dentistry (for which I apologise) but I am a vet first and foremost, and as a dressage rider I am asked why I don’t use bandages all the time. I’ve written about this several times now and no one pays attention, so rather than stating facts and quoting research, I’d like to take you through my journey of discovery, please bear with me. Facts and papers are at the end.

Rewind 12 years and I was in my final year at vet school. Prior to and during vet school I had a horse and we did dressage. I had planned to ODE but this horse pulled every tendon and ligament known to vet kind. He spent more time out of work than in. Each time I would up my game with the latest boots/bandages on the market. From fluffy boots to wraps to sports fetlock boots, fleece bandages to gamgee and cotton to the half fleece/half elastic bandages. I learnt new techniques for better support, figure of 8 bandaging to cradle the fetlock etc etc. I’d been there and done it. My collection was extensive.

Right at the end of vet school I had my rotations. I chose Equine lameness as one of my options. During in this I very vividly remember a wet lab with Dr Renate Weller where she had a skinned horses leg (showing all of the tendons and ligaments) in a machine that mimicked the pressures a horse applies to their limbs. She took us through walk, trot, canter and gallop, loading this leg so we could see the inside workings of the horses leg without the skin. It was fascinating I can tell you, and I very clearly remember thinking about my horse and wondering how on earth we are suppose to support this limb when it undergoes these incredible forces! Half a ton of animal pushing down a tiny spindle of a leg held by tendons barely thicker than my thumb. Craziness!

Fast forward just a few short months and I was a fully qualified vet in the big wide world. I attended my first BEVA Congress and during the break I wandered around the stalls looking at the latest inventions and technologies companies bring to these gatherings. Here I came across a company with the Equestride Boot which caught my eye. Now if you haven’t seen this boot, it’s wonderful and I’ve since used it a few times in rehabbing very severe tendon and ligament injuries with great success. The boot is a carbon fibre boot that stops the fetlock dropping, which stops the tendons and ligaments being fully loaded while they heal. This boot is super strong. You couldn’t ride a horse in it as it is limiting the range of motion so much, but they can move about easily enough at the lower settings to rehab etc. The guy on the stand (I’m afraid I can’t remember his name) showed me their research and in the straight talking Irish way explained the stupidity of expecting a thin piece of material to support a horse. And of course it can’t! Literally no bandage or boot (short of this very expensive carbon fibre rehab boot) is capable of reducing the amount the fetlock drops. Thinking back to Dr Weller’s demonstration, I could very clearly see how ridiculous I had been to ever believe a scrap of material could do anything to reduce or support that pressure.

But the boots/bandages don’t actually cause any harm do they? Surely it’s ok to use them on the off chance they might help and if we look good in the meantime, great! Well, not long after this, research started appearing that got me very worried about my bandage collection. Heat. Anyone that uses bandages and boots will not be surprised to see sweat marks under their bandages/boots after they’ve been removed. They trap a lot of heat. The horses body and legs generate a lot of heat when working. The tendons/ligaments in the leg, along with an increased blood flow generate ALOT of heat. Fleece bandages/boots in particular, hold this heat in the horses leg. Very few boots and virtually no bandages (especially if you use a pad under) allow the legs to breath adequately. This heat is easily enough to kill tendon/ligament cells. Each tendon/ligament is made of thousands and thousands of cells all lined up end on end and side by side in long thin spindles. They stretch and return to their original shape and size like an elastic band, absorbing and redistributing the pressures applied from further up the leg and from the ground impact below. All of these cells must work together as one to do this effectively.

Just a little side step here to explain how tendons/ligaments heal. A tendon/ligament cell can not be replaced like for like. They always heal with scar tissue. This is why reinjury is so much more likely if a tendon/ligament is blown. The fibrous scar tissue doesn’t stretch, it isn’t capable of stretching or absorbing the impact of a horses movement. It will always be a weak spot. In a full blown sprain/strain the whole (or most) of the tendon has been damaged. But this heat injury might just kill a few cells at a time. Those few cells are replaced by fibrous scar tissue, then next time a few more etc etc. Like a rubber band degrading over time the tendon/ligament loses its elasticity and eventually goes snap. Then you’ve fully blown a tendon/ligament. The injury didn’t start to happen at that moment, but that was the final straw. The damage adds up over time, each time thermal necrosis (vet word for cell death) occurs.

So if using boots/bandages can not offer any sort of support, and using them generates heat that slowly damages the tendons/ligaments until they give way. Why use them? Protection. This is the only reason to use boots. To stop the horse brushing, injuring themselves catching a pole or over cross country. But for goodness sake make sure your boots are breathable! If the horse is sweaty under the boot but not above or below, the boot is not breathable enough. And don’t use fleece bandages just because you like the colour. These fleece bandages are the worst at holding heat in the leg, way above the threshold for thermal necrosis to the cells of the tendons and ligaments. If your horse doesn’t need protection, don’t use boots. I haven’t for the last 12 years and *touch wood* I haven’t had a single tendon/ligament injury in any of my horses. I will never go back to boots or especially bandages now. I don’t use them for schooling, lunging, jumping, travelling, turnout, stable, in fact I don’t use them at all. Ever. But I don’t hunt or XC.

I hope you have found my story useful and can make informed decisions on boots and bandaging going forward.

For more information on the Equestride boot and their research into support offered by boots and bandages, visit http://www.equestride.com/ and https://www.equinetendon.com/services/equestride/

The horses leg under the compression machine at the Irish Equine rehabilitation and fitness centre https://fb.watch/cmVMt6-iOJ/ (I highly recommend you watch this incredible video. It clearly shows the amount of force the leg goes through and demonstrates the real purpose of boots)

Other relevant papers-
https://equimanagement.com/.amp/articles/horse-skin-temperature-under-boots-after-exercise
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8f15/0ea480edca142260d01f419f80d2e7e7fb29.pdf
http://www.asbweb.org/conferences/1990s/1998/59/index.html

Edit 1 - I am getting asked about stable wraps very frequently. This post is about riding, the tendons and blood flow create heat which is trapped by bandages/boots during exercise. This doesn’t occur in the stable stood still. If the horse has a strain/sprain resulting in inflammation, then there is an increase in blood flow and there is heat being created. In this situation you should not be bandaging. But if it’s cold and an old horse needs stable wraps to keep the joints warm and improve sluggish blood flow (filled legs) you can use the heat trapping to your advantage. But you need to be careful in summer.

Edit 2 - the other thing I’m being asked about is compression. Compression DOES NOT control inflammation. The inflammation still occurs, but the swelling can not escape the bandages and the increase in internal pressure reduces blood flow, causing ischemic damage. Like laminitis within the hoof. The hoof capsule prevents swelling so the inflammation expands inwards and cuts off the blood supply. This is why laminitis is so painful and difficult to treat. Compression is only useful in the case of leaky vessels, for example reduced blood pressure, reduced movement so the blood isn’t being pumped backup the legs, or osmotic imbalances eg low protein with diarrhoea. In these situations, compression of the legs can encourage blood to return to the vessels and continue circulating.

04/18/2022
Have to say I love training babies! We had a play day on our obstacle course. Start everything young to build there conf...
04/05/2022

Have to say I love training babies! We had a play day on our obstacle course. Start everything young to build there confidence and have fun with them learning.

As everyone knows, my sister and I have been busy setting up this page and training horses. So I will update everyone he...
03/20/2022

As everyone knows, my sister and I have been busy setting up this page and training horses. So I will update everyone here from the Olds location. I have 2 stud c**t yearlings. One was born on the farm and handled since birth, and the other one I just rehomed. It's so fun to work with both of them and see the difference from handled since birth and untouched. Both are quiet and willing to learn and totally different personalities.

Buddy is the foal born on the farm, halter broke a month old, exposed the human touch everyday and hours of scratches all over. And well I am not gonna lie thousands of kisses and snuggles ( how can you not). So by halter breaking young we taught him to respect human space, and the lead rope. 5 mins a day goes a long way. And makes them understand we don't want to harm them at that age because a foal is very reactive. Remember we are there partner not there boss we leave that to momma. So from just these little things we start as a foal to build that trust we start a foundation to a bond. Buddy has learned to be trimmed, brushed, stand tied, load into a trailer, and that we love him and he can trust us when we ask for new commands. What a great positive start to life. No bad habits formed, no bad behavior, and no fear or abuse.

Pretzel on the other hand has a different start to life. Born in a field, left with mom, separated in a scared frantic state of emotions and ran down an alley and onto a trailer and taken to his next home. Now a halter was forced onto his face in a tight space in a trailer, never been around a human sounds a bit scary for first human interaction. Not sure how the last home halter broke him but I know it was only once before he got here. Once here I had him in a small outdoor stall where I would walk by everyday and talk to him, feed him, water him. Basice human interactions. He was so amazing and calm yet but nervous. But wanting to learn who I was. Gave him time to settle and understand me. So we started off small feeding and smelling my hands to touching his nose and face. We built that trust up so fast all he wants is a partner. With small steps and time I am his leader who he turns to for guidance. So I've been working with the halter slowly he understands pressure. So now everyday we just go for walks and check things out ( chickens, kids, dogs,ect..) and stop for some love. It's amazing how far soft hands and patience will take you. He may have had a different start in life but he sure has excepted the human as a positive partner. Even tho it's been a few days working with him I can lead him all over the farm, a few starter obstacles, groom him all over, were starting to pick up his feet, stands tied, and loves to spend time with my 3 year old son. I am very happy with who he is becoming. Just a beautiful calm mellow easy going boy.

Now this is neat to see.
02/17/2022

Now this is neat to see.

Wanted to post on our page a progress on the go. River, an appaloosa filly was bought, and was not handled at all. Not h...
01/30/2022

Wanted to post on our page a progress on the go. River, an appaloosa filly was bought, and was not handled at all. Not halter broke, not lead at all, not trailered. So upon buying her, all in one day, this filly at this time was 8 months old, endured ppl touching her. Humans to her were strange and scary. Upon arriving at her new home, it took a few more weeks in order for her to trust humans. It took another hand to get her to that point of allowing us to lead her and halter her. But she got there.

Now, River is that horse thst enjoys your touches and is pretty easy going with things.
River will be two in May and she's already been introduced to a saddle, a bridle and has been able to accept someone being above her and on her.
Time, patience and consistency.

01/25/2022
01/25/2022
01/24/2022
01/24/2022
01/24/2022

Welcome everybody to our new page! My sister and I are very excited to share are passion of horses with you!

Please bear with us as we set up the page, clothing line, and website.

Address

Olds, AB

Telephone

+14035984021

Website

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