In Touch With Your Horse

02/06/2024

Jack taking in all the activity while out on the long lines.
Excellent training opportunity

02/06/2024

Lauren and Otis practising jumping
Both growing in confidence.
I first met Lauren when she was struggling with hacking out, especially alone.
Now they are doing pleasure rides and jumping

02/06/2024

Jane and Rolo yesterday evening
Jane confidence is improving with every session.
They are working well together build trust in each other.

02/06/2024

Donna and Peach coming along nicely
Today we progressed up to the larger arena the first time in here for Peach and she took it all in her stride.

16/05/2024

Lovely lesson with Jane and Rolo this evening
Making great progress

17/03/2024

18/02/2024

Lauren and Otis today during their session. Today we worked on contact and canter leads. Otis struggles with his right canter. Today they both did a great job.

18/02/2024

Loading session with Erin and her pony Rio today.
They had had a difficult time loading to go to a rally so asked contacted me to help.
At the start we had the partition to one side, but removed it during the session,as he was going round the side.
Erin did a great job and learnt quickly.

18/02/2024

Ellie and Skye tackling the trotting poles this morning during her lesson.
We used the shorter poles to help Ellie with accuracy.

17/02/2024

We have one stable available for mare or gelding up to 15hh

🌟Hunter House Livery Yard 🌟

🐴All year turn out (24/7 summer turn out) herds only
🐴20x40 floodlit arena (with jumps)
🐴Lunge pen
🐴On-site manger 24/7 available for all needs
🐴Shavings and Raviera for sale on-site
🐴Hay and haylage included in all livery prices
🐴Alarmed tack room & store rooms
🐴Cctv all around the yard
🐴Access straight into Wharcliffe side woods with amazing off-road hacking
🐴Large stables all rubber matts fitted
🐴Adult friendly yard
🐴Tea, coffee room with toilets

Please call Amy on 07896 246955

31/12/2023

06/12/2023

Stuck for a gift idea?
Why not buy a gift voucher 🎄🎄🎅🏻🤶🏻

16/11/2023

So, bin day is definitely not a problem. But people opening their house doors (how very dare they?!) a postman walking on scrunching gravel and a Henry hoover on the street, alllll at the same time, definitely needs work 😬
But clever little Peach soon figured out how to be calm
Me, however, not so much 😬😂
Thanks for your help today Sarah Barnes
In Touch With Your Horse

01/11/2023

*** COMPETITION TIME ***

01/10/2023

Love getting messages like this from clients.

Hello! Just taken Otis on a hack with a couple other horses..he led the way 80% of the time, no spins or anything! Was so relaxed I could actually ride on the buckle!! Had to film it to show you because couldn’t quite believe it 🙈

Honestly can’t believe the difference only two lessons have had on our confidence. Thank you so much! Xx

26/09/2023

*** FOCUS ON RUGGING ***

Continuing our focus on rugging, this figure illustrates quite nicely what happens if we "over-rug". The image shows the air temperature in blue on a fairly typical autumn day similar to those many of us are experiencing now.

The horse has a 50g turnout rug on and the horse is clipped. The morning starts cool but it warms up to between 15°C and 20°C for much of the day. We can see that the horses's surface temperature measured under the rug follows a similar pattern BUT by 11:00 in the morning the temperature under the rug is already above the horses upper limit of its thermoneutral or "comfort" zone. And it stays above the 25°C line until later afternoon when the sun starts to get lower in the sky and the temperature starts to drop.

So once again, the message ISN'T DON'T RUG, the message IS DON'T RUG TOO EARLY, DON'T RUG ACCORDING TO HOW YOU FEEL & DON'T OVER-RUG.

Your horse covered in hair, is ~7 times larger than you but only has 2-3 times more skin surface. Most heat is lost at the skin surface. Your horse loses heat much more slowly than you. They won't feel the cold when we do.

In this example, this horse would likely benefit from a 100g rug overnight but doesn't really need one during the day if it stays dry.

For more information and resources on rugging, including rug testing and rug user surveys, please check out our website https://drdavidmarlin.com/rugging-round-up/

17/09/2023

Lovely morning spent with this group of young ladies, learning how to understand their ponies.

14/09/2023

Ben showing us how he feels about the trailer now -loading. Margaret Dale

14/09/2023

Lovely ride on Coady to start the day

07/09/2023

The International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management has proclaimed September Animal Pain Awareness Month.

Horses, thanks to evolution, have become masters at concealing their discomfort and pain.

This instinctual behaviour can be traced back to when they lived in the wild, where any outward display of weakness or injury could easily become a beacon for predators.

In these environments, horses, being prey animals, were compelled by the sheer need for survival to suppress signs of vulnerability. This inherent tendency complicates matters for modern-day horse owners and trainers. Often, behaviours that stem from pain are mistakenly interpreted as willful disobedience or sheer misbehaviour, rather than legitimate distress signals.

As such, when horse handlers encounter what they perceive as problematic behaviour, it's crucial to pause and consider the underlying causes.

Instead of immediately resorting to training or discipline, one should consult with a veterinarian for a comprehensive pain assessment. This ensures that any physical discomfort or ailment is addressed appropriately and humanely.

07/09/2023

Boston taking in the traffic during his longlines this morning.

06/09/2023

Lovely ride out this morning with Samantha Hawkins

29/08/2023

Do you ride your horse in a tie down?

The next time you choose your equipment, remember this picture.
The next time you have to choose a "harsher" noseband because your horse is "running through" your current choice, remember this picture.

Consider the fact that you may be causing nerve damage.
Consider the fact that maybe your horse can't even feel their face anymore.

These are the images of a quarter horse ridden in a tie down with a wire noseband in their futurity year of barrel racing.
This horse is now 15.

Correct infrared imaging of the horse tells us more than just a story of anatomy, more than just a story of physiology.

18/08/2023

Recent studies conducted by the Institute of Heart-Math provide a clue to explain the two-way ′′healing′′ that occurs when we're close to horses.
According to researchers, the heart has an electromagnetic field larger than the brain: a magnetometer can measure the energy field of the heart that radiates from 2.4 meters to 3 meters around the human body.
While this is certainly significant, perhaps more impressive than the electromagnetic field projected by the heart of a horse is five times larger than that of a human being (imagine an electromagnetic sphere around the horse) and it can influence straight into our own heart rate.
Horses are also likely to have what science has identified as a "coherent′′ heart rate (heart rate pattern) that explains why we can feel better when we're close to them. Studies have found a coherent heart pattern or HRV to be a solid measure of well-being and consistent with emotional states of calm and joy-that is, we exhibit such patterns when we feel positive emotions.
A coherent heart pattern is indicative of a system that can recover and adapt to stressful situations very efficiently. Many times, we just need to be in the presence of horses to feel a sense of well-being and peace.
In fact, research shows that people experience many physiological benefits by interacting with horses, including lower blood pressure and heart rate, higher beta-endorphins (neurotransmitters acting as pain suppressors), decreased stress levels, decreased feelings of anger, hostility, tension and anxiety, better social working; and greater feelings of empowerment, confidence, patience and self-efficacy.

26/07/2023

Great loading session with Irene, Sue and Wizard this morning.
Wizard had become worried about loading after having to visit the vets. He had also caught his hip when leaving the trailer on one occasion.
We started with the trailer with the full partition in. Then removed the partition to give him more room.
This allowed him to explore more and make his own mind up about how he thought it was safe to go in the trailer.
The ladies have homework to be getting on with before we add the partition back in.

19/07/2023

Lunch with aka Mr Barnes

14/07/2023

Great read

Ben Nedas Chief Commercial Officer Ulcers or Hindgut Disease? Unravelling the Similarities and Differences As horse owners, we're all too familiar with ...

07/07/2023

👅 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐲𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 👅

It’s not just a bit.
It’s not just a bridle.
It’s not just a tongue sticking out the side.
It’s not just a contact evasion.
It’s not just “but they just don’t like to work in a contact”.
It’s not just “because they’re a mare”.

All of the inconsistencies or problems encountered with a contact, are all related to this very complex array of relationships between the tongue, hyoid and associated muscles.

To read more on the hyoid and it’s anatomy, and associated pathology, please have a read of my blog post here: https://vetphysiophyle.co.uk/2019/02/05/the-equine-hyoid-apparatus/.

Just a little diagram to make us think. 🧠