Equine Head to Tail by Billie Morris

14/11/2024

With the temperature dropping, old horses and ponies along with a lot of thoroughbreds will be dropping their weight.

To help them to keep their weight, it’s important to keep them warm and try to feed more than once or twice a day. Their bodies cannot absorb huge feeds in one go.

Smartie would often get three to four smaller feeds in order to help keep her looking her best. I know not everyone can get to their horses this amount of times in a day, but maybe you can team up with other people on your yard and help each other and your horses.

Smartie at 33 👇❤️🐎

05/11/2024

Ligaments and Tendons.

Ligaments are connective tissue.

They connect bone to bone - therefore stabilising the skeleton both at rest and in exercise.

Ligaments are mainly made up of collagen with elastic fibres to allow the ligaments to give a little. This is Type I.

When a ligament is overstretched either through strain, tiredness or injury it takes a long time to heal properly. There are no blood vessels running through to help with the healing. And the ligament may never fully recover its original range of movement.

Tendons connect muscle to bone again they are made up of collagen and elastin, but in order for healthy tendons to stretch a little like ligaments, they are made up of Type I collagen which contains more elastin.

After injury, the tissue is repaired with Type III collagen. This is less resistant to repeated damage. Type I is made up of straight lines, whilst Type III is put down rather haphazardly to help heal an injured tendon or ligament. If the horse is not allowed to recover properly the chances are that the horse will be injured again.

Over time the Type III collagen will be replaced by Type I but the horse needs slow methodical exercise once he is sound in walk. This is in order for the ligaments and tendons to realign correctly.

Type II collagen is what cartilages are mainly made up of. They cushion the ends of the bones that come together.

A regular stretching program can help reduce injuries by keeping joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles in the legs, neck and body flexible.

01/11/2024

People looking for a farrier in the Powys area.
Sam shod my mare Smartie whilst she was in Lambourn.

Welcome to Samuel Towell Farrier Services

I am a farrier based in Llanidloes, Powys

With over 14 years of experience we offer a wide range of services from:
•barefoot trimming
•shoeing
•hoof boot fittings
•remedial shoeing and consultations

To get in contact see Email on the profile page

31/10/2024

Connective Tissue.

You hear all the time that everything in the body is connected, be it in humans, equines or any other animals.

Connective tissues are ligaments, connecting bone to bone, tendons connecting muscles to bone and then there is fascia.

Fascia is a white fibrous tissue which is made up of elastin, collagen and a ground fluid substance which holds the fascia together. It is extremely strong, being able to withstand huge amounts of pressure per square inch.

Fascia is wrapped round the body inbetween the skin, skeleton and muscles. This fascia is called the Superficial Fascia.

Fascia which is wrapped individually round each muscle, bone, organ, blood vessel, tendon, ligament and nerve is called Viscerial Fascia.

Fascia which lines cavities in the body like the pelvic area is known as the Parietal Fascia.

Fascia is there to protect the body, but it can become tight due to injury, scar tissue (it can stick to other parts next to it) repeated exercise when the body hasn’t been able to rest properly, ill fitting tack, saddles and girths especially.

Tight fascia can reduce movement and become uncomfortable for the horse or anyone else.

Massage can help detect and loosen not only tight, sore muscles but fascia as well.

Stretching also helps.

There is so much amazing stuff going on under the skin.

18/10/2024

15/10/2024

Benefits of Rein Backs.

There are many benefits of asking a horse to back up. It can be done in hand or whilst someone is onboard.

The easiest way is from the ground. Asking the horse to move away from you via some pressure to the front of the chest, it reminds the horse of his manners in a stable for instance, to move away from the door. It is also a good way to help build stability and strength when a horse cannot be ridden for a reason. But always check with your vet.
Backing up, turning small circles and walking over raised ground poles will help engage the core and hind leg muscles.

Asking for a couple of steps backwards whilst riding helps to rebalance a horse, especially if he is on the forehand. Again, it engages the hocks and hindquarters so that the horse is pushing himself along rather than pulling himself.

As soon as the horse has stepped back a couple of paces ask him to move forward straight away. You should feel that the horse has come up in front of you, he is lighter in the hand and he will be more responsive to the aids.

I used rein back on Smartie during our schooling sessions. I would then send her straight into canter from the rein back. It set her up nicely for collected canter. She could be quite busy. After she was retired, I continued to use back up to help keep her core strength and muscles toned.

05/10/2024

Leading on from my last post. This could be an excellent place to gain extra knowledge.

04/10/2024

I’m seeing quite a few posts from people who are advertising their services as riders and or selling young inexperienced horses and ex racehorses off the track.

Retraining an ex racehorse takes time, patience and experience. From what I have read lately a lot of these horses have come straight out of training to be picked up cheaply by inexperienced people, who know next to nothing about how a racehorse is actually trained. They are clearly just wanting to make a quick buck and sod the consequences for the horse and the potential buyer.

This also goes for the young horse or pony that needs careful handling to produce a calm, confident animal. Again these horses and ponies have been picked up cheaply to sell on quickly. There appears to be no idea that horses and ponies need to be given time to understand what is being asked of them and to get used to having a rider on their back, probably for the first time.

In these riders quest to get people interested in buying these horses, there are pictures of young underdeveloped horses jumping fences that are a) too high and b) shouldn’t be jumping anything anyway. Then there is the comment saying that the horse in question is still getting used to being handled!! I mean really???

Then you come to the actual experience of the rider. Some people are excellent riders and are willing to learn and adapt to the horse they are training. But a lot of what I read are young inexperienced riders who still have so much more to learn. A clue here is that you never stop learning. I know I certainly haven’t.

Maybe some of these experienced riders should spend a season working in a race yard, they will learn the ethics of work riding and learn to ride the proper quirky horses that are looking for an excuse to bury you. That is not just staying on, but actually riding the horse through it. Learning what makes that horse tick.

Personally, I knew at the time when I was younger that I couldn’t just ride anything. It took years of riding every horse that was in the yards I was working in at the time and yes I was run off with and I was dumped at times. it’s all part of the learning curve.

Any decent rider will tell you that.

Also I’ll add that when you pass your exams for equine massage therapy, that is just the start of learning about the horses body. Maybe riders should adopt that idea.

Hopefully this post will encourage people to be patient, learn to put the horse first and gain proper experience.

01/10/2024

There are a lot of different ways to improve your horses wellbeing. It can be confusing to pick the right one for your horse.

Some horses respond better to massage, some to stretching, some to a chiropractor, some to an osteopath, some to acupuncture the list goes on.

Watch your horse whilst he is being treated and also in the days after. He will tell you if he is happy and responding to the treatment.

Give your horse the opportunity to pick the right treatment for him, not you.

And if machines are used, please make sure that they are used correctly and by someone who understands the effects of them. Otherwise they can become instruments of torture.

01/10/2024

This👇

The gimmicks and all the other rubbish that is out there are certainly not for the horses welfare, only for the manufacturers pockets.

Please do not stick your horse's in a freezer they will just get cold
A little tip for horse owners most machines, gadgets and cure all things often have no evidence supporting the claims and the bigger the list of ailments it can cure the less likely it does any of those things

Most gadgets are sold to us by companies who will sell to anyone with a big enough bank balance the more we use machines the less feel whats going on in the body
Most machines that are researched well will have a very fine line between help and harm its why alot are only used by qualified professionals who can use their anatomical and physiological knowledge to stay on the right side of that thin line

Shivering horses does not help horses or simply remove your horse's rug when they get cold and viola you have saved a boat load of money

The reason why I do not use machines is simply I feel i am not qualified enough for the ones that are effective yet I could be sold a thousand times over a billion different ones that may cause harm so I would never take the risk

Look at the simple TENS machine now at a certain level it is a pain relief yet at another level it will cause pain the only thing that stops either one is a simple turn of the dial and the knowledge of the person using it

If the company is willing to sell a product to someone who holds no qualification working with the horse then questions should be asked

Owners please do research before believing what you are told xx

Often claims of in three weeks after so many sessions the horse began to heal, just ask yourself wouldn't the horse began healing naturally and in some cases speeding up healing can often have long term negative consequences remember its not how fast its how well the body recovers

I get emails every week trying to sell me something and remember the price of the session does not always reflect quality often you are simply paying off that therapist expensive machine and if your session only consists of a machine placed in one area of your horse then how can whole horse therapy be addressed

24/09/2024

Do you look at your horses hoof prints after your horse has been lunged?

Your horse may look like he is tracking up, his steps are even and in a rhythm, but looking at his tracks on the ground can tell you a whole different story.

Another thing you can do, is to get someone else to lunge your horse and for you to just watch his way of going on a lunge, watch HOW his feet hit the ground. Do this from the front and from behind.

Then reassess how your horse is actually working.

14/09/2024

This says it all. 👇

The two pictured dressage riders demonstrate the one of the most egregious" changes in dressage over the past several decades. The left rider is balanced in shared unity of motion with his horse. His saddle is minimal and does not aid or restrict his position. By contrast, the modern dressage rider is leaning back with the help of a saddle with a high cantle and huge thigh blocks or knee rolls that allow her to lean back and use her body weight to increase her ability to apply greater rein pressure.

The visual difference between the riders is inescapable. One rider is relaxed and balanced while the other is unbalanced, "water skiing" off their horse's mouth with the help of a saddle that contains her imbalance. One rider works with their horse's energy while the other opposes their horse's energy with significant force.

Centuries old horsemanship is the distillation of the experience of thousands of riders with countless horses over centuries. This leaning back to enable riders to use their body weight to apply greater force to control their horses is not new. Because it is wrong, as evidenced by blue tongues and blood from horses' mouths, and because it is counter to true unity with one's horse, there has been a long standing rule of horsemanship to stop it. That rule states that riders should not be allowed to lean back more than 5 degrees behind vertical.

In our new commercial era of modern riding, each discipline has more or less created their own separate "horsemanship" with their own set of rules and standards. Many of these separate "horsemanships" have subordinated the protection of the horse in favor of fulfilling the expectations and desires of the riders. In this case of excessive rein pressure, abandoning the 5 degree rule gave modern dressage riders permission to use more physical force to impose on horses at the horse's expense and to their detriment.

Furthermore, abandonment of the 5 degree rule has required external supports in saddle design to deal with the rider's intentional imbalance when leaning back 10, 15 or even 20 degrees. Without the high cantles and giant thigh blocks, a rider leaning back past 5 degrees would likely fall off their horse.

This is one more example of how today's flawed riding that undermines the wellbeing of horses can be fixed. There is no need to ban certain bits and equipment. The need is to improve riding to the level that it is no longer destructive to horses.

If the 5 degree rule were to be reintroduced, riders would once again be required to ride in unified balance with and motion with their horses. This single change would greatly reduce the current level of excessive force applied to horses by simply making it much more difficult to develop the greater force levels that now cause the blood, blue tongues and the destructive hyperflexion.

A big part of these kinds of problems is that the well meaning advocates for the protection of horses are not educated enough to address the causes. Instead they address the symptoms related to equipment. Improved horsemanship is always the answer, and we have largely forgotten this.

27/08/2024

I trained to be a bit fitter to work alongside the equine massage of which I gained a distinction mark in my course, practical work and exams.

I was convinced that what was going in a horses mouth and on his head was creating a vicious circle of pain in many cases, and certainly misunderstanding of both horse and rider.

I wanted to know more on the conformation of the mouth and how different bits affected the horse, both good and bad. I have mainly ridden in snaffles and have found them to be mostly suitable. There are always the exceptions, when you the rider feel that putting the kitchen sink in a mouth of a certain horse ‘might’ make it go better. We have all been there. Frustrated not to be able to find the key to a particular horse.

What I have found is that horses like to be able to move their tongues, restrict the tongue, you are restricting the Hyoid and the tissues attached to that. This in turn affects the neck muscles, then the back and then the quarters. Absolutely everything is connected. The knock on effect is immense.

I know times are tough for horse owners but a regular dental check up is worth its weight in gold. It minimises sharp edges on teeth and other problems that may be brewing. Your bit and bridle may be great for your horse but if the dentals are neglected, you may as well not bother.

My personal favourite bits that I have found to be suitable for a lot of horses are hanging cheeks, they reduce the weight in a mouth therefore reducing head twitching. Some horses don’t like the weight on the tongue and bars of the mouth. I like shaped snaffles that lay along the tongue allowing it to move.

You don’t have to spend huge amounts on the correct bit for your horse, there are plenty of places that allow you to try before you buy.
With the more expensive bits, you are paying for the metals that go into making the bit. They tend to be a warmer metal than stainless steel. Making them more acceptable to some horses.

As with all jointed bits, be it a single link or double jointed with a plate, pea or roller always double check the length of the mouth piece. Make sure they are the same length on both sides. You would be surprised how many aren’t. That could be why your horse carries his head to one side.

22/08/2024

This is probably going to sound a bit ridiculous coming from someone who rode mainly in horse racing and her own horse in a full tree race saddle but…….

Since when did the comfort of the horse come so far down the line with tack? I am talking about the monoflap saddles. I have ridden in them and they don’t feel any different to me than a saddle which has two flaps. But then again I don’t ride with my knees clamped to the horse. Maybe that is why the monoflap is the go to saddle at the mo for a lot of riders. I may have answered my own question there.

The best bit of a traditional two flap saddle is that you can tighten the girth as required once on board. Therefore eliminating the need to be a contortionist if you need to tighten the girth or look for someone to tighten it for you. I also like to let the girth down a hole on the way back from exercise to help the horse relax.

It’s not rocket science that doing the girth up tight before you get on is increasing the chances of girth pinches and pinches inbetween the girth straps which come down from the saddle. Take a look at some photos of chunky horses being ridden in a monoflap and look at the flesh bulging inbetween the straps. Then the buckles of the girth itself tend to get in the way of the elbow as the foreleg comes back.

The amount of posts you see from very capable riders wondering why their horses are shortening their stride and in some cases bunny-hopping is unbelievable. There is a chunk of metal right behind the elbow, therefore the horse can’t physically achieve his true stride.

Too tight girths result in girthiness, damaged nerves, pectoral muscles, bruises and girthgalls. Don’t forget that the rib cage needs to expand a little for the horse to be able to breathe. He can’t do that if he’s being cut in half.

All the stretching exercises and various therapeutic treatments will not help if a horse is continually over-girthed.

I wonder how many riders have been chucked off whist mounting due to the horse being pinched and him saying ouch! No way!