Equine Nutrition Australasia (ENA)

30/12/2024

The perfect balance in Oil for horses ? The results are amazing to watch unfold - The science gives us so many positives - CAMELINA OIL - Not just a coat & calories additive but a health supplement in so many ways for your horse. Available from Mitavite Asia (MA) in Malaysia 🇲🇾

29/12/2024

Rudy Horsemanship Thanks

29/12/2024

LaBarre Training Center Thanks

29/12/2024

LS Horsemanship Thanks

We need to stop ignoring our horses 🐴

We are constantly looking for fixes for our horse’s behaviour. And there are plenty of people happy to sell it to you.

How do I get my horse to stand at the mounting block?
How do I get my horse to stop biting when I groom her?
How do I get my horse to stop sn**ching the reins when I’m riding?

Often the advice given is to make it horrible for the horse to continue this behaviour, although it is usually wrapped up in a nice-sounding narrative about connection and trust or something or other. When we really break it down the training is actually just “hassle the horse until he does what you want, repeat until he stops trying to protest”.

I meet people who are so confused, because they’re trying their best to listen to their horse, but they’re being given conflicting information. They tell me their horse bites when they’re grooming them, but they don’t stop immediately because someone told them they’d be teaching the horse that biting gets them to stop. Biting should get you to stop, that’s a really big communication that the horse is unhappy with what you’re doing.

Every behaviour has an underlying cause, and ignoring that communication is not going to build a trusting relationship. It can build a compliant one where the horse behaves as you desire sure, but the horse is going to view you as someone who doesn’t listen and someone they cannot feel safe around.

If we take our earlier examples, mounting issues are almost always pain/discomfort or anxiety issues, adding pressure until they stand is not going to address any of this. We need to look way deeper.

Horses who bite when you groom them again usually have pain/discomfort issues or really negative associations with being groomed. Punishing that communication by continuing to groom until they quit protesting is not going to address any of that.

Horses who sn**ch the reins are trying to relieve discomfort. You can imagine how it would feel to sn**ch on something with metal in your mouth, if your horse is doing this he is not doing it for fun. He is uncomfortable whether that be from fatigue, discomfort or just inappropriate riding and training. If we fight with the horse until he stops resisting, we are again shutting down his communication and teaching him we do not listen. That horse is not going to have positive associations with being ridden.

We need to start looking at things differently if we genuinely want a good relationship with our horses, not just one that we feel good about while our horse just puts up with it.

I’m going to write some more in depth posts on specific issues otherwise this one will get way too long.

Instead of asking “how?” we need to start asking “why?”🐴

www.lshorsemanship.co.uk

www.patreon.com/lshorsemanship

29/12/2024

Equine Veterinarians Australia 🇦🇺
Thanks
Be Prepared
Have a Plan

29/12/2024

EquiManagement Thanks

As antimicrobial resistance spreads, infectious disease management in horses will require adopting strategies to mitigate the indiscriminate use of antibiotics.

29/12/2024

Equus Magazine Thanks

If an acute heaves episode occurs, call the veterinarian and then do these three things to help your horse. >>>https://bit.ly/EQHeavesHelp

29/12/2024

Thanks to Milestone Equestrian & Shelby Dennis

29/12/2024

David Landreville- On the Vertical
Thanks

Perception Deception

To me, hoof form and function are inseparable. You simply can't improve one without improving the other. I disagree with the thought that function takes priority because I realize this is based on the human's interpretation of soundness and horses are masters of deception in that respect. It's an evolutionary skill developed by prey animals. Assessing soundness is akin to gambling at horse races...there are very few people who make a good living at it. Not to mention, how many horses win with hooves held together with screws and piano wire? Personally, I bet on form. In my own experience good function follows good form and vice versa but in most domestic horse situations there is not nearly enough room or reason for a horse to walk himself into high functioning feet. They almost always have to settle for what some human considers to be good enough and humans are masters of perception, meaning every human has their own individual belief system. I googled equine frog anatomy and among the myriad of images I compiled these nine. Most of them were very vague. The bottom two on the right look the most like what I see on a day to day basis once the foot is starting to take proper form. I don't recollect ever seeing similarly shaped frogs on unsound feet.

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(David Landreville,

29/12/2024

Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria Thanks

29/12/2024

LS Horsemanship Thanks

Advocating for your horse 🐴

Your horse cannot advocate for themselves, they have to live in our world and rely on us to care for them.

Unfortunately in the horse industry pain/stress behaviours are normalised and seen as quirks/personality/behavioural problems. Many horses are managed in a way that is so far removed from their basic needs that we are used to seeing incredibly stressed and compromised horses, it has become the norm. Behaviour we should find alarming isn’t even noticed. People are taught to ignore the horse’s subtle communication and then when they shout louder it is seen as a problem behaviour that needs to be fixed.

The problem is the people who we’re told to look up to are still singing off their old hymn sheet. When you’re new to horses you’re supposed to be able to trust the yard owner who’s had a BHS approved livery yard for 40 years, or the natural horsemanship trainer everyone says saves horses lives or the eventer who’s competed at 4*. Surely all of these people understand horse behaviour, know how to give horses a species-appropriate lifestyle, can recognise signs of stress and train in the most ethical way possible right? That should be the case, but most of the time it just isn’t.

I remember being a horse-obsessed child at the riding school and being told to smack and shout at ponies who were nipping at me when being tacked up, “show them who’s boss.” These ponies stood all day tied up in stalls with no food, unable to turn around or see their friends, this was a BHS approved yard to the highest standard, as a ten year old child this was my introduction to horses and who was I to question these qualified professionals? I was told that horses were lazy, grumpy, naughty, bad-tempered, “just trying to get out of work”, cheeky, stupid etc. I’m sure we all have similar stories.

I remember handing my horse over to a trainer I looked up to and watching them continuously trot my horse on a small circle for 45 minutes to “soften them” and thinking, well it must be okay, they’re a top trainer and they seem confident and now the horse is looking softer.

I remember the exact moment the rose-tinted glasses really started to crack for me. I was doing a jumping exercise I had been given in a lesson on my horse Dan to make him more careful, it consisted of essentially setting him up to crash through a fence until it sharpened him up. I felt so uncomfortable about it but it took him crashing through it and falling to his knees twice for it to actually get through to me. I turned to my friend and just said I wasn’t going to jump him any more and I was worried he was going to get hurt. This was of course framed as me just being a nervous rider, but it was a pivotal moment for me.

I then pretty much quit horses and worked in London for 5 years while my horses were turned away and I went for the odd hack on my days off. I think being out of the industry completely made it much easier for me to have an open mind when I came back. I started learning about all of this stuff I’d never heard of like behavioural science, posture, pain ethograms and positive reinforcement training, all things I didn’t have a clue about despite working professionally in the industry on many different yards for a decade.

New horse owners are some of my favourite clients, they are fresh, they are excited to learn and they are yet to be indoctrinated into the stifling and unhelpful conditioning most of us have been through in the horse industry. I have come to the uncomfortable realisation that most professionals, whether they’re aware of it or not, are operating through a lens of how to make the horse comply so we can use them, rather than understanding the whole horse, what they need and what their body needs.

If all you see day in day out are horses with compromised posture being ridden into tight contacts, you’re going to think that’s what horses are supposed to look like. If all you see are horses living in less than ideal environments showing “bad” behaviour, you’re going to think that’s just how horses behave, you have nothing to compare it to so why would you blame the environment?

I suppose the point of this post is to give people who are doubting themselves the boost to continue speaking up for their horses. The amount of people I meet who have been belittled by vets, farriers, trimmers, bodyworkers, trainers and the yard expert when trying to do better for their horse makes me really cross.

It doesn’t matter if someone is “more experienced” than you. Experienced in what? Keeping horses in really stressful living situations for decades? Making horses do stuff despite their protests? Ignoring a horse’s communication of discomfort?

You are ultimately the only person who can really advocate for your horse. It doesn’t matter if you just met a horse for the first time yesterday, he is relying on you and if it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t. There are lots of horse-centred professionals out there now, you may just have to sift through a bit. My inbox is always open if you’re struggling for support. 🐴

www.lshorsemanship.co.uk

www.patreon.com/lshorsemanship

29/12/2024

Tamarack Hill Farm Thanks

29/12/2024

Equine Bodyworks by Mary Sargeant Thanks

I have seen worse 🤔

I am going to say, don't say it ahh f**k it I am saying it.
I am out in the real world working with horses everyday and there seems to be a wide chasm between professionals who sit on social media telling you facts and figures, reeling off study after study, research papers and clinical studies but are not actually either qualified in anything or do not go out into the real world and look at horses everyday they have tunnel vision in their mission and will steer every bit of scoured evidence to prove that their theory is the right one and shout bully to anyone who sits scratching their head saying well that doesn't look right.

They often share horrendous videos of basic animal abuse yet because their focus is often on a body part rather than viewing the whole horse the answer comes back well I have seen worse

Seeing worse is not a get out clause for us to show less bad, because if we share it we are validating it, if we share and put our stamp of approval on it then we are telling others it's OK to do something bad to the horse to achieve an end goal

The inexperience of horsemanship shows because they never look at the horse, and out in the real world we have to always work with the horse because its not fair for the horse if we don't, could be dangerous and we want to be able to do something more than once.

You can be knowledgeable about the horse yet a novice at horsemanship and for me it can be a recipe for disaster for someone who puts things to paper but never to action could land you and your horse in a situation that often you can't take back.

We forget most owners looking for answers are so because something is not right with their horse, pain skews behaviour and also results. The research paper done on a warm blood in a controlled enviroment may be world's apart from the horse in pain from a different breed, enviroment and situation so it's a given the answers for your horse has to be as varied as the individual horses circumstances.

Often those in the real world have limited answers to your question or worse we tell you the reality, yet often the popular will tell you to rasp a tooth, trim a foot, press in one area and viola the world will be a 🌈 once again, yet often you will be back searching for another answer because what happens on paper often does not translate to the live animal.

I mean I could go and Google how to perform heart surgery but it doesn't make me a surgeon and the only way we know who is working with our horses is just to fact check the claims because if you have worked hard to achieve them you will not hide the educational and experience trail you leave behind

29/12/2024

David Landreville- On the Vertical Thanks

Trimming the heels to the widest part of the frog shouldn't mean lowering them to the widest part of the frog (green lines). This is one big difference between trimming for steel shoe application and developing a healthy bare foot.

These photos are before and after a first time set up trim.

I use the widest part of the frog for a land mark at every trim. This is where my rasp marks end. I am very careful to leave as much sole depth at the heels or seat of corn (red dots) as necessary. Then I roll the back of the heel to the widest part of the frog. I wait expectantly for a change in the consistency of the sole at the seat of corn to lower the heels. Sometimes it's a trim or two and sometimes it's a year or two. I keep the majority of my rehab cases out of boots this way.

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(David Landreville, 2016)

29/12/2024

Saracen Horse Feeds
Thanks

29/12/2024

Thomson Classical Jumping Thanks

🐎 𝘐𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨?

There’s a difference between:
🏅 A rider who sees competition as the 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭—a place where results matter most.
🛠️ A rider who sees competition as a 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥—a chance to test, refine, and grow with their horse.

Too often, the pressure to 𝘸𝘪𝘯 leads to shortcuts, quick fixes, and compromised training principles.

But when the focus is on building 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵, 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨-𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴, competitions become just one chapter in a much bigger story.

👉 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

When my young stallion went to his first jumping competition, my goal wasn’t a ribbon—it was confidence.

I planned to:
✅ Take him somewhere new without overwhelming him.
✅ Ride calmly around other horses and riders.
✅ Maybe, if he was ready, jump a practice fence or two.

I ended up jumping half a course before choosing to skip a fence to give him more time and balance. Yes, we were eliminated—but I left with exactly what I wanted:
✅ Brakes, steering, and gears.
✅ A horse who didn’t bat an eye at the judges’ box or trailers.
✅ A young stallion who gained trust in me and himself.

The 𝘌 next to his name on the scoresheet didn’t stand for 𝘌𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 that day—it stood for 𝘌𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵!

Horses remember stress. They also remember confidence. When competitions become opportunities for 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, ribbons often follow naturally—if they matter to you at all.

👉 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘦𝘵: 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴?

29/12/2024

Dr. Jyme Feed Room Chemist Thanks

📢 Episode Release! Go check it out on your favorite podcasting app!
139 | Immune Health
Feed Room Chemist: An Equine Nutrition Podcast