Omega Equestrian

Omega Equestrian Holistic Equestrian Centre - Horse Feed and supplements and supplies for horse and equestrian Please ring for appointment to view shop:)

Merry Xmas to all my lovely clients! Santa brought me water lilies to celebrate🪷Thank you for all your loyal custom. I ...
24/12/2024

Merry Xmas to all my lovely clients! Santa brought me water lilies to celebrate🪷Thank you for all your loyal custom. I hope the season brings you much joy.

23/12/2024

How incredible is this!

Xmas holidays mean lessons!! Nicola and Bandit getting in early and enjoying the track to finish off their lesson as a w...
22/12/2024

Xmas holidays mean lessons!! Nicola and Bandit getting in early and enjoying the track to finish off their lesson as a warm down🥰

Here's where all my money goes lol! Good old hubbie smoothing out the light patches. The dream is to add treadlite but...
20/12/2024

Here's where all my money goes lol! Good old hubbie smoothing out the light patches. The dream is to add treadlite but at around $6k for 10mm it's gonna take a while to save up! Lessons anyone lol!🎄🙏. It is an amazing surface now but definitely needs the watering system and plenty of maintenance. So important for the health of my students horses and my own especially for the rehabs❤️. I couldn't do it without Steve.

Hi all! Just a shout out that tommorrow is my last day for ordering Harvest Grains feeds!!! If you will be needing feed...
17/12/2024

Hi all! Just a shout out that tommorrow is my last day for ordering Harvest Grains feeds!!! If you will be needing feed before the 6th January please give me a yell so I can make sure I have enough to get through for everyone in store:). I will be here right through but we don't want to run out! Hit me up People🎄🎉🥰

Travelling to Waipapa this morning doing deliveries🥰. Premium feeds from Harvest Grains - not one price hike this year a...
16/12/2024

Travelling to Waipapa this morning doing deliveries🥰. Premium feeds from Harvest Grains - not one price hike this year and many of these feeds double and triple their size once soaked - safe for metabolic horses and many options. Elite Equine Organic mineral supplements and targeted solutions for healthy happy horses!. Equine Herbals - herbal extracts that are powerful and effective; talk to me for safe advice and to discuss any contraindications🥰 Many other ranges available and awe do Gift Vouchers too🎄🎉

14/12/2024

So happy Auckland Zoo did this for Burma. She gets a new friend in January🍾🎉

I come down yesterday to see Pascall checking herself out in the arena mirrors lol! She is such a precious pony and so ...
13/12/2024

I come down yesterday to see Pascall checking herself out in the arena mirrors lol! She is such a precious pony and so easy to have around🥰

13/12/2024

Well it was a week of waiting for the top dressing to happen🙄. Sorry to those that had their appointments cancelled because of it! But look at Maddi the star⭐️ better than the big horses lol!

Cute Maddi in her new Weatherbeeta ice blocks cover😂😂🥰 she loves her barn now even with rain on the roof. Such a smart ...
12/12/2024

Cute Maddi in her new Weatherbeeta ice blocks cover😂😂🥰 she loves her barn now even with rain on the roof. Such a smart 2 year old.

Everyone buys feed on a rainy day 😂😂. Loaded up waiting for pickup and I haven't sat down since 8am! www.omegaequestrian...
09/12/2024

Everyone buys feed on a rainy day 😂😂. Loaded up waiting for pickup and I haven't sat down since 8am! www.omegaequestrian.co.nz. 483 Te Ahu Ahu Rd Waimate North.

Lovely seeing clients in the ribbons❤️. Congratulations to Megan Finlayson and Rob who won FEI2*at Puhinui this weekend....
08/12/2024

Lovely seeing clients in the ribbons❤️. Congratulations to Megan Finlayson and Rob who won FEI2*at Puhinui this weekend. Rob has been a monthly regular for therapy work for over a year now and Megan uses Elite Compete minerals and DIY from Harvest Grains. We also used Gastro Go for a wee while to get his gut happy. I also work with her beautiful chestnut mare Ruby. It's lovely getting to work on their bodies over extended periods of time to really unlayer the areas that are holding stuff - these hardworking competitors need it to keep on top form. They are super horses to work with and I enjoy helping Megan achieve her goals!

07/12/2024

Comparative neurobiology of horse and human.

Horses and humans are both mammals.
Our brains may not be the same size, but they are almost identical in their structure and function.

Why can our brains look so similar but our behaviours and sensitivity to the world look so different?

The area in the picture highlighted is the prefrontal cortex or the (PFC). Its job in humans, horses, dogs, dolphins, elephants, cats, mice, rats, all mammals, and even birds is to carry out "higher executive functions" such as:

🧠 problem solving
🧠 decision making
🧠 reasoning
🧠 risk assessment
🧠 forward planning
🧠 impulse control
🧠 intention

Obviously, these executive functions are more advanced in humans than in other species of mammals, but this part of the brain plays a pivotal role in higher levels of learning beyond primal behaviours and learning survival skills.

So why aren't we seeing these higher executive functioning skills and behaviours in horses as much as what we see them in dogs, dolphins, elephants and even birds?

Ultimately it comes down to safety!

The latest neuroscience research suggests that when the brain feels unsafe it causes the body to produce stress response hormones and these stress response hormones cause the PFC to go "offline".
This means that subcortical regions of the brain (deeper parts of the brain) such as the primal brain (AKA limbic system, survival brain, flight/fight brain) completely take over to increase the chances of survival.

Feeling unsafe causes the feeling of fear and it is fear that gets this party started.

So behaviours come from two areas:

1. The PFC, carrying out problem solving skills, reasoning, impulse control, forward planning etc. that may be interpreted as "obedience" and "partnership".

2. The primal brain, carrying out reactive survival behaviours. This brain does NOT carry out impulse control, forward planning, problem solving, etc. It just reacts to the world. This brain heavily relies on patterns and consistency. This brain will cause freeze/flight/fight behaviours such as shutting down, bolting, biting, rearing, bucking, kicking, barging, etc.

Which brain is the domesticated horse spending most of it's time in?
It's primal brain!

This is why we don't get to see their full intellectual and cognitive potential because most of the time, domesticated horses are perceiving their world in a fearful way to some degree.

We can help our horses with this!

Feeling fearful is the OPPOSITE to feeling calm.
If we want to help our horses access their PFC then we MUST do whatever it takes to help them feel calm.

☝️ ONLY when a brain feels calm can it slow down enough to develop TRUE confidence. Only when the brain feels confident will it access TRUE cognition (PFC).

☝️ We first need to understand that when we get "bad behaviour" from our horses, it's not intentional or naughty or rude. What you are seeing is either a horse that is just reacting to the fear they feel or they are carrying out their "coping mechanism" in response to their anticipation of feeling fear.

☝️ Try to remove expectations that your horse should "know better".
"Knowing better" implies that all behaviours are coming from the PFC and there should be some impulse control and reasoning. Unless your horse feels calm, they can't access the PFC to "know better".

THIS STARTS WITH YOU!!!

You need to be consciously aware if YOU feel calm first. If you feel calm, your horse will have a better chance at feeling calm. Expecting them to feel calm when you don't is unfair.

The best way to create calmness is to intentionally be SLOW!!!
SLOW EVERYTHING you do down.
SLOW your movement down.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your walking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your horse down.
If you feel too slow, then you're going slow enough.

Calmness is slow, not fast.

This will help you and your horse to connect and feel safe together.
When the brain feels stressed, the stress response hormones cause the body to speed up.

Stress = speed

We can reverse engineer this process and create a calm mind through slow intentional movement and a relaxed posture.

The by-product of a calm brain is confidence and cognition (PFC access).

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

Photo: Credit: Adult horse (equine) brain, sagittal section. Michael Frank, Royal Veterinary College. Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

I love teaching these two. Forest is such a magnificent gentle creature🥰 such a huge improvement in the go button in th...
05/12/2024

I love teaching these two. Forest is such a magnificent gentle creature🥰 such a huge improvement in the go button in the second lesson. Well done Tracey!🥰❤️

Back into deliveries for feed and shop goodies after three weeks of illness!! Feed pallets ready to unload. Back in H...
04/12/2024

Back into deliveries for feed and shop goodies after three weeks of illness!! Feed pallets ready to unload. Back in Haruru tommorrow delivering after lunch😍Fully stocked with our Equine herbal tinctures - amazingly effective for pain reduction and calming plus many others - check stock in pic. Hippo Health at amazing price - same as their website but no freight charge!! Elite Equine's superior organic supplements to get the most out of your horses feed! Harvest Grains fabulous feed designed for the heath of the horses gut - forage based and yummy!! Judges Choice show products for amazing coats and plaits. www.omegaequestrian.co.nz

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483 Te Ahu Ahu Road
Kerikeri
0472

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Videos

We have maize all around our property and the horses need to be able to cope and be safe with yearly helicopter top dressing. Notice how I keep the most scared one on a long rope but soft and using my voice for her to calm. Reiki helps too! The star of the day was 2yr old Maddi who barely even lifted her head. Little Pascall had a rough early life so loud scary things require her to "catch me" and use my energy to feed off. So proud of them🥰 #bayofislandsequestrianshop #holistichorsemanship #horsetrainerlife #ridinginstructor #farmlife

Well it was a week of waiting for the top dressing to happen🙄. Sorry to those that had their appointments cancelled because of it! But look at Maddi the star⭐️ better than the big horses lol!

Feeling a bit crap today so thought I'd sit with the youngsters🥰

Third weekly lesson and a vast improvement for Phoebe and Belle🥰. Phoebes position is much more effective and Belle is trusting her contact and learning to reach for her hands rather than Phoebe using her hands to create contact. Belle is more settled in her work now and happily starting to offer a lift in her back and even some nice trot transitions today! Well done👏

First little canters with Izzy after months. Feeling much better in my seat now and as our half halts get more solid again we should start with a little more lateral work to help her stiff right hock and suppleness on the left rein. I'm very pleased with our progress. Aiming for some competitions in October and a little Working Equitation prior to that🥰🎉

A quick video of Izzy and I yesterday. I'm quite proud of both of us - me coming back from a horrendous disk bulge in my lumbar with associated hip flexor pain and pelvic twist at day one this year and Izzy had a nasty kick from Katie in the stifle in May. This is 10 rides in of about 10-15mins each:). What I'm most proud of is Izzy's willingness to reach out and extend her neck in trot - something she could not do two years ago and her body is completely different - I must freeze a pic from a video Oct 22 and today to compare. This video shows me attempting to let my pelvis flow in walk which is not so easy (not aiming for overtrack). Yes she is still a little downhill but in my hand she is light connected and soft with a slight flexion to the left from my leg even with extended neck. Into trot I am playing with more neck release and small incremental coming back and elevation of neck at the end. She could not do this without a tiny curl right through to Jan this year. It is all very well slamming BTV everywhere but understanding the feet and body must be unwound first gently for them to reform correct neck connections and muscle development to be able to do so - let alone the trauma responses a lot of dressage horses show me. Thanks to my hubbie for videoing me for training my body purposes:).

Playtime with Katie 💗🦄

Well after a false start to the year with back injury I'm now back onboard and got my first ride in the new arena🎉🎉Ive lost all my power in the core and back and it's gently starting but I'll get there again! Izzy loved the surface - it feels amazing🍾🥰. First lessons tommorrow and Friday woohoo!!

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Stud Farm to Holistic Equestrian Centre

Today marks the start of something huge for me! After breeding NZWB Sporthorses very successfully for over 15 years, I feel the time has come to concentrate on my life’s purpose and passion - one that was born of necessity and many years study - the holistic care and training of horses. By providing people with the knowledge to give their horses comfortable bodies, via teaching classical in-hand and calm training methods to get them moving correctly from the ground to carry a rider effectively. I will be offering in-hand and riding lessons starting this summer with Pascal the Pony for smaller adults and children here at the arena and on our perimeter farm track. We will also be hosting a variety of different trainers with a classical background for clinics.

This holistic approach is supported by offering top quality organic nutritional supplements and advice from Elite Equine, and by also providing a greater understanding of anatomy, horse husbandry and equine behaviour to assist clients to provide superior horse management at home. Many issues of behaviour are resolved by correct nutrition so this is a key area I have many years of experience in.

I am now offering equine bodywork in the Bay of Islands area, providing a holistic approach as I deepen my knowledge, giving advice and support (always with vet advice where required) enlisting other bodyworkers, as well offering a safe environment here to bring horses to if needed for further assistance.

My misson is two fold - to empower horse lovers young and old. To honour the powerful role that horses have played in our human existence till now and to help their future role in our society of freeing people from personal blocks to grow their soul and make soul connections with their beloved animals.