Mystic Equine

01/12/2025

Great info on the Horse Protection Act

693 likes, 95 comments. “Will you be able to use fly spray?! Will your old scarred leg be banned? And other questions ANSWERED! - -”

01/06/2025

Balance and Hoof Deformity

12/18/2024

Shifting the paradigm of how we see lameness

The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain is a film that dares to challenge the way we look at "badly behaving" horses, and promotes the notion that lamen...

12/05/2024

12/03/2024

🤣🤣🤣

11/28/2024

11/27/2024

This old joke is funny because it’s true. And if you’re an equine professional, it’s also sad because it’s true. Growing up in the horse world, I heard things like this all the time—“There’s no money in horses!” or, “The only way to make any money is in sales, and they’re all cro...

11/27/2024

IT’S NOT HIS FEET!
When Drakes owner said he had been off, especially in tight turns, and the barn owner reported he had been favoring his left front, (his worse foot, and the one in the pictures) I feared we were in for another valley in his rehab journey.
My first visit was September 2021 and he had a quarter crack from a 2014 injury where he tore part of his hoof wall off with his shoe. His feet were so bad I told her that I could help him but the recover was going to take quite a bit of time. She was ok with that because he was retired and she was just gona love on him the rest of his days.
He was almost exclusively walking on the bulbs of his heels and his central sulcus was majorly infected and irritated. I’ve never seen a horse in as much pain without an abscess causing it. Since that first appointment he has been in and out of perfect hoof wear and he would move better at times and other times he would tip toe around again.
So after 3 years of ups and downs, when she walked him down the barn isle for me to watch how he moved, my heart sank as he avoided using his left front turning around. “His foot is sore again..” I thought, so I pulled out my hoof testers to try and pin point which part of his foot was the problem area. Frog; no reaction, heels and bars; no reaction, toe; no reaction, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing so I trimmed his foot and tested again just to be sure. NO REACTION!
The disbelief, the relief, the joy that all washed over me in that moment were intense but short lived, “IT’S NOT HIS FEET!” I exclaimed, but what was the issue? We know he has arthritis in all the typical OTTB places but what was bugging this left leg particularly? We agreed on a plan of action involving other professionals to help his discomfort but for once his feet were healthy enough they were the least of his worries!
The first pictures are from my first visit and the second were from this week, when I collaged these picture I was shocked at how far he’s come from where he started. To think this comparison has been 3 years in the making!
Thanks for reading through and celebrating sound hooves with me!

11/25/2024

TIME TIME TIME! ⏰
Time is the most over looked factor when it comes to rehabilitation. The professionals can give you as much of an educated realistic time line as possible, but when it comes right down to it, THE HORSE will dictate how long it takes and what that journey will look like for the both of you.
So many factors affect that time line as well, some we have no control over. The mud around the hay ring at the barn you board at, subpar quality hay because of weather that hay season, even the spot your horse lands on in the herd pecking order can set the recovery clock back.
My recommendation is despite the set backs, keep going, the road to recovery will not be a straight line.🏃‍♀️‍➡️
Trust your team! You all put your knowledge together to build a rehab plan, keep up on your responsibilities to make it happen. Stretching, hand walking, thrush treatments, these are the things that you have control over that take time off the rehab clock! If you ever need help with these things or have questions do not be afraid to ask!
Later I’ll be going into more detail on the rehab in these pictures but for now I hope you enjoy his progress as much as I do!☺️

11/21/2024

I got a massive set of bones for my birthday this year, and I’ve been slowly working through them to get everything cleaned up and organized.

I’m hoping to create more educational content with the help of these horses, there are a lot of interesting bones - and I thought maybe I’d start here:

This is a set of coffin bones (the bone inside the hoof capsule) from the same pony. Her name is Izzy.

The coffin bone on the left is from her right hind. It shows a normal coffin bone shape and healthy bone density.

The coffin bone on the right is from her left front, a foot that suffered chronically from laminitis.

You can see how extreme the bone loss is, including the loss of density in the bone that remains (Swiss cheese look)

This is an extreme example, but bone loss like this can start to occur even with low grade chronic laminitis if it’s allowed to continue on unchecked.

If your hoofcare provider is hounding you to get your horse off grass - this is why they get so upset when you don’t do it.

If your horse gets “footy” in the spring and you put metal shoes on to “fix” it, you could be masking inflammation from laminitis.

Once that bone is gone, it’s gone.

With laminitis, prevention is key! Diet, exercise, frequent and balanced trimming - and don’t ignore the subtle signs!

11/15/2024

Why is the dragon training world so much further ahead in training?

Seriously though, did you know dragons are trained with Positive Reinforcement and Fear- Free Training? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock lll, the dragon master, is a Positive Reinforcement trainer / Dragon Behaviourist.

Want to be like the dragon master himself?
Here’s how:

Hiccup spends a large amount of time doing a behavioural assessment of Toothless. Here are some of Hiccups techniques:

Systematic Desensitization:

Hiccup uses systematic desensitization (combined with some counterconditioning) to touch toothless for the first time. Hiccup begins to get Toothless habituated to his presence and slowly moves closer and closer until he can touch Toothless for the first time. Being sure not to use flooding or push him over threshold.

Finding the right reinforcement (reinforcement assessment):

Hiccup spends a lot of time trying to sort out what Toothless finds reinforcing. During this process he learns that:

•Toothless’ favourite fish, noting which ones he likes the best and which ones he hates (eels)
•Where he prefers to be scratched (behind the ears then under the chin)
•Learns he loves “Dragon Nip” (cat nip for dragons)

Counterconditioning:

Hiccup uses counterconditioning to train Toothless to wear a saddle and gear for flying. Eventually resulting in him being able to ride and fly with Toothless.

No punishment or force is involved with the training of Toothless despite the fact that it’s against viking tradition (sound familiar?). Not only is Toothless trained with Positive Reinforcement, Hiccup is able to generalize what he has gained from training Toothless and applied that knowledge across the many subspecies of dragons. In the end Hiccup shows his entire village that their previous methods, which had been used for centuries, is unneeded and the village becomes a Dragon Utopia.

We should take note from the Dragon Training world. In fact, dragons are arguably more dangerous than anything we could possibly train so if Dragons can be trained with Force Free Methods, so can your animals!

** I should remind everyone that this is a CHILDREN’S cartoon and this post is made in good fun.. please don’t take training advice from random cartoons characters**

11/07/2024

Seeing the bigger picture.

Looking beyond the frame of what is directly in front of you.

Drawing in awareness of all of the variables that combine together to paint reality as it is.

The perspective from which we view horse training is created by years of traditional practices.

But, it’s also influenced by the punitive culture within our larger human society.

It’s influenced by children being taught that the fear they feel after their parent strikes them for something “bad” they did is actually respect.

It’s influenced by masses of people becoming further removed from empathetic community mindsets as an individualist culture permeates society.

It’s influenced by the continued disappearance of free community spaces where humans can connect and be together without spending money.

It’s influenced by people, whether they’re consciously aware of it or not, feeling like they lack autonomy.

Feeling that they really have no say over their job, their life as whole. Feeling stuck in a 9-5 position, most of their life committed to working to pay for the basic necessities, while their actual passions go unanswered and unexplored.

People cannot show up and be their best in training when they’re struggling themselves.

They often cannot envision a different world when they’re stuck within the restrictive confines of one that is promoting behaviour that is counterproductive to a more empathetic approach to animal training.

They often don’t have the time to seriously reflect on these things when their schedule is structured in a way that doesn’t afford much time for free thinking.

It’s often too painful to imagine a different, better world when you feel like you’re drowning in the realities of the one you currently live in.

And all of these things; the frustration, the lack of fulfillment, the restrictive societal structures, the reduction of empathy, the lack of autonomy, the lack of ability to picture a different way of doing things…

All of these things inevitably influence how you can show up for the animals you work with.

All of these things inevitably influence your ability to access new information that could help you to perceive a new reality.

All of these things prevent actual growth and forward movement and leave us stuck in tradition and “the way things are.”

It is all connected.

Everything we do outside of the horse world affects the manner we approach everything within it.

The picture painted by our perception is influenced by every aspect of our being.

To try and suggest otherwise would be to massively miss the point.

In order to truly reform the way we view horses and the training of them, we need to reform and heal we see and approach the world as a whole.

We need to start to notice all of the “normal” things in society that are actually just “common,” not normal at all. And they’re actually indicators of underlying problems.

We need to start realize how much dysfunction, disorder and abnormal behaviours we witness, or participate in, on a daily basis.

We need to realize how unhealthy the collective population of humankind is.

We need to realize that we aren’t so different from horses in that the manner in which many of us were taught to do things is damaging to wellbeing.

The manner in which many of us are forced to live is damaging to our wellbeing. And we have been conditioned to view it as normal and see no way out of it.

To start to see the bigger picture is to start seeing the path to a lot more solutions.

10/09/2024

09/24/2024

🌟🦄FREE EDUCATION ALERT🦄🌟

I found out today about another great FREE resource for those of you interested in clicker training/R+

Zeph Rhaine has created a 30 min video called “Creating a Language with Horses” where they review the R+ science but then dive into more about cues and how we use them in clicker training to communicate with our horses.

It’s well worth your time - and once again, it’s FREE!

Thanks, Zeph, for putting this out there! I know how much work and thought goes into creating something like this 🩵🦄

Watch it here:

https://youtu.be/e_KJkgA9U8o?si=MF85dOi6ajaDmjQ5

And always remember my mantra:

09/24/2024

🚨 Important Update 🚨
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) has confirmed a case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a horse from Crockett County. EEE is a serious disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes.

While this is the only reported case in the area, it's vital to take preventive action to protect both animals and humans.

🦟 Here are some ways to control mosquitoes and other disease-carrying insects:
- Eliminate standing water around your property where mosquitoes breed.
- Install or repair screens on windows and doors to keep mosquitoes out.
- Wear long sleeves and pants when outside, especially during peak mosquito hours (dawn and dusk).
- Consider using mosquito netting around horse stalls and outdoor seating areas.
- Additionally, don't forget to stay up-to-date with vaccinations for your animals.