Strides Equestrian Therapeutic Center

01/31/2025

💙🧡The sunset fades into the night, with a crescent moon hanging over the peaceful countryside 💙🧡

01/30/2025

🕶️☀️Many SMILES on this warm spring like day☀️🕶️

01/30/2025

💛🕊️Morning Views 🕊️💛

01/21/2025

🤍❄️Can you name the horses with the frosty sparkle? ❄️🤍

01/20/2025

Thank you Hay Chix! We 🖤 our nets!!!

01/20/2025

01/19/2025

🥶⛄️❄️Cold days call for warm treats and happy heart…treat yourself to something sweet and let it melt the chill away!❄️⛄️🥶

01/16/2025

🖤Boundaries, Trust, Growth🖤

Horses are amazing at teaching us about boundaries. By respecting their space, we build trust with them and learn how to set our own limits in life. It’s a quiet lesson in respect that helps us grow stronger connections—with them and the people around us.

01/15/2025

🤍❄️Good Morning Wednesday❄️🤍

01/13/2025

01/06/2025

🐴💙❄️Enjoying the crisp morning sun, finding the warmest spot in the shelter to rest, and huddling together with others to stay warm on this chilly day.❄️💙🐴

01/06/2025

We’re all about multitasking, but with a twist..one step at a time! Whether it’s desensitizing Sturgis, our two-year-old, or working through a construction project, we pace ourselves and make steady progress on both, all while keeping it lighthearted.

01/03/2025

🐴🥶❄️ Fascinating Insights About These Incredible Horses❄️🥶🐴

FUN FACT FRIDAY!

Are you familiar with the many adaptations that help your horse stay warm during the cold winter months?

🌾 Hindgut digestion of hay produces the most heat, acting as a small furnace inside of the horse. This is why free choice; good quality hay is so important in the winter.

💪 Horses have a huge muscle mass and muscle activity produces heat. This includes running and playing and even shivering if their body temperature starts to drop. It is important to remember that these activities also will result in a bigger caloric demand so free choice hay and in some cases, grain, is often needed.

🧥 To blanket or not to blanket is a constant debate but either way, as it starts to get cold your horse will grow a thicker coat. If you decide to leave your horse unblanketed you may notice that they look “fluffy”. This is due to a phenomenon called piloerection where the hair stands up to better trap air within. Two layers of the coat also help with warmth. The inner layer is softer and has air pockets to create an insulating layer. The outer layer is coarse and has oils that keep moisture from penetrating the insulating layer and keep the horse warm.

⚖️ Wild horses go into the winter heavier than ideal, and the fat serves as an extra layer of insulation. However, if a horse is going to be kept heavily blanketed and in a barn during the cold weather months this is unnecessary and can lead to obesity related issues.

🦵Their distal limbs (below the knees and hocks) are made of mostly bones and tendons, tissues that are resistant to the cold temperatures.

🦶The hooves have an alternative route of blood circulation through larger vessels that can be used in low temperatures. This is why horses can stand in snow without detrimental effects.

👃A horse’s nose has a robust blood supply and is rounded so that it is less susceptible to frostbite than a human’s nose.
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Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

01/01/2025

What is behind you offers lessons to guide you.

What is ahead calls for readiness.

What is before you now is a gift and let’s embrace it fully.

🌟Happy New Year 2025🌟

12/19/2024

☃️❄️“Snowy weather may blanket the world in stillness, but the horses and outdoor animals still call for care. Through frost and flakes, their needs remind us of the quiet resilience that connects us to them.”❄️☃️

12/12/2024

🥶☃️Morning updates on this chilly day! The horses in the warm arena are happy and comfortable, while those outside are managing the cold well, staying busy eating to keep warm. It’s too frigid for outdoor photos today…stay safe and cozy out there!❄️☃️