Full Circle Equestrian Center

10/10/2025

Conformation is barely understood today. Some people think it is "confirmation", but it is "conformation" because it is about whether a horse CONFORMS to an ideal. Like all ideals, perfect conformation is impossible. Therefore, we use it to measure how close a horse comes to the ideal. Conformation is further complicated by personal opinions. For example, I like short backed horses. Why? Because they have more agility and the kinds of things I enjoy most with horses require a high degree of agility. But that's me.

One of the most important of the many conformation elements is the structure of the legs. The images shown here indicate common conformation flaws of the hind legs. The far right horse has straight legs. Horses with this type of leg cannot reach well under their belly with the result being uncomfortable jerky gaits. The straight leg limits hind reach and thus acceleration and speed, as well as the ability to stop well using the hind.

The next horse to the left is "camped out". This is the worst horse for agility sports providing no speed and not much stop. However, if you want a horse for riding in less demanding circumstances, the straight or the camped out legged horses might do if the horse has a good mind.

The next horse to the left stands under. This usually translates into lots of stop and not much top speed, but reasonable acceleration as a result of its ability to reach under the belly. This horse might, for example, make a functional arena polo horse but not an outdoor polo horse where top speed is essential.

The horse on the far left of the four horses is ideal. Such horses, with a nice combination of hind reach and extension, are the best all around. You cannot go wrong with these hind legs.

09/09/2025

When working with a horse, especially doing something for the 1st time or a new-to-me horse, I do not tie them to work with them. If they can move their feet, and get away from perceived danger, you lose a lot fewer halters and lead ropes and the horse does not panic as much.

08/04/2025

I can't tell you how many times I have said this to my students! Lol

07/23/2025

🐎Graphic photo 🐎
🫘 MARE BEANS 🫘

Mares do get beans but they are not where many think they are…
Now I wanted to keep this image as facebook friendly as possible and of course keep this mares dignity intact, so it’s cropped but we will do our best to make it make sense!
I see a lot of conversation in Facebook comments about mares getting muck and flaky build up around their teats, which of course they do, and we clean the teats as part of our mare hygiene service.
BUT, mare beans are not anywhere near the teats, in fact they are in a little sack below the v***a, called the cl****al fossa.
The biggest we have come across is maybe the size of a kidney bean, so not as dramatic as the size we remove from some geldings but they can still cause issue and we have personally seen some big behavioural differences in mares when these beans are removed.
You can see from this image here, just how small the pocket is, but doesn’t that bean look irritating 🫣

I would like to clarify that mares are mares and as an owner of four ‘bean-less’ mares, my mares are still mareish 😂

07/18/2025

Yes, I'm that old! Lol

07/14/2025

I always had mine checked when I got teeth floated but can have your vet do that as well.

🐎Trigger warning 🐎
The horse that this bean belonged to, was due to be PTS. The owner had heard of beans but was told my a number of people to ‘leave well alone’ and ‘don’t be like these silly women, obsessed with cleaning horses willies’.

This horses behavioural issues had become so horrendous and every check had been done and nothing could be found. The owner of this horse absolutely thought she was doing the kind thing for a miserable horse, that barely wanted to walk without a rider on, no chance anyone could get on him anymore. He was sad and unhappy and you could see it in his face.
Thankfully her friend was having us out the next week and told her, what has she got to lose but a few quid.

We felt this bean immediately, and the horse knew exactly what we were trying to do. Within less than a minute, this bean was out and you could see an immediate change in the horse. So much so it brought a tear to our eyes.

You can laugh, you can think us sheath cleaners are silly, but at least get your horse checked for beans if you never have. In this case it was literally life or death.

Horse is now very happy and back to his old self 🤍

And before anyone says anything about being a bad horse owner, please understand that some people are made to feel utterly stupid by others for believing that beans are real. Because surprisingly some think they are a myth 😂

06/08/2025

There is a choice. You can provide a divider to separate enough so that the baby cannot get under the mother. You never know what might happen while traveling - even a flat tire can cause a bump or jerk and knock the mother off balance. Using a cattle panel to divide them gives them sight but no danger of getting stepped on.

Dear drivers (especially those not familiar with horses): Please don’t cut in front of a horse trailer just because there’s a big gap. We leave that space on purpose, it’s not that we’re driving slow, it’s because we need a long distance to stop safely.

Horses in the trailer need us to take curves slowly and brake gently so they can stay balanced. Sudden stops or sharp turns can injure them, or even flip the trailer, causing a serious accident.

In the photo, the mare has very little space to move, and her foal is right under her. She’s doing her best to stay still and protect her baby. I can only help her if I drive carefully. Please be patient and give us space. Most people don’t mean harm, they just don’t know.

06/02/2025

This may look laughable but if you go in water like this with a tie down on your horse, y I u may cause it to drown! Good reason to not use those things on trail rides if there's any chance of encountering deep water.