Heart Equine

05/07/2025

Do your horses do things that don’t make sense ?
My 3 large equids have taken to standing all closely together at one random spot in my track system. It’s just the middle of one of the straightaways I never put food there.
They stand there for a period of time, always together most days usually in the afternoons
Horses are so smart and given that there are no accidents I can’t help but wonder what it is about that spot that they stand there … what are they trying to tell me ?

05/07/2025

WAHC CLASSROOM - 5-9-2025
GUS -SLEEP COLLAPSE
WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO TRUST YOUR EYES

When cases aren't moving forward there are a few reasons
- you are working on the wrong problem - SO COMMON
- you are working on the right problem but in the wrong order - meaning you missed a step
This latter issue I believe is what's happening with GUS's case - which is fabulous because most of the things this horse needs has already been done - my dream is we can fill in a few gaps for big changes !!

The tribal behavior of social media can make us sometimes NOT question what we are looking at - this phenomenon was eloquently described in the fable 'The Emperors New Clothes'

Despite being touted across platforms and podcasts as a poster child for this or that method - maybe this horse has not fallen as far from grace as we might be led to believe. Maybe this new symptom of sleep collapse is actually just a symptom of underlying spinal dysfunction that has been 'unmasked' by the longitudinal lengthening of GUS's body.

Did GUS really ever get out of thoracic spinal extension at the spinal level ????

Could all this 'lengthening' without proper lift lead to destabilization leading to sleep collapse ??

How do I know !!!

But its a theory
And I'm going to use it
When I get the absolute HONOR of meeting GUS and his Dedicated, Educated and amazing owner Mandy Helwege

Join me and Balanced With Betsy and lets see if we can go back in time with GUS and try and restore some of that lift to go with that beautiful length

Got Curiosity ??
Got Horses ??
Come to class!!

The WAHC CLASSROOM -
Where curious equestrians go to learn,
how to learn,
from the horse.

Fridays - 10AM CST
50$
Recording Available
https://www.heartequine.com/service-page/well-adjusted-collaborative-classroom

05/06/2025

DOES SLEEP COLLAPSE MEAN SLEEP DEPRIVED ????

This is one of the many questions and here is what I wonder about also …

If GUS can lie down, even if it occurs after he collapses why doesn’t he just stay there catch up on some of that desperately needed REM sleep. I’ve seen loads of videos of him down and I don’t recall seeing any of the ethogram signs of pain. And then according to the ‘science’ the problem would be solved - just a quick 20 min, no more deprivation, no more collapse.

Such a simple solution you think the horse would be designed to take it.

Then I think about laminitic horses that lie down till they get ulcerated sores on their body - talk about terrible pain.

Hmmmmm

When I think about musculoskeletal problems in horses I tend to always think in support structures things like levers, struts, pulleys and fulcrums. The horse is just such a magnificent model of cooperation of all these different elements I absolutely never stop marveling in its beauty - created in perfection, by nature.

I spent ten years working on the race track managing by myself large barns of now Hall of Fame Trainer Steve Asmussen, the legendary Irishman Noel Hickey and of course my ex, trainer Mike Stidham.

Looking at over 400 legs a day, 365 days a week for 10 years is a lot of data and I will never stop considering the integrity, strength, alignment and most importantly the nervous system function of the legs as a primary component in all abnormal physical presentations. Horses are just that heavy.

When I think of sleep collapse the video below is what comes to mind - the support system is giving out, it’s broken.
An understanding of the origins ( shhhh feet 😊) doesn’t make treating them the solution because now the neurology is broken too
Do you know how I know ?
I will show you later

Or you can come to class
Friday 10 am CST
GUS - the sleep collapsing horse
www.heartequine.com

https://youtube.com/shorts/zNspk7VStCs?si=QfyWax0ZxnQWkbbe

Beach House Collapses Into Sea as a beach house crumbled into the ocean. It happened in North Carolina’s Outer Banks and it’s the third house to...

05/06/2025

RIP Poker Joe ❤️❤️❤️
This was one hilarious horse !! Got to see him and Tommie a few time when I lived in Illinois - what a great pair - didn’t know the backstory, makes it even better.

He wasn’t born a star—he was trouble on four legs.
But in a dusty Florida auction barn in ‘95, a young stuntman named Tommie Turvey took a $2,220 gamble on a wild Paint gelding with a bunny brand and a heart full of fire.

They called him Pokerjoe.

He bucked, bolted, tested every ounce of patience—but Tommie didn’t break him. He built him. Slept beside him. Whispered trust into those wary ears until the horse nobody wanted became the one nobody could forget.

From Roman riding through fire to stealing laughs as “The Riding Instructor,” Pokerjoe lit up arenas, YouTube, even Hollywood (Batman, Jonah Hex, The Walking Dead).

When navicular syndrome hit, he didn’t retire—he rewrote the script. He didn’t just perform—he taught millions what heart looks like.

32 years. 100,000 miles a year. A Breyer model. A legend.

RIP Pokerjoe (1992-2025)—the horse who turned comedy into legacy and trust into gold.

05/05/2025

THIS WEEKS CLASSROOM - 5-9-2025 - 10 AM CST
GUS AND SLEEP COLLAPSE

Yesterday I posted a video from Mandy Helwege's Instagram of GUS sleep collapsing. This is new for Mandy to catch on camera meaning either it's a new behavior or he is doing it a lot more. Either way for Mandy, it tells her something isn't right, even IF her horse looks great.

I am so honored to work with Mandy and so admire her courage of not resting on her social media laurels with all of GUS's changes and bravely coming forward with, 'he is STILL not okay'. I think a really tough part about the 'wins' we post on social media is that it can be hard to go back once you become a 'winner'. The amount of self worth tied up in the okayness of peoples horses is SO EXHAUSTING and its a pleasure to work with an owner that considers her horse WAY above her ego.

SO lets talk about the stories behind SLEEP COLLAPSE because they are numerous and although some may be right some of the time I don't think anything I read speaks to GUS's situation.
Of course I reviewed
The conventional stuff which says

Sleep collapse is secondary to sleep deprivation which is secondary to not laying down which is secondary to pain, feeling unsafe, or environment like bedding.
Which makes NO sense since horses are supposed to sleep standing up and only NEED to lay down for 20 minutes to get REM sleep ( I don't buy that missing 20 minutes of sleep , no matter what the type, would create a situation where you are so tired you collapse - sorry science if you exist ) - SO a NORMAL horse would NEVER show signs of sleep deprivation ( collapse ) by not laying down - ( only a horse with a broken stay apparatus NEEDS to lay down to sleep which is why all the OLYMPIC horses sleep laying down - part of their being Olympians is that they have figured out how to compensate for their broken stay apparatus's)

Then there is Dr DeClue who focuses on pain as the underlying cause - again doesn't make sense as to how pain can cause sleep collapse - BUT, since Dr DeClue has used her special shoulder pain management course of treatment on her sleep collapsing horses WITH SUCCESS, she has concluded its pain, even though that doesn't make sense.

NOW, could PAIN be creating a POSTURE that causes INSTABILITY in the joints of the front end which is then CAUSING sleep collapse????

Now that's a narrative I can follow

A horse is painful - say foot pain
The horse does not want to push his feet into the ground as they hurt so he contracts them and slightly sucks his leg next to his body, tensing the muscles so when he puts his foot out he can control the amount of load it has to take.
He transfers some of that load up the leg to the muscles around the shoulder and elbow. The muscles tighten and they are large and strong. The gradually start to displace the joints ever so slightly so that they no longer feel good in extension this way so they stay flexed. The muscles grow with their now new job of stabilizing the leg through the shoulder because the joint cannot get into extension. The hypertrophied muscles create pain, inflammation, nerve compression leading to loss of function.
Pretty soon the horse can no longer hold themselves up.
Its another story - but one that comes with a solution

Restore the stability to remove the pain and bring back the function.
Do we KNOW that GUS is unstable ?
Maybe - tell you tomorrow.

CLASS IS FRIDAY
https://www.heartequine.com/service-page/well-adjusted-collaborative-classroom
Recordings available if you cannot make it

05/04/2025

WHAT IS THE WELL ADJUSTED HORSE COLLABORATIVE CLASSROOM ALL ABOUT ANYWAY ????

Well it’s about collaboration
Because every voice, and most of all the horses, has something to offer.
Through out my career it’s always been people working closest with the horses that have given me the most valuable lessons.

Because they are watching and listening to the horses - not the books, not the vets, not the lab results, the X-rays, the breeding or the other connections.
It’s our nature to not want to listen to things we don’t want to hear.
When our horse doesn’t eat up race day morning, do we listen or do we blow by that ‘voice’ only to find out later, after an abysmal performance, that the horse was trying to tell us they did not feel well.

As simple humans it can take a village to hear sometimes. Each of our different programming and different lens and different limitations all filter the information and through collaboration we can get together, talk about our different lenses and experiences and hopefully ‘hear’ correctly.

This conversation took place after ‘class’ where we looked at horse TORO who is in rehab following kissing spine surgery.
I had forgotten to press record so we did some follow up and history and of course we got to talking !!!

What I loved most about this conversation is the authentic way Dr Wildsmith shared her story and how it really modeled that regardless of our background we are all struggling to understand and make our horses lives the best that we can and at the same time also find joy in all of our relationships

Update on TORO is that he is doing better AND a sweat patch at the base of his neck - likely indicating nerve impingement is no longer sweating !! HUGE win IMO - hope we can have them back ❤️❤️❤️

This is a re cap of the session we did last week on Kissing Spines - Myself ( Dr Rachel Bellini, Training Consultant Betsy Vonda and Veterinarian Dr Marthe W...

05/01/2025

Do you let other people 'ride' your horse?
How do you decide ?

I once took a class in learning how to swing a kettle bell. The teacher suggested that we should be able to long jump our height as a prerequisite, clearly an indication of lower core strength.

I just kept wondering how many riders would pass that test.

04/28/2025

04/28/2025

Horses 💫🙌
These photos 😮😮 just wow.

I just never ever stop being amazed and in awe of these animals. Never.

Some of these humans are pretty epic athletes as well.

Even more incredible when you realize how poorly developed many of these horses are - running on over mobilized bodies stuck in sympathetic overdrive with zero topline muscles …

04/28/2025

NO CLASS THIS WEEK !! 🙂🐴❤

04/26/2025

You won’t find a more dedicated human than