Resilient Equine

12/21/2024

“Behavior modification DOES NOT equal emotional regulation”

‘STAY WITH ME’

The intention to connect, not correct, makes a big difference to our horses.

If I have a horse who is distracted, scanning the horizon, looking anywhere BUT me, this tells me I am not providing them the connection they need to feel safe.

These horses will often have a hair trigger, their hypervigilence tipping into reactivity with the slightest change.

If working in prison Corrections taught me one thing, it’s that Behavior Modification DOES NOT equal emotional regulation.

That’s why punishment doesn’t work.

It’s also why positive reinforcement doesn’t always work.

A horse needs to feel safe and grounded with us, as if we are their surrogate herd, and that requires we look beyond behavior.

If we settle for changing their behavior, but never seek to change their mind, we often end up with incongruence… a battle between feeling and action.

If we want harmony in the relationship, we have to aim higher than the discord of behavior management.

Often, this is a simple as staying with the moment long enough we re-connect, tuning in to the tensions or relaxation we notice in one other.

That’s attunement.

12/10/2024

The myth of alignment and even symmetry!!!

Send a message to learn more

12/10/2024

12/08/2024

I saw a question on a state equine group today asking what was best to feed a senior horse.

Much of the advice was well intended, but a lot of it was not great.

It reminded me we've not shared a senior horse feeding guide in quite a long time.

When Your Old Horse is Struggling with Weight: What to Do

Aged horses (and this can mean 19 in some, 30 in others) begin to wear their teeth down, even if maintained and floated well their whole lives.

This means

Round bale hay often isn’t a good choice because of the type of hay usually baled for rounds and the length of the cut when baled. Aged horses may not be able to pull, chew and make as much use of the round bales.

Square bales of hay are a better choice for a while, especially if soft and exceptionally high in quality, over round bales, but many senior horses eventually cannot chew the hay well enough to get sufficient nutrition. They need bagged/chopped hay, soaked pellets or soaked cubes.

Grass, when high, often allows seniors the ability to easily pick and chew, if they have some usable jaw teeth, but as pastures are eaten down or grasses begin to die off, your old horse is going to often not keep up with the younger equines, weight wise.

Horses need 2-3% of their IDEAL body weight a day in food. And the truth is, just because it seems they are cleaning up the hay and grain, it doesn’t mean they are getting enough nutrition out of it, if they aren't chewing it well.

Transition to a senior feed. Make sure it is a good quality feed. Often, low end brands are not sufficient, especially if your horse is struggling with weight.

Feeding an aged horse can be VERY, VERY Expensive. You are talking 30lbs of BOTH soaked feed and chopped hay a day in seniors with few or no useable teeth, and at $30, on average, per 40-50lbs of either of these, you may be paying upwards of $900-1,500 a month (depending on size of horse) in feed alone. 30lbs of slushy gruel a day will usually get your senior, if otherwise healthy, where he needs to be.

Horses do not always like wet or soupy food. It may take creativity to get your horse eating well. We like to break the feeding down into at least 3 offerings a day.

Ulcers may develop in horses not getting enough forage or who have gotten underweight, so if your senior is already too thin, treating for 28 days with actual ulcer medication is very needed to get the horse back on the right track. This can be purchased in a few ways, from the paste given at a whole tube a day, to a compounded powder to Abler.com granules, but treatment the full course of 28 days is important at the right dose.

Ask your vet to check your horse for Cushings. Many times, weight loss in the aged horse, or odd weight distribution, is Cushings. We’ve heard some experts suggest that all senior horses, at one point, will experience some level of this disease. Your horse may need medication, or at least, diet changes, to cope. DO NOT ASSUME Your horse does not have it. Ask your vet to test your aged horse if you have any symptoms at all.

Seniors can get picked on when they aren’t thriving. Make sure you’re allowing your old horse access to the amount and right type of feed/hay for enough time without competition to eat all he needs – which is, again, 2-3% of his ideal body weight a day in feeds he can actually chew and digest.

Organ failure: eventually, many aged horses will go into organ failure. Some organs show on blood testing, while heart failure can need more invasive testing, and if your horse is failing, despite all feeding and management efforts, you may have a horse with a failing body. Please do not let your old horse waste away. Contact your vet and make a kind choice for him before he wastes away

Years ago, our ancestors had no resources or way to cater to the needs of their old horses. We do, so age isn’t an excuse for emaciation in the senior equine anymore.

11/28/2024

I wish horses would yelp like dogs do

11/27/2024

As someone who struggles with thoracic inlet/outlet issues, I can attest to the myriad of issues that trickle downstream of these compressions. This downstream area is also known as "the terrain" in osteopathy.

Rough terrain brings restrictions,
restrictions bring congestions,
congestions bring impedence,
reduced vascularity,
and so on.

When enough pileups occur and dysfunction of normal flow is prolonged, pathology develops.

Send a message to learn more

11/20/2024

One of the Mentorships on offer in 2025 will be focused on Care & Keeping.

We will shelve discussions on horsemanship and horse training for the most part and focus on:
- Hoofcare
- Environment/Habitat (Whether you have horses at home or board)
- Natural & Healthy Management of Horses
- Basic Handling / Life Skills
- Feeding
- Enrichment

And so much more.

This intimate mentorship will be for a maximum of 5 people, and will run for a minimum of 3 months, with the option to extend the program for longer for those who would like to continue.

This program is perfect for you if
- You are boarding and want to figure out ingenious ideas to make your horses lifestyle better, within the confines of what is allowed by your facility
- You keep horses at home and are struggling with body condition (over or under), herd integration problems, feeding choices, etc
- Want to explore super fun and creative ways to make your horses life healthier, more interesting, fun, and better for you to manage
- Want to learn to trim your horses and support their hoofcare yourself (Yep I am rolling this service into this mentorship)

I will be stewarding this group and will invite surprise guest instructors for the group coaching calls to drop by and add to the quality of our work together. Of course, anytime I invite a collaborator, I pay them for their time. No extra charge to you however.

This mentorship will include access to relevant self study courses, guaranteed one private lesson per month, two group coaching calls per month, private group chat (I will be in your pocket when you need me), and you will be able to book additional privates, when they are available, with priority access to the schedule when slots open up.

All my clients enjoy 24/7 administration support from Kathrin, and free tech calls, where we will help you understand how to use digital technology so we can maximise your support and learning.

At this stage, we are just taking expressions of interest, I will be offering four mentorship groups, each with a unique focus.

More details, prices etc will be available early December (So, very soon).

If you have already put you name down on the waitlist, we are already considering if this group is suitable for you. If you have not, you can drop your name down below. You can always put your name on it again, if you are not sure!

11/12/2024

This is a post I have been waiting to see. 🙏🏼

🐴 DID I JOIN UP OR GIVE UP ☹️

I am in a round yard, it is small and the fence seems high. I feel like I can’t escape. There is a person in the middle, he seems calm and doesn’t seem to be doing much but I feel that something is wrong. I can feel that things are going to happen, I can feel that this person has a plan for me. He asks me to move forward around him. I move off slowly. I feel uncertain, I feel unsure, I don’t know what he wants. He raises the whip and asks me to move some more. I start to feel the walls closing in around me. I wish I could leave.

I can see other horses in the distance and stop. Looking over at them I try to work out how I might be able to get to them. He starts moving towards me. I really really want to go to the other horses. He is moving closer, the whip has been raised and he is telling me to move on. I take off at a canter and cut across the centre of the yard to see if I can get to the other horses. I don’t understand what is happening and really really want to leave. He has now moved back into the centre and each time I try to cut across the centre he pushes me with great energy to the outside. I feel frightened. What does he want? Why is he doing this? I can see my owner sitting on the fence.

Why isn’t she helping me? What have a done wrong? He is sending me round and around. I am now in a canter, still trying to work out how to escape. I can’t get out. I try to stop at the same place as before and he is ready for this and quickly sends me forward with a crack of the whip. I feel panic setting in. I feel desperate. How do I escape!!!

I look to the man to try to understand what he wants and he lowers his whip and steps back… I slow just a little - what is he doing? but then continue on. I am going fast but yet he still sends me forward. Each time I try to slow down, he sends me forward. I look at him again and he lowers his whip, his energy and steps back from me. I slow down looking at him. He continues to back away from me. I don’t understand. I take off again, trying to work out how to get to my friends. Occasionally I look at my human. She doesn’t seem to want to help me.

I look at the man again and he backs off, I slow down and continue to look at him, he continues to back off. I look up and my owner again trying to understand and the man sends me forward with great energy. What is happening!!! I look at the man. He backs off. I don’t want to look at him but I have no choice. Does he want me to come to him? I take a step towards him. I feel so desperate. I want so bad for this to end. He continues to back up so maybe coming to him is correct. He turns around and walks around the yard. I follow. I have given up. This seems to be the right answer.

11/09/2024

11/03/2024

Osteopaths look at what motions can and can’t be achieved and how that affects everything else.

It’s NOT about position, or (mis)alignment.
It’s about MOBILITY = motion possibility.

Great video, Kathy!

11/03/2024

Gotta love a big stack of hay! Happy to have found a local grower and the analysis came back great so we stocked up for winter and can now balance diet & minerals accordingly. 💃🏼

11/02/2024

This!

Perception can change how you see a problem... Do you see that the neck doesn't move to the left with proper rotation? Do you see that the 6th vertebrae is moved to the right? Either answer is correct? But how does that change how you treat it?
What do you think?

10/31/2024

If you are in this drought and your horses are on grass there are some things to consider.

Grass that is trying to survive with little water is in a state of stress. It will almost always test lower in nutritive value if the water has been absent very long. Vitamin e is one very important thing to think about in a drought state if you are grazing your horses.

Not only will the grass have less E at this time, but your horses also won't have the opportunity to store it to get through the winter with a lack like nature designed them to do.

If your horse has an illness or injury, E is one of the things that the equine body uses to help heal itself. Therefore, if it is short already in the grass, then your horse has to fight something off, he/she may be whoppingly short and start showing symptoms of ataxia (More people will start to think EPM but will not have the spinal tap performed ) or itchiness or eye issues.

If you are living in drought, you really might need to consider supplementing with a quality source of Vitamin e and maybe even continuing in some form throughout the winter.

This really dry grass is usually found to be much lower in protein content also. You may notice that your horses look kind of meh or perhaps your youngsters don't quite appear to be thriving. It may be necessary for you to add a commercial source of protein if you are seeing these things. It is also important to remember that your hay grown during drought will Also be lower in protein, so getting equines through winter looking great may take more effort on your part.

We already know that stressed grass is grass that high in NSC, and going into fall this can be a double whammy.

Make sure that you are watching the crest on your horse and also how they are walking and turning a curve at least once per day and preferably twice.

If you have horses that already struggle with laminitis or EMS or Cushing's then you REALLY REALLY need to take protective measures.

Once a horse has had a bout with laminitis then you owe it to them to never let it happen again. This is Work with a capital W and takes a lot of love, effort and diligence on your part.

During this drought and the following winter, it may help you to take similar stance pictures in 3-week intervals for comparison. Sometimes we have a "blind" effect because we see them every day and are not as apt to notice changes.

10/29/2024

I’m about as ‘all natural’ as they come but deworming is something I don’t waver on due to the damage it can cause within the entire body. Support the detox organs and gut before/during/after to lessen the load.

❄️🐛🐴 There is one dangerous parasitic stage of the small redworm that we need to be particularly aware of at this time of year as it can have fatal consequences. Winter is the season to consider how we tackle the possibility of encysted redworm. This means either blood testing or treating with an appropriate wormer.

Between December and February is time to
✅ test or treat for the possibility of encysted redworm
✅ reduction test to ensure treatment has been effective
✅ Have you tested for tapeworm in the last 6 months? EquiSal test if required.
✅ Are you in an area where you need to consider bots?

💊 If we need to treat then a moxidectin wormer is the preferred choice for most horses - a 5 day fenbendazole is the other option which may be considered especially for youngsters or those who are very lean. We should also use this opportunity to reduction test to ensure our worming has been effective, particularly if using the latter chemical.

More ➡️ http://bit.ly/WinterWorming

10/29/2024

I've recently experienced another note worthy case study with one of my lovely youngsters who started showing 'behavioural issues' over a year ago after being a very straight forward young horse.

He was perfect to break in and took to ridden life like a champion! He was started later, was mostly ridden across the farm and had minimal schooling - all to allow his body and mind to mature. Then, just over a year ago, he started becoming highly spooky and neurotic, and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out the root cause.

I had him fully x-rayed (including spine x-rays because he was reacting off my spine check), blood tested, put on toxin binders, body treated and I also had his eyes checked. All his veterinary checks came back clean, and body work and toxin binders made no improvement.

When I assessed his body and his general facial expression, he showed a pinched, worried eye, though in general he looked fantastic over his body with a gleaming coat and beautiful topline. But I knew something was wrong. If a horse is showing 'survival symptoms' such as he was, then he had to be under stress from something going on internally or externally. And he wasn't just stressed when being worked, he was often a loner in the herd, startling easily at birds or 'scary' stimuli and was often on edge and highly alert.

Now, stress can come in three forms; emotional stress (which can be corrected through good training and trigger work), physical stress (which can sometimes be corrected through rehab work) and chemical stress (occurring from deficiencies or toxic overloads). As soon as he started presenting with issues, I immediately turned him out to pasture to give his body time to heal whatever was going on since I knew that chemical stress and emotional stress had been ruled out.

After six months of being turned out, he showed no improvement at all. So, becoming desperate, I took him to be ulcer checked even though I thought the chance of him having ulcers was very unlikely! He looked amazing in his body and has always been managed very carefully.

But what do you know, he ended up having grade 3 ulcers in both the upper and lower portions of his gut. Now, upper squamous ulcers tend to occur from bad management, while lower glandular ulcers come from excessive stress within the body. He had both, which the vets think started in the lower gut and became a full blown stress response, migrating to the upper gut.

After two weeks on ulcer treatment, I thought he was starting to turn the corner, but by the end of his 40 day program, he was back to being highly stressed and on edge, even though he was kept on a lower dose of treatment. At a loss, I figured another six months out in the paddock might help him while I researched other routes to explore.

Well, we finally found the underlying issue! Duffy has had a pelvic injury which we recently discovered through extensive palpation work and flexion work. Almost a year ago when he started dropping off the spine check I immediately took him to be x-rayed but it came back clean. I didn't realise at the time that if they fail a spine check but x-ray good, that the issue will likely then be occurring in the hindquarters.

In hindsight, the pain in his pelvis will likely have caused his nervous system to go into overdrive, resulting in the excessive spookiness and reactivity.

Through so much investigative work, I have also learnt that if the horse is showing with glandular ulcers (occurring from excessive stress within the body) then there is almost always a secondary issue occurring behind the scenes that is causing the ulcers. For example, another pony I had here who was diagnosed with stage 3 ulcers, was also diagnosed with laminitis changes at the same time.

The photo below was taken a few days before he was turned out 12 months ago. You can see he looks great in his body, but tense in his eyes (in particular the muscle above his eye - this is what I call a pain or worry eye) and ears. He had no other behavioural issues except for highly neurotic spookiness. He has never bucked, kicked out, napped or reared and is in general the sweetest, kindest guy.

There is always a reason. If your horse is showing a survival response, they are not naughty, they are stressed. Always try to find the underlying cause, and if in doubt, 6-12 months out is my favourite motto. This guy is still on turn out rest to see if a little more time will improve his comfort level.