North Haven

02/23/2024

https://equusmagazine.com/horse-world/horse-nosebands-53847?tum_source=EQUUSFB

Click to read on equusmagazine.com

02/14/2024

A comprehensive introductory online course, aimed at Horse Owners, to give them a good basic knowledge of saddles & saddle fitting

12/28/2023

Remember what the horse world can be like.

Remember to wish people a good ride when they enter the class with you.

Remember to help a stranger back a trailer in.

Remember to smile when you tie next to each other.

Remember to take pictures of them riding. Even if it’s just one.

Remember to share your mounting block with the entire row of riders who forgot theirs.

Remember to hold the horse when they fall off. Help them stand up. Brush the sand off their jacket.

Remember to put the rails back up when you leave the ring so the next rider doesn’t have to.

Remember to slow down and stop your horse when someone is looking nervous.

Remember to share your water. Remember to share carrots.

Remember to compliment their saddle pad.

Remember to be the good side of the horse world.

12/24/2023

North Haven Green Hat for XMas!

12/18/2023

12/18/2023

First North Haven Christmas Party went to off without a hitch! Even the rain stopped for three hours though we were cozy and warm inside.

The horses were pretty certain the party was all for them.

12/15/2023

It’s snowing at North Haven!

12/14/2023

Getting slightly festive….

05/07/2023

https://declue-equine.com/episode-5-limb-vs-body-vs-positional-lameness/

Episode 5: Limb vs Body vs Positional Lameness While it's common to simply discuss "limb lameness" in horses, today's episode offers listeners new insights on how to determine the true source of…

02/23/2023

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒄𝒂𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓.

Imagine you’re driving along and someone speeds up behind you and begins to tailgate and flash you. Feeling the pressure, you speed up and before you know it, the driver turns off the road and leaves you going through a speed camera for a fine.

I speak to so many people who feel so much pressure from the sport to push their horses, when in reality, especially if there is something not 100% with your horse, a push for progress can turn into rushing when key musculoskeletal and psychological blocks haven’t been addressed.

Love your horse before the sport 🤍

02/22/2023

Staining the bricks back to brick color. Thanks Santana Concrete!

02/15/2023

“To quote a dictum of Simon, what a horse does under compulsion he does blindly, and his performance is no more beautiful than would be that of a ballet-dancer taught by whip and goad.”

Xenophon, The Art of Horsemanship

02/13/2023

Yep

Conditional Love.

This is sadly a fairly common exchange.
Client: "I love my horse so much, he's my heart horse!"
Fitter: "Your saddle doesn't fit your horse and is hurting him."
Client: "I only ride once or twice a week, it should be OK. He's happy with the saddle, he doesn't buck or anything. It's not hurting him, I would know!"

Variations of this conversation happen time and time again, yet far less frequently when it comes to head-bobbing lameness (you'd be amazed at how often people ride 'functionally lame' horses). For some reason the damage done by saddles is largely ignored, even when you highlight the exact areas it's hurting the horse!

They don't see an injury such as a sore or laceration, so clearly, there is no damage being done.
The horse is flipping over backwards or bucking non-stop, so clearly, nothing is wrong.

The client didn't see/feel anything out of the ordinary, so clearly, nothing is going on and the saddle is perfect.
Enough with the excuses. Sticking your head in the sand won't make the problems go away, it'll just make your horse more desperate to get the point across, paving the way to a catastrophic accident or just the complete shutting down of your beloved horse. It also leads many riders to seek equipment that will allow them more "control" over the animal, such as tie downs, draw reins, leverage bits in unskilled hands, cranked nosebands, and much more. So much effort to silence the suffering while doing nothing to treat the actual cause of it all.

02/13/2023

02/13/2023

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/forage-is-key-when-tackling-undesirable-behaviour-in-horses-816217?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_content=horseandhound&fbclid=IwAR2ebHRDGKQvHs-EnOHgH9P5oelmM_hpiO4sXp9G1ynCEeo_tuW6YlFmdfc&mibextid=unz460

Undesirable equine behaviour associated with a lack of forage has been discussed – as concerns are raised about owners misinterpreting learned helplessness for “coping”. “Promoting positive equine wellbeing and behaviour through diet” was the topic of a World Horse Welfare webinar last mon...

02/09/2023

Ohhhh half of the new barn door!!

01/30/2023

https://vimeo.com/709369727

One of a kind expertly designed Equestrian property located in Sonoma County Wine Country! Learn more at 4175HesselRoad.com. 4175 Hessel Road, Sebastopol, CA,…

01/21/2023

Love that there is a saddle fitter of the year award in the UK.

01/11/2023

Before and after. Can’t wait for things to dry up so we can get back to work!