Heather's Horsemanship

05/02/2025

For sale- brand new Complete Cowtrac Elite flag system. Firm at $2500. Buyer to pick up or pay shipping.

04/02/2025

03/02/2025

02/02/2025

First showbill is done!

I am very excited to host another Open Ranch Horse Show with judge Dawn Scully!

28/01/2025

28/01/2025

A long one, but a good one!

Why $50 to $80 for a Riding Lesson is the Bargain of a Lifetime! 🐴

At first glance, $50 to $80 might seem like a lot for a riding lesson. After all, it’s just 30 minutes or an hour on a horse, right? But here’s the kicker: that price doesn’t even begin to cover the full value of what you’re getting.

Let me break it down for you:

When you pay for a riding lesson, you’re not just paying for the time spent in the saddle. You’re paying for decades of knowledge, years of training, and an entire operation dedicated to creating a safe, fun, and rewarding experience.

You’re paying for an incredible partnership between horse and human—something most people only dream of experiencing.

You’re paying for the *generations of knowledge and skill* that went into breeding or selecting a safe, reliable horse—a horse that can teach a beginner to steer or build confidence in an intermediate rider.

You’re paying for the *thousands of hours* that trainers and instructors spent educating that horse, putting on the miles, and teaching it to be patient, forgiving, and downright saintly.

You’re paying for the tack: saddles, bridles, bits, saddle pads, girths, and all the fittings—carefully selected for comfort, fit, and durability. You’re also paying for the endless supply of grooming tools, from curry combs to hoof picks to detangling spray.

You’re paying for feed: hay, grain, supplements, and the occasional treat. You’re paying for veterinary care, including vaccines, deworming, dental work, and emergency visits. Don’t forget the farrier—someone has to keep those hooves in tip-top shape.

You’re paying for the blankets: rain sheets, winter rugs, coolers—whatever is needed to keep the horses happy and healthy in every season. You’re paying for the halters, lead ropes, and fly masks that keep them comfortable and safe.

You’re paying for the facilities: the arena footing, jumps, fences, barn, and tack room. You’re also paying for the equipment that maintains it all—tractors, ring drags, hoses, water buckets, muck rakes, shovels, and the never-ending repair bills that come with running a stable.

You’re paying for the labor: the early mornings and late nights, the endless stall mucking, the feeding, and the hauling of hay bales. You’re paying for the nights someone walks a colicky horse until the vet arrives.

You’re also paying for the *risk*: every time a lesson horse takes a rider, there’s a chance they could end up hurt or permanently lame. These horses are worth their weight in gold, and it’s my job to keep them safe, healthy, and happy. That’s why they’re only worked a certain amount, jump sparingly, and have strict limits on their workload.

So when you hear, “$50 to $80 for a lesson,” what you’re really getting is the result of years of dedication, hard work, and care. You’re getting a piece of a much larger puzzle—the kind of puzzle that most people don’t see but that makes those 30 or 60 minutes possible.

It’s not “just a lesson.” It’s a lifetime of expertise and a whole village behind it.

I am grateful to my team and the incredible horses for all they bring to people’s experiences. 💝

~ credit to author unknown

09/01/2025

More thoughts on the hackamore.
Why beginning riders absolutely SHOULD ride in the hackamore.

In my last post I talked about people claiming to be masters/experts in an art they have not had even enough practice in to understand the basics let alone be teaching others.
Because many of these trainers have experience with other tools but find the hackamore difficult for themselves some will tell you that you are not ready to ride in one. This comes from their own lack of knowledge and misunderstandings of the tool. Remember, when someone tells you what you can not do in a hackamore they are actually telling you what THEY can not do in a hackamore.

The hackamore gives you a much more honest communication with your horse than what you get in a bit. If you do not have a good seat, are out of balance, out of timing, or inconsistent with your signals the hackamore is simply not going to work well for you. And that is actually a good thing. It gives you VERY important feedback. In a bit many people make up for these deficiencies in their riding with the discomfort and pain the bit creates in the mouth. The bit has a pain compliance response and many riders are unknowingly creating a pain based response that they misinterpret as lightness, soft feel or whatever you want to call it. I see this a LOT in snaffle but riders and riders using two hands on a shank bit.

The hackamore has no significant pain compliance component. You can not force a horse even by accident. If you are not getting the desired response you have to think your way through the problem instead of forcing your way through it even if unintentionally. Because of this the beginning rider learns to be a much more conscious rider. They learn how other very important aspects of riding besides the reins influence the horse.

If your goal as a beginner is to become a better rider and have much better communication with your horse then the hackamore is absolutely a fantastic tool. If your goal is simply to “control” your horse then the hackamore is probably not for you. Then again if a riders focus is on control instead of communication they should probably stay away from horses and just buy a motorcycle or something. 😉

05/01/2025

It’s time to start thinking about 2025!!!!! Here are dates for activities at Fox Valley Saddle Association in Illinois (including our regional championship)!

11/12/2024

If someone is looking for an amazing gelding- here he is! Want him to stay in training - I’m willing to offer discounts to be able to work/play with a horse of this caliber.

11/12/2024

How do hay nets on round bales impact the axial skeleton of the horse?

You all asked, and we delivered with more research! And I promise it has been worth the wait!

Last week, the second portion of our study evaluating hay nets was accepted into the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, and this time we teamed up with an equine chiropractor (thanks Dr. Taylor Rieck) to evaluate changes in the axial skeleton!

Introduction: Many horse owners use hay nets. As our last study demonstrated, they have many benefits including a reduction in hay waste and management of bodyweight and body condition scores. Additionally, we were able to explore the impacts on dental health and did not have any concerns regarding soft tissue damage, tooth wear, or dental abnormalities. But that has led us to our next question, can the act of eating hay from a hay net result in changes to the axial skeleton of the horse, specifically relating to the vertebral column?

Materials and Methods: Because I want this post to be able to stand alone (and some of you may have forgotten what we did since the last research post), I will start from the beginning and I apologize for repeating myself. Thirteen mature geldings were used in this study and assigned to treatments based on weight. The study began in September 2021 and all horses received dental work and were assigned to their treatments, seven started on the no hay net control (CON) and six started on the hay net (NET) treatment and all were fed grass round bales. In September 2022, horses received dental work again and switched treatments in the cross-over design. Throughout the study, these horses lived in identical neighboring pens with shelter, ad libitum water, and free choice grass round bales with the only difference being NET horses had their round bale hay placed in hay nets with 1.75”/4.45 cm openings (graciously provided by Hay Chix) while CON horses did not.

During this study, from May through August of both years, changes in the axial skeleton were evaluated. This time frame was chosen as horses were not being worked in undergraduate courses. In May, when the semester ended, an equine chiropractor adjusted all horses to get them to a baseline. Horses were then evaluated for range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds at 4-, 8-, and 12-weeks post-chiropractic adjustment. Cervical range of motion was evaluated using neck stretches for lateral movement as well as chin-to-chest, chin-to-knees, and chin-to-fetlocks. Pain pressure threshold was evaluated at different points on the body using a pressure algometer which documented the amount of pressure applied until the horse moved away to avoid the pressure. Additionally, another chiropractic adjustment took place at 12-weeks and subluxations (misalignment of bones) were documented and rated on a 0 to 3 scale to indicate none, minor, moderate, or severe subluxations. These scores were combined for each location or vertebral region (cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral).

Results: There was an average 8% increase in cervical subluxations observed in NET horses (P0.05) and sacral vertebrae were not analyzed as no subluxations were found.

Another finding was that average cervical range of motion was 5 degrees greater in NET horses compared to CON horses for chin-to-chest and chin-to-fetlock measurements (P≤0.05). No differences were observed in pain-pressure thresholds when comparing treatments (P>0.05).

While not the initial objective of the study, we also saw decreased range of motion and pain-pressure thresholds over time regardless of treatment, which suggests the benefits of chiropractic - but I will save this topic for another post when I can dive into into it deeper!

Discussion: Our main findings were a slight increase in subluxations in the neck for NET horses alongside an increase in cervical range of motion. While these findings initially appear to contradict each other, previous research in humans has found that activities which stimulate voluntary neck movements utilizing a wide range of motion and postures can recruit and strengthen cervical muscles. As a result, prehending hay from a hay net may have simulated exercises to strengthen the neck in these horses, however, these movements may have simultaneously resulted in an increase in cervical subluxations.

Conclusions: This study has demonstrated that hay nets do have the ability to influence the axial skeleton of the horse with minor changes. However, the researchers believe that the proven benefits of hay nets, including reduced hay waste, prolonged feeding time, and weight management, outweigh any minor changes in the axial skeleton observed in this study. Additionally, results from this study suggest regular chiropractic work can be beneficial for horses regardless of hay net use!

What Next? While this study gathered some very useful information to create a foundation of knowledge, I would love to investigate hanging net height and hole size to determine how these factors may influence the axial skeleton and time to consumption for horses in the future!

Funding: This study was funded by the University of Wisconsin - River Falls and HayChix.

I hope you find these results as fascinating as we did! There is always so much to learn!

Cheers!
Dr. DeBoer