Kaitlin Hurley Equine Services

22/05/2023

I think I'm finally starting to look small on Keeper... Maybe I should stick her again. And maybe people will stop asking me if she's off the track 😅. First picture is a video still from last week. Second picture is from her 3 year old year. She was all legs!

19/05/2023

And then sometimes, we just practice standing square, working on more balanced proprioception and strengthening the neural pathways to travel more evenly.

11/09/2022

I think Keeper would like bigger jumps...

02/09/2022

Holy glow up!!! I knew these would be good. Swipe to see Keeper last Summer. I mean.... DAYUMMM 🔥

01/08/2022

Been doing a crazy thing lately... Check it out!

13/03/2022

To all my horse friends, I have a book recommendation 😊 It's a quick but valuable read - less than 100 pages and less than $20. In particular, learning about the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system and how they impact the ability to learn has been really interesting. And that actually applies to all living beings, not just horses. Happy to loan my copy, too, if you don't mind that I've highlighted in it!

21/11/2021

*Important news about my services*

It was 5 years ago today that I clipped my first horse as an independent professional, so it seems fitting to announce that at the end of this year (2021), I will no longer be offering my clipping/grooming services.

I am so grateful for all of the people and horses I have met and for all of the opportunities I have been offered over the past few years!

This decision doesn't come lightly for me. It's been something I've been thinking about for a couple years now. I have held multiple jobs for 10+ years, and I'm ready to focus and have more time to dedicate to things that truly matter to me, like quality time with my husband and working with my horse.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me with my grooming business! I hope we stay in touch, and I hope to continue to see you around as I am certainly not leaving "the horse world" any time soon 🙂

19/11/2021

Whoa Keeper has filled out SO much already. I can't wait to see what she looks like coming out of winter... I am super psyched for to take some legit glow up pictures in the spring!

04/11/2021

18/10/2021

Sticking with the bad quality picture trend, haha, our trail ride near Charlottesville was a success 🙌🏻 Keeper was super brave, leading the trio almost the whole way. Thank you for making it a good experience for her!

05/09/2021

Baby Keeper was the best she's ever been at the show this weekend. It was like she never left home. 🥒

02/08/2021

I don't have any digital proof, but field trip #2 was a successful adventure. 🙌🏻 Keeper was still stimulated but more physically relaxed and still attentive to me and what I was asking, and we even hacked around the property with a loose rein 😱 Good baby horse. We still haven't actually shown, yet, but I think it's important to go at her pace and focus on making it a good experience rather than pushing too quickly. With the amount of progress she made between last field trip and this one, even with a whole month inbetween where we didn't go anywhere, I'm confident she'll be a pro about it in due time. And a HUGE thank you goes to the weekend's MVP for trailering us!

10/07/2021

First field trip for baby horse. Trailered in yesterday and stayed overnight to watch what it's like to live the show life. There's a lot to take in, but she's taking it all in as well as I could ask.

08/07/2021

If you do not follow Woodside Equine Clinic, I highly recommend you do. I really appreciate their regular educational posts. I don't use them as my vet, but I do keep an eye out for these posts as I am always game for learning and staying sharp on my horsemanship!

30/06/2021

A long time ago, I posted about the importance of sweat scraping after hosing to cool down a horse. However, I've seen a few different studies recently that show that sweat scraping after hosing is not as beneficial as originally thought. Instead, the fastest way to cool down a horse is to continually reapply cold water.

I'm always up for learning about new techniques and science related to keeping our horses comfortable and happy so I wanted to share!

Study: To prevent exertional heat illness, handlers should reapply cool water to hot horses every minute without scraping it off.

17/06/2021

Dapples for dayyyyyyys 😍

05/06/2021

I have to say... I don't do it often, but one thing that I really love doing as a groom is getting horses ready for photo shoots. I love seeing everything come together, and it's super special seeing the final pictures!

📷: Kelly Lemenze Photography & Aster Equine Photography

13/03/2021

Since it's spring clipping season, I'd like to send out a friendly reminder to be nice to your clipper and bathe your horse(s) beforehand.

Your horse should be squeaky clean (think "best bath of your life" clean) and dry. And please pay extra attention to the knees, hocks, and the top of the butt because the hair is thicker there, and it is much harder to get clean.

Thank you! (from both your clipper and your horse because it will go much faster and be a much easier process, not to mention it will look much nicer!)