Elizney Equine Sport Therapy

28/01/2016

For all you New Zealanders out there take a look at this lovely chap!! He's own by a friend of mine. If you, or anyone you know is interested pass it on!!
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=1022029016

31/12/2015

Apple Cider Vinegar is really cool!! These are only a few of the benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar!

30/12/2015

I love the use of the cavalletti for training! It's great for the abdominal muscles, back muscles, hind end muscles!
It's also great to work as a rider on your balance and on your seat.

The use of cavalletti in the training program has benefits for all riding horses, whether they are destined for a career in dressage, jumping, eventing, or pleasure riding.

24/12/2015

Merry Christmas All! I hope you All have an amazing day and an even better New Year!! Make sure you make time for your family, friends, and also your fur friends!!!

18/12/2015

To all the Star Wars fans out there!!

Olympic Athlete By Day, Jedi By Night

08/12/2015

Well we've talked about warming up after a ride, but what about cooling down?? That's a pretty important part of riding as well! Most of time after a ride you're pretty tired and you just want to hop off and have a nice glass of wine (or cup of chamomile tea ;oP) and finish your day, but it is just as important to cool down and let your horse stretch as well as warm up!!
Have you ever done a workout and found that you are stiff the next morning?? Think back...did you cool down afterwards, did you stretch? Help your horse out and do some stretches and help them cool down as well so they're not stiff after the ride!! This helps with the building of muscles and the avoidance of atrophy, adhesions, and stiff joints.
Here's a link that has a general 'how to' cool down. How do you guys cool your horses down?? Feel free to share your patterns and tricks to make it more interesting than walking around!

A proper cool down is always important, but with summer rides taking place in hot and often humid weather, your horse is more likely to become overheated while working. Make sure to keep an eye on the heat index (combination of temperature and humidity) and tailor your rides accordingly so both you…

08/12/2015

Wow I can't believe I've got 207 likes on this page so far!! This is quite exciting!! Feel free to comment and let me know what you think, ask questions or if you want to see my comments on a certain subject, I would love to hear from you!! I also offer massages for horses, so feel free pm me or to contact me on here for that too!! Thanks so much for all the likes!!

06/12/2015

Something I am very passionate about, is a proper warm up, before a ride! I've heard countless times, people saying my horse isn't working that hard today, I'm not going to ride for long, it's all good.
You can end up doing just as much damage in a half hour ride with no warm up as you could in a two hour session riding incorrectly!
Here are a couple of simple warm ups to do with your horses, to keep warm ups interesting for both you and your horse!!
Feel free to comment with your warm up plan or anymore warm up exercises that you use with your horse!

Written by Kate Stone. — Warming a horse up properly helps set both you and the horse up for a comfortable ride. This is one thing my trainer stresses, and one that was stressed especially wh…

05/12/2015

A fun fact for today!! How does your horse hear?? This is a fun read about how your horse hears and how you can communicate with them with sound!! Go out and try it with your horse, see if their excitement level changes when you talk calmly or excitedly!!

Horses are very sensitive to the tone of voice. We need to use a confident tone and avoid overly emotional tones such as shrill, high pitches. We also want to give voice commands in a way that gives the horse tools to distinguish them.

04/12/2015

Chamomile is a herb that a lot of people have heard of, but few know that actual qualities of it. It works well as a relaxation herb which helps with sleep issues, anxiety, and sedatives. Also it contains a high level of phosphorus and calcium, which are commonly lacking in horses daily intake. Phosphorus and calcium in the body help to regulate the parasympathetic nervous system (controls your heart rate, and regulates the bodies temperature at rest). Hence how it helps with anxiety and sleeping! It also works as an allergic reaction neutralizer, and an anti-inflammatory herb!

02/12/2015

Have you ever wondered what horses see in their day to day life?I know I have. I've wondered how they see different colours, why they're scared of some things and not others. Sometimes it's frustrating for us and we can't figure out why they are spooking at a perfectly normal thing, but then you wonder is it perfectly normal to them??

I did some research on this and found that the way that horses see is, although similar, quite different. Horses have dichromatic vision which helps them see colour, just not in the same way as you and I.

It's explained better in this article! Super cool read!!

Just remember when your horse is spooking think about how their looking at it, what it looks like to them!

30/11/2015

I realized that I've commented on getting your horses in shape and looking after their bodies, but I haven't mention the riders.

Over the past few years, I have heard people talk about how they used to ride when they were young, but they don't anymore as they suffer from hip problems, or muscle pain, this got me to thinking, I should post something about rider fitness as well.

Our horses are athletes, but because you both are a team they can't 'carry' you all the way to the finish line on their own, you have to help them along!! Sooo that leads to my topic!! Rider Fitness

Humans are just like horses and like horses muscles and bodies deteriorate with age. We can try and slow that process down by doing simple workouts, and building strength so we aren't experiencing these deteriorations until we are quite a bit older.

Keep spicing up your workouts and get your body to where you expect your horses to be!!!

30/11/2015

Therapy Tuesday!!
As most of you know I am a fan of aromatherapy!! Though this is neat that science is looking into the aromatherapy and noticing a difference that many of us have seen ourselves with our horses and with ourselves.

Lavender is a lovely essential oil and has sooo many healing properties as well as stress relief (which it's famous for).

Mostly to do with calming, sleep aid, but also an amazing skin care product!! It's not commonly known for it's aid with bee stings to help reduce the 'itch' factor, reduces cold sores, helps with minor burns, chapped skin and lips, and soo much more!!

30/11/2015

This is a good read!! I'm a strong believer in cavaletti work! It is amazing for horses of all disciplines, not just dressage! Great for strengthening the top line, the abdominals, builds balance, and gives your horse something to think about, like us they can get bored of the same workout routine over and over again, change it up and try some cavalettis or even just poles on the ground!

19/11/2015

Therapy Thursday!!
Another essential oil I am a huge fan of is Lemon! Not only does it smell nice, but also has a huge amount of health benefits!!
Cleansing and purification
Oral health and remedy for halitosis (bad breath)
Digestion
Thirst quencher
Remedy for abdominal colic pain
Cough relief
Calms stomach and relieves nausea
Prevents malabsorption
Improves digestion
Nourishes the skin
Promotes Weight loss ..Just to name a few!!
It has also been proven to help with improving neurological activity which helps to reduce fat!! Great way to smell nice and get in shape!!

31/10/2015

As you're getting your horses in shape and asking them to be more engaged, using their backs, going 'round' remember to look at the bigger picture!! Just because they're using the back muscles it doesn't mean that they aren't using the other muscles. The abdominal and neck muscles are just as important.

Here are some good exercises and stretches for your horse to keep their neck and back muscles supple also to stimulate and strengthen the abdominal muscles.

26/10/2015

One thing I love about New Zealand are the flowers, especially the dandelion, my favorite w**d!! As much as this w**d takes over most of the grass patches and people want to get rid of it, it's actually quite cool.
When eaten by both, us and horses we can look at the Dandelion as a big storage place for all sorts of vitamins, such as iron, copper, vitamin A, and C, to name a few. It contains more vitamin A and C than most vegetables and fruit! Not to mention once eaten, the copper acts upon the Zinc production in the body which then aids in wound healing, white blood cell production and fertility. Another great thing about Dandelions is that horses can self supplement as it's next to impossible to have a paddock with out Dandelions in it.
I have also made a Dandelion salve which has helped with muscle pain, and tennis elbow!

22/10/2015

A fun fact I found last night!
Bringing my love of bees and horses together: honey for horses!
Honey is great not only on wounds on the body or legs of your horse but also as food for your horse!!
It's full of Vitamins (A, B complex, C, D and E), antioxidants, bee pollen (helps build up immunity to pollen and helps with allergies), also propolis which works as an antibiotic!!
So feeding your animals and horses honey is actually a good healthy and cheap option for you and your horse!!!

21/10/2015

I just read this and I thought that it was really interesting!!
Perfect practice makes perfect!

Janet Foy explains the purpose and place of dressage movements in the arena.

20/10/2015

As summer is coming up in New Zealand and your starting to get your horses in shape help their bodies recover from workouts faster with massage!

Your horses are athletes, no matter what they do, so they deserve to be treated as athletes!

http://www.heavenlygaitsequinemassage.com/benefits-equine-massage/

Learn the benefits of equine massage therapy - Tips and exercises to improve performance, posture, flexibility, and restore balance in the horse naturally.

19/10/2015

I'm here, in New Zealand, on a work visa and would love to start working on horses! If you know of or have horses that you would like massaged drop me a message.

19/10/2015

These are three amazing horses!! They are roping horses and have really awesome muscling!! I was super excited to be able to work on these horses!

19/10/2015

Is an ex race horse who was rescued by an amazing lady!

19/10/2015

King is a great older horse who has so much spirit! His connection with his owner truly inspiring!

19/10/2015

I love massaging this lovely hearted Dressage horse in Alberta.

27/07/2015

A common miss understanding!! Check and see if your horse has a ' hunters bump '

What is hunter's bump in the horse? Causes for hunter's bump and how to identify if your horse has this condition. Effects of the condition on the body.