Belmonte Equestrian Services & Therapy

06/02/2023

12/05/2021

⭐‼️Complete your show set with our 100% customizable products in any colour of your choice!‼️⭐

Numnahs - R600.00
Exercise bandages - R400.00
Ear muffs - R250.00

!*Complete set - R1100.00*!

Contact me today!!
Monique: 079 510 0098

06/05/2021

‼️GORGEOUS GROOMING BAGS, BRIDLE BAGS AND SADDLE COVERS‼️

Fully customizable items, available separately or as a matching set.

Grooming bag- R 500.00
Bridle bag- R 300.00
Saddle cover- R 220.00

22/04/2021

‼️EVERYDAY NUMNAHS‼️

These lightweight numnahs are perfect for every day riding and practice at only R300.00❗All our products are fully customizable and can be ordered in any shape, colour or pattern of your choice 🌸

Contact me today to place your order.
Monique :079 510 0098

02/02/2021

The lessons you're really paying for when your child rides horses...

1. Learning how to manage their fears
2. Patience
3. The art of silent communication
4. How to trust themselves and their intuition
5. Unconditional Love
6. Discipline and responsibility
7. The art of being a gentle but consistent leader
8. How to polish up and be presentable, but also how to get dirt under their nails
9. The art of remaining humble through victory and loss
10. How to fall and fail... and how to get back up and keep trying.

Author unkown.

01/02/2021

🌟‼️EQUESTRIAN VAULTING‼️🌟

With Covid-19 preventing school sports and keeping our kids caged up indoors.
Equestrian vaulting is the answer!! Safe physical exercise in the fresh air. Vaulting not only strengthens your body, but also helps with flexibility and balance. Just like gymnastics ON HORSE BACK!!

Vaulting is also excellent for your child's:
Concentration
Balance
Team sportsmanship
Interaction with gentle animals
Burning extra energy
Mental and physical health and fitness

La Danza is currently offering a three month special: DON'T MISS OUT ON THIS DEAL!!
Sign up now for three months and pay only:

R350 per month for one lesson per week
R600 per month for two lessons per week

*OR*

PAY ALL THREE MONTHS IN ADVANCE for only:

R300 per month for one lesson per week
R550 per month for two lessons per week

Feel free to contact me with any questions
Monique Belmonte- 079 510 0098 🌸

08/01/2021

⭐‼️Complete your show set with our 100% customizable products in any colour of your choice!‼️⭐

Numnahs - R600.00
Exercise bandages - R400.00
Ear muffs - R250.00

!*Complete set - R1000. 00*!

Contact me today!!
Monique: 079 510 0098

06/01/2021

Before backing your youngster please read -

A horse ages roughly 3 times faster than a human.

So a 90 year old human is a 30 year old horse. Both very old, usually arthritic, don’t have many of their original teeth left, and very likely retired and enjoying the finer things in life.

A 25 year old horse is a 75 year old human. Still works so far.

A 20 year old horse is a 60 year old human. At that point where the body doesn’t work like it use to but the brain is all there and wants to be active.

A 13 year old horse is a 39 year old human. Middle aged, prime of their life where their knowledge and physical ability are about equal.

So let’s get down to the babies and work our way up.

A 3 year old horse is a 9 year old child. A child. Not ready for work by a long stretch. We have moved past sending children down the mines.

A 4 year old horse is a 12 year old child. Often will do odd jobs for pocket money, maybe a paper round, mowing lawns etc. Basically a 4 yo horse can start a bit of light work to earn their keep.

A 5 year old horse is a 15 year old teenager. Think they know it all, cocky, and ready to up their work and responsibilities. Still quite weak and not fully developed so shouldn’t be at their physical limit but can start building strength.

A 6 year old horse is an 18 year old human. An adult. Ready to work hard.

Pushing your youngster too hard too young will result in failure of many body parts. Joints, tendons, ligaments as well as their brains. Waiting one year at the beginning can give a horse another 10 years of useful working life. Be patient with your pride and joy!

Written by Vicky Fowler

15/12/2020

Protecting the back from injury is one of the most important things you can do to keep your horse sound in the long term.

07/10/2020

27/09/2020

‼SWEAT SHEETS AND BANDAGES‼

Custom made sweat sheets and polo wraps

Sweat sheet - R 700.00
Fleece bandages - R 200.00
Set - R 800.00

Contact me today for your own custom made set
Monique: 079 510 0098

Available as set or separately

23/09/2020

TAIL TELLS

If a horse's tail gets caught between his hind legs he is not using his body properly. If the tail lays flat and listless these are clues that energy, messages and feedback from the brain to the body and back may not be traveling up and down his spine properly. If the tail is clamped down, the horse may be in fear or in pain, closing the hindquarters down. This is something to discuss with your veterinarian.

If your horse's tail swishes constantly and more so during transitions, changes, or anytime you make a request, your aids may be too loud or he may be frustrated with the work. A little swishing when asked to do something demanding for a short time is different from constant swishing. We must observe and know our horse to figure out what is concentration and what is upset.

The tail reflects the health of our horse's spine. As the spine undulates in a slightly serpentine pattern through our horses' body, his tail should carry through this motion.

As our horse uses his back and body better and better, as his balance changes and improves, he will use his tail differently. We want to keep an eye on it and note improvements or set backs as they tell us how well the training is progressing or is stalling.

We look for a tail that is carried in a soft arch slightly away from the body with the mass of hair rhythmically moving from hock to hock in a pendulum motion.

Touching your horse's tail, gently lifting it and rotating it, combing the hair with your fingers, taking segments and gently pulling them in a circular motion while observing your horse will give you feedback about how he feels in his back and body. This should be done easily with no resistance, the tail should have a good weight in your hands and feel alive, not dead.

PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION. Stand to the side at first and stay close to the croup. If your horse reflexively clamps down or threatens to kick, do not try to force the issue or become aggressive. Reassure your horse with a neutral touch and your voice. If the problem persist, contact your health care pro, do not insist as you and your horse may get hurt.

UPDATE: 1: About the crooked tail

We had shared this explanation from Equinology a few years back which matches Manolo’s understanding:

“There are numerous reasons for a tail held to one side. A spinal misalignment, an injury, restrictions to any of the soft tissues, a reproductive concern or a lame limb can be one of the many issues. If a horse is not bearing equal weight on a limb in a unilateral (one sided) issue the horse tends to rest that limb. In resting that limb it swings the pelvis forward and points the sacral (croup) and caudal (tail) bones towards that limb.

Try it for yourself. Put your hands behind your back; hold your hands against your spine in an upside down “prayer” fashion. Now, lift your heel to offload your leg so your pelvis of that side moves forward and you will see that your fingers point to that leg. It doesn’t take long for this adaptation of posture to show up and begin compensatory issues.

Some of the other muscles that you need to consider are two of the hamstrings; the semimembranosus and the semitendinosus. Horses are a bit different than us and have attachments to the spine; with 2 strong attachments to the first two tail bones. If one of these hamstrings are tight and when they are in this shortened state, they will incline those bones to the restricted side. Voila, crooked tail."

FOR THE REST OF THE ARTICLE AND MORE ADVICE on how to massage the hamstrings and help release and straighten the tail, please read the detailed and extremely well illustrated attached pdf from Debranne Patillo and Equinology, Inc.

http://www.manolomendezdressage.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Equinology-Hamstring-Massage-Recos.pdf

Thank you for your generosity Debranne in sharing educational knowledge with us at a moments notice and with the equestrian community worldwide.

UPDATE 2: We read a very insightful post from one reader we wanted to share relating to the potential relationship between a harder tail grooming and washing experience and possible surrounding muscle soreness:

Fran Welsby wrote: " Hi, do you find how a horse accepts their tail being washed also gives you clues? We shampoo, condition then use a de-tangle spray thru the tail then using our fingers carefully separate out the hairs from the roots to the ends.

I have found that the ponies that relax, give me their tails to do all this generally fall asleep while I work, those that don't often will be the ones with some haunch/ham string issues."

An interesting observation.

For a lot of information about horses tails, we also recommend you check Kentucky Equine Research's Equinews resource. There is a reason why KER is the company Manolo trusts with his horses's nutrition and supplemental needs!

https://ker.com/?s=tail&search-option=library&lib=1

©️Manolo Mendez Dressage - repost

16/09/2020

ItsMyDarlin and Imagine really relaxing and enjoying their Myofascial Release Therapy sessions 🌸🐴

15/09/2020

⭐‼️Complete your show set with our 100% customizable products in any colour of your choice!‼️⭐

Saddle pad - R600.00
Exercise bandages - R400.00
Ear muffs - R200.00

!*Complete set - R1000. 00*!

Contact me today!!
Monique: 079 510 0098

30/08/2020

‼️GORGEOUS GROOMING AND BRIDLE BAGS‼️

Fully customizable items, available separately or as a matching set.

Grooming bag- R 500.00
Bridle bag- R 300.00
Saddle cover- R 150.00

29/08/2020

27/08/2020

As a physiotherapist, you can be drafted in to fix problems that aren't actually THE problem.

Is it kissing spines or poor posture?

Is it navicular, or poor posture?

In pondering this for quite some time it has made me consider who I want to be as a horse owner/rider in order to manage the number of "problems" created.

What do you want to change about your ridden aesthetic?

What steps are you going to take to achieve that?

I decided I want to be a rider that rides the horse with an unrestricted neck, but still with good posture.

I can't achieve that by chucking the reins at the horse and hoping for the best.

There needs to be a process.

The goal doesn't achieve the goal.

The process achieves the goal.

Rehab is a process, not a goal.

27/08/2020