Amy Allen Horsemanship LLC

06/11/2024

Barefoot horses do compete and win. Its so nice to see a horse with a healthy MIND, BODY, and FEET winning awards, its so refreshing!

Congratulations to Paula and Oakley on your win!,
Equine Trail Sports Regional Novice Champion.

Paula has such a dedication to her horses whole body health, a driving work ethic and the support of her wonderful husband, Norman.
Congratulations and a job well done!

05/11/2024

A number of years ago I learned the hard way about rye grass in hay that I purchased. My OTTB and QH got SEVERE laminitis. Be aware of whats in your hay and what seed you are seeding your pasture.

30/10/2024

To my students that I have told to move your arms and follow the mouth when at walk and canter, check this out, its a great visual as to why we follow the mouth.

18/10/2024

Virtual trail ride on Maximus
Letting Max see and touch to learn his surroundings. We've touched the water trailer before, so he's not afraid of it. Always being ready that he might touch something and react.
Mostly neck reining, mostly he does, until he decided turning for home was a better idea. 🤣, but that's OK, he asks questions, I answer them.
Today the rain has arrived, gloves are needed to do the morning chores, but I can watch this video and be reminded of the beautiful fall, sunny, weather on Max.

17/10/2024

🤣

12/10/2024

This fall, I've seen a number of cases of misdiagnosed abscesses. Two of these cases are newly confirmed, by testing, PPID horses that are on grass, one case was a clients other horse that is in shoes and there was no diagnosis, instead lock him up and restrict all movement. (I asked to take a look at this horse and found a seam at the back of the heel bulb, this indicated a blown abscess. Horses in shoes get abscesses too. The horse was happy to get out of lock up.)

If your horse has sudden lameness in one foot, most likely it's an abscess. If your horse is suddenly toe pointing in one leg/foot (see photo), most likely it's an abscess. If your horse has an area of warmth or heat usually localized in the heel area (not always) most likely it's an abscess. If your horse has lameness in both feet its laminitis or founder. Feel your horses feet with your bare hands looking for heat.

What is a good solution? First, the best solution for all horses this time of year is to limit grass. We are still in the peak of fall growth and with warm sunny days and chilly nights the sugar stays up in the plant. Some PPID horses have undiagnosed IR (insulin resistance) and restriction from grass (dry lot or grazing muzzle with insert to restrict grass) is beneficial. Limit sugary treats, carrots, apples, sweet treats from the feed store, betterto replace with non sugarbtreats. Timothy hay cubes are a great treat and not as expensive, most horses love them, also peanuts in the shell.

Abscesses are painful and there is nothing more that we want for our horses than quick pain relief. One diagnosis was "thin soles, wall separation, gravel in the separation, recommend shoes and keep the foot wrapped". When I came to trim that horse, I found her hiding in the corner of her shelter, holding her wrapped foot out in front of her, sometimes in the air, begging for help (a wrapped up foot with no pain relieving poultice crates more pain/pressure). I pulled off her foot wrap, felt for heat, immediately found it the heel bulb region, trimmed the foot, slathered a generous amount of Epsom salt poultice on her heel bulbs and collateral grooves region, wrapped with vet wrap, duct tape, trimmed her hinds, turned her loose and observed her for around 20 more minutes while I talked to the client. The horse didn't return to her shelter. She went out to pasture, and started grazing, at times fully loading that foot. She continued to move, applying pressure and release to her hoof. The menthol in the poultice helps relieve some of the pain (almost immediately) The poultice draws the abscess, and because it keeps it consistently moist, it works faster than what we use to do, soaking. The pressure and release of a horse moving will move that abscess out of the foot and mentally the horse is in a better place because they not locked in a stall.

As a horse owner it's very wise to have a jar of Epsom salt poultice, vet wrap and duct tape in your horses medicine supplies so you can help your horse get relief quickly (and save yourself a $300+ vet bill).

I put together the steps and photos of how to apply an Epsom salt poultice and wrap. Its not hard, really its not, many horses when they feel that poultice on the area thats painful, start to cooperate. Epsom salt poultice has menthol in it, localized pain relief, better and safer than bute. Preparation is key, having the supplies ready to apply quickly and efficiently, will make this application process successfull.

07/10/2024

There is actually a name for the way we sometimes hold the snaffle rein in Légèreté, mostly when we are using the double bridle, its called the "Fillis hold".
When we hold the snaffle rein through the top of our hand, instead of through the bottom, its easier to direct the rein up and ask the horse to lift from the base of the neck. As a rider, if we have a tendency to pull back or down on the rein, if we hold the rein through the top of the hand, it reminds the rider to lift instead of pull. When we pull the rein, the bit pulls on the bars and the tongue and causes the horse to respond based on pain which can cause them to respond by throwing their head up, lowering their withers and be in a brace or upside down (a martingale will cause the same effect). When we lift the rein, pressure is instead on the corners of the mouth and the lips, soft tissue. If the horse was worked in hand first, and taught to release the jaw with an upward and then downward (lift and lower/reward) it can bring the immediate response of a jaw release, licking and chewing, thus relaxation. If you follow the sequence of 'lift, lower and then shorten" the horse gets an immediate release/reward when we lower our hands.

Here is another resource, https://tacante.com/blog/en/holding-your-reins-a-la-francaise/

BTW Mangaiti Equine is a great source for old and classical books and when you open the page below you will see another book referencing the "Fillis hold", here is the link since it didnt share quite right, https://mangaitiequine.com/.../manual-of-horsemastership...

07/09/2024

https://drkhorsesense.wordpress.com/2024/09/07/little-known-signs-of-early-ppid-cushings-disease/

The classical signs of Cushing’s Disease in horses (pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction/PPID) of poor topline, sagging belly and long curly coat that fails to shed are only evident fairly late in…

06/09/2024

The level of detail of these real life videos, explaining the range of motion, and damage, is amazing. The amount of damage shown by riding behind the vertical, in every discipline, is very sad but preventable.

06/09/2024

The grass is loving our weather, a bit of rain and lots of sunshine, cooler nights keep the sugar up in the plant. Add in the hormone factor and you have a hot mess.

Some horses need more than grazing muzzle restriction and a dry lot is better. Sugar causes inflammation, sugar is higher in the grass in the fall, carrots and apples are also high in sugar. Low sugar treats like peanuts in the shell are a good replacement for high sugar treats.

17/08/2024

This is Love, Shilohs dam. This was the first time they have come in contact in 5 months. ...I thought she might be happy to see her. Not so much. 🤣🤣🤣

(We had to evacuate Love from the Brinnon fire. Please pray for that situation, its causing a lot of anxiety and stress.)

15/08/2024

https://fb.watch/tZ_HKOsGYl/

15/08/2024

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