Integrated Veterinary Therapeutics

18/11/2024

18/11/2024

The value of knowing and observing your horses feeding postures!!

Not another postural feeding picture 😁 yes, BUT with a difference. No more beans, no more resting a hind leg! ❤️Doc has been resting one hind leg consistently while standing, for months and months. He will square up to eat then quickly start resting again. Either hind leg.
Last week his sheath swelled up, he had a sedation and sheath check/clean by Southern Cross Equine vet, Dr George. We love George.
George found 2 beans, moderately large but one was excruciatingly hard.
No more beans, much more comfortable Doc!
Doc has annual dental sedation but this is not enough for him to allow us to clean his sheath. Last clean out was approx 3 years ago and there was almost nothing to remove.
Personal care party will now be an annual date.
So relieved it is not arthritis or melanoma causing the problem.

17/11/2024

✨Yass/Murrumbateman Clients ✨

For our last trip across for the year, we will be in the area this coming Monday 18th Nov.
We will be offering:
🐴 Lameness Workups
🩻 Ultrasounds and/or Radiographs
🐎 Podiatry Radiographs with Markups
🎠 Other Consultations
💐 End of life appointments

Get in touch through the page or on 0467681474 if you have any questions or would like to book an appointment! 🩺

12/11/2024

SIGN UPS OPEN TOMORROW AT 8am for David Landreville Eugowra clinic - 18-19th March 2025.

Are you an owner trimmer that wants to learn more? Or a professional trimmer that what’s to build their skills and understanding?

www.davidlandreville.com/shop/p/eugowra-nsw-2025

Sign up for this clinic will open November 9th at 8am AEDT (daylight savings time). Last year places filled very quickly, so set yourself a reminder!

David’s approach to hoof trimming combines technical, precise, physical elements with emotional, intuitive, feeling based connection. The horse is the ultimate judge of the trim and the experience, and tuning into their feedback allows for a deeper understanding of just how much the details matter.

09/11/2024

Today Ellie-May met Mr Turtle. He was safely relocated back to our dam. 🐢

23/10/2024

There are 2 things that really make my day! 💖

💥1. The recognition, communication, hugs, little nicker and gratitude I feel from the horses 🦄

💥2. The relief and gratitude from owners as they are heard and see transformation occuring in their horse. 🦄

22/10/2024

This is why we TRAIN. Here are *just* 8 ways that your horse’s body adapts to better do their job! The body is truly phenomenal. Training and conditioning your horse in a well-balanced program (with the Equiband Pro System 2-3 times/week 😉) causes an entire cascade of physiological changes to make your horse more effective as an athlete.

Some of these changes are visible (i.e. muscles getting larger and more toned), but many of these changes are not visible to the naked eye (e.g. enzyme activity, neuromuscular coordination, etc.).

Trust that the body is improving everyday. Because it really is! 🧡

20/10/2024

This happened in a treatment recently!!💥
I have treated this horse regularly for well over a year and his owner and I were having a meaningful conversation during his treatment and all of a sudden he did a weird stretch and just laid down groaning, head going back and forth and then just rested his nose on the ground, he was completely not with us. (It was not colic). 💖
We all sat down and when he got up he stood processing for another 20mins or so. Just amazing!💜
Horses are truly special beings that often have deep connections with their humans. Very special moments 🥰

18/10/2024

The effects of a long toe!!

Why is toe length so important for horses?

Its important to understand that the horses digit has a distinct change in direction, from the metacarpal/tarsal to the phalanges, at the fetlock. This change in direction is a very clever biomechanical advantage for the horse as it allows for more efficient movement because the flexor structures act like a spring and recoil to reduce muscular effort.

However, horses also have a low safety factor, so this clever biomechanics is also at a higher risk of damage when the system is out of balance.

The ground reaction forces pushing against the weight of the horse are out in front of the rest of the limb, and the position is dependant on conformation AND hoof balance.

In the human, the weight coming down is met by the ground pushing back, if we have flippers on, we only notice the effect when we try to move. But in the horse we can see that because these forces don’t meet each other, we have a rotational force created, called a moment, even when stationary. The magnitude of that moment is a factor of the amount of force being applied x the distance between these two forces (The moment arm). The tendons and suspensory and of course all the other ligaments around the fetlock act as a hammock to stop that rotational force making the limb collapse to the ground.

So, increases in toe length from poor hoof balance, increase the distance between the weight of the horse coming down the limb and the ground pushing back through the hoof for the same conformation. More rotational force, more tendon and ligament strain....simple really.

We covered this in our biomechanics 101 lesson recently with our co-host The study of the equine hoof...

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/digit-biomechanics-101

18/10/2024

Let’s talk about who and what affects changes in your horse’s three-dimensional back shape or topline.

When we refer to the ‘Circle of Influence’, we are referring to the dynamic network of professionals and factors that directly affect your horse’s health and welfare. The ‘Circle of Influence’ encompasses you, as the owner or rider, your trainer, veterinarian, nutritionist, bodyworkers, the farrier, tack specialists, etc. Each of these professionals plays a critical role in ensuring the overall physical health of your horse.

In addition to these professionals, there are other factors that will have an effect on your horse’s topline. Your horse’s housing situation, turnout, quality of the feed, riding surfaces, herd dynamics.

Like an integrated welfare network, the ‘Circle of Influence’ demands unity and coordination among professionals and other factors affecting your horse’s life.

Any change in one aspect—whether it’s training methods, tack changes, a new housing situation, or nutritional adjustments — will ripple through the entire system and will affect the shape of your horse’s three-dimensional back, prompting the need for…

…you guessed it, a saddle assessment!

A saddle alone cannot create a healthy back, we need all aspects in the horse’s care to work together seamlessly to accomplish that. But, a saddle can certainly contribute to maintaining a healthy back or contribute to a painful one. Saddle fitting is not a one-time occurrence; it’s an ongoing, dynamic process. It falls upon you as the owner or rider to detect changes that signal the need for assessment, a responsibility that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

By recognizing the synergy of the aspects within ‘The Circle of Influence’ and their effect on your horse physically, you can create a holistic approach to your horse’s care that prioritizes welfare at all times.

However, proactive care requires having the necessary knowledge to regularly assess your saddle’s fit—an indispensable skill for every rider and horse owner.

It empowers you to identify and address issues promptly, ensuring your horse remains comfortable and healthy through all stages of life.

17/10/2024

A sense of urgency for correction is often taught in the equestrian world. If a horse says no - if they stop, pin their ears, kick out, show resistance, etc - we need to correct them immediately! We can’t let them get away with that or if they do it once, they will have a deeply engrained “habit” and we will have an uncooperative and dangerous horse. Right? I disagree.

When training, you can’t punish or reward a behavior long after it has occurred or the animal will have no idea what the punishment or reward is related to.

Hence the sense of urgency to stop a behavior in its tracks.

But here’s what I have learned - stopping unwanted behavior or behavior that some might perceive as “bad” is not as urgent as many think it is.

When we immediately punish unwanted behavior, we are essentially telling the horse to be silent and that we do not care what they think or feel about what is happening.

Punishment is often promoted as necessary for safety. But a safe horse is not a shut down horse.

It’s OK to not react to unwanted behavior.

Not punishing bad behavior is not equivalent to rewarding it. Stopping something that is causing them discomfort or distress is relief, not a reward.

Get yourself in a safe position and take a minute.

The horse needs help to feel better or do better.

Punishment is like putting a bandaid on an infection. It might look better for a bit but the underlying problem is still there. Let the horse say no. Understand why they are saying no. Then adjust your approach to achieve the desired behavior.

You might be surprised how much more they will give you a yes.

12/10/2024

Are you dancing with your horse? 💫

This week I have had a few discussions about in hand postural work with clients in their posture sessions with their horses. 🥰

I loved it when one of my clients said "It feels like we are dancing!" as her young horse became more balanced and responsive and she became more aware of her body position and feel. 🤗

We are like a dance partner to our horses💃

Dancing with a partner is an interplay of connection, trust, and harmony. 💖

💫 It’s a silent conversation where two partners mirror and flow
💫It is guided by the rhythm between you and your horse
💫The communication is generally non-verbal, relyinh on subtle cues of pressure release, body position, posture, energy and perhaps eye contact with the aim of making it look effortless!
💫The lead typically guides the flow of the dance, while the follow responds and interprets the direction creating synchronous moves

💥The beauty lies in the shared energy, as partners anticipate and respond to each other’s movements, creating fluidity and grace.
💥There's trust as one leads and the other follows, yet both contribute equally to the dance’s elegance.

A connection and mutual enjoyment is created 🥰

Initially it is our responsibility to guide and support our horses in finding their balance and posture 🤩

Examples are;
🌱We retain a constant connection to catch them if they start to fall rather than let them loose their balance and feel unsafe
🌱Guiding them to a halt when they are rushing
allowing them to choose to halt when they feel like they are loosing their balance
🌱Waiting for them to find their own forward
🌱Being clear in our mind and body what a balanced posture is in the movement we are asking for
🌱Slow and controlled movement to allow the development of neural pathways for movement that is mindful, balanced and using the body correctly
🌱Allowing breaks to integrate the new patterns of motion
🌱Only repeating enough that the horse shows a recognition of the pattern- generally 3 times is sufficient
🌱Supporting them to trust their body and choices

⭐️Each time you ask there should be improvement
⭐️Each session there should be improvement and increased relaxation associated with the movement

⁉️If they are struggling, becoming more braced or not improving - don't repeat and repeat - ask the question- Why?
✅️ Do I understand clearly what I am asking for?.
✅️Do I understand clearly what to fo with my body?
✅️Can I break it down to make it simpler or clearer?.
✅️Do they understand what I am asking? If they can do it one way and not the other the answer is yes
✅️ What is my body doing? Am I blocking? Bracing? Pushing? Pulling? Relaxed? Inconsistent?
✅️Is there a physical restriction
✅️ have I slowed it down enough
✅️ Have I slowed it down too much and it is too hard for this horse

💥In my Equine Functional Posture course we look at understanding the posture of our horses - The foundations of the dance!💥

💯We explore ways to improve the posture setting up the baseline before asking for the dance steps so we increase the chance of success in creating the dance 💯

👍Then we start to create the foundational steps that can then become any style of dancing you and your horse want to do!

🦄The key is to remember it is a PARTNERSHIP! A 2 way connection.🦄

💖 We are aiming for a place where we are both confident and comfortable in our balance and posture and we can TRUST each other and our individual bodies if one of us flails a little to have our back!!💖

https://integratedvettherapeutics.mykajabi.com/store

💥Join my next online Equine Functional Posture Course starting MONDAY NOVEMBER 4th!!💥