Bridlewood Farm - Equine rehabilitation, retirement, dressage breeding.

01/08/2024

After nearly 15 years, Bridlewood Farms is excited to announce that the farm has been sold.

We are grateful for the incredible support and patronage we have received over the years and are looking forward to this new chapter. We are delighted to share that the farm has been acquired by a highly capable and talented team, ensuring that the legacy of this beautiful and special place will continue.

Equine wellness and health have always been our top priority at Bridlewood Farms, and we take great pride in the work we have done to create a safe and nurturing environment for both horses and humans alike. Our family has been so blessed to have had these extraordinary memories and experiences here.

We are thankful for the trust, support, and business of our friends and clients and look forward to sharing our new plans with you in the near future.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being a part of the Bridlewood Farm family.

Please feel free to comment below with your favorite memories from Bridlewood Farm’s ❤️❤️❤️

27/07/2024

Get (make) you a horse that gets you smiling like this 😄

Nobelita BWF 💕 bred by Bridlewood Farm - Equine rehabilitation, retirement, dressage

pc:

29/06/2024

This is so basic for us but foreign to so many on the west coast.

Our horses actually consume less hay because they don’t have the "scarcity mindset”.. they are happier and healthier too.

What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

28/05/2024

➡️ As much turnout as you can. Seriously. As much as you can. Yes, there are horses who can’t eat grass. And yes, there are horses who hate the bugs and the heat. But seriously, as much turnout as you can. Turnout cures or improves so much: their bodies, their minds, their energy levels, their outlook on life. Invest in good bell boots, fly mask and Bow Horse USA fly sheet, and let them go out. Can they get hurt in turnout? Sure. But they can get hurt in their stalls too. And for me, the risk versus reward is a no brainer. Out they go.

14/05/2024

1000 times this ....

People often say that their horses in stables ‘live like kings’, but in fact, none of them do, unless we are referring to a king in exile, and a locked room!

When people use this analogy they are usually referring to the supply of copious clean bedding, an aesthetically pleasing stable and performance enhancing nutrition.

It is important to re-think this statement from the horse’s perspective and recognise that to live like a horse in a stable would be to: live with friends they can see and touch, be able to forage for 13 hours a day, and to have the freedom to move and interact with at least some facets of their environment.

This is a teaser of our soon to be released Modern Horse Training Volume 2 ✨

09/05/2024

Beautiful Poppy is due any day. 💗

07/05/2024

“I regularly ride my dressage horses out on the trail.... You can use the energy and fresh air of the open country in your training to give your dressage horse motivation, strength, and expression when ridden in teh arena. Riding out will also benefit his composure and nerves. And riding on different surfaces—sand, grass; dry, muddy—will improve your horse’s balance and surefootedness. The hills undulations, hollows, and slopes can imrove your horse’s physical suppleness and use of his back.” Ingrid Klimke in her new book RIDING OUT, now available from TSB.​​ ❤️🐴📕

24/04/2024

It's snowing footing ❤️

15/04/2024

We added a new tack room and are so grateful for the extra space ❤️

10/04/2024

Happy Birthday Nobelita!! ❤️❤️❤️

19/03/2024

Luna is loving all the daily grooming and attention right now.. 3 weeks away 💗💗💗

11/03/2024

Farm life.. When you know, you know...

01/03/2024

“Farm work doesn’t make you stronger. It doesn’t make you anything. It reveals you.

There’s gym strong and then there’s farm strong. They’re mutually exclusive.

The toughest women you’ll ever meet spend their days on a farm.

There are more uses for twine than you can possibly imagine. You can tie up a hole in a slow feeder, fashion a tail strap for a horse’s blanket, mend a broken fence and use it as a belt.

“Well that certainly didn’t go as planned,” is one thing you’ll say quite a bit.

Control is a mere illusion. The thought that you have any, at any given time, is utterly false.

Sometimes sleep is a luxury. So are lunch and dinner. And brushing your hair.

If you’ve never felt your obliques contract, then you’ve never tried stopping an overly full wheelbarrow of horse manure from tipping over sideways. Trust me, you’ll find muscles that you never knew existed on the human skeleton to prevent this from happening.

When one of the animals is ill, you’ll go to heroic lengths to minimize their discomfort.
When you lose one of them, even though you know that day is inevitable, you still feel sadness, angst and emotional pain from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. And it’s a heaviness that lingers even though you must regroup and press on.

You’ll cry a lot. But you’ll never live more fully. You’ll remain present no matter what because you must. There is no other option.

You’ll ask for so many miracles and hold out hope until the very last.

You will, at least once, face-plant in the manure pile.

You’ll find yourself saying things like, “we have maybe twenty minutes of daylight left to git ‘er done” whilst gazing up at a nonspecific place in the sky.

You’ll become weirdly obsessive about the weather.

You’ll go out in public wearing filthy clothes and smelling of dirt, sweat and p**p. People will look at you sideways and krinkle their noses but you won’t care.

Your entire day can derail within ten seconds of the rising sun.

You can wash your coveralls. They won’t look any cleaner, but they will smell much nicer.

Farm work is difficult in its simplicity.

You’ll always notice just how beautiful sunrises and sunsets really are.

Should you ever have the opportunity to work on a farm, take the chance! You will never do anything more satisfying in your entire life.

Well, that about sums it up, folks!” - unknown author

So true. All of it.
Cheers, Christina - Handley Acres Metal Creations

27/02/2024

This ❤️

A friend said recently that horses really like a ’Long Hello’. That many horses feel immediately rushed by us, and this can really set us onto a path of misunderstandings and conflicts with the horse. 



Out on a trail ride the other day, my horse carrying me calmly, carefully, steadily, he waded into the river, and splashed his nose in the water, lifted into a Flehman’s Response, then pawed at the water. It made me laugh. The sun was shining. It was perfect weather, cool enough for a jacket, sunny enough to not get cold. I reached down and rubbed his shoulder. My body flooded with all the feel good things I almost always feel around horses.
"Thanks buddy”, I said.

Gratitude. 

I wake up. I go to my horses. I am grateful. Already won. Why?



There are plenty of voices out there telling us, and our horses, that they are not good enough. Not correct enough, fit enough, collected enough, shiny enough, natural enough, healthy enough, calm enough, cooperative enough.



It is enough.



I am grateful before the horse because that is my long goodbye to the horse. We never know when we will have our last moment with our horses. And under normal set of circumstances, we will all outlive our horses, and if we are REALLY lucky, we will be there with them, in gratitude and dignity, at the very end. 



So I stay grateful, so that I do not have to GET grateful. Because that is my long goodbye to my horses. No matter if it was to be today, or in 30 years from now.

There is a training principal that permeates equestrian culture at almost every level and wears many disguises. It is the principal of trying to win. It sets the human against the horse and see's the working relationship with them as something competitive. Who wins, who loses, who gets their way. Who gets what they want.

The reason why I try to steer away from that, and you should to, is that it sets you up on a pathway of diminishing gratitude. That diminishing gratitude will eventually leave you utterly burnt out with horses.

So what to do about it? How to express your gratitude to a horse in a way they understand?



1. When the horse doesn’t give you what you want, try smiling about it. Breathe-in. Wait. You can always repeat the question in a moment. And maybe they didn’t understand you, or can’t do that thing today. Or maybe their lesson for you today is not about you getting what you want, but something else



2. When the horse does give you what you want in two seconds or less, permit yourself to feel joy about that. Smile like a maniac. Don’t be entitled or demanding (Unless in an emergency of safety). Tell that horse, in your language, that it was wonderful what they did. And feel what you say, so that the horse feels you too. 



3. The 1-Minute Ride. Once in a blue moon (For established, hard working saddle horses). Catch, groom, tack, warm up, mount. Sit for one minute quietly. Get off. Finish. Say THANK YOU to the horse and give them some extra hay that day. 



4. When correcting a horse whom has problematic posture, movement issues, or behavioural issues. Remember that it is their body not yours. Maladaptive responses exist for a really good reason and taking those away from a horse too quickly and absolutely could deprive the horse from an important coping strategy that is holding them together. Go slower in your reformation of what you deem incorrect, so that the horse has a chance to contribute to it too. They may not adhere to the rules of the system you are using, so give them a chance to SHOW you, what they need. 



5. Give your horse the absolute best quality of life you can. Try to relocate if your barn doesn’t have good living conditions for your horse. Stop giving money to people who know better, but can’t/won’t do better. It doesn’t have to be perfect. But never give up trying to give your horse a life that they enjoy living, outside of their time with you. Even in the most compromised of conditions, you would be amazed what some creative thinking can do to totally change the environment, improving your horses life outside of training.

https://www.emotionalhorsemanship.com

02/02/2024

Just because we are in Las Vegas does not mean the horses need to have limited space.

We opened up each 14 x 14 stall in the mare motel today so now each horse has 28 x 28.

Larger stalls mean happier and healthier horses.

06/01/2024

“I’m not a dressage rider” is a typical sentence that is heard throughout the disciplines. The word “dressage” can strike fear into the hearts of many riders. Typically because it’s seen as a rigid form of rules, that only if you “look” a certain way, with rhinestones on your browband and your Kastel sun shirt and riding with short reins and a noseband — do you fit into the crowd. *Kastel shirts are AMAZING btw 😘*

But “dressage” is so much different than it’s stand alone as a discipline.

It’s a set of theory’s that quiet and soften the muscles and the mind.

It’s a connection that forms communication to influence footfalls to create a sequence of engaged muscle pairs.

It’s strengthening and prolonging a career of soundness.

It’s increasing flexibility and strength of muscles and ligaments and tendons.

It’s applicable to any partnership, any horse, any discipline.

It’s Medicine.
It’s Movement.
It’s Balance.
It’s Therapy.

It’s applicable to you and your horse wherever your discipline choices lie. Regardless of your saddle, bridle, whether you ride in jeans or jodhpurs, whether you have a pasture, or an arena.

Dressage isn’t “picky” on who it helps. It’s inclusive to anyone willing to pursue it.

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas from Bridlewood Farms 🎄

08/12/2023

We are all about the creature comforts around here for both horse and human ❤️

08/12/2023

So proud of these two. Nobelita BWF is growing into a beautiful swan. ❤️

Uno Don Diego x Juventus x Idocus

08/12/2023

08/12/2023

1000 times yes 🙌

So, I just got this super high energy working bred herding dog.

Yes, I only live in an apartment. Yes, I work 12 hour shifts and come home late, but I can get her out for an hour a day, she will be fine in her kennel for that time. She doesn’t seem to mind!

No, I can’t afford to hire someone to walk her while I’m at work, but don’t be elitist.

It isn’t fair to say that it’s cruel to keep a high energy dog locked in a cage for half the day and a small apartment for several hours more… stop making me feel guilty!

Not everyone has access to large spaces and hours a day to exercise their dog…

See how ridiculous this sounds?

If I didn’t clarify that this is a made up story to draw parallel to some of the justifications used for keeping horses in inadequate care, people would be preparing their pitchforks and torches.

Why is it viewed as so acceptable to use “it’s the best I can provide” excuse with horses to deflect from discussions on how damaging spending the majority of the day isolated in a stall is?

Something being the “best” you can provide doesn’t mean it’s adequate care.

If I decided to get a pet cheetah tomorrow, the best I could provide is making it a house cat, which would not be sufficient.

I am not entitled to owning an animal I cannot properly provide for.

We, as an industry, either need to make a way bigger effort to set up communities and boarding facilities that do a far better job of providing the bare minimum needs of the horse or people need to not get horses if they cannot provide them basic needs.

Socialization is a basic need.

Space to move and self exercise is a basic need. It doesn’t need to be on 100 acres but being in a 12x12 stall for 20+ hours a day is not sufficient.

Food and water are not the only basic needs.

We are not entitled to owning animals and if you feel guilty when you read things that make you feel like you’re not provide adequate care….

To be honest, guilt is an honest reaction.

We SHOULD feel guilty if we are owning animals and are not providing them enough to live happy, healthy lives.

If we are depriving them of some of their most core needs…

If we truly love the animal, as many of us do, guilt is a normal response to that realization.

We can’t just be doing the best WE can. We need to be providing at the LEAST, the bare minimum of core needs for the animals we get otherwise we shouldn’t have them.

04/12/2023

▶️ Watch this reel https://www.facebook.com/share/r/v2mt4DvS6kTLrsaF/?mibextid=UalRPS

25/11/2023

18/11/2023

https://madbarn.com/turnout-for-horses/

Modern domestic horses have very different lifestyles than their wild ancestors. While keeping horses in stalls is convenient for humans, confinement can be detrimental for animals who evolved to graze and walk throughout the day. Turning horses out to pasture provides freedom of movement in a contr...

29/10/2023

Nobelita BWF partied her way through a very successful first recognized show outing!

THIS HORSE IS SO FUN, and a total star to boot. She earned 72% and 75.4% - scores to write home about for sure, but the best part was how absolutely not-a-big-deal the whole horse show game was for her.

Future is bright 🤩, cannot wait to keep working (and playing) with this best girl Nessie. Thank you Koryn Doolittle Dressage LLC for your guidance, encouragement, and the advice to be “picky and efficient” this weekend 🤣

Let’s be sure not to spread the word too much as we don’t want to get in trouble with the DQ police, but we had laughing, smiling fun at the dressage show thanks to some really wonderful people. Feeling grateful to have a really awesome village around us 💕

Bridlewood Farm - Equine rehabilitation, retirement, dressage breeding.

07/03/2023

Yes!!!! ♥️♥️♥️♥️

If anyone, anywhere tells you to pull the horses head down (or uses leverage and gadgets to do so) they have no knowledge of healthy horse biomechanics or of correct training.
The horse's nose must always lead, with the poll highest and the gullet open. The base of the ears mustn't be lower than the withers. The jaw must be mobile. If the horse cannot chew and swallow, the hindlegs cannot operate correctly. If the hindlegs cannot operate correctly, the horse will not be able to jump, or stay off the forehand, or stay sound.
"Don’t be obsessed with the head and neck, learn to feel what the hindquarters are doing." ~ Glenys Shandley

26/01/2023

Women and Horses...
It's a Soul Connection ❤️

Artist: Catherine McMillan
https://www.catherinemcmillan.com/

06/01/2023

Ranch rehab underway.

Each and every year we power wash all the stalls and paint. The job is never ever done. It’s non stop keeping this place in tip top shape - but it’s a labor of love ❤️

27/12/2022

This is fundamental advice regardless of the discipline in which you ride, I have built my method and career around all of this, if you
Study the greatest horsemen in the world you will see all of the points in action. This was said by one of the best modern horsemen bill steinkrause.

“No. 1. Get your tack and equipment just right, and then forget about it and concentrate on the horse.

No. 2. The horse is bigger than you are, and it should carry you. The quieter you sit, the easier this will be for the horse.

No. 3. The horse's engine is in the rear. Thus, you must ride your horse from behind, and not focus on the forehand simply because you can see it.

No. 4. It takes two to pull. Don't pull. Push.

No. 5. For your horse to be keen but submissive, it must be calm, straight and forward.

No. 6. When the horse isn`t straight, the hollow side is the difficult side.

No. 7. The inside rein controls the bending, the outside rein controls the speed.

No. 8. Never rest your hands on the horse's mouth. You make a contract with it: "You carry your head and I'll carry my hands."

No. 10. Once you've used an aid, put it back.

No. 11. You can exaggerate every virtue into a defect.

No. 12. Always carry a stick, then you will seldom need it.

No. 13. If you`ve given something a fair trial, and it still doesn't work, try something else—even the opposite.

No. 14. Know when to start and when to stop. Know when to resist and when to reward.

No. 15. If you're going to have a fight, you pick the time and place.

No. 16. What you can't accomplish in an hour should usually be put off until tomorrow.

No. 17. You can think your way out of many problems faster than you can ride your way out of them.

No. 18. When the horse jumps, you go with it, not the other way around.

No. 19. Don`t let over-jumping or dull routine erode the horse's desire to jump cleanly. It's hard to jump clear rounds if the horse isn't trying.

No. 20. Never give up until the rail hits the ground.

No. 21. Young horses are like children—give them a lot of love, but don't let them get away with anything.

No. 22. In practice, do things as perfectly as you can; in competition, do what you have to do.

No. 23. Never fight the oats.

No. 24. The harder you work, the luckier you get."

~Bill Steinkraus