STS Horsemanship

01/11/2024

Thankful for the farms with indoor arenas that allow haul-ins! It feels great to be getting my mare back into regular work after just being a field and trail horse for the last year.

16/10/2024

STS Horsemanship is fully booked for the remainder of October. If you would like to be put on a wait-list please let me know!

09/08/2024

I haven’t even been able to watch the equestrian events of the Olympics because of the lack of concern for welfare. All I see are posts of severe rollkur, seesawing the horses mouth from “top riders”, and outright stress expressions of horses seen and everyone defending the mistreatment of these horses. This has been one of those times that knowledge is a blessing and a curse as knowing how all of these actions affect the horse both mentally and physically just breaks my heart.

05/03/2024

A bit of a longer couple clips of my most recent training session with my client horse Bella. She still has a long way to go before our first ride, but I wanted to get her accustomed to seeing and feeling a person on her back and she was wonderful!

02/03/2024

Beautiful miss Bella got sat on for the first time today and she was wonderful! Still a ways to go before we actually start riding her but so far she is taking everything in stride. 🥰

28/02/2024

Bella’s first time being saddled went as smoothly as possible. The ultimate goal of any first time saddling or first ride is for it to be boring. Far too often people think it’s funny or eventful to see a horse explode, but thinking from the horses perspective that’s the last thing we want to happen as you’re scaring their brain and damaging their riding career early on. We love to see a horse continue through their sessions with minimal stress and anxiety even with firsts. Bella’s first ride still won’t be for a while yet as we want to slowly incorporate being saddled while completing our other tasks to ensure she is as comfortable as possible with these new, scary things.. although for Bella trying new things means food so we don’t really have a “scare” factor 🤣

25/02/2024

We love a good makeshift reverse round-pen and good target session. Teaching miss Bella here how to lunge by following the target. Hopefully someday soon I’ll get the equipment to enlarge my reverse round pen but currently we gotta use what we’ve got. Bella is such a smart girl and learns so quickly, I really enjoy working with her.

Also maybe one day my phone camera will focus on me instead of the ground 🤷🏻‍♀️

22/02/2024

I love all of these

22/02/2024

Teaching this lovely lady how to lead beside/move forward to lead pressure by starting with following the target. She will eventually be started undersaddle but is a blank slate so we are starting with the basics. Follow along to see her progress over the next few weeks 🥰

02/02/2024

Target training is a wonderful foundational training tool for you and your horse. This method takes into account learning theory and how horses take in new information. I’ve heard many times that providing food as a reward can encourage horses to overcrowd or begin mugging people and even biting. Target training counteracts that belief and encourages the horse to look elsewhere for the reward rather than directly in your pocket. It can actually help for horses who have overcrowding issues. Target training is also a great first step to helping horses who have trailering issues, boundary issues, as well as work toward reverse round pen training.

If you would like to learn more or would like to learn how to target train your horse, please connect to book a session!

20/01/2024

A really great infographic on how horses maintain body temperature during the chilly winter months!

FUN FACT FRIDAY! Are you familiar with the many adaptations that help your horse stay warm during the cold winter months?

🌾 Hindgut digestion of hay produces the most heat, acting as a small furnace inside of the horse. This is why free choice, good quality hay is so important in the winter.

💪 Horses have a huge muscle mass and muscle activity produces heat. This includes running and playing and even shivering if their body temperature starts to drop. It is important to remember that these activities also will result in a bigger caloric demand so free choice hay and in some cases, grain, is often needed.

🧥 To blanket or not to blanket is a constant debate but either way, as it starts to get cold your horse will grow a thicker coat. If you decide to leave your horse unblanketed you may notice that they look “fluffy”. This is due to a phenomenon called piloerection where the hair stands up to better trap air within. Two layers of the coat also help with warmth. The inner layer is softer and has air pockets to create an insulating layer. The outer layer is coarse and has oils that keep moisture from penetrating the insulating layer and keep the horse warm.

⚖️ Wild horses go into the winter heavier than ideal and the fat serves as an extra layer of insulation. However, if a horse is going to be kept heavily blanketed and in a barn during the cold weather months this is unnecessary and can lead to obesity related issues.

🦵Their distal limbs (below the knees and hocks) are made of mostly bones and tendons, tissues that are resistant to the cold temperatures.

🦶The hooves have an alternative route of blood circulation through larger vessels that can be used in low temperatures. This is why horses can stand in snow without detrimental effects.

👃A horse’s nose has a robust blood supply and is rounded so that it is less susceptible to frostbite than a human’s nose.
•
Courtesy of the AAEP Horse Owner Education Committee

18/01/2024

Doing some self-haltering before Sitkas float. Like humans, the dentist can be a stressful and anxiety inducing experience so any preparation to minimize that stress is important for your equine partner. The ultimate goal is to provide the most amount of comfort in situations that are unnatural and worrisome to the horse.

16/01/2024

It’s heartbreaking to see and to know that competing bit-less is illegal but competing with severe, harsh bits and tight Nosebands is legal and outstandingly common. I truly hope to see change in the equine industry soon.

Top Riders - Skill, or Brute Force and Gadgets?

As we approach the 2024 Olympics where the best in their Sport compete, what does it look like for Equestrian Sport?

How are we judging the "best of the best"?

When we stop to look, what do we see?

When we stop to think about what we see, is horse welfare included?

Should horse welfare be a primary consideration in skill level?

Has the world of equestrian sport lost it's way?

We say YES, it has!

If horse welfare is not a primary consideration in awarding riders, then where is the skill? What is there to be proud of?

Let's step up for horse welfare for the 2024 Olympics and beyond. Please sign and share our petition to adopt the 46 Recommendations put forward by the French Government to improve horse welfare protocols for the 2024 Olympics:

https://chng.it/QSGFWQq42n

11/01/2024

Some great information for the cold snap we are about to get!

Water remains as important for your horse in cold weather as it is in the summer. As a matter of fact, decreased water consumption in the winter is thought to be the primary inducing factor for impaction colic — although there are other predisposing factors such as poor hay quality, lack of exercise, internal parasites and dental problems.

Impaction colic is essentially constipation and most often includes the accumulation of hard, dry f***l material in the colon. The usual signs of impending impaction colic are depression, a decreased appetite, and decreased production and dryness of manure.

Studies demonstrate that you can increase your horse's winter water consumption if you provide access to heated water, but ONLY if that is the only source of water available. As always, if you have any questions about preventing colic in your horse, your local veterinarian remains your best source of information!

11/01/2024

Horse Council BC is partnered with the Can Am All Breeds Equine Expo!

The Can Am All Breeds Equine Expo is coming to Chilliwack Heritage Park, April 12 – 14 2024

All HCBC member clubs are invited to join the show to promote their club or breed, and Can Am Equine will discount 50% off the cost of their booth space!

The Can-Am All Breeds Equine Expo is Canada's premier equine event, bringing together thousands of horse lovers and industry partners all under one roof
for a great weekend. There's something for all horse lovers, from the seasoned horse person to the weekend rider and everything in between.
The Can-Am All Breeds Expo features three exciting days of international clinicians, family-fun entertainment, performances, equine breed showcases, all indoor shopping and kid friendly interactive attractions. Can-Am Equine is committed to creating awareness of the equine industry and to making horses a vital part of
the community. Horse Council BC is excited to be a part of this great
event and look forward to seeing you at the show! For more information on how your Club or Breed Organization can participate, please contact Sandy at: [email protected]

For more information on clinics or vendor opportunities
Please contact [email protected]
www.canamequine.com

09/01/2024

Equine Guelph’s Horse Behaviour & Safety online course is self-paced and runs January through March 2024, with a free offering for teens.

08/01/2024

Hello everyone and welcome to STS Horsemanship!

I thought I would pop on here and introduce myself and what STS Horsemanship is all about.

My name is Cheyenne Weinmeister, I’m a 25 year old professional horse trainer. I have been riding since the ripe age of 4 years old and have been training since 2020. I began in the hunter jumper circuit, competing until I was 9 years old when I moved to the Arabian breed circuit. I competed in the breed circuit until 2017, earning many local, regional, and national titles, competing all over North America in many disciplines from in hand to dressage, sidesaddle, equitation, pleasure and more. I have a special interest in equine behaviour and ever since I began riding I have always had the desire to work with challenging horses, always having a deep feeling that they were merely misunderstood.

Since 2021 I have been going to school online through the University of Guelph, working to obtain my Equine Science Diploma, with my main focus being equine behaviour. I am pleased to offer many training services from starting young horses, working with behavioural problems, standardized conditioning/exercise training, lessons, and trailer training. Currently all services are mobile as I do not have my own facility. The name STS Horsemanship comes from the tag I have used on instagram since I was young “Speaking Through Silence” in understanding that we listen to these big beautiful creatures and speak to them silently through body language. The logo was developed by myself coming from a photo of me as a teen with my heart horse and transformed from my old ways to my new and developed understanding of the horse, and takes into consideration my roots as an indigenous woman and the connection we have had with these beautiful animals for thousands of years.

I hope this page can also stand as an education platform for the welfare of equines and encourage those to be open to continue learning and becoming better horsemen/horsewomen. I am excited to begin this new journey with you all!