Patch of Heaven Equestrian Centre

29/12/2024

❤❤...!!
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Reading books daily brings many benefits, improving both intellectually and emotionally. Here are 10 reasons why you should read books every day:
1. Expand your knowledge: Reading exposes you to new information and deepens your understanding of various topics such as culture, history, science, art, and everyday life.
2. Enhance critical thinking and analysis: Regular reading improves your ability to reason, analyze, and solve problems logically and creatively.
3. Improve writing and communication skills: Exposure to a wide range of vocabulary and sentence structures helps you refine your expression and writing abilities.
4. Reduce stress and anxiety: Reading helps reduce stress by transporting you into different worlds, allowing your mind to relax and unwind.
5. Develop focus and patience: Reading requires concentration and patience to follow complex narratives or concepts, improving these skills over time.
6. Boost imagination and creativity: Reading, especially fiction, stimulates your imagination and enhances creativity by helping you visualize scenes, characters, and scenarios.
7. Improve memory: Reading encourages you to remember details about characters, plots, and information, which strengthens your memory retention.
8. Develop critical thinking: Many books, particularly those on science, philosophy, or politics, challenge you to think deeply and develop your critical reasoning abilities.
9. Inspire and motivate: Self-help books, biographies of successful individuals, or inspiring stories can provide motivation and guidance for your own life.
10. Increase empathy and social skills: Reading about other people’s lives and emotions helps you understand and empathize with them, which enhances your ability to connect with others socially.
Reading daily is a positive habit that benefits your mental health and fosters personal growth.

22/12/2024

Being a professional in the horse industry, I have experienced and witnessed a lot of negativity from mean girls to bullies to poor riding to animal abuse to lack of safety to poor sportsmanship and horsemanship.

I’ve forever been an advocate for the opposite of all of the above. I’m not sure it’s earned me any fans. Regardless, I will always stand up for what is right, even if I’m standing alone.

I hope to see…

Less pointing fingers, more helping hands.

Less Instagram, more education.

Less abuse, more understanding.

Less aggression, more compassion.

Less mean girls, more camaraderie.

Less upper level movements, more basics.

Less drilling, more hacking.

Less rollkur, more open throat latches.

Less perfection, more progress.

We need so much progress…

For the love of the sport. For the love of the art. Most importantly, for the love of the horse.

🌻 Cara

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

07/12/2024

Wonderful judges excellent turnout of rider's we were blessed to have all these wonderful rider's

What a day! Thank you Patch of Heaven Equestrian Centre for hosting a lovely home show🤍

All photos are in process of being checked and will be uploaded tomorrow 🥰

A link will be shared across my social media platforms

In the interim, let's enjoy how handsome Jagger is🐴🫶

25/11/2024

Mistakes are an inevitable part of horse riding and training, and they hold value far beyond the moments of frustration they might bring. Each misstep—whether it’s an uneven transition, a missed cue, or a wonkey movement is a lesson in disguise. Dressage, at its core, is not about perfection; it’s about partnership, growth, and the pursuit of harmony between horse and rider.

When you make a mistake, it’s a sign that you’re pushing boundaries, trying new things, and daring to improve. A perfect test teaches you little, but an imperfect one offers countless opportunities to learn and strengthen your connection with your horse. Mistakes are not failures; they are stepping stones to mastery.

Even the most experienced riders stumble at times, and every grand prix champion began with unsteady circles and uncertain hands. What sets them apart is not flawless performance but their ability to embrace errors, reflect on them, and come back stronger.

So, when you make a mistake in dressage, take a deep breath. Smile, pat your horse, and remind yourself that every journey worth taking has many moments that are imperfection. Progress isn’t about never falling; it’s about riding with a better understanding each time you do.

09/11/2024

27/10/2024

Ex-Satanist John Ramirez warns Christian parents of the dangers of celebrating Halloween. “It’s like having a one night stand with the devil. There's a quote by Anton Lavey, founder of the Church of Satan, where he says in his own words, 'I want to thank every Christian parent for allowing their children to celebrate the devil one night out of the year,' which is Halloween. He's intentionally thanking Christian parents. Thank you for dressing up your kids, changing their identity, sacrificing spiritually."

He likened the practice to having a "one night stand", saying: "We go celebrate Halloween; we're in bed with the devil for one night. To me, it's like, why would you want to cheat on Jesus? Jesus doesn't cheat on you. I don't see the satanists coming to your church to cheat on the devil. No way!"

John Ramirez was once one of the highest ranking warlocks in the world, until Jesus saved his life. His friends called him “Lucifer’s Son” because Satan himself would visit him regularly in his bedroom to talk about strategies for destroying people’s lives. One night John had a near-death experience where he found himself in hell, but Jesus showed up himself and gave him one last chance to come to Christ. John took that chance and never looked back.

Ramirez came back from that near-death experience and destroyed $100,000 worth of satanic paraphernalia in his New York home, and was then "tormented for 30 days” by his past demons. But it didn’t stop him from living his new life for Christ. Today he is a Pastor, evangelist, and best-selling Christian author, and he warns the church of the dangers and realities of spiritual warfare.

"The only harvest we should celebrate is the harvest of souls," Ramirez said. “Jesus Christ is your answer. It's a relationship with God. Make peace with God...Pray. Prayer works. The power of Satan is limited. It's a hoax. And the power of Jesus is limitless and it brings you to a place of knowing your purpose and destiny of who you really are created to be."

25/10/2024

After seeing multiple videos posted by various breeders bragging about their 2 ½ year olds/recently turned 3 year olds and sharing videos of them cantering around in the arena, I have decided to once again circulate the below article.

First of all, breeders *should* have the knowledge to understand a horse’s fragile and slow maturing musculoskeletal system. Breeders should not condone their own horses let along anyone’s horses being cantered around under saddle at an incredibly young age. Period. This sets a terrible example and is quite honestly animal abuse. Just because a horse does not object does not mean it is right. And quite frankly, most of the videos posted show animals that are already in pain or developing pain…

As breeders, we should strive to produce healthy and sound animals. We should promote horsemanship that produces long term soundness. No, starting a horse later does not guarantee soundness. But it certainly helps.

I am a firm believer in scientifically backed approaches to horsemanship. You can’t argue with science that has been proven time and time again. Let’s dispel some stupid rumors:

1. There is no such thing as a (skeletally) slow maturing horse or one that is fast maturing. No horse is skeletally mature before the age of 6. And that is on the low estimate for age.

2. Growth plates are not just in the knee. Every bone behind the skull has a growth plate. Not every single one needs to be converted to bone before starting. There is a schedule of when bone fuses…this is the information needed to know when to start a horse. Not their outward appearance. It is a known fact that during growth, proprioceptive awareness can regress, greatly increasing the risk of injury.

3. Starting a horse is not the same thing as riding a horse. Starting a horse does not mean cantering it 3-4 days a week in an arena.

4. Injecting a horse that is in pain does not mean you fixed a problem. You masked it.

5. You can build correct muscle and teach a horse how to move their body from the ground. This creates a solid foundation to work from once your horse is ready to actually be backed. Teach a horse to use its body correctly before backing and you’ll save yourself a lot of vet bills down the line.

Hocks are “late” for maturity. The growth plates on the tibial and fibular tarsals do not fuse until a horse is 3-3 ½. Ever wonder why so many horses seem to have hocks issues?? Horses need to learn to carry themselves and their own weight well before adding a rider.

The growth plates that are LAST to close are at the base of the neck. This area is where we ask a horse to raise the base of their neck and come round. If under too much stress, the growth plates can fracture or be permanently damaged.

There are DOZENS of activities you can do with a young horse to build healthy muscular development. None of them involve a saddle or your weight on their back. Teaching a horse to carry themselves correctly BEFORE adding a rider is essential and cannot be done in a week. A 2 ½ year old horse is a baby. Mentally and physically. We see far too many injured performance horses at VERY young ages - broken down and/or sour from work. It’s wrong. Period. They need slow and steady work and need time to recover from even the slightest of injuries.

PLEASE, if you are considering when you should start your horse and what that work load should look like, please read the below. There are some wonderful things you can do with your young developing horse. Please don’t rush a year out of greed.

http://www.equinestudies.org/ranger_2008/ranger_piece_2008_pdf1.pdf

08/09/2024

13/08/2024

Unlike humans, horses are designed to run on a full stomach. Feeding your horse 2-3L of chaff or a biscuit of hay prior to exercise has two benefits :
1️⃣ The chaff will form a ball of feed in the stomach, which will help prevent acid from splashing up from the lower part of the stomach to cause gastric ulcers.
2️⃣ Blood is normally diverted away from the stomach during exercise, which reduces some of its normal protective mechanisms. Research has shown that feeding your horse before exercise actually reduces the amount of blood that is shunted away from the stomach and also increases the amount of blood delivered to the skeletal muscles and muscles of the chest. So not only are you helping to protect the stomach, you also might be improving your horse’s performance.
For more information : http://ow.ly/CfYy50Dmwnh

05/08/2024