Horse Heart Shelley

14/09/2024

Some satire gold from Amy Skinner Horsemanship 👌

How to look really cool without ever getting any better:

FOMO: a major driving force, and a large contributing factor to the equine industry, maintaining a healthy economy. If all your friends are going, you can’t afford to miss out!

If you want to stay in the cool circles, it’s important in this day and age that you follow the social rules of horsemanship, which I will lay out for you. Following these steps ensures you stay visible to all as a VIP in the horsemanship world, without risking perilous improvement to skill.

1- lay out your clinic schedule well ahead of time. Shop around, attend as many as you can. Bonus points if each clinician has contradictory basics! This helps ensure your horse is as confused as you are, but you are seen in as many outfits as possible. The better the hat and costume the clinician has, the more cool points you get!

2- when in your next clinic, be sure to spend as much time telling the clinician who you’ve ridden with. This ensures you don’t waste any time actually learning, and helps everyone know who you’ve rubbed elbows with- which is the whole point of going to these things.

3- be very sure not to follow up with any of your teachers after they’ve left town. Avoid practicing or understanding the theory behind the exercises you practiced- this deliberate tactic prevents any painful growth or insights.

4- continue looking for the next bit of gear that will solve all your problems. There is so much to be gained here: lots of Facebook post materials about your new gear, garnering admiration and jealousy from your peers, without having to prove you know how to use it. Dopamine hits for days! When your horse still goes poorly, you can begin searching for the next bit of gear. It’s lots of fun, gets plenty of validation, and is low effort. A very sustainable activity with loads of rewards, except to your wallet and horse.

Looking cool is extremely important! We all know it’s the most important thing to teachers and horses : someone who can have all the gear and talk the lingo without any actionable skill set to prove it. So be sure to make every step count: get seen as much as possible, talk about it as often as possible to anyone who will listen, and practice and self reflect as little as possible. And the most important piece : stick with nothing, and leave as soon as it gets hard or uncomfortable. And you too can look awesome without actually working hard!

10/09/2024

13/08/2024

“Is that your baby?”
“Somebody rescue that poor baby!”
“He loves his mommy!”

This is something that I’ve found curious for a long time - and let me preface this by saying I am the mother of 2 children, and so I like to believe I understand the maternal drive; but also believe this should be separate from animals. Good husbandry and being a steward of them is not the same as mothering -

A very interesting hole is being filled by our animals. I’m sure we’re all aware they aren’t human babies, they aren’t our boyfriends or surrogate husbands, they are horses.

But if you zone out on the broader, cultural norm of how we treat our pets, at least in the US - this was not the way I saw horses treated abroad as a child at all - we have a very interesting displacement of needs being filled, or attempted to be filled, by our horses.

It comes with a heavy amount of anthropomorphism, a heavy amount of emotional burden placed on the horse to make us happy, entertain us, to fill our emotional needs. A horse is a strong being physically, but this is too large a load for anyone to carry -

So what’s the solution? I’d love to say personal development, and I do believe that to be true -

But I believe people, like animals, are driven by needs and will find unhealthy ways to meet them like anything else. We are social beings - we crave connection.
And so I believe this problem is a symptom of a larger problem -
Societally we are not well. Culturally we can’t get our emotional needs, our need for security in connection with others filled, and so it spills out into unproductive or unhealthy ways with animals - who also are not getting their emotional needs met.

This is the point where, yet again, I can come to no easy solution or point blame at any one thing. We’re driven, just like animals, for security, and yet are not finding it amongst each other.

Photo by Jasmine Cope

02/07/2024

Pushing with the leg into a closed hand is a cheap cop out for good back to front riding - it doesn’t take much education or self discipline to push and hold, and the results are heavy, tense, and not conducive to suppleness. It creates a brick without the ability to breathe deeply or feel the seat of the rider, let alone enjoy the aids of the rider.

Good back to front riding, in essence, is about educating the hind leg. It’s about teaching the horse to flex the joints downward, so the front legs can flex upward. It’s about creating swinging, suppleness, stability, and a swinging, moving back.

To get this, the rider commits to becoming stable and supple themsleves. They commit to the discipline of learning to use aids subtly with good timing, and to never use an aid outside of their own center: the emphasis is on the seat, and so the hand is never a solution to a stability problem. The rider gains over time the discipline to check themsleves first: to not make knee jerk corrections to the horse when it’s likely the rider has lost center, feel, rhythm, or swing. It is a commitment to responsibility to be what you want the horse to be- to provide a balanced opening forward, not to chase, prod, beg, or threaten the horse into balance (which is an oxymoron and an impossibility)

This way of riding creates a very confident horse who is calm but energetic. One who can breathe deeply, feel unafraid of the aids but understands they are actually their friend , one who has very comfortable gaits to ride because of their suppleness. It creates long term soundness and best of all, it creates a deep and lasting friendship between horse and person.

The reason so much poor quality back to front riding can be seen is because it’s easy and requires no real
Self discipline from the rider - the focus is all about making the horse take a shape and go forward. It’s cheap and easy enough to learn quickly.

The reason so little high quality back to front riding can be seen is because of the arduous commitment to better positioning and mind frame development - to be flexible mentally while maintaining commitment.

It could take me two lifetimes to get it. I’m not great at it now, but I am committed to learning and grateful for the guidance toward the most beautiful way of being with a horse I’ve discovered. Some days it feels incredible, other days too difficult to manage. Some days I miss feeling like I know what I’m doing. But overall I adore the art, and the self development required.

If it were easy everyone would be doing it -

13/06/2024

Shut down horse?
There is currently a lot of interest and programs catering to “waking up” the shut down horse

But there are some things to consider -
What’s creating, or has created the shut down?
Why did they shut down, and what are they protecting?
Are we reading their behavior accurately?
What do we have to offer on the other side?

If a horse has in fact gone in to shut down, it’s typically to protect themselves from overwhelming input they can’t get away from. Often, well meaning interest in bringing them out easily turns into endless fussing, poking, badgering, and driving the horse absolutely crazy.

It reminds me of an introverted kid at a family gathering who has found a room to get away in.

A well meaning relative goes in to talk to him, breaking his peace
Another relative offers food, trying to bribe him out
Another gets upset, wondering why he is being rude by hiding
Then an argument breaks out in the bedroom with all the adults bringing up ideas on how to get the kid to participate in the social gathering

Pretty soon the peaceful place he’s found is overwhelming again, and there is no choice but to shut down

But if everybody would just calm down and be quiet, and provide a safe environment of structure and peace, maybe he’d come out, and if they didn’t make a huge fuss when he did come out, maybe he could enjoy himself in his own way, in his own time.

Maybe our tendency to fuss and probe and fix is the exact opposite of what a shut down horse needs.

03/06/2024

I am often asked for advice on how to correct certain issues with a horse and have come to realise that not many people look at the feed as being a source of these problems. When I say the feed has to change this is frequently met with resistance and I am told “But it’s a good quality feed” and my answer “If it was a good quality feed, your horse would not be showing these issues”.

I see a lot of the same problems year in and year out, that can be directly linked to poor quality feed and chatting to fellow professionals in the horse industry this is not just my observations but theirs too. The bottom line is - The quality of the feed you use most often shows up in issues (or lack thereof) in your horse.

I find most people think if their horse is fat then the feed is great, but this is a very superficial and dangerous way to look at it. As with humans, horses can get fat and shiny on very unhealthy, starch filled diets, so we need to learn to look deeper and see what our horses actually tell us.

If you horse shows any of the following you need to seriously look at your feed to make sure it’s not the problem
• Under or overweight
• Sensitive hooves
• Soft walls and hoof cracks
• Thrush
• White line separation
• Faded coats and red ends in mane and tail
• Rough or dry coat
• Itching
• Hot or fizzy behaviour
• Poor muscling
• Fatigue
• Frequent muscle stiffness
• Grumpiness / saddle sour horses
• Poor exercise tolerance
• Frequent infections or general poor health
• Over exaggerated swelling to small bumps and cuts – especially in the lower legs
• Unexplained shifting lameness
• Can’t go longer than 5 – 6 weeks between trims

Learn to listen to what your horse is telling you – the horse is the most important judge of the feed you use!!! Be observant and see if there are common threads to the issues you see and see if there are common feeds involved.

Saving a few rands on your feed bill, can cost a lot more in the long run.

29/05/2024

Thoroughbreds don't need to have crumbly feet!

When they are fed appropriately with feeds that are independently tested with added minerals, amino acids etc to fill any gaps, kept in a clean environment and their bodies are regularly tended to through massage, chiropractics and kind riding - the result is usually as good as this. Two TBs trimmed, and a bunch of clippings result.

19/03/2024

03/03/2024

More of this please 👏🏻🩵

Lithuanian Justina Vanagaite is understood to be the first rider to compete at top level international dressage without spurs since the FEI rule change came into force this year giving riders the choice. At the Doha CDI5* last weekend Justina and Nabab were seventh in the grand prix on 69.78%, and then the pair put in a superb freestyle performance to score 75.75% and land a place on the podium. Congratulations Justina!

12/02/2024

"Give me that."

"But that belongs to me."

"You belong to me, so give me that which you have, because it is mine."

"But, I need that"

"But I want that. Give that to me now, or else."

"If you take that from me, you take that from me. I will not be the same after you have taken it."

"I have no choice. I must take it from you. It is expected, asked, demanded of me that I take it from you. I can't / won't say no, I can't / won't make a new choice, because I do not yet have the courage to be different here. I am not safe here. So I must take this from you. And in it's place, I will give you my fear and shame, and you will hold that for me."

"Ok. This is not the relationship I wanted, it is not the best I can do for you, but if that is what you need from me, I have enough grace to be a container for your fear and shame."

-------
(Years later)
-------

"I am giving this back to you."

"What?"

"Hello? Are you here?"

"Are you talking to me? Don't you need me to hold onto that stuff for you today?"

"No. That ends today. I am giving this back to you."

"Sorry, I almost forget. What are you giving back to me?"

"Here is your dignity."

"My what? I almost don't remember the shape of my dignity."

"I am also giving you back your consent."

"I cannot consent to receiving back my consent, because my consent was taken. Catch 22. I need it to receive it."

"I am also giving you back your safety."

"But I do not feel that unsafe with you."

"But you do not feel 100% safe either."

"True."

"So here is your safety."

"Ok, what do I do with it? Are you just giving these things back to me, so that you can leverage compliance with a new feeling. As a way of making me look happier to you while you actually circle back to the same extraction of my body for your reasons?."

"No. I am really just giving these things back."

"Well, I might be too angry, too tired, too confused to give you anything on the other side of this. I will need a lot of time."

"That's the point."

"What's the point?"

"Everything I did to you, I already did to myself."

"I know. That's why I held space for it."

"So, we both need time."

02/02/2024

The horse world is yet again attacking each other from all sides in response to a recent highly scored dressage test where the horse really didn’t look like they were having a very nice time.

‘Professional’ riders are claiming that they’re being bullied and trolled, and I’m sure some feelings of humans have been hurt along with those of the horses.

This is what I believe is happening.

There IS a ground swell of change occurring and the voice of lowly people without the wealth and status of the equine elite are being heard. Without a doubt there is a class and hierarchy issue sitting behind this. The aristocracy don’t like it when the peasants revolt, we’re a messy and annoying bunch.

AND, more importantly than this, and the part that gives me hope is this. Those riders who are feeling criticised and coming back all guns blazing, are in their teeny tiny heart of hearts, scared we might be right. And the scariest thing for our ego is the realisation that it may have hung it’s hat on the wrong stand.

I’m holding on to the belief that all of us - when we plopped into the world - didn’t want to do things which were hurtful or harmful to others. That in our souls we know we are all interconnected and each of us - horse, human, tree, spider, star, lichen - are all equally worthy of love and respect. And that this growing voice of ‘Hey, this doesn’t look like you’re being very nice to your horse’ is tweaking that bit right in the middle of them, and it’s making them feel uncomfortable.

And as we’ve been trained to look for comfort wherever we can, we will do whatever it takes not to feel uncomfortable. And right now that’s being expressed as a big fat ‘F**k off’ from the equestrian elite. They’ve gone into full scale defensive mode which includes both claiming victimhood and shaming and mocking everyone else,

My great golden hope is that the reason they’re so rattled is because a bit of them they can’t quite remember, maybe the part of them which as a 2 year old exploded with giggling delight at the sight of a horse, also doesn’t want to make their sides bleed or stop them being able to breathe properly or have to use a huge amount of painful traction on their jaw to ‘ride a medium trot’. That it’s that tiny child right in there who’s saying, ‘Hey grown up me, is this really what we wanted to do to horses?’

At the moment, it’s all coming out as vitriol or self pity, but maybe one day they too will stand up to the system which has caused this and say ‘Let’s not do this to our friends anymore….’

02/02/2024

Could the tail swish be one of the most underrated forms of horse communication? At least in terms of large movements? I know I have often ignored my horse’s tail. Even blamed the swishes on flies. But the truth is that fly swishing looks different to communicative swishing. Is your horse expressive with their tail?

25/01/2024

12/01/2024

“Can you hear me?”

21/12/2023

The comments are gold 😂

To all the LOVELY PEOPLE who interact here and who's comments and contributions I enjoy and appreciate - Good Morning! I hope you are having a great day!

For those who only come for an argument or to be rude, here is today's post for you below! (p.s. for those who don't have a sense of humour, this may be upsetting :) )

Me? I'll be sitting this one out :)

27/10/2023

My horse told me she had a sore back. I was too scared to X-Ray that first time she whispered it to me.

So after months of “investigating” her discomfort through different therapies, she eventually shouted. My sweet, gentle, butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-her-mouth mare became a fire-breathing dragon.

I finally listened. I feel immense guilt for not listening sooner but she has already forgiven me and we are both healing.

Listening is tough, but we owe it to our magical beasts.

How does one start? The answer is body language. In this illustration specifically, it would be:
- pinned ears
- worry wrinkles
- bulging eyes showing whites
- elongated, pulled nostrils
- tight lips
- clamped jaw

The overall image is also important, as is context. If you have any doubts about what you’re seeing/hearing, my DMs are always open. 🩵

12/09/2023

Obsessed with these photos 😍🩵

14/05/2023

👏🏻🐴💙

Royal Windsor jumping: barefoot, bitless mare wins Windsor jumping class

26/03/2023

Chop that wood, carry water.

Last weekend I was talking with a group of students about the truth of a life with horses. And that most of our struggles with the situations we find ourselves in are because we don't like the truth. We fight in in our minds with how things are and wish that they were different. And that fight with the truth is the thing which causes us most pain.

Somewhere along the line - up with some other tricky life lies - we came to believe that working with horses was going to be easy. We will start at A (buy horse) and end at Z (ride horse wherever and whenever, with great ease and much happiness).

Now this is more of a possibility if you don't care how the horse feels or moves. If you view a horse as something akin to a bike, then you can treat it as such and you may well be able to achieve your end of the bargain - regular riding doing as you wish, when you wish.

However, if you actually care about the horse's side of the equation and give a monkeys about whether their saddle fits, their feet are balanced and pain free, and the greatest challenge of all - that they understand what you're asking and can actually respond to that physically and mentally - well then you have entered the realm of living with the truth. Once seen you can't unseen it.

And when you live with the truth then fighting against it only serves to cause you much greater pain than you need to encounter. If every time you become aware that your saddle doesn't fit, or your horse needs support with their digestion, or - horror of horrors - they may be finding you a bit tricky to be around, you go into a spiral of despair, then you're going to end up in much more trouble than if you just addressed the situation.

If you want a straightforward, transactional relationship where you say, "I want to go there and do this" and your parter always agrees, then I would suggest with much kindness, you get a bike. Your bike may get the occasional puncture or wobbly handle bars, but it's not got much more to bring to the party than that.

However, if you want a partnership with a living breathing creature with their own internal life, their own relationships, their own body which made no guarantees to you regarding such things as 'rideability', then it makes no sense to rail against that truth. That is what you got yourself into and if you get emotionally flattened every time something is tricky, then really you are missing the point.

Because when it comes to horses there may or may not come enlightenment, but there will always be plenty of wood chopping and water carrying. You just have to keep on going, seeing what you're being presented with today, trying to understand that, learning from it as best you can and then continuing.

This may lead you to the holy grail of riding your horse wherever and whenever with much joy on both sides, and it just as equally might not. Both are the truth of the situation and wishing it was anything other is the fastest route to insanity.

Photo shows Dartmoor ponies, with whom things are very straightforwards as I don't get involved in their lives in any other way than enjoying watching them.

10/03/2023

A beautifully natural arch created by plenty of movement. This hoof belonged to a wild Brumby living in appropriate conditions. In domestic horses we can safely trim a similar arch. How dramatic it will be depends on how much sole depth the horse has. Ever wondered why your horse gets constant quarter cracks and chipping? While there can be a variety of reasons, weight-bearing quarters are a common one.

19/02/2023

// Article Recommendation 🐴

Researchers have created a new, mobile device that detects brain waves in horses and can help them detect their feelings, which could eventually be used with other species.

Already producing interesting results, Cousillas and Hausberger teamed up with Rennes ethologist Mathilde Stomp to take EEG recordings of 18 horses. Half lived in individual stalls in a classic, confined stable, whereas the other half roamed with herds on open pastures.

The two groups had very different EEG profiles. Horses in stables showed an average of 2.5 times more right-hemisphere "gamma" waves than those in open fields. In people, such waves are often a sign of anxiety, distraction, or depression. The horses that spent most of their time out in the open, meanwhile, showed twice as many left-hemisphere "theta" waves on average—generally a sign of a calm and attentive mind, the team reports this month in Applied Animal Behaviour Science. "What's really exciting about these results is that they give us a rare measure of ‘happiness,' so to speak," Hausberger says.

The headband has been called a "real breakthrough" by Katherine Houpt, a veterinary behaviourist at Cornell University who was not involved in the project but highlighted the benefits of getting into animals' minds with objectivity and less guesswork.

It's an exciting step in the world of equitation science and bettering the welfare of horses.

Read the full article here: https://www.science.org/content/article/how-horse-feeling-new-mobile-brain-wave-reader-could-tell

12/02/2023

Always wanted to know how horses see the world?

Ever wonder how a horse perceives its environment? From night vision to color awareness, this simulated video lets the rider take a horse-eye view.

12/02/2023

Beautiful ❤️

19/01/2023

Love this. Couldn’t have said it better myself.

14/01/2023

'In fact, to trim a hoof for barefootedness based on the principles of modern 'blacksmithing' is to invite a complete disaster for the horse. There is nothing in common between blacksmithing and natural hoof care except for the horse and its hooves awaiting care. The reader is urged to forget about horseshoeing standards and methods altogether. They do not apply." ~ Jaime Jackson, The Horse Owner's Guide to Natural Hoof Care

17/11/2022

This lovely mare wasn't on the ideal diet according to her hooves, she was also shod a few months ago when she arrived. Her new owner moved her to the coast which is also not the most ideal for horses, but she has taken her mineral supplementation very seriously and look at these fine results about four months later! I never get tired of seeing the cracks start to go.

09/11/2022

Gastrodiscus - easy to test, easy to treat - but don't leave it too late!

Meet Star. After spending a fortune trying to fathom out how to get Star to pick up condition, which had dropped suddenly, Star's owner was advised to have Star tested for gastrodiscus. So Star's p**p was sent from Dullstroom to Worm-Ex Lab, where, sure enough, we found 63 gastrodiscus eggs. Worm-Ex Lab supplied the treatment, together with strict instructions on how to treat and what to look for. Just two months later, Star's owner sent us these pics of before treatment and how Star looks now. This is what makes studying horse p**p all worth while!

Contact the team on +27 65 608 3326 or [email protected] for more info or to send in samples for testing. Alternatively visit our website, www.worm-exlab.co.za

29/09/2022

Enrichment goals 😍😍😍