Horse Health Care: Rough Terrain Benefits Young Horses

In my horse health care regimen, I've been using the horse trailer recently as a means of adjusting my two geldings, one of whom is roach-backed and one of whom is sway-backed.

It turns out that using the horse trailer to elevate the horse's hind end by leaving the horse's back feet in the trailer while placing his front feet on the ground, releases back tension for both horses.

This stretch helps release tension in the withers, spine, sternum, and scapula. The reverse stretch, where the horse's front feet are in the trailer and his back feet are on the ground, is also effective. Both positions help the horse to stretch his top line.

In both positions, it's important to keep the horse's neck down low to maximize the stretch. This trailer exercise allows the horse to stretch his back and neck without me holding the brunt of his weight. Perfect!

Rough Terrain as Natural Horse Health Care
Having done these exercises with my two geldings, Fezzywig and Walker, both of whom are domesticated horses, I suddenly realized something: my mustang mares automatically assume these uneven poses out in pasture. Instead of the trailer, they use the raised banks of the irrigation ditch in the pasture to stand either with their front end or hind end elevated. In fact, they often rest in either posture for an hour or more at a time.

What's interesting about this is that even though both geldings have been turned out in this same pasture before, they have never assumed these poses ... it's as if they don't know to stretch their own bodies. That got me thinking about body awareness and muscle memory.

Here's what I came up with. Because all of my mustang mares had spent at least a year in the wild before being gathered, chances are that they had to move around rough terrain all the time, traveling up to 25 miles per day. This constant climbing up and down over such rough terrain helped them develop a body awareness that my domesticated geldings don't have. My mares learned to be aware of where their feet were at all times, and to use the terrain as a natural form of stretching and bodywork.

What's really cool about this is that my mares require far less bodywork than my geldings. Of course, natural selection in the wild (such as it is these days) has a lot to do with why wild horses can be more resilient and healthy than domesticated horses. Hmmm ...

Rough Terrain as Horse Health Care for Young Ones
The next conclusion I arrived at was that based on the wild horse model, rough and varied terrain is probably a horse health care asset for young horses. If, as in the wild, domesticated young horses learned to use their bodies with greater awareness and variance, might they be healthier and need less bodywork as they grow into adulthood? Might they develop a far wider range of motion, as well as use the natural contours of the terrain (like the ditch bank) to adjust their own bodies?

I think that it has to be true. I obviously haven't had time to test this theory with a bunch of my own young colts, but I do have two pieces of data to throw into the mix.

1. Body Awareness Work Works
If you look at the body awareness work taught by horse trainers like Linda Tellington-Jones in which you walk horses backward and forward through various obstacles, you see that even adult horses can develop new body awareness and retrain muscle memory. This being the case for adult horses, how much more readily would a young horse with the same kind of awareness be able to use this "body knowledge" for his own health and adjustment?

2. The Kitten Experiment
In "Quantum Healing," Deepak Chopra talks about the kitten experiment, which involved three sets of kittens, all of whom were young enough to still have their eyes closed. The first set of kittens was placed in an environment comprised entirely of vertical lines. The second group of kittens grew up in an opposite sort of environment, with only horizontal lines. The third set of kittens, the control group, was placed in a normal environment that had both vertical and horizontal lines.

So can you guess what happened? When the kittens from the first group were released into a normal environment, they could not see any horizontal lines, having been conditioned to see only vertical ones. The second group of kittens had the opposite problem, and could only see horizontal lines (they would literally bump into vertical obstacles, unable to see them). The third set of kittens turned out entirely normal.

So what does this tell us? That certain bodily functions in animals develop based on the environment in which they are raised. So if a young horse grows up in a totally flat environment, wouldn't that limit his ability to move his body up, down, and around in a flexible manner? Whereas a young horse who grew up climbing hills, running down slopes, and generally scrambling around rough terrain would develop an entirely different body awareness.

So my hypothesis at the moment is that rough terrain serves as an excellent horse health care, or horse self-care, asset for young horses. Teach a horse to move his body in all kinds of different ways as a youngster, and he'll keep doing so as he grows into adulthood.

So whaddya think? Bull pucky or possible truth?

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Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trialsoflife/4370832292/

Horse Health Care and Bodywork: How Do I Know it is Working?

Beginner bodyworkers who want a hands on approach to horse health care inevitably ask this question, "How do I know the bodywork is working?"

There's always a bit of a doubt factor, especially if you are new to bodywork. There is also doubt if you don't see immediate "big changes" in your horse. You begin to wonder if you need to call in the professional to work on your horse.

It's always a judgment call as to whether you need a professional to "fix" your horse's health care issues. If you are not sure what is wrong with your horse, it's always a good idea to have a veterinarian do a full exam to make sure that nothing is truly wrong. For example, you want to be sure your horse doesn't need a float or have ulcers.

If your horse passes his vet check with flying colors and just needs bodywork to help him realign certain parts of his body or release tension, then you are good to go doing your own bodywork.

Bodywork: Your Horse, Your Hands
You are the most powerful health care provider your horse has. You see your horse more often than anyone else, and you know your horse better than any professional. That's why your hands can have more power to heal your horse than any professional.

Don't get me wrong, a professional can often do moves that you don't know how to do, and that may be very effective for certain health issues. But on a daily basis, you've got some stuff going for you that a professional will lack, including:

• your relationship with your horse
• your knowledge of your horse's tiniest forms of expression
• your horse's trust in you
• your horse's love
• your intuition

So while you might not have as much knowledge as a professional healthcare provider, you got a lot more going for you.

As I've often said, horses are pretty good self-healers, and often they just need a little help from us. They need us to act as a "channel" through which they can pull in healing energy. So when you lay your hands on your horse, you are being that channel for healing. And who do you think makes a better channel? A random professional or a person your horse knows and loves ... you?

So the formula for doing bodywork on your horse is this:

Your Horse + Your Hands = Healing

I'm no professional, but I have managed to do a lot with my roach backed horse, Fezzywig. Mostly I just put my hands where they want to go. I do some stretching and acupressure, but Fezzy likes it best when I just lay my hands on and flow energy. I can see a definite difference in just 2 months. See if you can, too.

Fezzy when he first arrived:













Fezzy now:














In the Meantime ...
But if things aren't progressing as fast as you would like, then get some help. Here are some things you can do:

• Call in a pro from time to time to evaluate your work
• Learn anatomy so you know where to put your hands
• Learn more bodywork techniques like acupressure
• Join the Horse Health Hotline inexpensively and ask a pro all the questions you want
• Learn more about your horse's personality type with the Horse Harmony book
• Get together with a buddy and trade horses to work on (two pairs of eyes are better than one!)
• Get help from an animal communicator to learn the specifics of where you horse hurts

I think those are plenty of resources to help me when I put my hands on my horse ... what about you?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, check out my ebook for wacky horses and humans, or holler at me if you want to know how I fund my horse addiction ... and you can, too!

Horse Health Care: When the Back Off from Bodywork

Horses are amazing self-healers, given just a little help.

I just encountered another example of that.

I have been doing almost daily bodywork on Fezzywig, a recently acquired gelding with a roached back, and until recently, he was a very willing participant.

Then I added backing into the equation. Having consulted with Dr. Madalyn Ward on what to do about the "spiny ridges" that form the roach in Fezzywig's back, I was told to back him (walk him backwards) daily.

Apparently Fezzywig's roached back kept him from properly using the muscles in his back and hindquarters, causing the vertebrae in the roached part of his back to stick up and out.

So we began thrice-daily backing sessions. Fezzywig licks and chews the whole time, and relaxes his back. But, he also refuses to let me do any bodywork at this time.

When to Back Off from Bodywork for Better Horse Health Care
While Fezzywig likes the backing exercise, and is clearly benefiting by it, he avoids me like a mad man when I try to do bodywork on him. So I stopped and had a little chat with him to ask him why. His answer?

"I need to process all the work you have already done on my body. I can't stand anymore right now. Stop already!"

I've always known when to back off of bodywork during an actual bodywork session. Either the horse offer a release (like licking and chewing, yawning, or sometimes even farting), or he walks away from my hands.

I have not had a horse refuse bodywork entirely until now. But now that I think about it, I have been doing bodywork on Fezzywig almost everyday since I brought him home. That's about the equivalent of visiting a chiropractor, masseuse, and acupuncturist every single day for a month. I guess that would be a bit much!

Luckily, Fezzywig has a strong enough personality to tell me that, though gently. He hasn't tried to kick my head off and only tries to nibble on my coat, not bite me.

Horse Health Care and Horse Self-Healing
All of this data reaffirms my theory that horses are their own channels of self-healing. Although they sometimes need some extra assistance from us, such as us laying our hands on their bodies or providing good nutrition (such as my special horse goo and Eleviv), they can pretty much do a lot of their own healing.

We, their caretakers, mostly just have to provide the right conditions. And, of course, we have to listen when they try to tell what's working and what's not. So thanks to Fezzywig, I now have some more guidance for his healing: more backing, less bodywork, at least for now.

Want to know more? Check out my new free fun ebook:

Natural Solutions for Out of Whack, Whacked Out, or Plain Wacky Humans, Horses, and Critters

It's a fun read with lots of practical tips ... and will bring at least one smile to your face. Promise!

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Horse Health Care: Bodywork and the 10 Percent Solution

When it comes to horse health care and bodywork, do you go for the major power of an equine chiropractor or osteopath, or do are you more of a do it yourself kind of horse lover?

Which works better?

In my experience, both work well, and each has a place in any good horse health care regimen. For instance, if you horse has a major lameness issue caused by a spinal misalignment (or subluxation) but you want to show him this coming year, then calling in a professional equine chiropractor or bodyworker may be just the ticket. This kind of bodyworker may need only a few sessions to realign your horse's spine, and may get you back in the saddle again quickly.

On the other hand, if your horse is older and little swaybacked, but still doing his job great, doing your own bodywork as part of a horse health care maintenance program may be perfectly adequate. Or, even if your horse has a more major problem and money is tight, as long as your horse isn't in major pain doing your own bodywork works great, too. After all, the more you practice doing bodywork yourself, the better you will become.

Equine Bodywork and the Ten Percent Horse Health Care Solution
I've been doing bodywork for almost a decade now, and I'm always amazed at how much improvement I can create in my horse's health just by doing a little bit at a time. While people like you and me, who do our own bodywork, definitely are not going to achieve as much in a single session as a professional bodyworker, we have the advantage of seeing our horses quite often. That means we can do bodywork on our horses much more often, even if each session achieves somewhat lesser results.

I call this the ten percent solution. It could also be the two percent solution or the twenty percent solution, depending on the effectiveness of your bodywork. The point is, no matter the level of your bodywork, if you work on your horse two to three times a week, he's bound to improve. Really. I've seen it happen. I have seen beginner bodyworkers work absolute miracles on horses that had chronic health problems.

Think about it like an equation:

If your bodywork is ten percent as effective as the equine chiropractor's work, then ten sessions of your bodywork is equal to one session of his.

Now that may sound a little discouraging because it means you have to work ten times harder than the chiropractor, but there are huge advantages:

- You build a better relationship with your horse every time you work on him.
- You get better at bodywork every time you do a session.
- Your horse appreciates you every time you ease his discomfort.
- Not to be forgotten is the fact that you didn't pay the call fee for the equine chiropractor to come work on your horse.

Need I go on? Of course, if you are going to do bodywork, I suggest you do two things:

- Continue to learn about bodywork by attending workshops, reading books, or watching DVDs to improve your work and keep adding new techniques to your toolbox
- Never doubt yourself. Doubt is the strongest force that will interfere with your bodywork. Faith, hope, trust, and belief in your ability to be an agent of healing for your horse is much more useful.

In short, even if you don't know anything about equine bodywork (and the DVDs you ordered from Amazon have not yet arrived), you do know your horse. If you do nothing more than lay your hands lovingly on your horse's source of pain every single day, you WILL be an agent of healing for your horse ... one percent, two percent, ten percent at a time.

Make sense? For more info and inspiration, check out a couple of my other posts related to bodywork on my blog here:

There is Nothing That Cannot be Healed
Can a Roach Backed Horse be Fixed?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, holler at me if you want to know how I fund my horse addiction ... and you can, too!

Horse Health Care: Do You Use Everything But the Kitchen Sink? Whoa There Cowboy

What do you do when your horse is sick? Do you run and grab every homeopathic remedy, feed supplement, drug, new horse feed, and bodywork manual on your shelves? Do you drive your horse straight the vet and hope the bill isn't going to kill you? Do you call up every horse-loving friend you have and ask for advice?

In short, do you throw everything but the kitchen sink at your horse and hope that SOMETHING works?

Horse Health Care: The Beauty of One Thing at a Time
When I first began working with holistic veterinarian Dr. Madalyn Ward and learning about subjects like herbs, homeopathy, nutrition, and bodywork, one of the first lessons she taught me is this:

"When treating a horse for any condition, try one thing at a time otherwise you won't know what works and what doesn't."

That's a really hard lesson for horse owners to learn, especially when it comes to their own horses. We all hate seeing our horses in pain, whether it be from hurting hooves, an ouchy ulcer, or an oozing abscess. We want it fixed and we want it fixed now!

But often times throwing every remedy but the kitchen sink at your horse only confuses the situation ... and ends up costing you more money.

A Weight Loss Example
For instance, suppose your horse is losing weight this winter. This could happen for a number of reasons, including:

- he's not getting enough food
- he's not digesting his food well because of ulcers or other issues
- he's shivering off all the calories you feed him
- he's not getting the right kind of food
- he's in with a group of horses who move him around too much

This is just a short list. There are all kinds of other reasons in the horse health care sphere that could explain why he is losing weight, but this covers the basics.

So everyday you go out to feed this horse and he's cold, he's lost weight, he's shivering, and he looks totally miserable. I've known people who react by doing all the following:

- blanket the horse
- feed him more grain AND more hay
- add beet pulp and corn oil to his diet
- stop riding him
- move him away from other horses
- put him on Stomach Soother in case he has an ulcer

Wow, that's a lot of "doing"! It does cover a lot of horse health issues in a "just in case" kind of way, but it's a costly way to do things. Instead of doing all of the above, it makes more sense to figure out why the horse is losing weight, then make one or two changes at a time and see what happens. You can ask yourself some questions to help you figure out what's going on. Here are some examples.

1. Is the horse being pushed off his feed or moved around all the time by other horses?
If this is case, then putting him in with another gentle horse who shares well can help your horse get more feed and conserve more energy. Often times, older horses or horses with a quiet disposition make good companions.

2. Does the horse eat his feed well or does he take breaks in-between to just stand or to lie down?
This usually indicates an ulcer of some kind. If this is the case, you can try adding Stomach Soother to his diet to see if this helps. Acidophilus, bifidus, and enzymes are also good options.

3. Has he had his teeth floated recently?
If it has been more than a year since he's had a float, you might consider taking him into the equine dentist. A horse with sharp points and hooks on his teeth is likely to develop ulcers in his mouth, making eating painful. This often accounts for weight loss.

4. Does he shiver in the cold?
If so, add fiber rather than grain to his diet. Fiber is digested in a horse's hindgut and produces a lot more warmth than grain, which is digested in the small intestine. If your horse is quite thin, putting a blanket on AND adding more hay to his diet is probably a good combination.

5. Is he in pain?
If you have ever had to deal with an abscessed tooth, migraine headaches, or any other kind of chronic painful conditions, then you know that pain can eat up your body's physical resources faster than running a marathon. If your horse is in undiagnosed pain, he may be using up all his calories just to deal with pain. If your horse has a stoic personality, he may not tell you he is in pain (learn more about horse personality types at Horse Harmony). Consider taking your horse to the vet to get a once-over before making a decision about what and how to remedy the situation.

Horse Health Care and the Conservative Approach
In an article of this length, it's not possible to cover all the questions that you might have to ask yourself about your horse to figure out what's wrong, but you get the picture. If you have a hard time figuring out what's going on in your horse's body and brain, check out these two resources:

Holistic Horsekeeping (has a wealth of horse health care resources)
Herbs and Animals (a great animal communication site)

Also, as insurance, consider my special Horse Goo. It's a nutritional goo I mix up at my kitchen table that acts as a "cover all bases" health care program. I feed it daily, it costs very little, and it works like a charm. During the time I've used it, my horses have had very little colic and other usual ailments.

Horse Goo Recipe

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Photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28096801@N05/ / CC BY 2.0

Horse Health Care: There Is Nothing That Cannot be Healed

According to Chinese Medicine, there is no ailment that cannot be cured. I believe that aphorism to be true, whether applied to humans or horses. At least, when it comes to horse health care, I believe that any condition can be improved, made healthier, and made more harmonious.

Fezzywig: A Bodywork Example of Horse Health Care
A prime example of this is my new Holsteiner warm blood gelding Fezzywig. He came to me with a severely roached back, meaning he has a hump in his back where several vertebrae stick up and out of his spine in his lumbar region. His roach back had been getting worse over time, and his former owner did not know how to help him. Hence, he came to me.

Fezzywig has been with us for a while now, and he receives bodywork every single day. I do "Bowen" type bodywork as well as passive stretches, acupressure, and network chiropractic on him. The improvement in less than 3 weeks is noticeable to me, even if not to the casual observer.

Here is a picture of Fezzywig when he first came to me. We believe he developed his roach back as a result of jumping out of a 6-foot tall paddock as a youngster.


Here is another picture of Fezzywig, 4 days after I got him:


Here he is again, this time about 18 days after he came to me.



Here's the most recent picture


While he definitely still has a hump in his back, to me his whole body structure looks more relaxed. In addition, his top and bottom lines look more harmonious. He looked "pot bellied" and seriously hunched over in his earlier pictures. Now he has more tone to his belly and his withers have risen up so they are closer in height to his rear.

What's the Point? Horse Health Care and Hope
The point of this article isn't to talk about specific bodywork conditions, but to point out that there is always hope for every horse ailment out there, be it ulcers, roached backs, or lameness issues. Maybe not every horse can be made perfect, but the quality of every horse's life can be improved.

More importantly, I believe that horse owners can be totally active participants in the horse health care process. Nine years ago I learned some basic bodywork techniques, which I have used every week since and continue to refine. Nine years ago I also learned to trim my own horse's feet. I couldn't quite figure out how to learn to do horse dental work (that's beyond my capabilities), but I do just about everything else.

When it comes to horse health care, there's always hope. My list of horses kind of looks like a cast of characters from a freak show:

Valentine: mustang mare who had a golf-ball sized tumor under her jaw and choked frequently
Reyacita: mustang mare with COPD, or heaves, when stressed and eating hay
Walker: quarter horse gelding with poor feet and ulcers
Samantha: mustang mare with an overly long back and a pulled groin muscle
Fezzywig: warmblood gelding with a roached back

Frightening isn't it? And yet, with the help of daily doses of my homemade "horse goo," regular bodywork, occasional help from a local vet, and a lot of help from Holistic Horsekeeping, these horses have achieved the incredible:

Valentine: Jumper Champion and Jumper Horse of the Year
Reyacita: eats hay, team sorts, and learning to be a rope horse
Walker: recovered from ulcers with probiotics, algae, and enzymes, beginner rope horse, gentle enough for an infant to ride
Samantha: Hunter Champion
Fezzywig: vast improvement in his roached back

Your Participation in Horse Health Care
Obviously, each horse lover is going to be different when it comes to how much "hands on" work they do for horse health care, and how much work is done by professional veterinarians, farriers, equine dentists, and bodyworkers. However, the more active a role you take in learning about horse health care, the better your horse's health will be, regardlesss of whether you do "hands on" work on not.

In this day and age, when money is tight and horse health care is expensive, I encourage every horse lover out there to learn to do as much "hands on" health care as possible. It's ultimately less expensive, empowers you to help your horses immediately, and helps you make better decision about your horse's management. A good place to start, with many free resources as well as ebooks and products, is the Holistic Horsekeeping website. Another great resource is Herbs and Animals. Enjoy!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, holler at me if you want to know how I fund my horse addiction ... and you can, too!

Horse Lovers Beware: Your Horse Knows What You Know

Are you thinking about attending a horse bodywork seminar? Perhaps going to a tack fitting clinic? Or how about participating in an animal communication workshop?

If so, good for you. And also, beware!

Once you have learned something new that will improve your horse's life, your horse will know. Your horse will know what you know. A previously forgiving horse who patiently put up with an ill-fitting saddle will likely buck you off after the tack fitting clinic.

The swaybacked horse who has always come right up to you in pasture will now kick up her heels and run the other way when she sees you coming if you don't plan on doing bodywork that day.

And the horse unhappy in his job but doing it well? He's likely to make an ass of you at your next horse show ... especially since you went to an animal communication workshop but refuse to hear his pleas for a new career.

What the Heck is Going on Here?
Unfortunately, many a horse lover has had to discover the hard way that our horses are telepathic, and they know what we know. Somehow most horses are willing to forgive us in our ignorance, but the minute we learn something that will make their life better, they expect us to use that knowledge ... right now!

So if you are planning on opening the door of knowledge for better horse health care, better horse feed, and better horse management, beware! Once that door is opened, it can never be slammed shut again. Your horse will make sure of it! Leta Worthington, an excellent animal communicator (find her at Herbs and Animals online and her blog) has often noticed that people who communicate with their animals, and then fail to take action based on the resulting conversation tend to pay a big price. Whether it's the dog peeing on the carpet to indicate that he's "pissed off" or it's the horse going into a bucking frenzy, forgiveness isn't the picture.

Marcus Aurelius: One Example for Illustration
My horses have shown me this process over and over again. Marcus, my first big-time jumper horse (pictured above), was hugely forgiving and easy to ride when he first came to me. We did well at shows, won championships all over the place, and I thought we had a great relationship. Unfortunately, Marcus was a cribber, which affected his teeth, spine, and performance. Thinking that cribbing was bad, I used to try all kinds of techniques to stop him from cribbing. Nothing worked. He continued to crib but he never seemed to resent my efforts to stop him.

Then I had the brilliant idea to try animal communication. During the conversation I asked Marcus what it would take for him to stop cribbing. His reply was short and sweet: "How about if I asked you to give up eating?" In other words, he was telling me that cribbing was an essential part of his nature and his life.

Despite hearing this, I continued to try to stop him from cribbing. Now he definitely resented my efforts. He started turning his butt to me when I went to catch him, and broke as many objects in his stall as possible. He issued his strongest complaint, though, by refusing to jump at the shows. Neither my trainer nor I could get him to jump around courses reliably, even on courses he used to love.

Back to the animal communicator we went. Marcus made his demands clear: "Let me crib or forget showing, and count on having to replace everything in my stall often!" Wow, was that clear or what? So thereafter, we let him crib. He started doing his job again and loving it.

He now lives with my former trainer, Sally Francis, in Texas, has his own cribbing tree, and a couple of cribbing buddies. They are such cute little equine addicts! Marcus cribs a couple of times, then turns to his buddy and says, "You're turn dude, take a toke!" His buddy cribs, and then they both turn to the mare and say, "Go ahead miss, take a hit!" Then it's Marcus' turn to crib again. These days he is one happy cribbing camper. He still takes adult amateurs and small children around three foot courses and, as long as he's allowed to crib, all is right in the world with him. Yes, his teeth suck but he's very happy!

I've had similar experiences with almost all of my horses, especially the mustangs. They are more forgiving to start with (when I'm ignorant) and much less forgiving later. They have elephantine memories, which they use often. But once you give then what they want, they will also work harder and better for you than most domestic horses.

In any case, consider this article a "buyer beware" to the horse lover who wants to learn more about horse health care. Maybe it should be "body worker beware" or something like that ... I'm all for it. Definitely go for it. Learn as much as you can. Just be prepared to use what you learn or you'll pay, pay, and pay!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader. Also, holler at me if you want to know how I fund my horse addiction ... and you can, too!