Physical Therapy for Stifle Problems

Did you know? the stifle joint (comparable to a human’s knee) is the largest, most complex joint in the horse, and dysfunction left untreated can lead to additional joint degradation. When reading this article my thoughts started rolling. First was that these basic stretches and exercises would be good for all horses. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=19560

When the vet says "I've never seen that before" I don't know about you but my heart stopped.  You have to give yourself a moment to be in the moment to accept your feelings (accept the emotions).  On the next breath you have to continue in the moment.  As the vet describes the issue, starts giving options, starts with the maybe we should, (accept the analytical side).  Accept that while you would like to block the moment out, you need to remember what the vet says as possible.

After the vet leaves, do the right thing, call your friends :-)  Many friends are very happy to be there for you.  They understand that mostly you just need to talk to a person they trust and like.  As a few days go by let yourself swing from the emotional side to the analytical side.  Acknowledge and allow each there own moments.  Soon enough you will find yourself in a happy place, accepting of what needs to be done and able to do it.

We all read, horses need a consistent diet.  Don't change things, only make changes over weeks.  Change is bad. Like anything taken too far a consistent diet can be just as bad as a diet with too much change.  From a taste perspective.  Horse needs some medicine for tummy or muscles or cold or you get the idea.  A horse that is used to having the taste of their food change here and there are more apt to eat up when you need them to.   A month ago I needed to give my mare some antibiotics for a cold and she ate them mixed with her grain with out a problem.  Different tasting water? not a problem.  From a gut bacteria perspective only having the same food can mean only feeding the same bacteria.  A bit of variety here can encourage a full colony of good bacteria that can make the difference when your horses diet changes.

Not All Supplements Are Equal

We all know not all manufactured supplements are equal.  Some work better than others.  One companies put weight on horse supplement works great.  But their joint supplement doesn't work as well as another companies joint supplement.  Yet the main ingredients look the same.  

This is a clue as to why some work better than others.  http://holistichorse.com/Nutrition/the-importance-of-digestive-absorption.html

Turns out we need to be experts on the main ingredients and the minor ingredients.  My suggestion?  Try a brand if it doesn't seem to work change brands.

My favorite quote.  Albert Einstein Quotes. Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. 


Finding someone to ride with can be a chore.  The worst.  Personalities have to mesh between horses and riders.  But I have found it is very worth the time and effort.  There are always a luck few :-) who seem to magically improve without a riding instructor. The rest of us?  Takes time and energy to improve.  If you are just doing the same thing you have done before you are not improving.  Improving means you are learning, trying new ideas, even chucking new ideas that don't work. 


Why this quote? every time I start riding by myself for to long I fall back into bad habits, the definition of insanity,  How about you?  What is your definition of insanity statement?

Time for me to stop training and start riding

You spend hours training your horse, then you go somewhere and well,,,, train your horse.  :-)  Me?  My mare did awesome the other day.  Sure she is not perfect LOL, but after sleeping on how she did, I made the comment that it was time.  You ask time for what?  Time for me to start working on Me.  I need to get quiet, supportive and hold up my side of the partnership.  Basically trainers warm up their horses with a basic plan (like stretching before doing a sprint race), depending on the horse they may include a light reminder about an item or two.  During the race, they where in the moment riding their race.  After the race a few came back in and did some light reminder training before leaving.  I noticed a real focus, the pros where riding their race probably from the moment they got up that morning.  As they warmed up, waited their turn, and rode their race they where focusing on Riding Their Race.

Its time, time for me to be in the moment and Ride My Race.

Sweet Feed

Sweet Feed for my horses is for hiding the vitamins and supplements.  Since finding a really great herbal person it also hides herbs.  Do you think I can find high molasses content sweet feed? nope, the manufactures are all cutting back on the sweets because we as consumes are saying we want to feed lots of sweet feed without lots of sweet.  First I noticed doubling the amount of sweet feed to get the horses to eat the additives, so after some thought, went and purchased some molasses.  Now the horses and I am happy again.  Sometimes you have to adjust when manufactures adjust what they offer.