Equine Massage & Bodywork by Heather Doig

02/16/2022

Safe treats for PPID/EMS equines. For more information about diet, go to https://www.ecirhorse.org/DDT+E-diet.php. For individual help, join our free outreach group: https://ecir.groups.io/g/main

08/18/2021

What pleasure in winning while the horse suffers? 😰
We can be polite to the animal, and show them kindness by ensuring victory is not at their expense.

07/01/2021

In this bonus footage, Dr. Ridgway discusses "high heel/low heel syndrome" and how it impacts, amongst other things a horse's tendons and ligaments. Dr. Rid...

06/04/2021

This is one I have posted before...but it’s one I am passionate about!

Friday fact...we have an obligation to ensure that the equines in our care have everything they need not just to survive, but to thrive!

The five freedoms are the five basic rights that all animals should have and these provide the welfare organisations with a benchmark for each animals care and management. This is to ensure that their basic requirements are fulfilled to help them physically and mentally thrive.

* Freedom from thirst and hunger - The horse must be provided with constant access to clean, fresh water and the appropriate amounts of the right foods which take into account their need for a high fibre diet.

Failure to do this has a huge impact on digestive and behavioural health. Remember, the horse has an innate need to chew for 16-20 hours a day which must be satisfied! Should this innate need not be satisfied, this will ultimately lead to frustration and anxiety. Digestive upset, oral stereotypies such as wood crib-biting and other behaviours such as box walking are likely to be resultant.

* Freedom from discomfort - Management must take into account normal horse behaviours and they must have an appropriate environment to live in with company from other equines.

With many horses and ponies now being kept in for longer periods of time, don’t forget about their need to socialise and be with their friends!

Equines often form strong pair bonds and playing, mutual grooming and just being a horse are a vital part of their wellbeing. They are social animals and have an innate need to be with others. Isolation is not part of their genetic make up

All horses need companionship and denial of this can cause behavioural and management issues. Horses can form bonds with us and other species, but this should not be substitute for another horse. As owners, it is important that we ensure this basic need is met.

* Freedom from pain, injury and disease - Owners must know the basics of horse care and be able to recognise when their horse needs attention from the vet, farrier, dentist or other horse health professional.

* Freedom to express normal behaviour - Owners should understand horse behaviour to provide suitable environments, to train them humanely and for safety when handling or riding.

Often, horses are managed to such an extent that every aspect of their lives is dictated by us; when they eat, when they go out, when they stay in, whether they can shelter from the elements or they can’t, how much exercise they get, when, how and who they socialise with.

They should be free to make some of their own choices; when they eat, whether they want to come in or go out, who they want to socialise and bond with, when they sleep.

* Freedom from fear and distress - Owners should not use training methods that cause pain, fear or distress and the horse should not be placed in situations where they continue to suffer distress.

I am a huge advocate of managing and feeding our horses as naturally as we can, taking their innate needs and behaviours into account and enriching their environments. This makes a huge difference to them and their wellbeing, keeping them content, healthy and balanced, which makes handling and management easier for us. The more we can be in harmony with our horses, providing their basic needs and enriching their environments, the better for them and for us!

05/22/2021

Read this ⬇️

From the horse’s mouth... actually the horse’s tongue

After my recent post regarding fitting a bit to the individual horses mouth, it has become clear that horse riders don’t understand the horse’s tongue. At all. The horse’s tongue is the key to everything. It can tell you what a horse is feeling and thinking, it can tell you how true a horse’s carriage is or can reveal tension that is limiting their performance.

The horse’s tongue is a huge bunch of muscle, like way bigger than you think. The last tooth is about level with the horse’s eye, and the tongue goes even further back than that. Just behind the bit, the tongue doubles in height to completely fill the mouth. The tongue connects, via a long line of interconnected muscles, all the way back to the hind legs. What happens with the horse’s tongue DIRECTLY affects the horse’s ability to use his hind legs.

Yet many many riders consider the tongue a nuisance and tie it away. Using drop nosebands, flashes, grackles, micklems, “anatomical” nosebands, cranks etc. Some use spoon bits (remember the tongue doubles in height behind the bit), while others actually tie the tongue down! You are missing a vital source of information that the horse is eager to give!

Why does a horse stick it’s tongue out? It is NOT bad manners and it is not a bit evasion, it’s a cry for help. When the tongue is in the mouth, it is short and fat. Any sharp points on the teeth can cause pain, and pressure from the bit is amplified. The horse’s immediate reaction is to stick their tongue out. This makes the tongue long and thin, reducing the pressure from the bit and any sharp teeth. If this is prevented using nosebands, even loose ones (if it’s below the level of the bit, it’s a problem, loose or not, consider leverage distance to the temparomandibular joint) then the horse will resort to pulling their tongue back by tensing it or even putting the tongue over the bit. A drop noseband will not stop this happening, you just can’t see it happening anymore.

When the tongue is pulled back, it causes tension all the way down the neck, along the back and into the hind legs. If the tongue is over the bit, the bit lies directly on the bars. The bars are knife-edge-sharp bone with a very thin layer of gum over the top. When the bit directly contacts the bars it is extremely painful and horses will react very strongly, sometimes rearing or ditching the rider. This is not naughty behaviour, it is pain. The horse is creating pain trying to avoid pain, they can’t win and they can’t vocalise this. No matter how hard they try.

Tension in the tongue isn’t only caused by poorly managed teeth and poorly fitted bits however. The outline a horse is worked in also affects the tongue’s tension. Tuck your chin up and in, feel how large your tongue feels. Hold it there for a while and the back of your tongue will begin to ache. Now open your mouth and stick your tongue out. Sure it’s not comfortable, but it’s a relief from that tension. This happens in the horse too, but on a much larger scale. Anything that makes the horse carry itself like this (over bent, nose behind the vertical) will cause tongue issues. Whether that be poor riding, back pain or subtle hind limb lameness. This reaction is not limited to a bit, an overbent horse in a bitless bridle will still have a restricted tongue as soon as the head moves behind the vertical. Looking at it the other way around, most have heard of bridle lameness, this is when the tension in the tongue actually causes a visible lameness.

There is a reason why having the tongue out is seen as a bad thing in dressage, and it’s not because it’s bad manners. It’s because it highlights tension or poor training. The lazy solution seems to be, tie the mouth shut. Personally I believe all nosebands below the bit should be banned for dressage and 2 fingers should comfortably be placed under the bridge of the nose of a cavesson. That would sort the wheat from the chaff.

To summarise, make sure your horse’s teeth have been checked by a qualified EDT or dental trained vet, make sure your bit fits the anatomy of your individual horse, ride with a loose noseband that does not sit below the bit, make sure your horse is working correctly over their top line, truly engaged and swinging over their backs. Then your horse will not feel the need to stick their tongues out.

As a side note, the tongue is a symptom and not a problem in itself. Do not allow anyone to mess with your horse’s tongue. The trend of releasing the Hyoid apparatus using the tongue is not only dangerous but a load of BS. Do not fall for it.

Always remember, dentistry is basic care NOT a luxury.

05/22/2021

Companion animal or tool?
For 6000 years the human race has used horses, donkeys and mules as a tool for our own needs. From meat and milk to a warhorse. From beast of burden to sign of riches. From sport and entertainment to farmworker and taxi. Horses were kept to do something, to work, breed, compete or fight. They had a role and the way the species was treated and trained reflected that harsh reality of service to humans and our deliberate denial of their sentence.

To get horses, donkeys and mules to perform these roles required methods that on the whole reflected the outcome that was needed, control, dominance, force, breaking.

Today, while many equines still struggle in harsh conditions of vital service of humankind and others suffer at our greed for their skins or urine. Some are spent early from injury during "sport," now is a new age for some fortunate equines.

For some, their role has become that of companion, friend, healer, confidant, or social support no work, no toil. The relationship has become the focus of our connection to them and the only thing we require of them.

However, the training that created the warhorse, sport horse or ploughhorse never focused on relationship, choice, feeling, relaxation, or communication. Equines have not had their fears acknowledged, their true nature accepted or their spirit nurtured. We can not create new relationships out of old ways of thinking and doing things. We can not continue to expect a new outcome of our interactions if we continue to do what we have always done.

New thinking, new ways of working and new ways of understanding are developing and must continue to develop as we move from treating horses, donkeys and mules as tools and transition to companions.

If we want a relationship with a companion then the ways of interacting must reflect the outcome we want. We can not expect control, dominance, force, breaking to deliver connection, trust, mutual respect or willing engagement.

The struggle many equine people face is the transition to the new role we want of our equines. We must have the courage to let go of old thinking, let go of certainty as we find a new way of interacting, teaching, staying safe and developing the potential of our equine companions. Standing up for a new normal is something brave humans have done for centuries and only by the efforts of the few do new movements in humanity begin.

If you are struggling with your equine relationship today, perhaps it is not that you are wrong, weak, lack confidence, are inexperienced, too soft or not good enough. Perhaps your struggle comes from the fact that you are a pioneer, bravely stepping out into a new age of relationship and companionship. Perhaps your difficulties are because the tools you once knew and used no longer sit comfortably with you. You are evolving and trying to find a new path that reflects who you are becoming and the new role of companion we have bestowed on our equines.
Be brave have courage and seek out like-minded people who will support your growth. Be gentle with yourself and your learning.