Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

We are having a lovely vacation in North Dakota for Christmas.  However, I'm getting a bit homesick for my horses.  Also quite sick of cold weather.  The past few days have been warmer though, which makes me want to ride my horses even more!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of the horses and riders out there!  I hope that everyone has a safe and warm holiday.  Enjoy your families today!
I'll be home with a sick kid today, so I will be thankful for all of the gifts in my life from home.

Weird Horses!

Today I had quite a scare.  It was cold when I woke up, in the single digits.  My horses had finished their round bale yesterday, I had dumped out all of the wet hay in the bottom last night.  ELEVEN days that bale lasted, pretty great!  Anyways, so I ran out to feed the horses a square bale.  They all four dug right in, just like normal.  About ten minutes later, once I finished getting ready for work, I came back outside to take off for the day.  I see three horses eating hay, and my old mare (Abbie) up on the hill.  She whinnies when she see's me, and comes booking down the hill.  She then wanders around by the shelter, and over to the level (rather sandy) place where the round bale was.  Then she lays down, and just lays there.  Freaked me out, but I was late for work so off I went.  Came home tonight, she's perfectly fine and ready for dinner.  Apparently she just wanted me to worry all day.  WEIRD horses...

Pictures are after eleven days of eating on the round bale.  Everyone seems to be in great weight lol!
    

Feeding in Winter

I find it mind boggling how much hay my horses can consume, and the speed at which they do it!  We decided to feed round bales this winter.  Great idea, it's much healthier for horses to have constant food in their stomachs and to graze slowly.  However, the first round bale did NOT get consumed slowly.  My four adult horses had it gone within five days.  I'm talking gone as in even the muddy parts on the ground pretty much cleaned up.  Over a thousand pounds of hay gone in less than a week, so we were back to feeding square bales two or three times a day. These pictures are after TWO days of eating.  Look at that mess!! 


SO I bought my piggies a Cinch Chix hay net: http://www.cinchchix.com

Today I went out to check on it, and these pictures are after four days of eating:

 

My husband and I had no problem moving the round bale.  We untarped it, rolled it into the pasture, removed the twine and put the Cinch net over it.  It was quite easy, the entire process probably took us fifteen minutes.  Not too bad, fifteen minutes to feed my horses for a week!  Then of course we got a boat load of rain, and 50+ mph wind gusts all weekend.  I have no hay wasted, and they are still eating.  YEA!!  So far so good, I'm loving round bales with Cinch Chix nets.

 

Rider Stretches - Warm up

Always warm your muscles up before you stretch, and please make sure that you are healthy before you begin any exercise regiment.  Okay that being said, some great warm up stretches for the chest, arms, legs and back are easy to do. 

Begin by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, and simply reach up over your head.  Then fold your hands together, and bend first to the left, then to the right.  Hold straight up and each direction for three to four seconds.  Then reach down and touch your toes, or as close as you can get.  This will stretch your arms, back and your legs.  The final chest and back stretch is to stand upright or sit up straight.  Then picture a nut between your shoulder blades that you have to crack by reaching your arms backward.  You can look up at the ceiling with your head to increase the stretch.  Hold this for up to thirty seconds, while taking deep breaths. 

I will add some pictures this afternoon :)  More stretches to come....

Stretching, for the Rider Intro

Everyone knows how important stretching is for our horses, and why flexibility is essential to achieve balance and efficiency of movement.  I give every client whose horse I work on stretches to do for homework, and these are reviewed and are added to at each visit.  But what about the rider??

Everyone who has ridden a horse for any considerable length of time understands just how athletic of an endeavor it truly is to ride well.  Why then do so few of us have stretching routines for ourselves?  I can guarantee you that in most other sports a solid warm up and cool down includes some stretching.  Why don't riders stretch then you may be wondering??Stretching daily is the very best way to improve your flexibility overall, throughout your body. This increased flexibility makes you much less prone to injury, and can also improve your riding technique.  Many riders lean forward while riding, which will close your hip joint and stress your shoulders.  It should be no surprise then that I treat shoulder, upper back and hip pain in almost all of my trail riders.  Much of this stiffness and pain can be considerably decreased by a proper warm up and stretching routine.

You should never stretch without warming up your muscles.  Usually just walking out to catch your horse will do it.  If you have an especially easy to catch horse, giving him a thorough grooming and/or hand walking around for five or ten minutes will warm you up a sufficient amount.  Also never stretch an injured area, and be careful to avoid overstretching.  Stretching should never cause pain anywhere.  If you notice persistent pain after stretching, please discontinue and consult with your doctor.  Hold all stretches for five to six seconds to begin with, but with proper technique you can hold stretches for several minutes once flexibility is increased. 

We will get into actual stretching technique tomorrow. 














 

Freedom!

Today I am thinking about how horses move naturally.  A loose horse has a freedom to it's gait that is beautiful, and to watch him flow between speeds can be breathtaking.  I'm not sure about anyone else, but I would love to feel more of this from my horse under saddle!

Clients who receive regular Chiropractic and bodywork care many times will notice an improvement in the fluidity of gaits of a horse after a treatment.  This is due to the lessening of restrictions within the muscles, which makes it easier for the horse to do his or her job.  This directly leads to a longer career by decreasing the normal wear and tear on joints from competition and training.