I absolutely LOVE summer, heat, humidity, they agree with me. But I also use summer heat as an EXCUSE not to ride!!!!
Who is with me on this one???? You get all dressed up to go ride, you walk out the door, and you think, maybe later, maybe I will get up earlier, maybe after they eat, maybe after I eat, EVERY EXCUSE in the book, I have used.
But what if you look at this differently. My main reason for not riding is FEAR, I will admit that. The FEAR of getting hurt! The heat seems like as good a reason as any NOT to ride. Can I USE HEAT, to my advantage?
What CAN I DO in the heat?
- Walk
- Halt
- Backing
- Small Bending Circles
- Turn on the forehand/haunches
- Leg Yields
- Serpentine - Using Reins or just the legs
- Etc.
GENIUS!
I have been doing this for a few days now with Taika and I have to admit, I am having a BLAST. Every minute spent on her back adds Courage Penny's into the Piggy Bank! I can feel my confidence growing and it is so simple. We are developing our partnership!
It is hot so she doesn't want to run off or bolt or do anything except stand. She gets the reward of a nice cool bath after. We find places that are in the shade which pushes me out of my comfort zone and are places I haven't ridden before but it is easy because she wants the shade too.
There is some prep involved that I recommend. If it is really hot you can hose off before riding, just make sure you sweat scrap. I always use my Thieves for Courage and Stress Away for Calm and they really help me! I wear my FROGG TOGG which has been a HUGE game changer for me (link at the bottom). I keep a bottle of water right by my grooming area, with my amazing electrolyte stuff to save me from passing out when I get off.
All of this has made for a GREAT Summer and I know that every foot step I take on the back of a horse, gives me one more penny in my Courage Bank!
If you have read this far, you might be interested in joining my FREE SUPPORT GROUP for people searching for their riding Courage!
I also have a bonus for you, 3 Easy Ways to Build Courage with Your Horse! Click Here To Get the BONUS!
I remember the excitement to go see this 3 year old filly at the track that would replace my heart horse I had lost. She had unlimited potential.
I would ride her for 20 or 30 minutes with a lovely trot and canter and then all of a sudden, she would REAR to full height and come down like a BRONC in a rodeo. It would last 20 or 30 seconds and if I could ride it, she would go right back to the lovely trot that we has started with, if not, I hit the ground.
Then after just a few months, diagnosis and Devastation! KISSING SPINE! I felt like I had been punched and all the air had left my body. My new amazing horse that I planned to start competing with in the Spring of 2014, had Kissing Spine (along with a fractured skull). I felt completely helpless!
Everyone I knew didn't even hesitate, they all said put her down! She will never be SAFE, she will always be in pain. The more I learned, the more I felt CRUSHED. She was just the sweetest young mare and I had bonded with her immediately at the track when I went to look at her and our bond had only grown.
On top of that, the treatments were THOUSANDS of dollars! I just couldn't fathom putting this sweet young horse down, I had to find a solution.
Lots of research and an Amazing Chiropractor and we had a GLIMMER OF HOPE.
THE GAME PLAN:
1. Teach her to carry herself to build her "ABS", yes, you read that right…."ABS" to support her back. We did this with free lunging, no side reins, no lunge line, it had to be on her terms so that if she did hit that spot, she wasn't confined, she could move through it on her own. No trotting, this was all WALK and CANTER. There are a lot more details if you would like to know more Contact me.
2. Monthly Chiropractor work at first and in the end, it was every 6 months (this took THREE YEARS!)
3. Fix her feet. She had really low heels as most horses in the US do these days. I am now trimming myself because I could not find one trimmer that didn’t take too much off the heels.
RESULTS:
A sound horse, cleared 100% for everything, even jumping. I still have to do maintenance when I see her abs letting down but for the most part, she is MY HEART HORSE, no rear, no buck, just amazing riding partner!
I would ride her for 20 or 30 minutes with a lovely trot and canter and then all of a sudden, she would REAR to full height and come down like a BRONC in a rodeo. It would last 20 or 30 seconds and if I could ride it, she would go right back to the lovely trot that we has started with, if not, I hit the ground.
Then after just a few months, diagnosis and Devastation! KISSING SPINE! I felt like I had been punched and all the air had left my body. My new amazing horse that I planned to start competing with in the Spring of 2014, had Kissing Spine (along with a fractured skull). I felt completely helpless!
Everyone I knew didn't even hesitate, they all said put her down! She will never be SAFE, she will always be in pain. The more I learned, the more I felt CRUSHED. She was just the sweetest young mare and I had bonded with her immediately at the track when I went to look at her and our bond had only grown.
On top of that, the treatments were THOUSANDS of dollars! I just couldn't fathom putting this sweet young horse down, I had to find a solution.
Lots of research and an Amazing Chiropractor and we had a GLIMMER OF HOPE.
THE GAME PLAN:
1. Teach her to carry herself to build her "ABS", yes, you read that right…."ABS" to support her back. We did this with free lunging, no side reins, no lunge line, it had to be on her terms so that if she did hit that spot, she wasn't confined, she could move through it on her own. No trotting, this was all WALK and CANTER. There are a lot more details if you would like to know more Contact me.
2. Monthly Chiropractor work at first and in the end, it was every 6 months (this took THREE YEARS!)
3. Fix her feet. She had really low heels as most horses in the US do these days. I am now trimming myself because I could not find one trimmer that didn’t take too much off the heels.
RESULTS:
A sound horse, cleared 100% for everything, even jumping. I still have to do maintenance when I see her abs letting down but for the most part, she is MY HEART HORSE, no rear, no buck, just amazing riding partner!
Here is a bonus that has helped on our journey to health! If you would like to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!" and to stay in touch!
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
Disclaimer - I am not a vet and do not give medical advice for horses. I am just sharing what I went through and what worked for me.
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
Disclaimer - I am not a vet and do not give medical advice for horses. I am just sharing what I went through and what worked for me.
Disaster struck a few weeks ago! Horses get into the craziest things but this time, I WAS THE CAUSE!
I have 3 mares, you know, MARES. I have one that has high liver Enzymes and COPD which makes things additionally challenging and has me on a whole new journey into the world of TOXINS and what is not toxic. My horses and I have been "Clean" for over a year now!
I used to have hot flashes, lots and lots of hot flashes but I fixed that. The horses have very mild cycles and all 3 get along great. I never have issues, feeding time, taking one or two of them out, they are always just calm and quiet. Truthfully, they are better than my geldings used to be.
Three weeks ago, I found a "STASH" of SWAT. I thought hmmm….I better use this stuff up. It had been a year since I had used anything commercial on my horses, I make my own. After finding the Swat, I just put a dab on their bellies for the no-see-ums. That was it….just a DAB!
24 hours later, I noticed pinned ears. 48 hours I had 3 horses in FULL CYCLE, Kicking each other and extremely aggressive. I also noticed that I was having hot flashes again, HUGE NASTY ONES. Was it possible that a dab of Swat could influence hormones that drastically????
The answer was yes, sadly, it was the SWAT That was fully responsible for not only mares trying to kill each other, but also for me feeling horrible and not even wanting to function! It took a full week for the 4 of us to recover. From TWO NIGHTS of a little dab of SWAT! That is what started my journey into Toxins and hormones.
Mares always get a bad wrap and it got me wondering, are we, the HUMANS, the cause of the mares bad wrap?????
I decided to go through and check the ingredients of EVERYTHING in my tack room, no small feat and I actually gave up after only a few items. EVERYTHING had Toxins, cancer causing, poison control warnings, Endocrine Blockers, you name it, it was in the ingredients. I just used CDC and the Center for poison control to look stuff up, stuff I could not pronounce or even type! The worst were the cleaning products.
The SWAT Went in the trash, I developed a non-toxic salve (I like to call it TAWS since it is the Anti-Swat) and if you have read this far, the recipe is in the Three Snippets for you!
If you are interested in finding out more, click here to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!"
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
I have 3 mares, you know, MARES. I have one that has high liver Enzymes and COPD which makes things additionally challenging and has me on a whole new journey into the world of TOXINS and what is not toxic. My horses and I have been "Clean" for over a year now!
I used to have hot flashes, lots and lots of hot flashes but I fixed that. The horses have very mild cycles and all 3 get along great. I never have issues, feeding time, taking one or two of them out, they are always just calm and quiet. Truthfully, they are better than my geldings used to be.
Three weeks ago, I found a "STASH" of SWAT. I thought hmmm….I better use this stuff up. It had been a year since I had used anything commercial on my horses, I make my own. After finding the Swat, I just put a dab on their bellies for the no-see-ums. That was it….just a DAB!
24 hours later, I noticed pinned ears. 48 hours I had 3 horses in FULL CYCLE, Kicking each other and extremely aggressive. I also noticed that I was having hot flashes again, HUGE NASTY ONES. Was it possible that a dab of Swat could influence hormones that drastically????
The answer was yes, sadly, it was the SWAT That was fully responsible for not only mares trying to kill each other, but also for me feeling horrible and not even wanting to function! It took a full week for the 4 of us to recover. From TWO NIGHTS of a little dab of SWAT! That is what started my journey into Toxins and hormones.
Mares always get a bad wrap and it got me wondering, are we, the HUMANS, the cause of the mares bad wrap?????
I decided to go through and check the ingredients of EVERYTHING in my tack room, no small feat and I actually gave up after only a few items. EVERYTHING had Toxins, cancer causing, poison control warnings, Endocrine Blockers, you name it, it was in the ingredients. I just used CDC and the Center for poison control to look stuff up, stuff I could not pronounce or even type! The worst were the cleaning products.
The SWAT Went in the trash, I developed a non-toxic salve (I like to call it TAWS since it is the Anti-Swat) and if you have read this far, the recipe is in the Three Snippets for you!
If you are interested in finding out more, click here to get my "3 Snippets of Removing Toxins from the Tack Room!"
Detoxing Your Tack Room SNIPPETS!
Let's talk about Flying Pests! (and some that crawl).........
I had a huge challenge with a horse that was rescued from Hurricane Irma and Maria in Puerto Rico. Not to mention, she has a lot of Chrome! I think because of being immersed in water for so long, her skin just isn't right even now, several years later! She is so sensitive. Combine that with the other two mares, they all seem to be very sensitive to chemicals that are toxic. I have discovered that it affects their cycles as well.
In comes me, wanting them to be fly free, or as close as possible, and doing that only using products that do no harm. I am their advocate.
1. Where I started, SmartPak Bug Off - works great as long as all the horses are getting it. One horse on it, in a pasture of 5 others, doesn't help at all in my opinion. The nearest horses to us are a few miles away so I can use this to get the bugs significantly reduced! Before doing anything else I had about 10 flies on the face and the neighbors that I went and checked, had probably close to 100 so I know this is a good first step.
2. I discovered that not all pests, react the same to what I tried. SOOOOO.....I took all my supplies into the 3 sided shed on a hot day, and my computer, and I tracked what I sprayed and what happened to the pests until, one by one, they were pretty much gone. So much so, that even on hot days now, my horses seem to go out and graze about 70% of the time where as before this, they grazed about 10% of the time and that was usually just going to and from the water trough. I started with a base and then added.
Base: (in 24 ounce spray bottle)
1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar (I use the filtered one making fly spray unless I have other issues and then I use the one with Mother)
1 cap of Thieves Household Cleaner - Flies, No-see-ums, Gnats
1/2 tsp of YL Insect Repellent - Flies, Mosquitoes, and most importantly around here - TICKS
Add in as necessary for your area:
30 drops Rosemary - Flies, Mosquitoes
30 drops Lavender - Skin Support
30 drops Tea Tree - Fleas, Mosquitoes, biting insects
20 drops Citronella - Mosquitoes, Biting flies, no-see-ums and gnats
20 drops Lemon - Flies
10 drops *Purification - (if you have deer flies)
10 drops Clove (if you have deer flies)
10 drops Peppermint - Mosquitoes
30 drops Lavender - Skin Support
30 drops Tea Tree - Fleas, Mosquitoes, biting insects
20 drops Citronella - Mosquitoes, Biting flies, no-see-ums and gnats
20 drops Lemon - Flies
10 drops *Purification - (if you have deer flies)
10 drops Clove (if you have deer flies)
10 drops Peppermint - Mosquitoes
10 - 20 drops of Lemongrass - TICKS
10-20 drops Basil - Big Black Horse Flies
Fill the rest of the bottle slowly with water and you are ready to do battle!
If you are interested but don't know where to get the products, click here: Get the ingredients here!
(If you were to do all of them, it comes to about $13.00 per bottle of spray but I have never seen anyone need even most of them)
Application: Fairly heavy coating in the morning. I spray into my hand and wipe down their face and ears and udder areas too. I reapply a light coating if I see them in the shed for a while in the early afternoon.
3. Fly Predators - I have been surprised at the reduction in my black flies. I was sad to find out they don't really help with the green flies/ deer flies/ and the Black Horse Flies. I have also changed my manure management based on the recommendations from the company and it is helping.
Stay tuned, I am working on an ointment to replace my Fly Repellent Ointment that I discovered is toxic!
If you found this information useful, get my 3 short snippets on Healthy Coat and Skin and it will let us stay in touch on this journey to happy healthy horses and their Humans! GET MY SNIPPETS!
