Integrated Equine Services in Beechworth, Victoria | Professional service
Integrated Equine Services
Locality: Beechworth, Victoria
Phone: +61 438 373 231
Address: Beechworth-Wangaratta Rd Beechworth, VIC, Australia
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22.01.2022 Tuesday with these amazingly ladies My riding horses and my mum’s lovely mare had treatments today. It was a fantastic follow up to the previous three days l...earning from Sharon May Davis. Watching their work, asking questions and discussing the riding plans going forward made for an awesome day of learning for me. See more
17.01.2022 Ways to become your farrier's favorite client: 1. Make our work space enjoyable. While many of us will put up with working on feet in paddocks, grass, dirt, o...r even (ugh!) mud, we prefer a clean, dry space with shade/cover. Dirt and moisture can ruin our tools, heat without shade can be incredibly hard to work in, and grass or deep footing can block our view of the hoof and the horse's actual movement. We love having a spot where we can work without worrying about dirty or wet feet and tools. 2. Make sure your horse stands well to be worked on. Almost all horses can stand long enough for a quick hoof pick, but some really struggle with the idea of holding up their feet for longer periods of time. One frustrated or unruly horse can end our career (or worse!) and many of us don't want to risk it. Even if your horse isn't dangerous, practice with them on being patient as someone works on their feet, because fighting a horse of any size makes our job that much more difficult and our muscles that much more sore. We always love seeing those horses that think it's no big deal to offer their foot and wait patiently for us to be finished! 3. Keep a schedule on a good cycle length. Cancelling on us last minute can throw off our entire route and our day, not to mention risk your horse's feet becoming overly long or imbalanced. A hoof should never "look due," if they look due they're overdue typically! If we suggest a certain cycle length for your horse, make it a point to keep that for the best hoof health for your horse. 4. Keep up to date on invoices. We as professionals can have a lot of overheard in our business, between everything from gas/travel costs, insurance, tools, inventory (hoof boots, shoes, epoxies, glues, etc), and even continuing education. After all is said and done, sometimes a simple trim can average $20 in costs to us as professionals if dividing all our basic expenses (without even applying anything to the hoof) between the amount of horses we see! We do rely on client payments to replace what is needed for our business, and to pay our bills and ourselves. 5. Trust us. First of all- you should only be working with a hoofcare provider you trust. If you don't trust your hoofcare provider, find someone you CAN trust! I want to start by saying that, of course, we want you to feel free to dialogue with us about what you are seeing in terms of hoof health and soundness, and always want to hear your concerns (you are your horse's advocate, after all!). That being said, if you trust us, then trust that we have the best interests at heart for your horses. A lot of us put a lot of time into continual study, and might have experiences of successes or failures which could be similar to your situation. Ideally we can explain why we might be doing something that we are hoping will help, or NOT doing something that could be harmful. We often have a reason for our decisions, just ask! Professionals- what are other things you appreciate from your clients?
16.01.2022 This. This is very important to remember... look after YOU as well as your four legged friend. You're expecting them to carry you around... is there any point i...n making them even if you're as wonky as a, um, very wonky thing? Nope. (this is my fave quote from my column in this month's Absolute Horse magazine about saddle slip)
14.01.2022 The researchers said that, to their knowledge, there was no comparable study in the horse. The present paper is intended to serve as a broad introduction to equine brain morphology [form and structure] they said.
12.01.2022 EQUINE GASTRIC ULCERS....Points to consider - Part 1 This is the first of a couple of articles covering my thoughts on gastric ulcers in horses. I wanted to de...dicate the whole of this article to one very important, overriding concept that seems to often go unmentioned. It is vital to get this clear in your head and so I thought it best to make this important concept the sole focus of this article. We are already familiar with the fact that ulcers can be created by stress. Stress can be in many forms including psychological and physical. Some of the physical causes can include pain/discomfort and also immobility/lack of motion/lameness. As a result of this, ulcers are usually secondary to other issues. This is often the case but not always. So let us now get into the important point that I would like to convey. The digestive system, along with a lot of internal systems, is controlled by a subconscious nervous system called the AUTONOMIC SYSTEM. It is similar in most mammals (including us). This is a very important division of the nervous system that is in control of maintaining a harmonious internal environment. In other words it’s role is to keep the internal systems working and all in balance. It governs the balance in a lot of systems including the digestive system, circulatory system etc etc. The autonomic nervous system constantly tries to keep the body in a state of balance (homeostasis) by monitoring everything in the body and making alterations via nerves and hormones. This is all done without the animal being aware of it. The control centre is found at the base of the brain and consists mainly of the hypothalamus and pituitary gland. The autonomic nervous system is divided into two parts, namely the SYMPATHETIC and PARASYMPATHETIC systems. They work in opposing ways. The SYMPATHETIC system is centred around the fight or flight reaction. It makes changes appropriate to help the body be able to fight or take flight. These include diverting blood from the digestive system to the muscles, increasing the heart rate and respiratory rate. Basically all the things that make sense should the horse need to flee from a predator or turn and fight. The PARASYMPATHETIC system is the opposite to this. It’s main role is to deal with everything that makes sense to do when not fighting or fleeing. These will include things like resting, healing, reproducing and digesting..... So now we see that the digestive process is a very parasympathetic process. The relationship between the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems is similar to that of a see-saw. If one is increased then the other is decreased. An increase in the amount of sympathetic input will automatically cause a decrease in the parasympathetic input (and vice versa). As you can see the sympathetic system is closely related to stress. The fight or flight situations tend to be stressful. So any stress will mean that the sympathetic system is dominant over the parasympathetic system which is for relaxed situations. As I mentioned at the beginning stress can be psychological or physical. So a lack of mobility or discomfort in the horse can cause a physical stress that can lead to an increase in the dominance of the sympathetic system. Equally psychological stress will increase the sympathetic load on the system. The lives we and our horses live put the body under a lot of stress and so most horses and humans are tilted towards a sympathetic state. Any increase in the sympathetic system automatically causes a reduction in the parasympathetic control. Therefore, ANY STRESS will lead to a reduction in the ability to DIGEST, HEAL and REPRODUCE. So now you see the important point....ANYTHING that can act as a stressor will limit the body’s ability to digest, repair and reproduce effectively. Points for consideration.... 1) The stomach is part of the DIGESTIVE system. Therefore, this will be affected by the increased sympathetic and reduced parasympathetic activity. Likewise, the entire digestive system will not be able to function correctly. So all of the processes, including those of the stomach will be inefficient. The body therefore cannot digest the food correctly. It is also likely to lead to ulcers in other areas such as the hind gut. 2) Tissue is less likely to be able to HEAL properly. Whether it is the lining of the stomach or tendons in the limbs etc. The body cannot repair effectively when the parasympathetic system is being reduced by the increased sympathetic activity (due to the increased stress). So all tissue is more likely to get an injury and any injured tissue will not be repaired as well. Therefore, ulcers are more likely and will be harder to resolve. So a stressed horse is more likely to get ulcers in the first place and less likely for them to heal. Plus....the horse is more prone to lameness through injuries elsewhere such as tendons, ligaments and joints!! A sympathetically dominant horse will get many issues across it’s body from ulcers, lameness, poor coat, poor muscles etc etc. 3) The REPRODUCTIVE effects will cause mares to not cycle correctly or hold a pregnancy if they are too sympathetic. Likewise, the stallion’s reproductive ability will also be hampered by stress. 4) ANY stressor that is maintained for long enough without resolution can lead to a chronically increased sympathetic system throughout the whole body. This can lead to ALL of the above and more over time as ALL of the body systems will be affected. Therefore a long standing lameness can create a digestive or reproductive issue, for example. Or a long standing digestive issue can create a lameness or reproductive problem..... It is all related and interlinked. As I hope you will gather at this point the ulcers are therefore often a symptom of a much larger issue. Hence why I mentioned that they tend to be secondary in nature. Therefore, while it is important to treat the symptom itself it is far more important to find the underlying issues that are creating the sympathetic dominance within the body. This requires a WHOLE HORSE approach. The treatment will then be specific to that individual case but should always be multi-factorial to ensure that the WHOLE HORSE is considered and effectively managed. As you can imagine we could go on and on but I think that is enough for now and certainly enough to highlight the main concept before we delve further in. I will be publishing PART 2 next weekend where I will be discussing the role of the head and upper neck with regards to gastric ulcers. NB Most of the images used are taken from Google Images.
11.01.2022 Had a fun time TA’ing this class! Was a great group of super keen students
11.01.2022 FASCIAL COMPARTMENTS- posterior view of the pelvic region reveals interesting fascial links from thorax to pelvis to lower extremity. This view is much closer t...o reality that many muscle only pictures. The concept of named muscles is a manifestation of isolationist dissectors of years past who likely equated their findings on a dissection table to that of a butcher. Protein cuts seemed to take shape and were named as muscles. However, this illustration shows the real anatomy which is an interconnected web of connective tissue that happens to have compartments that house contractile protein bundles. The left side shows the fascial compartments for the glute max, semimembranosus and biceps femoris. On the right the compartment for the quadratus femoris is shown with the muscle protein removed. One can easily see how muscle chains are the true reality as no muscle is isolated but is in fact just compartments along a much larger fascial system. This concept can change the clinician’s approach to myofascial therapy or acupuncture. The best therapeutic effects may come from targeting fascial lines or chains rather than individual muscles only. Always think LINKS. #anatomylinks #anatomy #fascia #tensegrity #myofascialrelease #biomechanics #connectivetissue #chiropractic #osteopathy #physicaltherapy #physiotherapy #acupuncture #dryneedling #muscle #massage #eldoa #functionaltraining #anatomia #yogaanatomy See more
10.01.2022 Most horses pass from one human to another - some horsemen and women are patient and forgiving, others are rigorous and demanding, others are cruel, others are ignorant. Horses have to learn how to, at the minimum, walk, trot, canter, gallop, go on trails and maybe jump, to be treated by the vet, all with sense and good manners. Talented Thoroughbreds must learn how to win races, and if they can't do that, they must learn how to negotiate courses and jump over strange obstacl...es without touching them, or do complicated dance like movements or control cattle or accommodate severely handicapped children and adults in therapy work. Many horses learn all of these things in the course of a single lifetime. Besides this, they learn to understand and fit into the successive social systems of other horses they meet along the way. A horse's life is rather like twenty years in foster care, or in and out of prison, while at the same time changing schools over and over and discovering that not only do the other students already have their own social groups, but that what you learned at the old school hasn't much application at the new one. We do not require as much of any other species, including humans. That horses frequently excel, that they exceed the expectations of their owners and trainers in such circumstances, is as much a testament to their intelligence and adaptability as to their relationship skills or their natural generosity or their inborn nature. That they sometimes manifest the same symptoms as abandoned orphans - distress, strange behaviors, anger, fear - is less surprising than that they usually don't. No one expects a child, or even a dog to develop its intellectual capacities living in a box 23 hours a day and then doing controlled exercises the remaining one. Mammal minds develop through social interaction and stimulation. A horse that seems "stupid", "slow", "stubborn", etc. might just have not gotten the chance to learn! Take care of your horses and treasure them. Written by Jane Smiley We are their caretakers...let's do it kindly & with compassion!
09.01.2022 About 2mm under your fingertips, to be precise, there is a special tissue that encases your body like a cosy jumper. Fascia! What a wonderful thing it is and ho...w happy I am to hear people mentioning it more and more. Fascia is very densely woven tissue, covering and interpenetrating every muscle, bone, nerve, artery and vein, as well as, all of our internal organs including the heart, lungs, brain and spinal cord. The most interesting aspect of the fascial system is that it is not just a system of separate coverings. It is actually one continuous structure that exists from head to toe without interruption. Fascia is made up primarily of densely packed collagen fibres that create a system of sheets that wrap, divide and permeate every part of your body. In essence, you are protected by your fascia, connected by fascia and kept in shape by fascia. Why didn't anyone mention this important system earlier in the equine field? Because not many people know that much about it. Fascia's messy stuff and fairly hard to study. It's so expansive and intertwined it resists the medical standard of being cut up and named for textbook illustrations. Besides that, its function is tricky, more subtle than that of the other systems. For the majority of medical history it's been assumed that bones were our frame, muscles the motor, and fascia just packaging. But In this day and age, and the advancement of human sports science studies, what exactly does it do? In wrapping around each of your individual parts, it keeps them separate and allows them to slide easily with your movements. It creates a sheath around each muscle; because it's stiffer, it resists over-stretching and acts like an anatomical emergency break to reduce likelihood of muscle fibre rupturing. It connects your organs to your ribs- to your muscles- and all your bones to each other. It works as a component of balancing stressors and counter-stressors to create a mobile, flexible and resilient body unit. To put it simply, Fascia is the missing element in the movement/stability equation (Tom Myers, Anatomy Trains). But don’t be fooled! Fascia isn't just the gross version of plastic wrapping. Fascia can contract and feel and impact the way you move. It's our richest sense organ, it possess the ability to contract independently of the muscles it surrounds and it responds to stress without your conscious command. It feels, and it can significantly dictate your horses (and ours!) ability to do basic tasks such as turn left should it be affected. That's a big deal. It means that when your physiotherapist arrives and starts prodding and poking, we aren’t always treating muscles, we are treating that area as a whole and in doing so, are often using our fascia/muscles/skin receptors to treat your horse’s fascia and skin receptors! It tells us so much more information that often muscles cannot and usually guides us like a pathway right to the area. Unfortunately, it's very unlikely that your fascia maintains its optimal flexibility, shape or texture. Lack of activity will cement the once-supple fibers into place. Chronic stress causes the fibers to thicken in an attempt to protect the underlying muscle. Poor posture and lack of flexibility and repetitive movements pull the fascia into ingrained patterns. Adhesions form within the stuck and damaged fibers like snags in a sweater, and once they've formed they're hard to get rid of. Therefore, Fascial restrictions in horses can be caused by injuries, restricted movement such as stall rest, using tie downs and draw reins, poor collection techniques, training patterns, and training techniques, tack fit, nutrition and a lifestyle that stresses the horse. For example, if you wear a fairly tight top and you twist a tighter knot into one part of it, you will feel that top pulling on you; fighting against your movement in the opposite direction. This is what restricting fascia feels like and can become really quite painful. In doing the opposite of the above, you will increase the health of your every changing and evolving fascia which will improve strength, flexibility and freedom of movement. Basically, happy fascia, happy horse. Pic 1) close up of Fascial tissue Pic 2) evident Fascial tension/wrinkling
05.01.2022 It's an easy misunderstanding that when we feel a bit chilly, we assume our horses do to. Actually, they have a far wider range where they can happily self regu...late their own temperatures, particularly in the lower ranges. Your horse's metabolism, and digestive system is geared up to produce heat, rather than loose it. So as a general rule, under rugging your horses rather than over rugging will mean a more comfortable horse.
04.01.2022 Last week we held our EcoSomatics Equine Level 1 (ESE1) class at Mayfield Farm at Yarck, taught by Dr Sandra Howlett. What a fantastic class it was!! The students were all super keen to learn and fully embraced this wonderful therapy. Lots of great laughs were had along the way!
