Category: Thoughts – Mine and Others

My thoughts on healing that don’t fit in another category

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Guest Blogger – Carola Adolf – Trouble in the “zone”

Catherine Bird

Carola and I were asked by Horse Deals to provide an article on seedy toe. I posted my herbal support in an earlier blog, and now Carola has been kind enough to provide her equine bare foot care perspective. Carola and I have enjoyed a professional association for many years now, I am pleased to be able share her work with my readers. By Carola Adolf NEP 2014 (Pictures & Graphics Equine Soundness/ C. Garner) Another name (and probably a more appropriate, but interchangeable one) for the White Line of the horse’s hoof is the term “Zona Alba”, which in … Continue reading Guest Blogger – Carola Adolf – Trouble in the “zone”

Bodywork, Thoughts - Mine and Others2 Comments

Improving Your Riding Off Horse – few things that are good taken care of on the ground…

Catherine Bird

Originally posted on Official Blog by Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy:
We are just freshly back from another great, long weekend in Yorkshire running Aspire Grassroots clinic at Lindrick Livery – it is a little bit of a trek up North… Continue reading Improving Your Riding Off Horse – few things that are good taken care of on the ground…

Thoughts - Mine and Others2 Comments

What I have learnt from massaging horses

Catherine Bird

Easter is a time of reflection for when I give thanks and review my world.   I wrote this article over a decade ago and I am learning from each horse (and most humans) in my life.  The humans who belonged to these horses are still friends and I thank them for allowing me into their special  ‘horse space’. I will add the caveat that these were my experiences and reflections and are quite personal at the time.   This Easter’s gratitude is for accepting that I do not know everything  –  Each horse/human interaction brings its own unique dynamic and … Continue reading What I have learnt from massaging horses

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Calming Signals: Are You Listening?

Catherine Bird

Originally posted on Relaxed & Forward: AnnaBlakeBlog:
If you are standing next to your horse and he looks away, do you think he’s distracted or even disrespectful? When your horse yawns, is he sleepy or bored? If he moves slowly, is he lazy? These are important cues from your horse, are you hearing him correctly? When it comes to communicating with horses, some humans are a bit like a self-obsessed rock star who throws a temper tantrum and trashes the room, but then assumes everyone wants his autograph. By equine standards, we ignore those around us and begin by screaming… Continue reading Calming Signals: Are You Listening?

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I’ve tried everything but nothing has worked!

Catherine Bird

I’ve tried everything but nothing has worked! When a new client makes an exclamation like this, a therapist’s response may vary from “well I won’t be able to help you either” – through a range of thoughts – from seeing this client as their next great challenge and/or wanting to be competitive with the series of therapists the client has seen; and any where in-between these responses. It will depend on how this exclamation is made to me as to what my response is on that day. So in today’s blog I am just throwing around some ideas for pondering … Continue reading I’ve tried everything but nothing has worked!

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Subtle Abuse: When Aids Become Weapons.

Catherine Bird

Originally posted on Relaxed & Forward: AnnaBlakeBlog:
My client’s mare is lovely; a very well-bred athletic horse. When my client bought her, the previous owner suggested my client get a cowboy to ride her at first, she needed spurs all the time and the horse was ‘mare-y‘, whatever that means. I get a little mare-y myself at the suggestions. My client decided the best course of action was working on the fundamentals. That’s where I came in. My initial feeling was that the young mare was pushed hard and fast. She needed some decompress time and although she looked for… Continue reading Subtle Abuse: When Aids Become Weapons.

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Herbs, Oils and a Pinch of Love

Catherine Bird

Our horses become a very special part of our lives. With the speeding up of time we are busy rushing here and there, looking for quick fixes and generally compounding any issue we have in our lives due to our own haste. When we start to look within and spend quality time with our horses, the insights we can learn from them can open up a new exploration of the world around us.One way to take time is to look at how we can work with our horses naturally. With domestication and our hectic routines our horses are close to … Continue reading Herbs, Oils and a Pinch of Love

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Travel Hints when Your Horse Doesn’t Want to Drink

Catherine Bird

Some horses don’t like to drink away from home. Suggestion 1 Add a teaspoon of celery seed to their feed the night before and when they are away – celery seed tends to make horse’s a little thirstier and encourages them to drink water. Suggestion 2 Flavour their water with a small bottle of apple juice – we have all drunk water from a different water tank and know it can taste different – the addition of this small amount of juice can mask that difference and be yummy. If you forget to take juice with you a splash of … Continue reading Travel Hints when Your Horse Doesn’t Want to Drink

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Hitting the right Note with your Horse

Catherine Bird

Socrates and Plato regarded music indispensable to the health of the Soul. I think most of us have heard of using music to soothe the savage beast and similar metaphors. This is only one use of music and in this article I would like to explore how we can use music to assist our competition animal with certain tasks and life situations as well as on deeper level where we can assist the utilisation of biochemistry. Music can be played to soothe our animals, help us connect with them on a different level when training for a dressage test with … Continue reading Hitting the right Note with your Horse