Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Students aid Equine Therapy Program

I love it when I get to post about things like this for the equine courses community! :) Some Equine science students have gone above and beyond for equine therapy programs all over! 

"As the semester draws to a close and students reflect on what they learned, some students in the University of Kentucky's (UK) Equine Science and Management undergraduate degree program are also reflecting on what they gave.

Each year, students in the UK College of Agriculture's equine career preparation class choose a service partnership with a local nonprofit. In doing so, they are given the opportunity to give back to the community and invest in Kentucky's equine industry, while also gaining project management, event planning and communications experience, said Elizabeth LaBonty, lecturer and internship coordinator within the equine degree program.

This year, the class chose Angel Heart Farm, a Kentucky organization that uses equine-assisted therapy for children and their families facing chronic and life-threatening illnesses. The farm works with patients from Kentucky Children's Hospital and has established connections with Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

Over the course of the semester, the students held two restaurant promotional events at Lexington, Ky. restaurants Mellow Mushroom and Hugh Jass Burgers, where a portion of the restaurants' proceeds on that day were donated to Angel Heart Farm. The class also held a Halloween event, in conjunction with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Hearts at Halloween was specially tailored to Angel Heart Farm's clients, with activities that included trick or treating, pumpkin painting, jump decorating, and horses in costumes. Two local restaurants, Red State BBQ and Rafferty's, donated food.

Students raised more than $700 for Angel Heart Farm. They also helped raise awareness about an organization new to the area and created a memorable Halloween event for these children.

"Angel Heart Farm is very honored to have had such a great group of young horse people plan this special event for the farm," said farm owner Tracy Kujawa. "Their hearts and talents played a major part of the success of the event. The students of UK are making a big difference in the lives of some very fragile children who share the same love and joy of being with horses and ponies."

"I am really proud of the students in this class," LaBonty said. "They were creative, hard-working and optimistic. It was such a great experience to get to partner with Angel Heart Farm and Kentucky Children's Hospital."

When asked what they learned from the project, student Irene Kaar said, "I learned that even though some kids have a hard road ahead, they are still optimistic, which is incredibly inspiring."

Other students said they learned some invaluable skills while working for a great cause.

Sean Paul Ryan said for him it was, "the satisfaction of being able to give back and volunteer to help sick kids and donate to a good organization."

Natalie Heitz and Kaylin Corvett said this project taught them the importance of effective planning, teamwork, setting and meeting deadlines, and what it takes to get people excited about attending.

Kaylin Corvett added that the project gave her "a sense of pride in knowing I was helping that farm and those kids."

"I have a great appreciation for Tracy and what she does for these kids," Lindsey Precious said."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19339&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Winter Feed Changes

Use caution when changing a horses feed for winter! If you are involved in horse therapy, equine courses or just own a horse then you need to read this article

"Horses need more feed to replace energy loss brought about by harsher weather conditions as the temperature turns colder, and that means equine owners need to take steps to ensure colic does not become a problem.

Equine owners must practice sound management in altering their animals' rations if problems with colic or founder are to be avoided, said Dave Freeman, PhD, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension equine specialist.

"Concentrate composition and amounts should be increased gradually over a period of several days, especially if the horses are already consuming large quantities of grain," Freeman said.

Many concentrates will have significant levels of soluble carbohydrates, which are efficient providers of energy.

"However, eating too much of these compounds in one meal is a significant contributor to the frequency of colic and founder in horses," he said.

One general guideline is to limit grain feedings to maximum single meal intakes of around 5 pounds per 1,000 pounds of body weight.

"Of course, some concentrates are less energy dense than others, so following recommended intake levels on feed bags is a good practice," Freeman said.

Gradually increase portions of grain mixes over several days when conditions require horses to need significant increases in energy intake is an added precaution against colic, especially when horses are not accustomed to eating concentrates. Freeman said horses may suffer from colic if ration changes occur too rapidly.

A horse's anatomy makes him very susceptible to colic, an acute abdominal pain caused by various abnormal conditions. Nutritional causes of colic include mismanagement such as abrupt changes in diet, consumption of moldy grain or hay, overfeeding energy at a single feeding or improper digestion, and impaction of nutrients brought on by ineffective deworming programs.

Horses suffering from colic may exhibit clinical signs such as restlessness, pawing, looking or nipping at their sides, or violent rolling.

Since colic can occur from many different causes, Freeman said owners who observe signs of colic in a horse should remove all feed, hay and water, and then call their local veterinarian immediately.

"Knowing how to measure a horse's respiration rate, heart rate, and temperature and then relaying this information to your veterinarian will help in his initial diagnosis or treatment," Freeman said.

Horses that will lie quietly can be allowed to do so. However, horses suffering from colic should not be allowed to roll. A horse has about 100 feet of intestines, most of which floats free in the abdomen. This free flotation makes it easy for the intestines to become tangled or displaced.

Additional information about colic and feed management is available on the Internet at http://osufacts.okstate.edu and through Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service county offices by asking for OSU Extension Fact Sheet No. 3921, "Understanding Colic in Horses"; No. 3973, "Feeding Management of the Equine"; No. 3997, "Nutrient Needs of Horses"; and No. 3928, "Evaluating Rations for Horses"."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19329&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Dec. 21st, Ask a Therapist!

One of my favorite sites to get information for psych and horse therapy, PsychCentral.com, is hosting it's Tuesday night "Ask a Therapist" session! It's a great opportunity to learn and ask questions that have been on your mind, relating to therapy! 

"From time to time, we host live chats on Facebook and elsewhere (such as our weekly Q&A chat with myself held every Tuesday night from 9 – 10 pm ET in our community chat room). I’m pleased to let you know of a very special holiday-edition of our Ask the Therapistchat on Facebook tomorrow night at 7:30 pm ET (4:30 pm PT).

Our Live! Facebook event will be taking place our closed Facebook group on Wednesday, December 21st at 7:30 pm ET. It will be an opportunity to ask our therapists Julie de Azevedo-Hanks and Marie Hartwell-Walker questions about life, love, career and other concerns and issues on your mind.

It’s our last event of the year. Hope to see you here!

Join our Facebook Ask the Therapist Group (This is a closed group that requires you to send us a request through Facebook to join it… we approve all requests.) You have to be a member of the group in order to ask your questions."

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Equine Business Conference 2012!

This is a GREAT opportunity for anyone involved in horse therapy and equine courses to connect with others, get sponsorship, and learn marketing for this niche! 

"Equine business professionals in the north central United States are invited to a dynamic, multi-state conference where they will be connected with land-grant universities, industry professionals, and other valuable resources.

In an effort to keep equine businesses a vital part of our rural communities, the Equine Business Conference will provide horse industry professionals with information and resources on liability, business finance, marketing, and insurance for equine businesses.

Hosted by Michigan State University in East Lansing; the University of Minnesota in Saint Paul; the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; and Iowa State University in Ames, this one-day conference will take place on Feb. 25, 2012, in four locations. At each location, participants will hear from a "live" industry expert and will see broadcasts of presenters from the other three locations.

Topics will include:

  • Equine Insurance: Using Insurance to Protect Your Horse, Yourself and Your Equine Business Investment (Wade Ellerbroek, licensed real estate broker, insurance broker and appraiser, Ellerbroek & Associates)
  • Law: Legal Liability and Contracts (Julie Fershtman, attorney, Foster, Swift, Collins & Smith P.C.)
  • Taxes and Finance: Structuring Your Horse Business to Succeed in the Future (Tina Barrett, executive director, Nebraska Farm Business)
  • Promotion, Marketing, and Advertising: Tips on Social Media and Low- and No-cost Promotion (Terry Schroeder, chief operating officer, Reichert Celebration Inc.)

Advance online registration is required. The registration fee is $30. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Funded in part by a grant from the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development, the Equine Business Conference is a collaborative effort between My Horse University and eXtension/horses."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19281&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

EKU Large-Animal RescueTraining

I wanted to share this event that is open to the General Public and EKU Students! If you're interested in Animal Rescue this could be a great opportunity for you! The horse therapy community supports it and this article was found on Thehorse.com, so if you support animal rescue and equine courses, sign up! 

"First responders, emergency medical technicians, veterinarians, firefighters, and other emergency/rescue personnel are encouraged to register for an upcoming training opportunity taking place in Richmond, Ky.: the Technical Large-Animal Emergency Rescue Training provided cooperatively by USRider and Eastern Kentucky University (EKU).

USRider and EKU first began offering this valuable training opportunity in March 2005 to educate fire/rescue personnel, first responders, veterinarians, and horse enthusiasts about techniques and procedures to assist large animals involved in transportation accidents and other emergencies.

"We've found that while emergency responders are trained experts in human rescue and extrication, they oftentimes have no training in large-animal rescue," said Bill Riss, general manager for USRider. "Because of this lack of training, responders are put at great risk. Moreover, in many accidents and disasters, animals without life-threatening injuries are injured further or even killed by use of incorrect rescue techniques."

Scheduled for March 30 - April 1, 2012, the Large-Animal Emergency Rescue Training is open to EKU students and the general public. Taught by Tomas Gimenez, DrMedVet, and Rebecca Gimenez, PhD, authorities in large-animal rescue, the session will include 30 hours of classroom instruction and hands-on training with live animals.

Instruction covers the use of sedatives and tranquilizers, chemical restraint, rescue ropes and knots, rescue from barn fires, mud rescue, helicopter rescue, and water rescue, among other situations.

Specially-trained demonstration animals will be brought in to help provide realistic hands-on training during the seminars. The training qualifies each EKU student to receive FSE 489 credit for the class. Space is limited for the public, so those interested in attending are encouraged to enroll now by contacting Demita Kubala at EKU at 859/622-1051 or demita.kubala@eku.edu."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19249&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

The 5 Things Therapy Won't Cure

Horse therapy and equine courses are known for their ability to go beyond the physical problem and get down to the heart of things, but there are just some things therapy cant cure....and here's five of them

"I’ve extolled the virtues and benefits of psychotherapy for years. But therapy isn’t a cure-all, and it won’t help every person, with every problem, in every situation. In fact, it’s important to realize when going to see a therapist isn’t likely to help your situation much, because it can save you time, money and needless frustration.

Therapists, by their nature, tend to want to help every person who comes through their door. Even well-meaning therapists may not fully appreciate when they are largely going to be ineffectual in treatment because of the type of problem presented. After all, psychotherapy isn’t some magical elixir. Talking about some topics simply won’t do much to help the situation.

Here are five things that psychotherapy won’t help you much with.

 

1. Your Personality.

While indeed personality disorders make up a good chunk of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the so-called DSM), they also got their own category within that reference book for a good reason — they’re really hard to change.

Personality disorders are typically more ingrained and therefore more difficult to change than most other mental disorders. After all, our personality — the way we relate to both ourselves and the world around us — starts in childhood and is shaped by decades’ worth of experiences, wisdom and learning. You can’t expect to undo decades of personality development in a few months’ worth of psychotherapy. (Years, maybe.)

While psychotherapy won’t likely cure you of a personality disorder or long-term personality trait, it can help mitigate some of the worst features of the problem, or reduce its intensity. For instance, while someone with narcissistic personality disorder may still go through life thinking they’re better than everyone else, they can learn to tone it down in their individual dealings with others so it becomes less of a social and work impediment. Introverted people will still be largely introverted, but they can learn to feel more relaxed and comfortable in social situations.

2. Your Childhood.

Sigmund Freud and many others of his era traced a lot of emotional health problems back to a person’s childhood. As much as we would like to try, however, we can’t go back and fix our lousy childhood. It is what it is — a piece of our history.

What you can fix in psychotherapy is how you interpret what happened in your childhood… And whether you choose to cling to those issues, or whether you can grow from them after obtaining insight into their significance. But therapy won’t cure you of your bad parents, rotten siblings, crumbling childhood home, or sketchy neighborhood where you grew up.

3. Half a Relationship.

It takes two to make a healthy relationship work — and to continue to grow and move forward after the relationship has hit a few rocks. Psychotherapy can help couples through those rocky parts, but only if both people agree to counseling with an open mind and a willingness to work on the relationship. This means both partners also have to be willing to undertake some changes (not just pay lip service to them).

While one half of a couple can go into counseling to work on relationship issues, it’s not going to be nearly as effective as having both halves in therapy. Therapy with only one side will usually only help that person to better cope with their partner’s problems or issues (this is more of a band-aid than a long-term fix). Or, worse, help that partner to decide whether the relationship is even working at all.

4. A Broken Heart.

Nearly all of us have gone through it — the feeling like your heart has just been ripped out of your chest and stomped upon. When love dies, it’s one of the worst feelings in the world. Sadly, it rarely ends after just a couple of days.

But talking to a therapist isn’t likely to help much with this issue. The end of a relationship is one of those really difficult times in almost everybody’s life where there are no shortcuts or quick solutions. Talking to a close friend, focusing on activities (even if you don’t feel like doing them), and immersing yourself in things that will keep you busy are your best bets, as time does its magic.

Therapy may help a person who gets “stuck” in ruminating over the details of the old relationship, even years after it’s over. If a person can’t move on, talking to a professional may help them understand the relationship better, and bring perspective to their life.

5. Losing Someone.

The proposal for the new revision of the DSM suggests that normal grief may become diagnosable as depression, but grief isn’t typically considered a mental illness in need of treatment. Despite the popular common wisdom of the “5 stages of grief,” the reality is thateveryone grieves loss differently and uniquely.

Like in love, psychotherapy isn’t going to do much to help speed the natural processes of time and perspective. Grief needs space for remembrance and being with your thoughts of the person who’s passed away (in other words, grieving is best done when it’s done mindfully and with patience).

Therapy can help, however, a person who gets “stuck” in a life oriented toward grieving or a person who, even years later, still cannot get over the loss. But for most people, psychotherapy is both unnecessary and overkill for what is a normal process of life and living."

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Heart Rate and Equine Preformance

How we act around a horse during horse therapy or equine courses effects the outcome of the entire session. If a horse is experiencing stress or anxiety it will increase the heart rate and the horses Equine Preformance can decline.

"A new show ring and a new environment can equate to stress--and even poor performance--for your horse. Because according to Danish equitation scientists, the faster a horse's heart rate in a new environment, the more likely he is to perform poorly.

New places are also not the ideal environment for teaching your horse a new trick, added Janne Winther Christensen, PhD, from the faculty of science and technology at Aarhus University in Tjele, during the presentation of her study at the 2011 International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) Conference, held Oct. 26-29 in Hooge Mierde, The Netherlands. As she and her colleagues discovered, not only do horses tend to perform better at home, they also tend to learn better.

Studying 25 Danish Warmblood geldings (aged 2 to 3 years) all pastured together, Christensen and her fellow researchers compared heart rates when the horses were being taught something new at home, and when they were being taught the same task again in a novel, competitionlike environment a month later. At both sites, the horses were trained to sidepass (crossover) when the handler cued the horse with a whip.

Before training started at each site, the researchers gave the geldings a basic "fearfulness test," in which they noted and rated the horses' behavioral reactions in response to a surprise object. They also checked the basic cortisol (the "stress" hormone) level in the horses' droppings while they were at pasture and observed their social rankings within their group to determine if that had any impact on learning and performance ability.

The researchers determined that not only was heart rate generally higher in the novel environment than in the home environment (65 versus 53 beats/minute), but it also was a good indicator of how the individual horses would perform in the show ring, as performance quality (in reference to performing the sidepass) decreased as heart rates increased, Christensen said.

However, individual heart rate wasn't related to how the horses performed at home, she said. Neither was their basic level of fearfulness.

Performance in the new environment was significantly associated with the basic level of fearfulness, with individual performance levels the lowest for the horses determined to be the most fearful. "Performance in a stressful environment may be predicted by a fear test in the home environment," Christensen said.

That being said, performance in the show ring cannot be predicted by performance at home. "There was no correlation between performance in the home environment and in the novel environment, meaning that horses that performed well in the home environment did not necessarily perform at the same level in the novel environment," added Christensen.

A horse's basic stress level and social ranking had no effect on performance at home or away, Christensen said. But an interesting side finding was that the basic stress level was clearly related to the social ranking in this study: the higher the social rank, the lower the basic stress level."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19193&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Horse Slaughter is Legal Again

This may or may not affect California, I don't know yet, but this is a just a terrible thing to hear! Whether you're involved in horse therapy or equine courses or not, your taxes may still go towards this aweful deed. More on the story...

"The week before Thanksgiving, while you weren't looking, Congress and the president did something the vast majority of Americans opposes.

 

The president signed an omnibus-spending bill approved by Congress that makes it legal to slaughter horses in the United States once again.

Polls show more than 70 percent of Americans oppose horse slaughter and few if any eat horse meat.

Given the fact we are divided politically by a gap the size of the Grand Canyon, recognize that a 70 percent majority is an unheard of amount of backing.

But wait, it gets worse.

The reintroduction of horse slaughter plants in the United States comes with a hefty price tag, much of which goes to line the pockets of people in other countries who own these dens of incalculable abuse.

The way it works is that ever since 2005, there has been a section of the Agriculture appropriations bill that de-funds (to wit, bars the expenditure of taxpayers' dollars on) a program for the USDA to inspect foreign-owned horse plants.

Now that the de-funding law has been deleted, supporters of the grisly, completely inhumane process of horse slaughter will go back to lobbying Congress for millions of dollars annually to run the inspection program.

Without inspection, it is illegal to transport horsemeat across state lines. Once they succeed, horse slaughter will resume here.

Let's forget for the moment that candidate Barack Obama in 2008 pledged to keep the ban on horse slaughter permanent (another promise to voters reneged?)

Let's forget, too, that American horses are not bred or raised for consumption.

Let's forget that the few countries where horsemeat is consumed (France, Belgium and Japan among them) are ignoring the outright cruelty to horses that raises the hackles of right-thinking Americans.

The simple question is: Do we want our tax dollars spent to inspect horses that were slaughtered in incredibly cruel fashion (a bolt through the forehead that doesn't kill them immediately) so foreign owners of slaughter plants can profit?

In the midst of a recession when other crucial programs such as Medicare and education are suffering deep cuts, the answer is a resounding, "no."

Supporters of horse slaughter say the reintroduction of slaughter plants in the U.S. will create jobs.

An article in the Desert Independent in Blythe, Calif., this month noted, "Horse slaughter plants operating until 2007 ... never created a total of more than 178 jobs." The kind of jobs they do create are of dubious economic value to the individuals who take them and to the communities where slaughter plants are located.

The Independent quotes Paula Bacon, former mayor of Kaufman, Texas, where a horse slaughter facility operated for years as saying, "Horse slaughter means very few, very low-wage jobs, meaning workers and their families overtaxed local resources like the hospitals and government services.

"This so-called business brought in virtually no tax revenues, and local governments incurred substantial enforcement costs in trying to regulate these facilities.

"The standard of living dropped during the time horse slaughter facilities operated. Having a horse slaughter facility drove away good businesses."

Studies have shown that when slaughter plants are opened in rural areas, violent crime quickly rises.

Think about it. Horses are sometimes cut into pieces while still alive and screaming.

What kind of person would accept the minimum wage to engage in this horrific behavior? The question answers itself.

Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., sponsored the de-funding amendment in the House version of the Agriculture Appropriations bill.

He said he regrets voting for the overall bill (which did not include the de-funding language) but felt compelled to do so, to keep the government operating.

He said the only alternative is to assure passage of a permanent ban on horse slaughter, which he and other compassionate members of Congress are working to do. Let's wish them success."

Source: http://www.kjonline.com/opinion/taxpayers-to-pay-for-unpopular-revival-of-hor...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Winter Driving for Horse Owners

With Winter rolling in again many horse owners, whether apart of equine courses or not, are going to have to 

"With the change of seasons, USRider--the national provider of roadside emergency assistance for equestrians--reminds those who travel with horses to be careful when traveling and invest time doing routine preventive trailer maintenance to enhance their travel safety.

It is imperative to make sure your vehicle is ready for winter driving. Be sure to maintain your vehicle according to the manufacturer's service schedule. It's also important to take your vehicle to a trusted mechanic.

"When it comes to vehicle maintenance, especially heavy-duty vehicles towing precious cargo, it is better to be proactive than reactive," said Bill Riss, general manager of USRider. "If you have not already done so, establish a relationship with a trusted ASE (the National Institute for Automobile Safety Excellence, www.ase.com) mechanic. It is essential that you do this before your vehicle breaks down on the side of the highway while towing your horse trailer."

USRider recommends that you check tire pressure before each trip. This is especially important with temperature changes. If you are traveling from a warm climate to a cold climate, air pressure in your tires will drop. On the other hand, when traveling from a cold climate into a warm climate, the air pressure will rise.

A weak battery will usually reveal itself during cold weather. If your battery is more than a couple of years old, be sure to check it prior to cold weather setting in. Otherwise, you will most likely be inconvenienced on some cold morning when the battery fails to start your vehicle.

When driving, a good rule of thumb to follow on the road is "rain, ice, and snow-- take it slow." Before setting out on a trip, take the time to check weather reports and plan accordingly. Be sure to allow extra time for inclement weather. Mother Nature doesn't care that you need to be somewhere at a certain time.

Always drive with your headlights on during inclement weather--even if it is not dark. USRider recommends that owners drive with headlights on anytime when trailering horses, regardless of weather, because of increased visibility afforded by using headlights.

Also during inclement weather, be sure to increase distance between vehicles to allow more stopping time. USRider recommends that you double the normal distance between vehicles when towing a horse trailer.

"Stopping on snow or ice without skidding and/or jackknifing takes extra distance. Use brakes very gently to avoid skidding," added Riss. "If you begin to skid or jackknife, ease up on the brake and steer into the skid to regain control."

During winter months, traction tires are recommended. In order to qualify as a traction tire, tires must have at least an eighth of an inch of tread and be labeled Mud and Snow, M+S, All-Season, or have a Mountain/Snowflake symbol. Since tire performance can vary, a trusted area dealer could be able to advise you on the best tires for your vehicle.

Since it's difficult to know what road conditions you may encounter during the winter, make it a practice to refuel when your vehicle fuel gauge drops below the halfway mark. In many states, you can dial 5-1-1 for travel conditions and road closures.

In some states, vehicles over 10,000 gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR), including some passenger trucks, SUVs, RVs, and vehicles towing trailers, must carry chains on certain highways Nov. 1 through March 31. Check with the Department of Transportation or Department of Motor Vehicles for information on the states you will be traveling through.

 

Monday, November 14, 2011

Conventional or Natural Horse Training?

TheHorse.com takes a look at conventional and natural horse training for young horses in this article. Typically, the horse therapy community uses body language and natural training for their therapy horses and if you've seen the Documentary "Buck" then you exactly what that is like. Here's the study....

"How to properly train a young horse to be a riding mount is a topic now being discussed in equestrian science circles, as researchers recently compared the emotional effects of "natural" versus "conventional" methods of early training. Their results indicate that natural training methods produced fewer signs of stress in young horses at three important stages of training.

In the current study led by Polish equestrian scientist Witold Kedzierski, PhD, from the department of animal biochemistry and physiology at the University of Life Sciences in Lublin, natural training consisted of working with horses individually in a round pen, starting them with ground work, schooling them to avoid pressure, and helping them get used to unfamiliar objects. Natural trainers waited for each horse to show acceptance to the saddle and to having the weight of a human over its back before mounting the horse in a seated position, Kedzierski said.

"Essentially, the natural trainers used body language to communicate with the horses," he added during a presentation at the 2011 International Society for Equitation Science Conference, held Oct. 26-29 in Hooge Mierde, The Netherlands.

Conventional training in this study involved first training the horses to walk on an automated walker and then longeing the horses in a training arena. Once the horse could be controlled at a trot on the longe line, it was saddled and longed under saddle until it accepted the saddle, and then it was mounted by the trainer.

Working with 32 two-and-a-half-year-old purebred Arabian colts and fillies divided into the two training groups, Kedzierski, along with fellow researchers Iwona Janczarek, PhD, and Anna Stachurska, PhD, from the department of horse breeding and use at the University of Life Sciences, monitored the horses' heart rates at three specific moments in the training program: the first time they were saddled and had the girth tightened; the first time they walked under saddle; and the first time the trainer mounted the horse. He also monitored them at rest prior to training as a control.

Upon reviewing the study results, the team found that the horses' heart rates differed significantly depending on the training group they were in. And the horses that were trained naturally had the lowest heart rates--which is generally accepted as indicating less excitement.

The conventionally trained horses had higher heart rates the first time the girth was cinched and the first time the rider mounted than did the naturally trained horses, particularly the colts, Kedzierski said.

"The initial training of naive purebred Arabian horses with the use of natural training methods involved less emotional response than with that of conventional training methods, and this difference was most pronounced in colts," Kedzierski said.

It remains unclear why colts in this study were most affected by the natural training. Additionally, it's important to remember that each horse responds differently to specific training methods, so use caution when changing training methods."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=19137&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

Please support us by "Liking" our page at...Horse Therapy

Monday, November 7, 2011

Buck

So I watched a movie the other night on Netflix called Buck. Now I must say, whether you're a horse owner, someone in horse therapy, or don't know anything about horses, you must see this movie! Sometimes horses can tell us more about a person than a human could.  

If you liked the trailer I highly recommend watching the movie on Netflix and going to our website at Pegasusect.com. We do counseling with individuals and groups so give us a call and maybe you will learn something about yourself! 

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Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

Please support us by "Liking" our page at...Horse Therapy

 

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Building Self-Esteem

So many people who come into horse therapy suffer from Social Anxiety, but honestly I think almost everyone does to some degree. This article was written a while back on PsychCentral and I wanted to take the time to share it because many of us secretly want more Self Esteem!

"Self-esteem is how you feel about yourself as a person. Those with high self-esteem believe that they are adequate, strong and worthy of a good life, while those with low self-esteem feel inadequate and worthless. Low self-esteem can develop in childhood and continue throughout adulthood, causing great emotional pain. Therefore, it’s important to develop a healthy, positive sense of self.

Many people base their self-esteem on external factors, such as how much money they earn, how much they weigh and whether people like and appreciate them. If one of these external variables change, self-esteem can be broadly affected. For example, if your self-esteem is based on the fact that someone else loves you, then you risk feeling extremely vulnerable and worthless if that person’s love ends. By the same token, building self-esteem is not an easy task if you have been abused or have suffered years of personal or professional failure.

Building your self-esteem and creating a positive self-awareness comes from taking an inventory of your own strengths and abilities as a human being. Being at peace with who you are and what you have to offer the world is a major part of having high self-esteem. This “inner peace” does not mean that you are unaware of your weaknesses; it merely means that you accept who you are and genuinely like the person you have become.

You should think about yourself as deserving of attention, admiration and proper maintenance. Avoid the pitfall of paying too much attention to the happiness and well-being of others and too little to your own. Maintaining self-esteem involves becoming fully aware of your strengths and seeing challenges as opportunities to employ those strengths.

Low self-esteem is often linked to depression or anxiety. If your emotions feel overpowering or out of control, one way to build self-esteem around this issue is to learn to manage your mood and gain control over your feelings. Some people are able to do this with the help of friends and family. Others need to work with a mental health professional to manage the problems that may lie beneath the surface of low self-esteem.

If you struggle with low self-esteem, it is often helpful to connect with others with the same problem. Co-Dependents Anonymous, a self-help group, can be helpful in building the skills necessary to believe in your own wishes, needs and feelings. Other self-help groups may be located by talking with a mental health referral service or by asking a therapist or other health professional for a referral. In addition, you can contact your local mental health center about individual and grouptherapy. Clergy and pastoral counsel may also be of assistance. Other steps you can take to increase self-esteem include looking at community bulletin boards and newspapers for opportunities to demonstrate your skills and abilities, working with others to change the things you don’t like about yourself and meditating twice a day to increase your awareness of the current moment and of the goodness of being alive.

Beginning the inner dialogue about who you are and what you have to offer the world is an important process in building self-esteem. However, it is not unusual to have trouble defining your strengths and abilities. Sometimes it is helpful to talk to a therapist about this inner dialogue and about how you might come to the genuine feeling of being a good person who is worthy of the good things in life. Talking to friends, family and colleagues can also be useful in further defining who you are and what you have to offer. But remember that the most important conversation you have about self-esteem is with yourself. Become your own personal cheerleader. Don’t be afraid to celebrate even your smallest successes. Ask yourself what you fear, and search within yourself for ways you can cope with these worries and fears.

Learning to know and trust yourself is a long but worthwhile process. Throughout life you may need to search within yourself again and again to find your own empowerment and strength."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/lib/2006/building-self-esteem/

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

When are you going to do it!

Even in horse therapy or when we are taking care of horses we can get a case of Procrastination. In the article below Psychcentral.com goes through some tips to stop Procrastination in all aspects of our lives. Maybe you've been thinking about trying horse therapy, when are you going to do it! 

"1. Put yourself in Procrastination Jail.

If I feel pressure to jump in and finish something in a rush, and therefore can’t bear to start, sometimes I put myself in jail. If you’re in jail, you have all the time in the world. You have no reason to hurry, no reason to cut corners or to try to do too many things at once. You can slow down, concentrate. You can take the time to get every single detail right.

 

2. Ask for help.

This is one of my most useful Secrets of Adulthood. Why is this so hard? I have no idea. But whenever I have trouble getting started because I don’t know exactly what to do, and I ask for help, I’m amazed at how much it…helps.

3. Remember that most decisions don’t require extensive research

I often get paralyzed by my inability to make a decision, but by reminding myself that often, one choice just isn’t that much different from another choice, I can get started. Also, I try to identify a knowledgeable person, and just follow whatever that person does.

4. Take a baby step.. If you feel yourself dismayed at the prospect of the chain of awful tasks that you have to accomplish, just take one step today. Tomorrow, take the next step. The forward motion is encouraging, and before long, you’ll probably find yourself speeding toward completion. In the same vein…

5. Suffer for 15 minutes.

You can do anything for fifteen minutes, and fifteen minutes, day after day, adds up surprisingly fast. That’s how I finally dug myself out of my crushing (if virtual) load of digital photos. Fifteen minutes at a time.

6. Do it first thing in the morning.

The night before, vow to yourself to do the dreaded task. Get everything ready — any phone numbers of information you need, files assembled, everything ready to go. And the next day, at the first possible moment – as soon as you walk into work, or when the office opens, or whenever – just do it. Don’t allow yourself to reflect or procrastinate. This is particularly true of exercise. If you think you’ll be tempted to skip, try to work out in the morning.

7. Protect yourself from interruption.

How often have you finally steeled yourself to start some difficult project, only to be interrupted the minute you get going? This makes a hard task much harder. Carve out some time to work.

8. Work can be one of the most pernicious forms of procrastination.

Don’t kid yourself."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/10/26/8-tips-to-stop-procrastinating/

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

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Thursday, October 20, 2011

Deciduous Teeth in Young Horses

I know this is something overlooked much to often on horses and we tend to forget about the basics sometimes; even those in horse therapy can forget about horses' teeth! This article from TheHorse.com exaplins how you can manage deciduous teeth in young horses. I think this article is a great reminder for the average horse owner and owners that are involved in equine courses

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"Most horse owners are privy to caring for their adult horses' teeth and diligent in obtaining proper dental care. But caring for foals' and young horses' deciduous (or simply put, baby) teeth is a little different, at least from a veterinary standpoint.

At the American Association of Equine Practitioners Focus on Dentistry meeting, held Sept. 18-20 in Albuquerque, N.M., Jack Easley, DVM, MS, Dipl. ABVP, a private practitioner from Equine Veterinary Practice LLC, in Shelbyville, Ky., discussed what to watch for when dealing with deciduous teeth, and what veterinarians look for when examining them.

"Knowledge of eruption times of deciduous and permanent dentition should be second nature to veterinarians working in the equine mouth," Easley said. "The shedding of deciduous teeth is an entirely natural process that generally does not require human intervention to proceed normally."

However, he noted, as with any other natural occurrence, sometimes things don't go as planned. Some veterinary intervention could be required to put the young horse's mouth on track for a healthy life.

Basics of Tooth Eruption

"Horses under five years of age have mixed hypsodont dentition," Easley began. "From 12 months to six years, equids shed 24 deciduous teeth and erupt 36 to 44 permanent teeth."

Easley explained that a foal's first deciduous incisors erupt at about six days of age, followed by the second incisors at about six weeks and the third incisors at about nine months. These deciduous incisors are smaller than the horse's permanent teeth and are shaped like a dome.

"They have a flattened root, short crown, and shallow infundibulum (a crescent- shaped depression in the central crown of a tooth) on the occlusal (chewing) surface," he noted.

The incisor caps begin shedding when the horse is about two-and-a-half years of age and continue to shed until the horse reaches about four-and-a-half years.

Horses' deciduous premolars begin erupting shortly after birth, Easley noted.

"As the juvenile horse matures, the crowns of deciduous premolars wear thin and the roots resorb, forming a flat premolar cap as the underlying permanent teeth erupt," he added.

The juvenile horse's permanent teeth will erupt starting at about a year old and continuing until the animal is four years of age.

Easley explained that horses have vertically successional teeth, meaning that each deciduous tooth and its associated permanent tooth reside in the same alveolar crypt (the sockets from which horses' teeth erupt). The mechanisms behind equine tooth eruption have not been studied in great detail, he noted, but it's likely that eruption is a multifactorial (having multiple causes) process fueled by eruptive, resorptive, and hydrostatic forces.

He also relayed that between the deciduous tooth and the permanent tooth lies a layer of soft tissue that contains osteoprogenator cells (loosely organized cells that become osteoblasts, or cells that can form bone), cytokines (inflammatory mediators), and odontoclasts (cells that aid in the resorption of deciduous teeth roots). This layer of soft tissue plays a major role in helping the horse's body transition successfully from deciduous teeth to permanent dentine.

"The combined action of resorption of the deciduous tooth roots, development and eruption of permanent successors, and attrition of the clinical crown results in the shedding or exfoliation of a wafer of the deciduous tooth, often referred to as a cap," Easley explained.

"Deciduous premolar caps close to natural exfoliation should: 1) be digitally loose; 2) have partial loss of the crown; or 3) have a palpable demarcation noted on the lingual (tongue) or palatal (the palate, or middle part of the roof of the mouth) aspect of the clinical crown with little or no gingival attachment to the remainder of the cap," Easley noted, adding that malodor often arises as the teeth draw near to shedding.

Easley reported veterinarians often encounter eruption pseudocysts--bony enlargements located on the lower jaw or the upper cheek bone--when dealing with juvenile teeth.

"These pseudocysts (or eruption bumps) normally result from erupting permanent premolars and are most prominent in 3- and 4-year-old horses," he said, adding that the growths generally regress and disappear within a year or so.

Maleruption in Juvenile Horses

Easley reviewed several types of maleruption (eruption of a tooth out of its normal position) juvenile horses can face when their permanent teeth develop.

Worn Deciduous Teeth Crowns--When the crowns of deciduous teeth become worn, they loosen to the point they are displaced or shed into the horse's mouth. Easley noted these worn caps and their aftereffects are often associated with gingivitis or periodontal disease.

Retained Deciduous Incisors--As the name suggests, this occurs when one or more incisor does not shed as the permanent teeth arrive. Often, this abnormality is caused by "the permanent tooth erupting slightly (nearer the inside of the horse's mouth) to the deciduous, resulting in failure of the deciduous root to completely resorb."

Easley explained that retained deciduous incisors cause clinical signs including head tossing during eating, rubbing incisors on fixed objects, quidding (dropping chewed food from the mouth), and bitting problems. He noted that in some cases a narrow space can develop between the deciduous tooth and the permanent tooth, a precursor for periodontal disease in horses.

Loose incisor caps are often easily removed in standing horses, he said; however, some instances require sedation to successfully remove the cap.

Retained Premolar Caps--"Premolar caps can appear much like a table with four legs lying over the top of the permanent tooth," Easley said. Gingivitis and periodontal disease can result if the premolar cap's roots remain in the gum after the cap is shed, and it also predisposes horses to developing dental problems later in life.

Retained premolar caps can cause gingival irritation, dysmastication (abnormal chewing), anorexia, loss of appetite, and a predisposition to malocclusion (abnormal relationships between opposing teeth). Further, he explained, eruption bumps can result from the delayed eruption of permanent teeth, an occasional side effect of retained dentation.

Easley said these are primarily cosmetic problems; however, he warned that in some cases they can be caused by anachoretic pulpitis--a condition in which blood-borne bacteria become lodged within the pulp of the tooth, necessitating immediate treatment.

Easley noted that, similar to loose incisor caps, these caps can usually be removed easily.

Malocclusions--Several different types of malocclusion can affect juvenile horses as they shed their deciduous teeth, Easley noted. Permanent teeth can erupt misaligned with the rest of the teeth, spaces can develop between permanent teeth, and overcrowding can occur in young equine mouths.

In some cases of malocclusion (i.e., with asynchronous eruption of permanent teeth--permanent teeth in close proximity that erupt at different times) a veterinarian will recommend removing deciduous teeth.

"As a general rule in equine practice, if one cap has shed, the cap in the same position on the opposite side of the jaw should be evaluated and, if loose or close to exfoliation, it should be removed," he explained.

To Remove, or Not to Remove?

"The practice of methodically removing deciduous teeth at set ages results in premature removal in some horses," Easley noted.

In cases like these, when the deciduous teeth are removed prematurely, the dental sac covering the underlying permanent tooth is exposed and quickly destroyed by mastication, Easley said. This leads to loss of blood supply to the chewing surface, where active cement deposition might still be occurring, he added, which can result in conditions that predispose the animal to the development of caries (cavities) later in life.

For these reasons most veterinarians opt to let healthy deciduous teeth shed on their own.

Take-Home Message

Although many horses' deciduous teeth shed without incidence, there are times when maleruptions, retentions, or malocclusions develop in the juvenile mouth. In these cases, a veterinarian familiar with equine dentition is the best resource for keeping a young horse on the road to life-long health and wellness."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=18986&source=rss&utm_sour...

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Music Therapy

 

I think experimenting with different types of therapy not only gives people new hope to try new things, but also lets find great effective new ways to invoke therapy, because not all therapy works with every type of person. For example, some people love horse therapy and some hate it (which I dont see how you could), but every person is different!

I found a forum post I wanted to share about something this person calls "Music Therapy", yes we have heard of it before and there are many different ways to do it, but this way is simple. I'm sure we've all been touched by music in some way, so take a look at what this person said...

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"I am wondering if others can comment if there are special songs that help--inspirational, relaxing, energizing, etc. I got to thinking of this when I read how music can actually change your brain.


I don't listen to music often anymore. I was thinking I should change that. I know that if I listen to sad songs or watch sad movies I get really undone by them (don't want that!). So I want to create a playlist of audio or video of songs that I can use for different purposes like cheering me up, thinking philosophically, relaxing, etc.

I found one this evening that strikes a good note to me personally -- "Heal the World" by M. Jackson. I never thought much about it before, but actually it's quite comforting...the lyrics speak to me about PTSD in a private way, and give me hope. I found his video on YouTube (for some people it might be triggering, approach with caution) but --here are some of the lyrics"

You can view the lyrics and source below! 

Source(Check this out!!): https://www.ptsdforum.org/c/threads/music-therapy.20508/

 

Pegasus is an organization that brings recovery through Horse Therapy and Equine Courses to help people achieve an addiction cure! Visit PegasusEct.com for more information! :) 

 

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