Becoming the Awesome Person You Are!

Often times when people are around the horses in equine therapy they realize their lack of self confidence, which the horse picks up on. You are amazing! In this article from Psych Central, we will go over why "messing up" is OKAY and makes you the awesome person you are!

"The problem of rating the totality of yourself as good or bad, rather than rating your actions, or behaviors, is that you are setting yourself up to be an emotional mess.

When we make the mistake of rating ourselves as good or bad, we feel miserable for not thinking we’re good enough. Or, when we rate ourselves as good, we run the risk of setting ourselves up to feel bad when we fail at something. Either way, we’re in trouble.

Humans cannot be all good or all bad. So rating yourself this way is totally irrational. Learn to let go of this old rating system and you will feel better about yourself.

Today you may screw up that report for your boss. You may forget to wish your wife a happy anniversary, and you may act selfishly and somebody else might feel hurt. But that makes you human, as human as anyone else. For all those things that you do that may not be so great, there will be a million things that you do that are stunning. Yet most of those actions you won’t even recognize, or remember, as they’re automatic.

Yes, you are a flawed human being — but you are also amazing for it, not despite it."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/21/you-are-amazing/

How to Overcome Horrible Situations

With all the craziness in the U.S right now, it's sometimes hard to cope with horrible situations. Listed below are some ways Psych Central and those involved with horses or equine therapy would reccomend to beat these awful situations. 

• We remember the words of those we hold in high esteem.

  “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of disaster, I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.” — Mr. Rogers

• We cherish what we hold dear.

  We hug our kids a little tighter. We appreciate our loved ones even more. We commit random acts of kindness to make life easier for those we know and, perhaps more important, for those we don’t know. We cherish the freedoms we have and are grateful to those who dedicate their lives to making that freedom possible.

• We reach out to those more vulnerable than we are.

  Of course, we do what we can do for those directly affected by the tragedy. But we do more than that. We extend a helping hand to those who are more vulnerable than we are. They may need to share their story, to dissolve into tears, to quiver with fear, to explode with rage. Whatever they require, we are there for them. It’s healing for them; it’s healing for us.

• We do not define the human race by its worst elements.

  People are fantastic! They are kind. They are compassionate. They are big-hearted. They are considerate and generous and loving and sympathetic. Need I say more? And yes, there are those who are cruel and cold and brutal and mean. But we do not let ourselves be corrupted by those elements. We deal with them when we must. But we do not allow them to corrupt our hearts.

• We resolve to become more resilient.

  We may consider ourselves to be anything but resilient. Indeed, we may view ourselves as nervous, unable to deal with storm clouds and ticking bombs. We want life to be safe. Why not? But we recognize that life is fragile. Hence, when tragedy strikes, we strive to become survivors, not victims. When we are ready and only when we are ready, we resolve to do what we can to make ourselves and our little corner of the world a better place. We rejoice in the wonder of life and feel blessed to be a part of it, no matter how awful it is when horrible things happen.

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/04/20/coping-when-horrible-things-...

Horse Behavioral Problem Evaluation

While many of the horses in equine assisted therapy don't have behavioral problems, there are often times a large number of mis-behaving horses under saddle. Here we will review a study about this problem and you can read more on TheHorse.com 

"As many as 91% of leisure riding horses in the United Kingdom exhibit some sort of behavior problem under saddle on a regular basis, said Jo S. Hockenhull, PhD, of the School of Veterinary Science at the University of Bristol, England.

In the study, Hockenhull explained that behavior problems in riding horses in the U.K. could compromise the use of those horses in a leisure fashion and possibly lead to riders selling mounts that behave poorly under saddle. To better understand the prevalence of behavior problems, Hockenhull created an online survey about behavior under saddle that owners of 1,326 horses completed over the course of one year. The survey asked respondents to think only back to the previous week when answering the questions on a scale of 1 to 5 (“never” to “frequently”). The vast majority (91%) reported some sort of problem behavior.

Of the 1,326 horses, 78% were ridden with artificial aids—such as martingales, whips, or flash nosebands—to control their behavior, she said.

According to Hockenhull, this could be reason for concern.

“Poor riding may lead to the development of behavioral problems or learned helplessness in ridden horses, and these problems may be exacerbated as the owner attempts to address the problem by increasing the intensity of the aids or the complexity of the tack used to control the horse,” she said. Horses with ongoing or increasing ridden behavior problems are at greater risk of changing hands or euthanasia, she added.

Even so, most of the ridden behavior problems in the study revealed minor issues that were more likely to be “irritating to a rider rather than dangerous,” Hockenhull said. Bucking was rare (only 17% of the horses), and rearing and bolting were very rare (7% and 3%, respectively). The most common problems were shying (50%)—which can be dangerous if it’s violent, she added—along with walking off before the rider has finished getting in the saddle (46%) and pulling or leaning on the bit (45%).

The good news, however, is that overall, leisure riders—at least in the U.K.—seem quite good at caring for their horses’ health and maintenance. A full 97% of the horses received annual dental exams, and more than a third received semiannual exams. Furthermore, 88% of the riders had had their horse’s saddle professionally checked for fit, and 61% had them professionally rechecked as often as once a year.

Hockenhull admitted that her results might be slightly affected by the survey's voluntary design. Only people willingly responding to her requests to complete the online survey—through emails, online forum postings, and paper leaflets in riding stables—were included in the study."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/31640/prevalence-of-horse-behavior-problems-...(TheHorse.com%252b-%252bNews)

Horse EMS Therapy

Sometimes we overlook EMS( equine metabolic syndrome ) and assume a horse is just overweight, but it can be much deeper than that. In the video link below you will find out more information on how to diagnos EMS and then treat it with different types of therapies. 

Video

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Study on Horse Stress and Inexperienced Riders

Though you might think a horse's stress level would increase with inexperienced rider, they actually don't according to this study posted on Thehorse.com. In equine therapy we have horses that are even trained to be very calm and have very low stress levels. 

"In their study, von Lewinski and colleagues investigated 16 German sport horses and 16 riders in a jumping pattern of seven jumps (at a maximum height of 97 centimeters, or 38 inches). Half the horses had participated in advanced-level show jumping competitions; the other half had just completed basic training and had never completed a full jumping course. The riders themselves were divided into groups of either high-level professional riders or amateur riding students. (All riders had sufficient experience to safely ride the horses over jumps, von Lewinski added.)

Each rider rode an experienced horse and an inexperienced horse over the jumping course, and each horse was ridden by an experienced and inexperienced rider. The researchers evaluated both horses' and riders' salivary cortisol ("stress hormone") levels and heart rates before and immediately after the course. They also measured heart rates during the jumping round.

“The stress response of the horses was not affected by the level of experience of their riders and, in particular, not increased when the horses were ridden by less experienced riders,” von Lewinski said. “But for the riders, both their own experience and that of their equine partner influenced their stress response.”"

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/articles/31587/study-horses-not-stressed-by-inexperie...(TheHorse.com%252b-%252bNews)

When Silence is Enough

Actions do almost always speak louder than words, especially in horse therapy where we use non-verbal communication. Silence might just be thr right thing if someone is undergoing a heavy time of grief. 

"I remember when my grandfather died unexpectedly. I got the call from my parents while I was at my freshman college roommate’s house. My cell phone had no coverage in that tiny Michigan town, so my dad had called my roommate’s parents’ house. My roommate’s mother looked concerned as she handed me the phone. She didn’t walk away.

When I’d heard the news, my roommate’s mother immediately pushed a box of tissues my way and went to the stove to pan-fry French toast, handing me a plate with a fork ready to go. I remember as I cried and took bites of that syrup-drenched bread, she told me stories of when she lost her grandfather. The kindness was real; the words were well-intentioned. Yet I can’t remember anything she said, nor was I comforted by any of it. What lingers is that memory of the French toast, her maternal presence, her action in my grief.

Life’s tragic occurrences pop up more often than we would hope in the lives of the people we love. Yet few people have mastered the art of responding well to heavy news. We’re simply not all trained in the art of listening. Professional counselors and psychiatrists are the ones who know how to listen and what is most helpful to say in response. They understand what kinds of comments a grieving person will receive as helpful, and likewise, the type of comments that will sting, irritate, and fall flat.

I spend a lot of time in the car with nothing to do except steer and soak up radio waves. After I listened to the radio host say “I wish they had never said anything in the first place” so bluntly, I pondered his response. Was it too harsh to react to his friends this way? Did he have a right to request his friends’ silence, like the Biblical character of Job? Job endured endless words from his three unhelpful friends in the midst of losing everything."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/03/13/what-to-say-when-theres-noth...

Untitled

Positivity in counseling is as important as it is in your everyday life. Equine therapy is a great example of how positivity and the interaction with horses can greatly improve one's situation. 

 

Positive psychology often is passed off as pop psychology or New Age-y by those who haven’t actually looked into it.

"The actual theory behind positive psychology was defined in 1998 by Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi [1] and looks at all aspects of a person’s psychology. It does not discount traditional psychology, nor supersede it. Rather than viewing psychology purely as a treatment for the malign, however, it looks at the positive. Positive psychology is a recognized form oftherapy and is offered by some counselors and psychologists.

Psychology has always been interested in where people’s lives have gone wrong, and what has resulted because of it [2]. Illnesses such as depression are well-documented and patterns of depressive behavior well-known. However, until recently, what makes people happy and how they achieve inner happiness and well-being has been a mystery.

Practitioners of positive psychology study people whose lives are positive and try to learn from them, in order to help others achieve this state of happiness [3]. It is a scientific study and not remotely hippie-ish, despite its connotations.

 

Positive thinking is one aspect of positive psychology. Surrounding yourself with a great lifestyle and material goods may seem to lead to happiness, but how you really feel is governed by what goes on inside your head. When you go out of your way to think positively, you actually purge yourself of negative self-talk. [1]"

 

 

"Negative thinkers have four common mindsets:

• Filtering.

  Many negative thinkers will pull the negatives out of a situation and focus on them. Sometimes these people will see only the negative in a situation, to the point where they deny any positive.

• Personalizing.

  Some people make every tragedy about themselves. They will personalize every negative thing and assume that bad things happen because they are unlucky, or as a result of something they did or didn’t do. They will often construct negative situations with perfect logic, providing plausible reasons why negative things are either their fault or set out to hurt them.

• Catastrophizing.

  This involves anticipating the worst. Some people even precipitate it. They can turn a slightly awkward interaction into an overreaction, making the situation worse. If something negative does happen, they will use it to validate their negative assumptions.

• Polarizing.

  This type of negative thinker sees things as black or white. Either a situation is perfect or it is a catastrophe. This type of negative thinking can affect every area of a person’s life. Its effects can be both psychological and physical. By practicing positive thinking, you can actually stave off medical conditions and reap the benefits of having a positive outlook on life."

   

  Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/03/11/positive-psychology-the-bene...

How to Choose the Right Therapist

It's very important, especially in equine therapy and horse therapy to make sure you find a therapist that fits. This means that automatically there is a connection between the client and the therapist, which makes it easier to communicate. 

If you're interested in finding a counselor that's right for you in Orange County then please visit our Orange County Horse Therapy page :) 

Types of Psychotherapy

Here at Pegasus Equine Therapy we believe horse therapy is the most powerful form of psychotherapy, but watch this video and see a few different types: 

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Treating Anxiety

Again Psych Central has written a great article on using mindfulness to treat anxiety. While I believe that equine assisted therapy and horse therapy are powerful advocates for beating anxiety here is another option: 

"Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common treatment for anxiety disorders. Cognitive-behavioral therapy theorizes that in anxiety disorders, the patient overestimates the danger of disruptive events in his life, and underestimates his ability to cope. CBT attempts to replace maladaptive thinking by examining the patient’s distorted thinking and resetting the fight-or-flight response with more reasonable, accurate ones. The anxious person and the therapist work to actively change thought patterns.

In contrast, instead of changing thoughts, mindfulness-based therapies (MBTs) seek to change the relationship between the anxious person and his or her thoughts. 

In mindfulness-based therapy, the person focuses on the bodily sensations that arise when he or she is anxious. Instead of avoiding or withdrawing from these feelings, he or she remains present and fully experiences the symptoms of anxiety. Instead of avoiding distressing thoughts, he or she opens up to them in an effort to realize and acknowledge that they are not literally true.

Although it may seem counter-intuitive, fully realizing the experience of anxiety enables anxious people to release their over identification with negative thoughts. The person practices responding to disruptive thoughts, and letting these thoughts go.

By remaining present in the body, they learn that the anxiety they experience is merely a reaction to perceived threats. By positively responding to threatening events instead of being reactive they can overcome an erroneous fight-or-flight response."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/28/using-mindfulness-to-treat-a...

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Equine Therapy > Prescription Drugs

Here is a snippet from a Psych Central article that I thought is really relative to equine assisted therapy. So many people in the U.S are over-diagnosed, when they are just reacting to a situation the way anyone would! 

"According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 25 percent of Americans suffer from some sort of mental illness. The vast majority of those are taking psychotropic drugs. That’s a lot of disturbed Americans.

Or is it? Perhaps that high statistic is nothing more than normal emotional reactions being over-diagnosed and over-medicated.

Are there ways to help without harming? Yes! Consider equine assisted therapy. This consists of teaching people how to cope with difficult situations, become more resilient, and manage their emotions — all without diagnoses and medication."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/02/05/are-we-over-diagnosed-and-ov...

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Caring for Yourself

It's very important to take care of yourself. During horse therapy and equine therapy for those with addiction we make these 6 points a MUST for recovery! The article is provided by Psych Central

1. Care for your needs.

"According to Hanks, “A great place to start cultivating a healthy relationship with yourself is by caring for your basic physical needs.” That includes getting enough sleep and rest, eating nutrients and exercising.

Conway agreed. She stressed the importance of giving yourself the space to discover and connect to “what feeds you in mind, body and spirit.”

2. Joy is important.

“Prioritize the activities that bring you joy and fill your emotional reserves,” Hanks said. Conway suggested giving yourself treats every day, such as “a walk in the park, a small bar of chocolate, a long bath [or] a yoga class.”

3. Focus on your inner world.

According to Hanks, a healthy relationship with yourself also includes being aware of your internal processes. She suggested simply asking yourself these questions on a regular basis: “What am I feeling? What am I thinking?”

Also, consider the why behind your behavior, thoughts and feelings. For instance, Hanks suggested asking: “I wonder why that’s bothering me? I wonder why I’m feeling more lonely lately?”

Journaling and therapy are other vehicles for becoming more self-aware, she said.

Conway teaches several online courses and offers a free workbook, which also help readers tune into their inner lives.

4. Regularly make time for yourself.

For instance, “Sit quietly for 10 minutes in the morning with your first cup of coffee,” Conway said. “Find books that speak to your soul and steal moments to dig into them every day,” she said.

5. Meditate.

“I find the most useful method to be the gift, to oneself, of a daily meditation,” Duffy said. “In those moments between the thoughts, we allow ourselves peace of mind that can carry us through even the most stressful days.” These are several suggestions on meditating:

• Meditation for Beginners
• How I Meditate
• How to Get Yourself to Meditate

6. Be your own best friend.

“Any time you hear the negative put-downs swirling around your head, think about what you’d say to your best friend or sister or daughter, and then rewrite the script with love,” Conway said.

Again, cultivating a positive relationship with yourself is the building block for your whole world. As Hanks said, “It’s crucial to have a great relationship with ourselves because it’s the only relationship that you are guaranteed to have every day of your life!”"

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/13/6-ways-you-can-have-a-health...

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Sleep, Mental Health, and Equine Therapy

Sleep can greatly effect the state of our mental health and plays a large impact on how we go about the day. In equine therapy and horse therapy we will see many patients who's depression sarted out from the lack of sleep. Here is more information from Psych Central. 

"Today, we think that sleeping through the night is a sign of normal and healthy slumber. In fact, people who wake up around the same time every night think their sleep is fractured — and that something is wrong, Randall writes. And when they complain about this concern to their doctors, they probably walk away with a sleeping pill, he says.

But segmented sleep has actually been the norm for thousands of years — that is, until the advent of artificial lighting. In the 1980s and ‘90s, history professor Roger Ekirch began seeing interesting patterns in his book collection, which included tales and medical texts: references to “first sleep” and “second sleep.”

Psychiatrist Thomas Wehr also began seeing strange results in his sleep experiment: After participants, who were deprived of artificial light for up to 14 hours, caught up on their sleep and felt more rested, they’d wake up around midnight and lie awake for about an hour, and then fall asleep.

In another study, Wehr found that during that hour awake the brains of participants were churning out higher levels of prolactin. This hormone reduces stress and relaxes the body after orgasm, according to Randall.

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, people would fall asleep after sunset. Then they’d naturally wake up around midnight for about an hour. During that time individuals might do anything from praying to reading to having sex. Then they’d naturally fall back asleep until morning.

Randall notes that other studies have confirmed that people naturally experience segmented sleep. And in areas with no artificial light, people still experience first and second sleep."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/07/the-strange-surprising-scien...

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Getting Rid of Holiday Depression

Please go to the source below if you wish to read the full article on how to get rid of Holiday Depression from Psych Central. Depression is something many people struggle with around the Holiday season. Many times an equine therapy session can be the solution, but when there isn't time for that you may resort to the following. 

"It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year — but not if negative emotions take hold of your holidays. So let’s be honest. The holidays are packed with stress, and therefore provoke tons of depressionand anxiety.

But there is hope. Whether I’m fretting about something as trite as stocking stuffers or as complicated as managing difficult family relationships, I apply a few rules that I’ve learned over the years.

These 9 rules help me put the joy back into the festivities — or at least keep me from hurling a mistletoe at Santa and landing myself on the “naughty” list."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/12/08/9-holiday-depression-busters-2/

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Stress and Money

I really wanted to share this article from PsychCentral.com because I feel those in the equine therapy and horse therapy communities should take a look! Everyone has days where they are stressed about money, so this is a list of 8 things to do when you're stressed. 

"1. Ignore Amy.

The amygdala, the almond shaped group of neurons in the limbic system of the brain, isconsidered by most neurobiologists our fear system, and it acts like an ape or a how a human would have acted, say, back when we still had lots of hair all over. The adrenaline that you are feeling when you see stock exchange plummet is the amydala getting crazy, hosting a party in your head, whatever. I call my amygdala “Amy.” And whenever I panic, I tell her to go take a nap, that I can’t tolerate her noise and ruckus right now.

 

2. Distract Yourself

It’s not easy to quiet your amygdala, which is why the best thing you can do for yourself at times is to distract yourself. My mom knew the importance of this point when she knitted 100 blankets the year my dad left. For every occasion for about 10 years, everyone would receive an afghan as a gift. Until she stopped getting invited. (Just kidding.) This activity pulled her through the worst years of her life.

3. Surrender Control

The most uncomfortable part of financial anxiety is the lack of control most of us feel. It’s contrary to our human psychology. We want to drive the car, or at least be the passenger in the front seat giving directions. But in an economic downturn, we’re not even in the car. We have no say on which rest stations we are stopping at. In fact, much of the time if feels like we are riding in the trailer hitched to the back of the car. With the horses. Admitting that we’re not in control can be somewhat liberating. Because the stock market is life: you win some, you lose some, and you don’t have a whole lot of say in the whole matter.

4. Know Thyself

I have a friend who always freaks when the stock market dives. She sells all of her stocks and then invests again when they go back up. And she loses a lot of money in the process. Part of her problem, I think (and I can say that with authority because I am not her), is that she doesn’t know her risk tolerance. If she would realize that she has a low risk tolerance, then she’d see that she’d be better off in bonds and more conservative investments. Instead, she pulls out whenever there’s movement on Wall Street. Just like every other kind of anxiety, knowing your financial comfort zone can lead you to a path of peace. Or so they say

5. Turn It Off

Just like I said in my post “8 Ways to Manage Anxiety on an Anniversary,” one of the worst things you can do for your amygdala, or fear system in the brain, is to keep the TV and radio tuned into the latest news on Wall Street, to keep checking cnn.com to find out what the newest number is. This kind of compulsive behavior is toxic for the obsessive, sensitive folks who are prone to anxiety even without a reporter telling them to run for cover. Treat your amygdala well. Turn the news off. Except for this piece, of course.

6. Get Greedy

This point may seem contrary to the others, but I have studied investment strategies, and think there’s logic to what Warren Buffet once said: “When everyone is fearsome, that’s the time to be greedy, and when everyone’s greedy, that’s the time to be fearsome.” What does he mean? It’s the same sort of logic I describe in my “12 Depression Busters”: when the last thing you want to do is to get dressed and say hello to some folks, that is the time when doing so is more important than ever. So if you are afraid to invest a few hundred dollars into a course that could potentially get you a raise … don’t think about the dollars and concentrate on the potential raise.

7. Do Nothing

If you realize that your risk tolerance is quite low or if you have absolutely no money to invest, you can relax and do nothing. A story I read the other day profiled a guy who threw away his PIN number so that he couldn’t check his stocks any more. Just knowing that downturns are part of the economic process for the reward of high gains — that you have to risk volatility to acquire any profit and that this is all the nature of the beast — can sometimes help you sit tight and hang on during the wild ride.

8. Trust

I often make the point in dealing with severe depression that you absolutely have to trust that you won’t always feel so horrible and hopeless, that you will get better. Part of successful cognitive behavioral therapy is trusting in that optimistic message.

It has the power to pull you forward.

So know this: the economy will run its course and you will one day have a bulky wallet again."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/09/07/stressed-about-money-8-bette...

 

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How to Manage Underweight Horses

This is a great article from TheHorse.com on how to evaluate and manage underweight horses. If you are involved in equine therapy, horse therapy, or are just a horse owner then this is an article for you. 

"You are driving on a country road and pass a picturesque scene of several horses grazing in an open field. You notice one horse standing away from the group. Without being able to see much detail, it appears to you that this horse does not look like the others. Its ribs are showing and its hip bones are protruding. Like many concerned citizens, you wonder if the horse is okay, and if someone knows that it is underweight. Is anyone doing anything to address this issue? Should you call someone?

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS OF UNDERWEIGHT HORSES

• Veterinary involvement in cases is instrumental to a successful outcome.
• Cases in which underweight horses have been completely deprived of food for a long period of time (days to weeks) are far more complicated and critical than cases in which the horse has had access to food.
• Diarrhea and colitis that occur during refeeding are serious complicating factors that lower the chance for successful rehabilitation.
• In some cases underweight horses might display abnormal behavior in relation to eating, such as aggression during feeding time or pica (the ingestion of inappropriate feed such as hair, feces, or dirt/sand/gravel). These psychological conditions might not resolve, despite a return to optimum body condition.
• Determining the cause(s) of the poor body condition and adequately addressing them will greatly influence the speed and efficiency of recovery.
• Very rarely will a horse not gain weight or reach optimum body condition, provided that the causes of the low body condition can be adequately addressed. An exception would be horses suffering from end-stage organ failure.
• The ability of a horse to regain weight can vary widely. Some horses might only take a few weeks to reach an optimum body condition, while others can take many months.

If you have experienced this, you are not alone. Animal control agencies indicate that scenarios like this are reported on a daily basis throughout the United States. Reports of underweight horses are made to local animal control departments, humane societies, or legal authorities. These agencies will, in most cases, conduct a site visit to investigate complaints.

Clearly defined ribs and protruding hip bones seem to be the most common "triggers" that initiate calls to authorities. Other common reports include observations that a horse is not being fed on an ongoing or routine basis, or that there is not enough feed available in the pasture where a horse is housed.

While some reports are credible and warrant investigation and intervention, some are determined to be unfounded. Animal control officers frequently report that complaints about underweight horses are inaccurate or that further investigation uncovers facts about the case that justify the condition of the animal. In some instances, the horse is under veterinary care, while in others the owners have already taken measures to remedy the situation.

It is clear that reports should be addressed on a case-by-case basis, since circumstances surrounding underweight horses can differ greatly in each instance.

So what should you do if you drive by a horse that appears too thin? The most important thing to not do is to leap to conclusions. Making sure that you get an accurate look at the horse is crucial to determining if an action should be taken. In many cases, observing the horse from a different angle (and not at a "split second" glance) can end up resolving initial concerns. Do not trespass to get a closer look but do gather relevant facts such as an accurate description of the animal (color, sex, defining marks, etc.) and a specific geographic location (address or description of the area) and report it to the local animal control authorities.

Common Causes of Low Body Weight Condition

There are a variety of causes for low body weight condition in horses, and these are described below. If you are rehabilitating an underweight horse, particularly a severely underweight horse, it is important to have a veterinarian determine the cause of the condition at the outset, because other medical interventions might be needed in addition to an appropriate feeding regimen.

Inadequate Caloric Intake--Inadequate caloric intake accounts for the majority of underweight horses. In this scenario, energy (in the form of calories) is taken in by ingestion of nutrients (hay, pellets, grain, etc.) in order to meet the metabolic demands of the body. But if the caloric expenditure put out by the body to meet metabolic demands (such as staying warm during cold weather, pregnancy, lactation, etc.) exceeds caloric intake, the body will turn to body stores for energy. Thus, as body tissues (fat and muscle) are dissolved for energy, the body loses weight.

There are two general scenarios that occur in which a lack of adequate caloric intake is the cause of suboptimal body condition. In one scenario, the horse lives for an extended period of time without any ingested feed. Again, it is highly advisable to contact a veterinarian before giving the horse feed because feeding can induce diarrhea and colitis (inflammation of the colon), which can both be life-threatening to horses. Diarrhea can cause irreparable dehydration and electrolyte imbalances. Colitis can lead to endotoxemia and sepsis (blood-borne infection), which can cause nearly instantaneous death. Horses can also become laminitic as a consequence of colitis.

In the second scenario, the horse has feed but its net caloric intake is inadequate. This can occur when a horse is being fed a suboptimal amount of food, is not being fed appropriate feeds, or is only being fed on a sporadic basis. In some situations, the horse is being fed a good amount of food on a regular basis, but the food is inappropriate for that horse (for example, poor quality hay with low nutritive value, pregnant horse that requires extra food, or horse that is missing several teeth and cannot chew hay).

It should be noted that both of the scenarios above can occur if a horse is housed with herd mates that are dominant. In such a scenario, herd dynamics can result in one horse not consuming adequate feed, even when ample feed is provided. Therefore, some horses might need to be isolated from more dominant herd mates during feeding, or be moved to a different location so that they do not have to compete for food.

When inadequate caloric intake is determined to be a cause of low body condition, an appropriate feeding regimen should be formulated for the horse. In general, the following tips might be useful when formulating a feeding plan to assist an underweight horse in gaining weight:

• Veterinary consultation and oversight is advised early in the rehabilitation process.
• Small, frequent meals on a 24-hour basis can help horses through the more critical stages of rehabilitation (usually during the first two to four weeks of refeeding).
• High-quality feed sources are beneficial. When possible, low carbohydrate, calorically dense feed that is high in digestible energy should be provided.
• A clean, fresh water source in the form of a large bucket is useful because water intake can be monitored.
• Appropriate feedstuffs (i.e., feeds that the horse can chew and digest) are recommended. Examples of recommendations include: pelleted/soaked feeds for horses with dental issues, senior pellets for some cases, low carbohydrate/high digestible energy hay such as alfalfa for other cases.
• Avoid the "one-size-fits-all" approach to refeeding. Each feeding program is dynamic and can require adjustments on an ongoing basis depending on how the horse responds.
• The use of gastroprotectants such as omeprazole (marketed as Gastrogard or Ulcergard) can be beneficial in some cases. The use of probiotics with yeast can be useful in some cases, however they might not be warranted in all cases. The use of digestive aids should be carried out with the advice of a veterinarian.

Avoid other stressors such as a loud environment or an inconsistent feeding schedule.

Use blankets and provide shelter to help the horse keep warm (lower energy expenditure) during inclement weather or cold environments to aid in increasing body weight.

Dental Issues--Dental problems in horses can contribute to weight loss, although it is very rare to find a horse that is underweight due solely to dental problems. Usually dental problems will contribute to low body condition score in combination with inadequate caloric intake. Because equine teeth (hypsodonts) grow throughout the animal's life, chewing over time creates sharp enamel points on the upper outside and lower inside edges of the premolars and molars (cheek teeth). These sharp points can dig into the cheeks and gums, making it painful for a horse to chew.

In addition, missing teeth, fractured teeth, or malocclusion such as parrot mouth can impair a horse's ability to adequately grind food when chewing. Horses with pain from dental problems can drop food ("quid") or only partially chew food before swallowing it. Because chewing is the first step in digestion, food that has not been adequately chewed and ground down into smaller bits will pass through the body whole. If it is not ground down to a size in which the body can digest it for energy use, food can end up being inefficiently utilized. Thus, weight loss can occur because the body must use its own stores to use as fuel to meet metabolic demands.

Addressing dental problems can increase the efficiency by which the body can absorb nutrients and energy from food. It is recommended that the horse have its teeth examined and floated (filed) to correct sharp enamel points and any other occlusion issues. Dental care should be performed by a veterinarian.

Infection and Infestation--If a body has to expend extra energy as a result of an ongoing infection or parasite infestation, weight loss can sometimes occur. In some circumstances, horses feel sick as a result of an infection or infestation and thus will not eat even though adequate food may be available. Examples of chronic infection include pneumonia, pyometra (uterine infection in mares), peritonitis (inflammation of the membrane lining the abdomen), and internal abscesses. If a horse cannot eat enough to meet the metabolic need of the disease in addition to other energy needs (like staying warm, working, etc.), weight loss will result.

A physical exam performed by a veterinarian during the early stages of case management can greatly alter the outcome of a rehabilitation case. The exam can help illuminate signs of chronic infection or parasite infestation. In many cases, blood testing can also help determine if and where an infection is occurring. A fecal McMasters test is an essential test to determine whether or not parasites may be playing a role in poor body condition score. The McMasters test quantifies the number of parasite eggs present in a fecal sample. This is important because the mere presence of parasite eggs does not necessarily mean that parasites are contributing to weight loss. In actuality, the number of eggs present helps to determine whether or not they are a factor. Fecal samples must be fresh in order for results to be accurate.

In each equine case of infection or parasitism, medication and management practices will vary.

Other Medical Conditions and Chronic Diseases--Several hundred chronic diseases and conditions exist in horses which can cause weight loss. Cancer, Cushing's disease, gastric ulcers, enterolithiasis, bone fragility syndrome, mandibular fractures, neurologic conditions, mineral toxicosis or deficiency, and organ dysfunction (heart/liver/kidney/thyroid) are but a few examples.

Organ failure like heart, liver, and kidney can also all result in profound loss of body condition. Each of these diseases has their own mechanism by which they result in an increased metabolic demand, but they all draw on a body's energy stores. In some circumstances, horses feel sick as a result of their disease and thus will not eat, despite having plenty of food available. In other cases, the metabolic demand placed on the body by the disease or condition exceeds the energy intake of the horse, thus creating a negative energy balance and subsequent weight loss.

Each medical condition involves its own diagnosis, testing, medical treatment, and management considerations. For these reasons, it is essential that underweight horses be examined by a veterinarian in the early stages of their rehabilitative process."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20539&source=rss&utm_sour...

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What NOT To Say To Someone Who Is Having A Panic Attack

Great video from Psych Central as usual, but I wanted to share this because I feel this advice is great whether you are involved with horse therapy and equine courses or not. This information is very useful.

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EIA: An Emerging Disease?

This is an important article for all horse owners as well as those involved with equine therapy and equine courses. 

"Saskatchewan and other regions of Western Canada are in the midst of the largest equine infectious anemia (EIA) outbreak the area has seen in years, involving more than 70 horses and 22 different properties thus far in 2012. In response, two veterinarians discussed the importance of disease surveillance in controlling--and possibly even eradicating--the deadly disease from North American horse populations.

EIA is an incurable infectious disease of horses that is spread by biting insects such as flies. Like the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), there is neither cure nor vaccine for EIA. All positive horses are either humanely euthanized or placed under lifelong quarantine.

First recognized in North America in Wisconsin in the late 1800s, EIA outbreaks were increasingly identified across the continent, causing alarm throughout the industry. The Coggins test, which reliably identifies affected horses, was introduced in the 1970s and plays a key role in stopping virus spread from infected horses, to the insect vectors, to more horses.

IS EIA AN EMERGING DISEASE?

"We don't know if EIA is a re-emerging disease, or whether the recent upswing in cases just relates to a limited number of local events that don't have much of an impact on the broader population," said Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College. "One small outbreak can contribute to a large increase in the number of cases seen in Canada in a year. However, one small local outbreak, if undetected, can also lead to a large regional, national, or international outbreak given the right conditions. Only time and testing will tell us whether this is an emerging problem or a minor blip."

--Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc

According to the latest statistics, less than 1% of the horses residing in Saskatchewan are voluntarily tested for the EIA virus. Similarly, an estimated 75-80% of horses in the United States are not currently tested for EIA, despite some states requiring annual testing of every horse residing within those borders.

"In many ways EIA is a disease that would be very easy to contain, if not eradicate, because we have a good test and horses are the only animals that are infected," said Scott Weese, DVM, DVSc, Dipl. ACVIM, a professor in the Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph's Ontario Veterinary College in Canada.

That said, Weese explained, "it would take time, commitment, and money, to ensure all horses are tested, and the willingness of the industry to accept the resulting need to euthanize an undetermined number of horses."

Currently, in both Canada and the United States, testing is voluntary and owners are required to foot the bill.

"Many horses are tested regularly; however, there's actually more of a need to test horses that have never been tested before rather than horses that have been tested and been negative multiple times," added Weese.

Angela M. Pelzel, DVM, a Western regional epidemiologist with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Veterinary Services, concurs and added, "State and federal regulatory officials have long lamented that if we were able to test every horse in the U.S. we could eradicate this disease in our country."

Pelzel explained that large numbers of horses are being tested over and over that reside in or travel to states that haven't had an EIA case in many years.

"Rather than using targeted surveillance, which we do in most of our other regulatory programs, we seem to only use convenient sample streams in which to test [for EIA]," she said. "Convenient sampling will only get you so far, as you can see."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20483&source=rss&utm_sour...

 

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Increasing Your Happiness and Motivation

Happiness and Motivation are two very relavant subjects to horse therapy and equine courses because they are both promoted during the therapy sessions. Happiness and Motivation can build confidence and encourage a healthier lifestyle! 

"Have you been feeling unmotivated, stagnant, or bored recently? Is there a sense that your days are repetitive or routine?

These emotions tend to have something in common: passivity. We’re waiting for something to happen, something to change, something to move us forward in our lives or relationships. Life seems to be happening around us, but we can’t seem to get on the forward-moving track we’d like to be on. Therefore, we live day to day in passive repetition.

What keeps us motivated to carry on the daily repetition? Having things to look forward to: vacations, holidays, days off from work, weekends, promotions, a big event coming up, etc. When feeling stagnant, it’s easy to pass off the majority of our days, weeks, months, or even years while looking toward significant “checkpoints.”

Checkpoints are the events that keep us motivated through the repetitive or mundane moments in our lives. For example, how often have we thought along the lines of, “if I can just can through the next few weeks of work, I’ll have a vacation”?

 

Why Checkpoints Are Important

Checkpoints become greatly important in creating satisfaction in our lives and relationships. We need to increase what we look forward to in our years, months, weeks, and days — as individual people, as friends, as couples, as families. Most people have some sort of long-term checkpoint in the back of their minds already (family, career, etc.). But, without short-term checkpoints, long-term checkpoints can essentially shove aside significant chunks of life. We end up pushing precious days –which we won’t get back — behind us in order to achieve a later goal. In order to resolve this, we need to keep one eye on the long-term checkpoints and one eye on the short-term checkpoints.

What can checkpoints be? They can be anything we want them to be: dinner with a friend, family dinners, reading a book, hiking, baking, cooking, going out with friends, playing with your kids, going to the gym, going on a date, watching a movie in bed, etc. It is also possible that these checkpoints can become routine. This is okay. The idea isn’t to avoid repetition as much as it’s to create meaning and satisfaction. So, if one of your checkpoints is meeting a friend for a snack at a set time every week (which is part of your routine that you also look forward to), then it’s good.

One area of caution: keep the checkpoints healthy. If your checkpoints are becoming increasingly isolating, risky or self-harming (e.g., drinking, substance use, gambling, stealing, binge eating, promiscuity), impulsive or compulsive (e.g., over-shopping, overspending frequently), or harmful to others, professional help may be needed. Something more serious likely is the cause of these types of behaviors and urges.

How to Create Checkpoints

Here are some suggestions to help create checkpoints:

1. Make a list. Make a list of things, no matter how seemingly insignificant some of them may seem at first, that you would look forward to. These can be things you already do or have done.

    

2. List your current checkpoints. These are anything coming up in the next several months that you’re feeling motivated for, no matter how small or large. It could be a project at work, a Skype session with a friend or family member later, a date on Friday, vacation in two weeks, etc.
3. Space between. If you have a monthly calendar, put the currently existing checkpoints in, and visually note the space between them to see how far apart they are.
4. Fill in. Fill in the checkpoints you’d like to add, and put in a specific time for each one. Spread them out. If you do them too quickly, you’ll end up back where you are now. Also, if you don’t have enough on your list and see a lot of open calendar space, mark areas where you’d like to add some checkpoints. If scheduling is difficult, aim for simpler checkpoints (which can be equally as satisfying if it’s something meaningful to you).
5. Do them. Hopefully this step takes care of itself. If you have checkpoints set up, then these are things that you’re looking forward to.

Remember, this is purely about creating meaning and satisfaction in our lives that goes beyond a few long-term goals per year. Some less-desired repetitions (e.g., work) will probably always be there, to an extent. We want to create a feeling that says, “I’m looking forward to tomorrow (or whichever day) because of (checkpoint)” as often as we can. The more fulfilling checkpoints we have to look forward to and actively participate in, the more motivated and satisfied we will feel in our lives."

Source: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/08/12/lifes-checkpoints-increasing...

 

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CA: First Case of WNV Found

This is important for every horse owner to know about as well as those involved with horse therapy and equine courses. 

"The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has confirmed the first case of West Nile virus (WNV) in a horse in 2012, according to a statement on the organization's website.

"On July 26, 2012, the CDFA Animal Health Branch confirmed the first positive equine West Nile virus case in Stanislaus County," the statement read. "The 2-year-old unvaccinated filly displaying severe neurologic signs was euthanized."

In a blog post published today (July 31), California State Veterinarian Annette Whiteford, DVM, said, "Each year, we find ourselves using this sad occasion to remind horse owners to have their animals vaccinated. It offers them maximum protection against the disease. And once vaccinations occur, horse owners should be checking regularly with their veterinarians to make sure they stay current."

Clinical signs for WNV include flu-like signs, where the horse seems mildly anorexic and depressed; fine and coarse muscle and skin fasciculations (twitching); hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity to touch and sound); changes in mentation (mentality), when horses look like they are daydreaming or "just not with it"; occasional somnolence (drowsiness); propulsive walking (driving or pushing forward, often without control); and "spinal" signs, including asymmetrical weakness. Some horses show asymmetrical or symmetrical ataxia (incoordination on one or both sides, respectively). Equine mortality rate can be as high as 30-40%.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported 83 cases of WNV in U.S. horses in 2011, with 15 of those cases being identified in California horses."

Source: http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=20411&source=rss&utm_sour...

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