Untethered Souls

10/22/2024

Rebranding happening by Jan, 1/2025

Stay tuned for the change's, this will include a new business name.

03/20/2024

🚨"Announcement"🚨
I'm going pro bono for any rescue horse's in the GTA and northern Ontario and free Equine Massage service's for Newstart Standardbreds foster horse's (Newmarket) will consider other area's too. Also offering End of life services, I am a death doula certified in animal end of life care.
My business name will also be changing soon as I am going in the direction of a personal sanctuary and rehabilitation.

02/03/2024

Building a bond in equine massage..🐴

I always allow horses to dictate how long the massage lasts. It comes down to learning their gestures, cues, especially when it comes to pain point's.

I have found the two biggest problems requiring equine massage are people giving the wrong amounts of pressure to the horse's head, pulling too hard, too fast , etc and staying on their backs too long with improper fitting saddles.

Aside from relieving pain and stiffness, massage can really improve a horse’s well-being. Stretches within a horse's individual range of motion can make a big difference too, especially for those horse's with sore arthritic joints.

Horse's trust us as leaders if we do things right. We are our horse's friends, part of the herd, not disciplinarians or authoritarians! Their quality of life and wellbeing is utmost important to me.

12/25/2023

Wishing Everyone and their loved ones a fabulous Christmas ⛄🎁

12/10/2023

Equine Massage can assist with pain relief in horse's with laminitis..🐴

The coffin bone is joined to the flexor tendon. This helps the flexor muscles in getting further attached to the horse’s leg. When a horse suffers from laminitis, the muscles of neck and shoulder become stiff and so do the muscles down the back of the legs. This is the reason why the feet of the horses hurt. The stiffness of the muscles makes them contract even more which put some more tension on the coffin bone. The equine massage is usually practiced on the flexor muscles to the backside of the legs, which not only helps in relieving the coffin bone’s tension, but also helps in getting rid of stiffness from the shoulder and neck which were the primary characteristics of the condition.

11/09/2023

Let's talk about outdoor turnout and why it's best for our horse's muscles and joints

• Generally, the more time your horse spends in a pasture the better. 🌳🐴💖

Better Leg muscles, joints and Hoof Health!

Bucking 🐎, trotting, and walking all day keep the joints and muscles in your horse's legs strong and limber. According to a study published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science in August 2013, allowing horses access to a large pasture offers important fitness benefits. Horses in the full-time turnout group in the study had greater bone density than other groups. Turnout also improves blood circulation, a crucial aspect of hoof health. No hoof, no horse!

Movement is important, MOTION IS LOTION, especially for those horse's with arthritis. Continuous exercise horses experience during turnout keeps their joints flexible, builds strength in their bones, all muscle groups and heart!

Of course, it's important to consider the weather conditions and your horse's health and age when creating a turnout schedule. 12+ hours outdoors is best!

Another bonus to predominantly outdoor turnout *Improved Digestion*: Left to their own devices, horses prefer to eat small amounts during the day. In fact, their small stomach size makes grazing the ideal way to eat. When horses are constantly on the move, food passes through their gastrointestinal systems much more easily.

11/01/2023

This is great/ pertinent information.

Before backing your young horse, please read!!
A horse ages roughly 3 times faster than a human.
So a 90 year old human is a 30 year old horse. Both very old, usually arthritic, don’t have many of their original teeth left, and very likely retired and enjoying the finer things in life.
A 25 year old horse is a 75 year old human. Some are still happily working but some prefer retirement and an easier life. Often depending on just how hard a life they’ve lived.
A 20 year old horse is a 60 year old human. At that point where the body doesn’t work like it use to but the brain is all there and wants to be active.
A 13 year old horse is a 39 year old human. Middle aged, prime of their life where their knowledge and physical ability are about equal.
So let’s get down to the babies and work our way up.
A 1-1.5 year old horse is getting their first adult tooth, this happens at 6 years old in a human child.
A 3 year old horse is a 9 year old child. A child. Not ready for work by a long stretch. We have moved past sending children down the mines.
A 4 year old horse is a 12 year old child. Often will do odd jobs for pocket money, maybe a paper round, mowing lawns etc. Basically a 4 year old horse can start a bit of light work experience to learn the ropes.
A 5 year old horse is a 15 year old teenager. Think they know it all, cocky, and ready to up their work and responsibilities. Still quite weak and not fully developed so shouldn’t be at their physical limit but can start building strength.
A 5.5 year old horse has just cut their final adult tooth, this happens at 17 years of age in a human.
A 6 year old horse is an 18 year old human. An adult. Ready to work.
An 8 year old horse has achieved full fusion of their final growth plates. This happens at 24 years of age in a human. This is the age it is safe to push a horse for their optimal performance.
Pushing your youngster too hard too young will result in the failure of many body parts. Joints, spine, tendons, ligaments as well as their brains. Waiting another year or two at the beginning could give your horse an extra 10 years of useful working life. Be patient with your pride and joy!
Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS
Graphic credit to Naomi Tavian , check her out on Pinterest

10/22/2023

Are your Equine family members or friends in need of some extra TLC? Please contact me via PM. Service area is Sudbury and area, Muskoka and Simcoe County.

Equine Massage is the manipulation of soft tissue in order to achieve relaxation or stimulation, while working on various trigger points in the body. Simply put, massage is an effective tool! Some of the benefits to equine massage treatment include increased and improved performance due to the release of endorphins, and increased relaxation and reduction in stress, all of which lead to a much more content and relaxed animal.

Massage has been proven useful to help with relaxation.

As seasoned riders know, a stressed horse will not perform to its greatest ability. Through equine massage, the anxiety level of a stressed horse is decreased and it enjoys greater overall freedom of movement. That is evident in the resulting confidence displayed by the horse after a massage therapy treatment.

Massage can increase blood flow circulation, which expedites the elimination of wastes and toxic build-up from sore and fatigued muscles.

Massage is also an integral way to increase overall mobility and range of motion of a horse, which can assist in the improvement of jumping and turning, thus helping the horse reach its maximum performance potential.

Additionally, studies have shown that massaging a horse before competition can result in as much as 20 per cent increase in the animal’s efficiency.

10/11/2023

🐴❤️ Letting everyone know that things will be changing for my business in the next while, including the name. I will be going in a different direction.

10/03/2023

Hoof care is essential to quality of life for horse's! Just like massage can be.

The blood circulation of the horse's foot is OVERLOOKED.

A warning not heeded ⚠️ In November 2005 an article was posted in the American Farriers Journal, entitled "What a farrier should know about blood flow to the hoof"

In said article they quoted a vet called Anderson, who was a member of the International Equine Veterinarian Hall of Fame.

He said the following:

“The most important thing that a farrier ought to be aware of is the circulation as it curves around the edge of the coffin bone through the circumflex artery of the foot. That’s the area that farriers can impact.

The farrier really doesn’t affect the blood flow through the digital vessels coming down the limb, but trimming and shoeing can certainly impact the circumflex artery.

If you trim the wall too short, or if you get the sole pressure between the sole and the shoe, you can actually compress the vasculature and reduce the blood flow to that area.

And if you reduce the blood flow to an area enough, you get ischemic necrosis, in which the tissue actually dies from lack of blood supply.”

That was in 2005! Seems that incredibly sound advice fell on deaf ears.

Just one example of how the equine world likes to do its own thing and ignore biology.

We teach our students the importance of the circumflex artery - and how incorrect trimming and shoeing can damage it.

Shame no-one else teaches that.

HM.

Illustration of this uniquely clever vascular structure of the arterial system in the horse's hoof by Inky Mouse Studios.

10/03/2023

Studies suggest that massage - as well as being a pleasant, relaxing experience - can actually help damaged muscles regenerate!

Massage enhances the process of muscle regeneration in horse's, apparently making damaged muscle heal faster and stronger, by pushing unhelpful molecules involved in the immune response out of the damaged tissue.

So give me a call and let's get your Equine friend/family member healing on the right track..🐴

09/01/2023

Horse snacks, do's and don'ts! What are your horses favorites?