Helen Rackstraw Equine Touch Practitioner

Helen Rackstraw Equine Touch Practitioner Qualified Equine Touch Practitioner

06/07/2025
06/07/2025

*** IT IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO REMOVE RAGWORT FROM ALL LAND USED FOR GRAZING HORSES AND LIVESTOCK ***

I have, once again, been shocked at the amount of ragwort I’ve seen left in paddocks with horses in. Even the most clueless of horse owners can normally tell you that ragwort is poisonous to horses, so why are so many owners not pulling it?!

It is actually an OFFENCE to leave ragwort in any field intended for grazing or hay making, AND an offence to allow it to seed and spread onto neighbouring land, if that neighbouring land is used for the same. That neighbour is within their rights to take LEGAL ACTION against you, if you allow ragwort to flower and seed on your land. I cannot fathom why you wouldn’t want to clear your own paddocks of ragwort, as it is both chronically and acutely POISONOUS to horses. It is absolutely not safe to just assume that horses won’t eat it. There is hardly any grass in any paddocks at the moment, and these are normally the paddocks that you see full of ragwort.

Under the Weeds Act 1959, you can be FINED for leaving ragwort to flower and seed on your land, if it is used for, or adjacent to, grazing livestock.

Don’t be complacent and lazy; pull that ragwort TODAY! We are all caught out by the odd bit of ragwort here and there, that has seemingly appeared overnight, but I’m talking about the crops of the stuff that should have been pulled weeks ago.

Happy 18th birthday to my gorgeous girl 🩷🩷🩷
26/06/2025

Happy 18th birthday to my gorgeous girl 🩷🩷🩷

100% 🥰 I thank my horses after every ride for doing their best for me and keeping me safe
26/06/2025

100% 🥰 I thank my horses after every ride for doing their best for me and keeping me safe

Go Hug Your Horse

It's absolutely mind boggling if you think about it.

Your horse gets absolutely nothing out of being competitive for you. Not a darn thing. Of course, horses are bred for specific jobs, or they're bred to be athletic to a certain degree. However, horses don't wake up thinking about chasing cans, or cows, or flying over jumps.

They have no idea how much money is added to the pot. They have no idea this is a qualifier. They have no idea this is the short go.

And DESPITE us...DESPITE our nervous, our flaws, our incorrect ques, our huge emotions, they get the job done to their very best ability. Even when we fail them by letting our emotions get in the way, they come back and they try again. For US. Let that sink in. It only we could all be so understanding.

To think of an animal that is forgiving and flexible enough to put up with the repetition of practice, the intense nerves of the rider, the stress of hauling and still meet you at the gate for scratches is mind blowing.

If you haven't done so lately, thank your horse.

If you're successful, thank the horses that put you there and made you. Thank the horses that gave everything they had for you simply because you ASKED them to.

If you're still on the journey to success, thank the horses that made you fall in love with your sport and who have helped give you the confidence to want to learn more and be better.

We can never stop learning as horsemen and horsewomen, and by continuing our education, every horse in our future will be better off.

Next time you head to the arena, leave your ego at the door and thank your horse.

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24/06/2025

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All very interesting about the power of fascia, this is not only the effect it has on humans, but our horses aswell...Eq...
19/06/2025

All very interesting about the power of fascia, this is not only the effect it has on humans, but our horses aswell...

Equine Touch uses unique gentle moves which causes vibrations across the fascia which helps to release physical and emotional tension, it's no wonder our horses love it so much 💛

Horses do so much for us without even trying 💛
18/06/2025

Horses do so much for us without even trying 💛

My horses enjoyed a little pamper in the shade this afternoon 🥰
16/06/2025

My horses enjoyed a little pamper in the shade this afternoon 🥰

16/06/2025

🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
A few last minute appointments available in June... 19th / 20th & 27th. Get in quick! If you would like to book a session, drop me a message ❤️

Sometimes we as humans need a little reminder, our horses are precious and so forgiving, we owe it to them to listen and...
13/06/2025

Sometimes we as humans need a little reminder, our horses are precious and so forgiving, we owe it to them to listen and don't push 🥰

Horses did not evolve to be ridden.
They did not evolve to go in circles.

They weren't designed for any of it.

WE decided that we would get on their backs and ride them into battle.
Then, we decided we'd ride them for sport.

We didn't know better. Not at first.

We tacked them up and threw ourselves on top of them. We labeled any and all misbehavior as some kind of rebellion, as if the horse was plotting against us. We "worked" it out of them with sweaty saddle blankets, tied up legs and leverage.

We broke the horse. Literally and figuratively.

Then, decades later, we learned more about their bodies. We learned about growth plates, development, the spine, the structures and how it all works together. We learned about their nervous systems, their social structures, how they learn, how they feel. We began to know better...

Yet we didn't do better.

And so we continue to break them.

We push them too far, too fast, too young. We accelerate training to meet the needs and desires of the human ego. We use gadgets and tools designed to create pain and leverage to put the horse into the "frame" that we deem desirable.

And we break them.

We do permanent damage to the spine that can't be undone.
We create lasting scar tissue to ligaments and tendons that support the most delicate and intricate structures of the horse.
We overdevelop muscles that create nerve impingements, continuous pain and hyped up nervous systems.

And for what?

A blue ribbon? The thrill of the ride? The jackpot? To be able to say we've conquered the beast?

Cool.

I'm not saying we can't do the things we love to do with our horses. I'm saying we need to do it WITH them. Not TO them. Our success in the saddle cannot continue to exist at the expense of the horse.

We know better now. So do better now.

Take the time it takes to properly develop the body.
Take the time it takes to heal the nervous system and teach it to regulate.
Take the time it takes to create an emotionally healthy horse who loves the work as much as you.

"Okay, well how long will it take to do that?"

As long as it fu***ng takes.

For one horse, it may be 6 months. For another, it may be 3 years.

They are individuals. Beautiful, imperfect, intellectual, spiritual, kind individuals. And they do not conform to the timelines of human existence.

Enjoy the journey instead. Savor the small moments of progress and fall in love with every single part of your horse that makes them who they are. Give up the need for dominance, for quick fixes and for human satisfaction.

I'm so tired of seeing horses who have bodies and souls that have been ruined by humans...sometimes past the point of "fixing" any of it.

So please, do better.
You can be the difference.
Be the human your horse deserves.

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Sunderland

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+447766607537

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