Spectrum Equine

Offering barefoot trimming, transition, rehabilitation, nutrition, and hoof boot solutions in Northern San Diego and Southern Riverside counties! NEW: BEMER Therapy!

Underneath a long, overdue shell is a darn nice foot! #barefoottrim #mustangroll

Great way to prepare for a ride! Be relaxed and comfortable before you even swing a leg over!

Keeping Cushing’s/PPID and insulin resistance/EMS on my radar every time I see a horse is SO important. Both conditions are highly manageable with diet, medication (for PPID) and exercise! Horses with these conditions live happy, healthy lives. It’s straightforward to do and no excuse not to!

What a stunning Ghost! We can do all kinds of fab optionsjust ask!!

Horses are very sensitive to your internal energy, and any technique is only as good as the internal energy you bring to it. They will respond at least as much ...to that energy as the physical action you are doing, so we need to be able to control our thoughts, emotions, and our internal energy if we are to be successful with horses. If you are standing with a horse and they spy something off in the distance that puts them on alert, one technique you can employ is to look at what they are looking at. This lets them know that you are aware of it, as well as aware of their concern or interest in it. BUT your thoughts, your energy, and your physical being all have to be in alignment. Your internal dialogue would need to sound like this. PHOTO 1. "Yes, I see that dirt bike (alpaca, plastic bag, naked man, wooly mammoth) over there, it's a long way away and looks like it won't be coming anywhere near us." My body is relaxed but confident, and I am only observing what is happening, not attaching a story to it or catastrophizing a future event that is not happening. What you CANNOT do for this technique to be effective is to start having mental pictures and inner dialogue of a worst case scenario, that sounds like this. PHOTO 2. "Oh gawd, there's a dirt bike ((alpaca, plastic bag, naked man, wooly mammoth) over there, I hope it doesn't come any closer cause them you'll jump on me, and you will knock me down and I'm not wearing my helmet and I'll get knocked out, and I wonder will it be an ambulance or a helicopter that comes and gets me, I hope it's the helicopter because then I'll get to the hospital quicker and maybe I can talk them into doing that blood test I had to get tomorrow and who's going to pick my kids up from school." You can see my body position in the picture is very defensive, I'm being ineffective with my ask on the lead rope, and I have my bum stuck out behind me leaning away from the catastrophe that's about to happen. One thing I hear a lot about any technique is "I tried that and it didn't work with my horse", but what you need to remember is your physical application of that technique is only a small portion of the whole interaction. As you can see in the second photo, the internal catastrophizing actually affects my physicality, so it really starts with controlling your mind and emotions. If you struggle with this with your horse, it's a good idea to practice this without your horse. Pretend that a situation arises, and practice the thoughts, energy, and physical actions required for that eventuality. 'You don't rise to the occasion, you fall to the level of your preparation". ~U.S. Navy Seal saying. Or as I like to say "You don't control the horse, you control you".