Belinda's Natural Animal Therapies

22/12/2024

🎄 Merry Christmas from our us to you and your family & Fur Friends. ⭐🎄
We are bursting with joy and excitement to extend our warmest wishes to you and your beloved animals. Thank you for your incredible support and trust in our products & natural therapies. We are truly grateful for the opportunity to help your animals thrive and stay healthy. 🐎🐕🐈🐄🦜

May your Christmas be filled with joy, love, and cherished moments with your furry friends. Here's to a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year!

With festive cheer, Belinda & Team at Belinda's Natural Animal Therapies🥰

05/12/2024

⭐🌟Looking at breeding a foal? Broodmare selection Tips!! 🌟⭐

⭐What should you look for in a broodmare? 🤔
When looking for an outstanding broodmare, temperament, correct movement & conformation (that meet the breed standards) should be first on your check list. Then you can look at your preferred colour or markings.
When selecting a good broodmare, consider the following qualities:

* Conformation: Look for a mare with good overall conformation, including strong legs, a well-balanced body, and a straight, sound gait. This ensures she can carry and deliver a foal without complications.

* Temperament: A calm, gentle, and cooperative temperament is essential. A good broodmare should be easy to handle and manage, especially during breeding, foaling, and when caring for her foal.

* Health and Fertility: Ensure the mare is in good health, with no history of reproductive issues. Regular veterinary check-ups and a clean bill of health are crucial for successful breeding.

* Pedigree and Performance: A strong pedigree with proven performance or desirable traits can increase the likelihood of producing high-quality offspring. Look for mares with successful bloodlines and a history of good performance in their discipline.

* Proven Broodmare: If possible, choose a mare with a successful track record as a broodmare. Previous successful pregnancies and healthy foals are good indicators of her breeding potential.

*Age: Ideally, broodmares should be between 4 and 15 years old. Younger mares may not be fully mature, while older mares may have decreased fertility.

* Nutritional Status: A well-nourished mare with a good body condition score is more likely to conceive and carry a foal to term. Proper nutrition is vital for both the mare and her developing foal.

By considering these qualities, you can increase the chances of selecting a broodmare that will produce healthy, high-quality foals. Just because you have a mare, does not mean you should breed from her!
All the best with choosing the right mare for your long-awaited foal. 😀🐴😀

*Photo of Saffy born 3 years ago at Scolinda Stud.

04/12/2024

🥰 Meet our new Welsh Cob broodmare, JDL Black Rose. Big, beautiful, and stunning black!! Standing around 15hh and weighing 608Kg (yep, we weighed her)- she is a big unit for sure. Super friendly and just loves attention - amazing temperament.
🐎Rose has had two lovely fillies via AI at Kiuna Park stud in Victoria and we are looking forward to seeing what she can produce for us here in Tasmania at Scolinda Welsh Cob stud. (The Pretty Chestnut mare is 'Alis' - our other Welsh Sec C broodmare).
🙏Thank you to Deb, from Fur Babies & Friends Photography for the beautiful photos.

Are you looking at breeding a foal? I will share my experience and tips on selecting the right mare before your breed to get the best result later this week for you.
😀

01/12/2024

🐎 Have you seen or have a horse with a dip in front of the withers? Equine Touch bodywork can help sort this issue along with other management strategies like correct saddle fit ect 🐎

Why and how does an indentation infront of the withers develop? And what is it?

A: The existence of the dip in front of the shoulder could have many reasons. It is mentioned in many books describing faulty conformation of the neck - a horse with short neck set on low, but carried high, will exhibit a noticeable dip in front of the withers and the whole neck will tend to look upside down, described often as a 'ewe neck'. In my experiences (and also in yours as you noticed it) this "posture" is often acquired and it can come and go. I witnessed a horse who came back from the "trainer" with large dip in front of her withers, 6 month was enough to get that damage done (and took almost a year to get her back into her previous perfect frame).

Bad training/riding of horses, badly fitting saddles, injury (pull back) or fall related accidents can cause musculo-skeletal problems leading to the changes of posture. Chronic spasms of neck muscles (brachiocephalic, rhomboid, splenius) or over development of the wrong neck muscles and lack of fitness of the correct muscles prevents the horse from using its neck in the correct manner - raising the base of the neck and curving the neck in a nice flow. This is very important for the horse to enable it to use correctly, the rest of its body.

The majority of horses with 'ewe neck' tend to have a very similar body posture and related "health issues". They have an upside down neck, but also a sway back, a dip in front of the withers, over-developed rhomboid muscles, a dip in front of the croup, a possible hunters bump, and an under-developed hind quarter. Their whole body looks upside down. They also exhibit a very similar pain pattern - being very tender in their “Sacro-Sciatic”region. As an equine bodyworker I hope you realize that this is too common a picture nowadays.

How to help? First we have to find out the correct cause - is it badly fitted saddle, or dentistry issues? Is it a lack of understanding how the horse is moving and how we have to prepare them to built proper muscles to be able to carry us on their back without hurting themselves? We need to realize that long term posture changes will also create changes in horses feet and teeth, so to my best knowledge the multidisciplinary approach is the best - team of specialist would look at the horse and make a plan of priorities. A bodyworker can start to release the muscles which brace the base of the neck - not only brachiocephalic which crosses directly this region, but also muscles in distance - splenius, trapezius and rhomboid. Releasing the poll area is crucial, as a “locked” poll can lock the base of the neck and of course the sacrum area.

The Equine Touch whole body balance address of BBB (Basic Body Balance) or ABB (Advanced Body Balance) would be perfect to start - to detect the tight muscles, targeting the above muscles can help tremendously to release the base of the neck. Mobilization and stretching of the body can speed up the "discovery" of loose neck and break the vicious circle of habitual movement. Sometimes this is it, as the base of the neck is free the dip in front of the shoulder disappears.

Many long term problems will unfortunately require a longer approach. The horse will need to build up the correct muscles and will need to learn how to use the hind quarters (and the rest of the body properly). Basic ground work will be necessary as well as a new riding approach. The Rider will need to learn how to stretch the horse, allow him to use the top line and neck properly. I also witnessed how a little adjustment of the rider position and body movement could unlock the upside down horse. I would surely recommend some progressive lessons in riding for all open-minded riders.

One thing that has to be mentioned…All the above suggestions are necessary in rehabilitation of the horse. But there is one HUGE CONDITION - everything has to be done in a calm and peaceful, horse friendly environment! Any stress placed upon the horse will be counterproductive to our effort. Do not forgot that "upside down" posture is also part of survival reflex that helps the horse to escape from danger!
Written by Ivana Ruddock - Founder of The Equine Touch From the archives - 16 January 2011

28/11/2024

⭐ONE DAY ONLY!! ⭐
Friday 29th NOV 2024
We love our customers & thought we would give you a Black Friday special gift!
Yep, that's right, 10% store wide*!!
Enter this code at checkout;
BLACKHORSE

🌟Buy your horse or pet their Christmas gift of good health and support a small business too!😀
🐾Happy Shopping!! 🐴

*Excludes shipping cost, valid for one day only, expires 11.59pm 29/11/24, code must be entered on checkout, conditions apply

11/11/2024

🤔Are you near Stroud NSW? Genesis Park now has 20kg bags of BAM+ available 😀
🐴Dose rate for the BAM+ is 120g per day (2 heaped 60ml scoops) per 500kg horse.

It's back, and showing off in brand new look bags!
This fantastic mineral blend has been developed by animal nutritionist and breeder Belinda Atkinson. Get yours now!

https://www.genesispark.com.au/product/belinda-s-amazing-minerals-bam-/23?cs=true&cst=custom

07/11/2024

😀🐴 What an amazing shoot with Deb yesterday to update my business photos. Looking forward to sharing more with you soon. Aren’t these photos beautiful 🤩 with lovely ‘Rose’ our new Welsh Cob mare.
Thank you Deb for sharing your talent and capturing beautiful photos 🥰

06/11/2024

🐴Sadly Kissing spine is more common than you think! Is your horse miss behaving under saddle?
Just like this poor horse below that has a spinal issue… example of another pain issue.
🤔How can it be prevented or fixed?
Prevention is better than cure, especially in this case. A horse that uses its back correctly, has a good fitting saddle & topline is better placed to avoid kissing spine from developing.
A weak back and poor saddle fit/top line can contribute to the spinal processes collapsing/touching in the case of kissing spine.
👉🏻Keeping your horses back strong with correct work and exercises can help prevent and in some cases improve kissing spine.
👉🏻Feeding a well balanced diet helps with bone health as well.
There is a surgical option, this would be a very last resort.
🐴 Horses may show us they are in pain by their behaviour, take notice next time your horse may ‘play up’ is it pain?
Hope this helps 😀🐴 B x 💕

17/10/2024

😀Saddleworld Devonport and Launceston - one of our amazing stockists and supporters here in Tasmania 👏🏻

BELINDA'S RESTOCK
We have fully restocked our Belinda's Premium Loose Lick & Amazing Mineral Plus. They are available in both 5kg buckets and 20kg bags.💙✨
LOOSE LICK 5KG- $65.00
LOOSE LICK 20KG- $135.00
AMAZING MINERAL PLUS 5KG- $78.00
AMAZING MINERAL PLUS 20KG- $175.00

01/10/2024

🌟Customer Notice 🌟
It has come to my attention that my mobile phone 📱 voicemail messages have not been working like they should. 🤦🏻‍♀️
Tech is only great when it works…..
🤔 How I found out…
When I was on the road I had 45 old messages dated back to April that came through at once. I called Telstra and they told me to delete them all so they could fix the issue.
🤔Well it’s not fixed… and now I don’t have your messages to call you back.. so very sorry I am not ignoring your important calls!
Further investigation is needed and hopefully it will be working again soon.
In the meantime please send me a text as well, just in case or call back again please. 🙏
Thank you for your understanding & my sincere apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. Have a lovely night. B x 💕
* Update, phone issues looks like it’s sorted 👏🏻😀 Looking forward to chatting with you 🐴

26/09/2024

🐴 Did you know that correct saddle fit is so important for you and your horses.
🐎 Ridden Horses with poor top line (that are getting enough of the right feed), may have a poor fitting saddle causing pain and discomfort.
Other signs the saddle is not correctly fitted are;
- horse refuses to go forward or grumpy when asked first go
- girthing issues (will get cranky when tightening girth)
- behaviour issues under saddle like bucking, rearing etc
- saddle moves around
- dry patches under saddle blanket (pressure points)
- horse will travel hollow - head in the air and head tossing
🤔Does your horse show any of these signs?
Soft tissue bodywork is the best way to sort these issues out.
👉🏻 Book a bodywork session with Belinda this Spring and have your saddle fit checked too (free basic saddle check with your bodywork session with Belinda). DM to book your horse in! 🐴💕

23/09/2024

Who does this (talks to their pets)? 🙌🏻🐕🐎🐈🐇🐓 🥰 After all they are part of the family 💕