Simcoe Muskoka Horsemanship

09/12/2025

Next step- fill with horses 🐎 🤠

07/04/2025

Operation barn build is well underway at SMH!

03/09/2025

02/28/2025

🤠

12/10/2024

Let's go play in the snow ❄️

12/10/2024

Some very exciting things coming in 2025!!

10/15/2024

Please be mindful of your use of NSAIDs.

“When you start riding him again he’ll just have to go on previcox”

A sentence I heard from a vet to their client last week and a sentence many of us have heard either about our own horses or from a fellow equestrian about theirs

You listen to the vet, you put your horse on previcox, your horse is now rideable but you’re still experiencing tension, stiffness, resistance, difficulty and possibly even behavioural issues

You’re seeking answers and doing as you’re told, yet you’re still left with the same struggles at the end of the day

It is frustrating as a horse owner to be met with the same or similar issues even when you’re exhausting your options and doing what is recommended to you by the professionals in your circle

Using NSAID’s is not wrong, but it is the rate at which we use them and how much we rely on them that is the overlying problem

When we use NSAID’s to make the body more comfortable and help with lameness and soundness but still experience the other symptoms we are creating more strain and stress on the body, doing deeper damage

Using NSAID’s in conjunction with addressing the root cause is what allows for the horse to be able to come off (or lower the dosage) of their medications and for the tension, stiffness and resistance to subside

The soft and supple horse you’re looking for is underneath the bandaids that are currently holding it together

10/12/2024

Evening trail rides

10/02/2024

All I Want To Do Is Jump

I ran a fairly large lesson program for almost 20 years. This is a statement I have heard over and over, both in my lesson barn days and from colleagues today.

All I want to do is jump.

There are a few problems with this. Let's start with the horse. I love the old horseman's saying " horses only have so many jumps in them ". Is that 100, 1000 before it becomes lame.... No one knows....but horses certainly weigh a lot and the concussion landing on those small little legs is significant. Horses also get bored, burned out....and let's face it...sour.
Respect for the horse . The riders job is to do the best thing for the horse. Most horses only need jumped a few days a week. That means if a lesson horse works 5 days a week, only 2 of those are jumping days. 3 of those are purely flatwork or hacking.

Riders : most of jumping well has NOTHING to do with jumping. Riders need to work on pace, transitions, straightness, their position, effectiveness of aids, balance, ability to change positions smoothly ( from 2 point to sitting etc ) and so much more.

So if you are one of those students who Just Wants To Jump , please replace that with "I want to be an effective rider and horseman or woman . I want to do what is best for the horse "

And instructors who cave to this plea from students
Only YOU can set the CULTURE of your barn. Talk frequently about horsemanship and doing right by the animals.

08/03/2024

My favorite view 💕