Roses Bower Equine Retirement Services

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Happiness is getting your bum brushed whilst eating your supper hanging off the gate so you don’t have to eat from the f...
22/05/2026

Happiness is getting your bum brushed whilst eating your supper hanging off the gate so you don’t have to eat from the floor and spill it everywhere ❤️❤️❤️

Please share and help us Laminitis…. A word that strikes fear into any horse owner. And a disease (or perhaps more accur...
22/05/2026

Please share and help us

Laminitis…. A word that strikes fear into any horse owner. And a disease (or perhaps more accurately it should be named a symptom) that we still know so little about, have so many possible causes and treatments for, argue so much about and that causes us much heartache and the horse so much pain..

Over the last few weeks I have found myself immersed in a sea of bitter arguments from 2 sides of the equine community on social media, who are all in it for the same reason… to save a horse who has developed laminitis, to heal a horse who is in pain. And yet although these arguments have caused a much needed hike in attention for a disease I believe is hugely under funded, hugely under researched and very poorly understood, it has also caused a rift in the industry and a lot of sadness - a case of “them and us” - a divide.

As with everything, when we work together as a species we are often a formidable force, and those who believed the world was flat believed it with everything they are, those who challenged that the world was round must have sounded like crazy people… and the fight to prove it was a hard one. We cannot progress in our knowledge without making mistakes, but if our knowledge was pooled and our experiences shared, we would stand a much bigger chance of battling this horrible disease and winning.

This week I took in one of the hardest cases of my career, the fight was there but sadly the mechanics and the size of the journey ahead proved too much…. But with every loss along with the grief must come lessons, progress and a future improvement.

Ask yourself, what did I learn? What can I do better next time? What do I need to do to make the next one a success? Because only when you ask these questions and truly look at our current knowledge can you really make a difference in any field you are in.

If you are struggling with your horse this year because of laminitis please reach out. Shout louder because although I frequently want to hide and lick my wounds, if we don’t shout louder we simply won’t be heard - and I need to be heard because the alternative is standing still and I simply refuse to do that.

Laminitis needs us united. It needs us to help each other and learn from each other every single day. Our horses need us to stand up and shout, because they can’t and because we have the power to change things, they don’t.

We have one of the best connections the world has ever had with the web and social media now days - more research available than ever, more resources than ever and more hope than ever before a let’s use it to make a difference.

And to the horses we have lost along the way and those we will undoubtedly lose in future I pledge to you this…. I promise that from each and every one of your lives I have learned invaluable lessons, soaked up information and made changes to what we do here at RBES. I have committed to making a difference and will continue to do so until my last breath…. I promise that your lives were a valuable part of this journey and I will do everything in my power to make sure that you change the world…. One hoof at a time 🌈

Thanks for listening, if you are struggling reach out, shout and keep shouting - we are listening

I cannot promise we will win, I cannot promise you a happy ending to your story, but I can promise I will help with affordable livery, large, grassless barns and a promise that for every second of the journey I’ll be trying to create a success story - so that the formula can shape how we treat these cases in the future, and so that the success stories eventually outweigh the grief.

Keep shouting and keep listening, there are many paths to Rome but it’s much easier if we all stop and share our road maps xx

Rolling actually happened this year and the fields are summer ready ☀️
08/05/2026

Rolling actually happened this year and the fields are summer ready ☀️

Hard night boys? 😴
08/05/2026

Hard night boys? 😴

02/05/2026

Sleep is one of the most overlooked parts of horse welfare
Horses can doze standing up, and they do this often throughout the day. But that light sleep is not enough. The deeper stages of sleep, especially REM sleep, only happen when a horse feels safe enough to lie down.

And this matters more than most people realise.

REM sleep is where the nervous system resets. It’s where the brain processes information, where learning is consolidated, and where the body shifts out of a constant state of alertness. Without it, the horse doesn’t fully recover, no matter how good everything else looks on the surface.

A horse that isn’t getting enough REM sleep doesn’t always show it in obvious ways at first. It can look like irritability, dullness, inconsistency, or a horse that seems unpredictable in their responses. Sometimes it shows up as tension that doesn’t resolve, or a horse that struggles to stay present and regulated, even in simple situations.

In more prolonged cases, you’ll see what’s often called sleep deprivation. These horses may start to collapse or buckle slightly when they try to enter REM while standing, because the body begins to override the lack of proper rest. It’s not a training issue. It’s a biological need not being met.

For a horse to lie down, a few things need to be in place.

They need to feel safe in their environment. That includes their herd dynamics, their surroundings, and their ability to not feel constantly on alert.

They need physical comfort. Pain, discomfort, or even subtle issues in the body can prevent a horse from wanting to lie down or get back up again.

They need appropriate space and footing. If the ground is hard, wet, unstable, or restricted, rest becomes something they avoid.

And they need a lifestyle that allows for true downtime, not just turnout in a space where they still feel the need to stay vigilant.

This is why sleep is not separate from behaviour, training, or performance. It sits underneath all of it.

A horse that is well-rested will regulate more easily, learn more clearly, and move through their environment with more stability. A horse that is not getting enough sleep is always, in some way, trying to compensate.

So when something feels “off,” and it doesn’t resolve with training, management changes, or adjustments in the work, it’s worth asking a much simpler question.

Is this horse actually able to rest properly?

Because if they can’t, nothing else will fully settle.

08/04/2026

Grief doesn’t belong only to us. It lives in the quiet spaces between heartbeats, in the empty field, in the call that goes unanswered.

Last week, when my boy Cal passed, it was important to let Dolly be part of the process. Not to shield her from it, but to honour what we know about horses, that they are deeply social, intuitive beings who form strong bonds and feel loss in ways we are only just beginning to fully understand.

In equine behaviour, we see time and time again that horses recognise absence. They search, they call, they stand in places that hold memory. When given the opportunity, they also investigate death quietly, curiously and in doing so, begin their own form of processing. It isn’t something to fear. It’s something to respect.

Dolly had time with Cal. Time to stand with him, to take in the stillness, to understand in her own way that he was gone. And in the days since, I’ve seen a softness in her grief not confusion or distress, but a kind of knowing. A transition, rather than a sudden void.

Grief management in horses isn’t about removing them from loss. It’s about supporting them through it. Keeping grounded in our own awareness, routines, offering companionship, allowing space for their behaviour without rushing them past it. Just as we need time, so do they.

This process, as hard as it is, can be a positive one if we look at it through a lens of love. Not avoiding pain, but walking through it together. Giving our horses the dignity of understanding, and ourselves the comfort of knowing we didn’t leave them alone in their confusion.

Cal was deeply loved by Dolly too so letting Dolly say goodbye, I believe that love carried forward in the gentlest, most honest way.

Grief shared is not grief lessened — but it is grief understood. 🤍

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1hMKa8Opdk09v8dnzKIvKM?si=gAkLLA_bRV6RAO4yNw05cw

16/03/2026

There comes a day when the arena lights fade, the rodeo miles slow down, and the horse that once gave you everything finally gets to rest.

The truth is… those horses don’t owe us anything.
They already paid us back a thousand times over.

They carried our nerves to the alleyway.
They gave us the confidence to chase dreams we weren’t sure we deserved.
They forgave our mistakes, tried their hearts out, and never once said the ground was hard, the miles were long, or I’m too tired.

They simply showed up for us.

And when the time comes that their bodies say “I’ve done enough”, that’s when our job truly begins.

Retirement isn’t the end of their story.
It’s the chapter where we return the favor.

It’s soft pasture, slow mornings, extra hay, and scratches in their favorite spots.
It’s vet bills, feed, and care for a horse that may never carry a saddle again.

But that’s the deal we make when we love them.

Because the horses that gave us the world in their youth deserve peace, comfort, and dignity in their golden years.

A good horse spends their life taking care of us.

The least we can do…
is spend the rest of theirs taking care of them. 🐴❤️

Our resident blind handsome dandy having a kip before his supper in his new straw ❤️❤️
15/03/2026

Our resident blind handsome dandy having a kip before his supper in his new straw ❤️❤️

Old boys still have it 😎
15/03/2026

Old boys still have it 😎

2026…. The year that’s meant to leave its mark on our hearts. Monster Lodge 29 years young, or as she’d rather be known ...
14/03/2026

2026…. The year that’s meant to leave its mark on our hearts.

Monster Lodge 29 years young, or as she’d rather be known - Black beauty. 3.5 years of loving your crazy ways. You never let us down, nannied our babies and never gave up, despite your many challenges. Your kind, gentle, loving nature gained so many fans over the years with so much love from our liveries, staff and friends for you. If love was enough you’d have been here forever, but sadly it was your time, and I’ll miss you more than you will ever know.

Thank you for teaching me some valuable skills and lessons, for giving me such acceptance and love and thank you Patricia for choosing us to be her final home.

Fly high beautiful girl ❤️

Address

Roses Bower
Hexham
NE483DX

Telephone

+44 7860 111631

Website

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