A DOG NAMED SATURDAY

Howdy Friends!
Coming in a few weeks, “A Dog Named Saturday.” My children’s book about our most spectacular, sweet and loving beagle. Not only is Saturday the most loving of all dogs, he is also a very, very wise dog. He knows things like, “Good is even better when you share it with friends.” And, “Love is much better than everything, because with love everything is better.”
Recently our dear Saturday went to Heaven. Saturday was a most exceptionally sweet dog. I’ve always said his tail is attached to his heart. He had one goal in life and that was to give everyone buckets of love, a goal he exceeded each and every day. Saturday was a discarded dog who wandered into our lane and hearts ten years ago, sick, hungry and tired. But even then his tail wagged full steam.
I posted on facebook about Saturday’s passing, most of my facebook friends have long known Saturday and I wanted to talk about it, and celebrate his life. Several friends suggested I write a children’s book about him. One even suggested the title, which I loved and am using. Thank you Judy.

This is a book about a little dog who woke up every morning just to make everyone he met happy. It’s what he did. Through the stories he spreads love and happy, and most stories have a bit of honesty and guidance for young ones.

We have world class illustrator Troy Locker Palmer creating the most delightful illustrations. Seen here are Saturday, Fluffernutter one of the barn kitties and Kessy the horse. Isn't Troy incredible!
A Dog Named Saturday will be published and available on Amazon in 2 weeks. I'll keep you informed here, and on my FB page and Saturday's FB page A Dog Named Saturday . I think Saturday would love to spend Christmas with lots of new friends. "The best things about friends is you can always make more," Saturday said.

This is first of Saturday’s series of children’s books. He has way too much love, kindness and wisdom to share with young ones of all ages to stuff into just one book. And we are creating Saturday memorabilia. Fun stuff, and are designing his Holiday piece right now.

Keep in touch, follow the fun, tell all your young ones, Saturday is bringing the love. And if your young ones should have a question they would like Saturday to answer, please send them to us.

Please "Like" our A DOG NAMED SATURDAY facebook page. And tell your friends.

~ Gitty Up, Dutch.

RIDING ALONE

Howdy Friends! I was asked about riding alone.... I have for many years preferred to ride alone. For me it's not a social thing, or an outing with friends. It's time for my horse and me to enjoy each other and nature. I see so many folks who only ride with others and to me it seems they never really get the bond they seek with their horse.

Kessy and Saturday posing on the trail. A beautiful day out in nature together, just us.

When riding with others the horses pay more attention to the other horses, and the people pay more attention to each other than their horses. And the horses suffer much more correction cues. I first developed this attitude back when I rode endurance and competitive trail. So often I witnessed small groups riding together and in each of those groups was at least one rider who was struggling as their horse only had thoughts of the other horses. Those riders often had to ride faster than was safe for either them or their horse - Or too slow.
 
What really finalized it for me was during one Competitive ride I came upon a young woman barely hanging on, and crying. I stopped her horse, asked what was wrong. She told me she had come with 4 friends and they went too fast and left her, and she"can't handle her horse without them."

We had just passed Mid-Point about 2 miles back.She said she wanted to quit but was afraid to go back alone. I led her horse back to mid-point, and ended up quitting my ride. After that we never met again, but I think of that day often, and yes her friends were not friends at all. But had she spent time riding alone with her horse, that day would have had a better outcome for her and her horse. ~ Gitty Up, Dutch.

Feet Have NOT Been Bred Out of Our Horses

Howdy Friends! 

My mare, Kessy's foot after 2 hour ride on hard packed logging road.

I find it interesting, and sad, that so many equine enthusiasts say, “We’ve bred out good hooves.” Of course this is not the case. But rather there has been a widespread failure to allow the hoof to live up to its designed perfection and health, by mistreatment of that most vital part of the horse’s anatomy. ~ Gitty Up, Dutch.

We All Love Our Horses

Howdy Friends!
We all love our horses. We all love to ride them, be with them, play, work and just be a horse person. Everything we do with, for, and too our horses effects them, mentally and physically. Every time we lead, work and ride our horses we impact their lives, being and bodies. What we do, and how we do it effects our horses’ posture – every time. In almost everything we do riding, effects the horse’s posture in a manner contrary to positive, healthy body carriage.
 

Here I'm demonstrating the "Rock Back" exercise. Standing softly in front of your horse, ask for her to shift her weight back to her hind end (Not a step back). This exercise will be easier after the horse has mastered the other exercises that soften the body and improve posture. This exercise is very important.

Repetitive training, competing, showing, and even trail riding all impact posture, forcing most horses onto their forehand, if we don’t employ techniques to offset the impact. Horses operating on their forehand begin a downward spiral of health. The front end stiffens, flexibility erodes, the top-line begins to drop, and the hind-end degenerates into disengagement. Joints become painful, tendons stretch, and even organ function is hindered. Of course all this damage takes time, at least most of it, but some damage begins very early and is often unnoticed, or misdiagnosed. It is why horses slow down, balk, and even display temperament changes.
 
My strongest passion as a horse advocate is helping equine enthusiasts learn the truth about horse posture, and simple things they can do to ensure their horse enjoys proper, healthy posture, body carriage, and self awareness. My passion is why I travel to do clinics and teach the simple to learn exercises that guarantee horses can maintain proper, healthy posture throughout their lives.
 
Horses can indeed enjoy absolutely correct and healthful posture lifelong, and every horse owner, caregiver and enthusiast can be certain they are helping their horse, just by learning a few simple exercises and techniques that promote it.
 
My “Equine Posture Clinics” will provide every horse enthusiast the tools they need to forever help their horses maintain that healthful posture. At my clinics you’ll master a series of easy to learn exercises for the horse that will not only promote, restore and maintain healthy posture, but will cause your horse to excel in any discipline you love.


To learn how you can help bring my Equine Posture Clinic to your area, email me dutchhenry@hughes.net and please put “clinic” in the subject. Let’s do it for the horses!


Gitty Up, Dutch Henry.

Flexibility is not in the neck-it is in the back, the spine

Howdy Friends!

Flexibility is not in the neck..it is in the back, the spine … And you can’t correct that by over bending the horse right or left – You need to get the horse to lift the back, separate the vertebrae then they’ll have the suppleness to turn side to side. Horses not able to engage their hind end are forced to shift the load to the front end not designed to handle the load, hence we see the numbers of suspensory ligament and flexory tendon damage in the front end. These are 2 connected, common but reversible, conditions. It takes time and proper exercises to lift the back, engage the abdomen and empower the hind end. Simply doing the famous “belly lift,” tickling the belly causing the horse to jerk its back up, does little to create proper, healthy posture. It takes time to retrain the muscles. The belly lift is indeed an important part of the therapy to rehab a sinking topline, along with a series of other easy to learn exercises.... In this pic I demonstrate “piano wire release.” Tight hind ends are the result of improper posture and will prevent the front end from softening... Put your fingers where you see mine, apply enough pressure to find the tendon running up from hock to top of muscle – rub side to side over the “piano wire” all the way up. You will see some release the first time. This is one exercise to fixing posture and flexibility. All are in my clinics. You should learn them, for your horse’s sake. Contact me to set up clinic.

~ Gitty up, Dutch.

Posture and your horse’s emotions.

 Posture and your horse’s emotions.

 

This exercise is "one step" We ask the horse to take 1 step and pause holding correct off the forehand posture

Howdy Friends!

Posture is more important than training. When your horse’s posture and improper body carriage make it difficult, or impossible, for her to complete a requested task, that causes stress in the horse. Stress quickly transforms into balking, refusal, resentment, and finally chips away at the horse’s willingness and emotions. Not to mention their bond with their human. Especially when the human then resorts to mechanical devices to force the horse’s compliance – forcing the horse to push through stiffness and pain. As the horse’s emotions wither, the more the distant the bond. For this reason, I vigorously promote, and teach, simple to learn exercises I learned from my mentor Diane Sept, that we can do to perfect our horses’ posture and maintain correct and healthy body carriage – For the sake of horses emotions everywhere, and their bond with their humans. Sadly, widespread in the equine industry is the image, and acceptance of, incorrect and even painful posture, as correct. If you love your horse, if you want to excel at any equine activity, and have an honest bond with your horse, you’ll focus on correct, soft posture. Nothing you can do for your horse will make as much a difference in health, emotion and bonding. Feel free to contact me for help. (I’ll be doing a series of 4 clinics at Belmead Riding Club this year)~

 Gitty Up, Dutch.

All these exercises are in my book "It's for the Horses" find it here www.itsforthehorses.com