An Equine Conversation

An Equine Conversation

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An Equine Conversation episodes

  • S2 E4: The 'truth' in buying a horse

    In my almost 3 decades of teaching people with horses, there are some things I have been asked about many times. Questions around or support in buying a new horse has been one of these.

    Horse shopping, much like property shopping, can be an emotional roller-coaster of an experience. Then when you finally land on which equine and have your new partner home, things may not go, in fact often they don’t go, quite as you imagined they would.

    In this episode I’m going to speak to the ‘truth’ in buying a horse, whether that be your first, second, third or tenth horse.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    1:26 - episode introduction

    2:08 - dishonest sellers as opposed to different ‘truths’

    3:01 - where our truth comes from

    3:28 - why the difference in the ‘truth’ & what it can look like

    4:55 - the influential impact on the truth of the conditions the horse is kept in

    5:54 - examples to highlight the impact of conditions on the ‘truth’

    9:20 - a difference in a seller and buyers ‘truth’ about a horse & the importance of asking a seller but also observing the horse

    10:46 - the use of descriptive labels & getting to the bottom of what they actually mean

    11:46 - the exception to the rule where the ‘truths’ meet & the effort that went into setting up this mutual ‘truth’

    13:45 - what to do now with this information

    15:46 - intro to what’s coming up next episode

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    18 min
  • S2 E3: Why ruling out pain in horses is hard with Dr Lisa Walter

    How many people do you know who’ve had some kind of pain or illness that the human medical professionals have not been able to get to the bottom of or provide relief from? Or where it’s taken some time and robust investigations, often driven by the person or their family to figure out what’s going on?

    I know quite a few & have experienced this myself, and this is with the diagnostics available to human medicine.

    Almost daily I see equine-owning humans asking for training help online with a horse that’s body language and behaviour is indicating likely pain. Sometimes this body language from the horse is fairly explicit and other times it’s more subtle. Some of the lovely humans asking for help have sought some veterinary intervention, but it can happen that their initial vet hasn’t been able to find anything wrong.

    If you listened to Episode 8 in Season 1 of An Equine Conversation, Julia’s story with her horse Maddy, you’ll know that Maddy was exhibiting behaviour that indicated something was wrong and that Julia had to push past initial vet suggestions to get to the point of an actual diagnosis for what was wrong, and then how to treat and manage what was going on for him. It took some time and probing and pushing to figure it out.

    And here’s the thing. Pain in horses is not always possible to rule out or resolve. It’s not a matter of just saying there’s nothing wrong – because there can be and the science and diagnostic equipment just isn’t there yet to figure absolutely everything out – but, the science, the technology and the research are making progress and there’s so much more available to us than 20 years ago.

    I wanted to talk to an Equine Veterinarian about why it’s challenging to rule out pain in horses and what we can and should do about it as owners, so I asked my friend, Dr Lisa Walter, Equine Vet in South Australia, if she would join me for a chat. I always love speaking with Lisa as she has so much knowledge and a constant curiosity about how the horses body works – which has led her to working on a PhD in Sacroilliac dysfunction. I’m so pleased to bring this conversation to you and hope it helps expand your knowledge, awareness, understanding and ability to pursue niggles about any pain you are suspect of with your equines.

     

    Dr Lisa Walter:

    Lisa Walter is a veterinarian, researcher and educator with an interest in subtle lameness in sport horses, including the early identification and management of performance horses exhibiting low grade lameness, and locomotory dysfunctions. She completed her veterinary research training and veterinary degree at the University of Melbourne (1998, 2000) and has completed training in traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture with the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society.

    Her research includes the validation of a radiographic measurement technique used to identify early indicators of shinsoreness in Thoroughbred racehorses, clinical identification and management of sacroiliac dysfunction, and the effectiveness of different therapeutic modalities for musculoskeletal dysfunction in horses.

    Lisa is based in Australia and has worked as a veterinarian in Australia and England in first opinion and referral equine practices. She currently runs her own integrative sport horse practice in the Adelaide Hills integrating veterinary medicine, acupuncture, physical therapy and therapeutic exercise to manage locomotory dysfunction in sport horses. She is a sessional lecturer for undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary courses across several universities, and is completing a PhD in sacroiliac dysfunction in horses at the University of Adelaide.

    Outside of work, Lisa is a horse-owning tragic. She has trained and ridden horses across various disciplines including, showing, stockwork, eventing and showjumping. She loves working with the “project” horse and has an understanding and empathy for the challenges and rewards that this can bring.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    2:26 - episode introduction

    4:56 - introducing Dr Lisa Walter

    6:41 - Lisa’s start & where she’s at now with her work and Equine Veterinary interests

    9:16 - what brought Lisa to working on a PhD in sacroiliac dysfunction

    12:08 - why is it so difficult to rule out pain in horses & the challenge of identifying indicators of pain in our horses

    16:14 - the challenge of the Veterinary community of diagnosing more subtle conditions & the evolution of diagnostic/imaging equipment to better help diagnosis & having a non-verbal patient

    18:00 - diagnostic imaging technology for equines

    21:59 - Equine Veterinary Specialists

    25:20 - why should we continue to try and rule out pain in our horses & not just a ‘naughty pony’

    29:31 - the ‘cold backed’ horse

    30:19 - pain versus dysfunction & the challenge for Veterinary medicine of understanding ‘normal variation’ with the developing imaging equipment

    34:15 - how can individual owners contribute to further research in equine medicine?

    37:00 - the evolution of physiological issues - awareness, diagnosis & changes in the equine population & equine management

    39:55 - accessing Equine Specialists

    43:56 - top tips for listeners - if you’re suspect your horse might be experiencing pain

    45:51 - Vets who’ve done additional training in other physical modalities & the importance of having a trusted team of practitioners

    48:46 - if you think there’s a problem - there generally is - trust your instinct

     

    Link from this episode:

    In this episode, Lisa mentions Dr Sue Dyson’s work on the ridden horse pain ethogram. If you haven’t yet watched already, check out:

    ‘The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain: Shifting the Paradigm of How We See Lameness’ on YouTube to learn some about this research.

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    54 min
  • S2 E2: What's in a name... and a logo?

    We recently released our brand new and long-awaited logo for our business Abbey’s Run Equestrian. The bones of this logo have been rattling around my head for more than 2.5 years and we were finally in a position to bring it to life with the help of Evie Francesca Design Studio. 

    While the logo itself is physically 2-dimensional, each element holds a purpose or a story about our business, what we do and why we do it. This episode is to share with you the meaning behind each of the logo elements and what they mean for what we do here at Abbey’s Run Equestrian now and into the future.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    2:15 - episode introduction

    2:59 - why ‘Abbey’s Run Equestrian’ & who even is Abbey?

    9:15 - tagline: ‘Teaching humans to teach horses’

    11:36 - the human

    12:46 - the horse

    14:30 - the tree

    15:20 - the colour & An Equine Conversation logo

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    20 min
  • S2 E1: A trainer, a donkey & a Golden Globe winning film - with Megan Hines

    Late last year I started seeing promotions for the film The Banshees of Inisherin, an Irish film that included a miniature donkey Jenny as one of the stars alongside a cast of several other animals and the human actors including Kerry Condon, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. I’m not always a fan of animals in films but frankly, Jenny was just gorgeous and as my partner Benn is a fan of miniature donkeys, I was paying more attention.

    I was so delighted to know that Jenny had been trained using positive reinforcement. Not only that, but she had been trained by someone I’d heard of for some years, Megan Hines. Working on a major motion picture with some big-name stars and experienced crew is not something many of us have exposure to, let alone training an equine using positive reinforcement to exist and perform in that environment. I was really keen to meet Megan, hear her training journey and learn about the experience on the film with Jenny… and to be able to share that conversation with you, so I invited Megan to join us for an episode of An Equine Conversation.

    The Banshees of Inisherin was Directed by Martin McDonagh & released here in late December 2022. It has since won 8 Golden Globes, where Colin Farrell thanked Jenny in his acceptance speech, and was nominated for 9 Oscars. If you’ve yet to see it, do make sure to have your hanky ready!

     

    Megan Hines:

    Megan Hines is a gentle equine trainer and coach based in County Roscommon, Ireland.

    Megan specialises in helping leisure horse owners and those with fearful equines to learn an equine-led approach that builds trust, motivates and brings out the character of your equine.

    A South African by birth, Megan was taught by South African National Equestrian Federation instructors for 10 years, where she had the opportunity to experience and compete in a variety of equestrian disciplines including vaulting, gymkhana, dressage, show jumping and cross country.

    Now, with over 20 years’ experience training animals with positive reinforcement (the use of rewards to motivate and shape behaviour), she is no longer competitive and is instead passionate about building a trusting human-equine relationship, avoiding stress and fear in daily handling and training, and teaching cooperative care.

    Megan continues to further her professional development in the areas of equine behaviour and training through study with internationally recognised equine/mixed species positive reinforcement trainers and behaviourists. Her latest training achievements include the training and handling of Jenny donkey for the acclaimed Banshees of Inisherin.

    Megan offers equine training and coaching, allowing you to learn the art and science of positive horsemanship: holistic horse management to best meet equine needs; true liberty work; cooperative care to problem solve for the vet, trimmer and for general handling; bring out the potential of fearful equines; ultimately enjoying a better relationship with your horse, pony, mule or donkey.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    3:35 - introducing Megan

    5:49 - Megan’s equine learning & training journey

    11:04 - moving into volunteering with rescue horses & learning online

    13:46 - the natural horsemanship phase

    14:42 - moving out the other side toward training more with positive reinforcement

    16:04 - the importance of looking at the animal in front of you

    17:30 - becoming a Connection Training coach

    19:00 - shifting to look at holistic needs of the animals

    20:55 - equines learning from watching other equines learning & how that impacts float/trailer load training

    26:17 - more on Megan’s equines, on working with rescue mules, donkey’s & working with livery horses

    35:30 - on training the livery foal

    42:02 - how Megan came to be training Jenny the donkey for The Banshees of Inisherin  

    46:00 - the lead time for training before filming began & what Jenny needed to learn

    47:37 - how training for film relates to training our own horses for complex & stimulating environments  

    51:12 - and onward to shooting & working with the cast & crew

    55:06 - scene takes & keeping Jenny interested  

    57:06 - verbal cues, visual cues or both

    59:27 - working with the actors & Jenny

    1:02:32 - more on the parallels with training for film & ‘normal’ horsie life & the importance of a good relationship & time

    1:07:08 - where Jenny’s at now

    1:08:40 - Megan’s coaching services, locally & virtually world-wide

    1:11:07 - how online coaching compares to in person for Megan

    1:14:00 - Megan’s top tips for you, our listeners, that you can go and do now

     

    Links from Megan:

    Website: Megan Hines Equine

    Facebook: Megan Hines - Positive Equine Training Ireland

    Instagram: Megan Hines Equine

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    1 hr 24 min
  • S2: Trailer

    We are super excited to be back with Season 2 of An Equine Conversation. Check out the trailer for a glimpse of Episode 1 & some fun training action we’ve got going on.

    As with Season 1, Season 2 episodes will drop on a Wednesday morning, Melbourne/Sydney time. The season consists of 8 episodes (episodes we are so excited about bringing to your ears) plus this trailer. Episode 1 will be released on Wednesday, April 26.

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    7 min
  • S1 E8: Julia’s Story - A Tale to Learn From

    In today’s episode, I’m speaking with Julia Inglis, a very good friend of mine who I met virtually through a mutual friend. Julia lives over in Western Australia, the other side of the country from me, and we’re actually yet to meet in real life. Julia and I are messaging one another and sometimes talking, almost daily about horse training and management. While we had so much we talked about discussing on this episode, we decided that actually the best place to start, was with Julia’s story – or at least some of. It’s a story that there is a lot to learn from - both in the way of managing horses (particularly those with Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) and ulcers) and in the way of training approaches.

    So now, let me introduce you to my good friend, Julia:

     

    Julia Inglis:

    Julia grew up in the UK and was animal mad from a young age, catching her first pet when a rabbit wandered into her garden. She learned to ride at school but stopped for many years when she went to university in Glasgow before moving to London for further studies. Julia completed her PhD in neuropharmacology in 2004 and went on to establish a research career in the area of pain mechanisms in arthritis.

    After completing her studies Julia started riding again at a local riding school, and around this time she met her now husband at a conference. He lived in Perth, Australia and in a bid to persuade her to move there started sending adverts for horse properties and horses. Within months Julia moved to Australia and they bought their first horse, which soon became 2 then 3, and is now a small farm full of animals.

    Julia rode traditionally for close to a decade, bush riding and dressage but when her horse refused to move under saddle ended up learning about alternative ways to train and positive reinforcement. This has now become her passion and obsession as it combines science and training geekery with animals - her two great loves.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    5:00 - Julia's formative years with horses

    8:30 - coming to Australia (from the UK), starting with horses here & the steep learning curve when you realise how much you don’t know

    12:41 - the current set-up & animal collective

    16:01 - Julia’s learning journey with horses & evolution since becoming a horse-owner. Recognising there was more to learn about riding

    19:40 - the start of the challenges with Maddy’s health & training

    22:39 - Maddy’s health problems become more evident

    24:34 - needing to look beyond what you know

    26:12 - the impact of Maddy’s ulcers & laminitis on transitioning to training using positive reinforcement

    27:08 - full introduction to Maddy

    32:02 - managing Maddy with ulcers, laminitis & EMS - the juggle and progression of management

    41:07 - Julia’s training journey & shift in training approach to positive reinforcement (R+), also known as ‘clicker training’

    47:26 - the influence of health on behaviour

    49:17 - introducing Neo & his journey

    53:03 - where Julia’s at with training with R+ now

    55:04 - training with Ori (the dog) and other animals with R+ as well as the horses & the availability of learning with R+ with a dog

    1:00:04 - the virtual/online training experience & the benefits

    1:05:14 - top tips for you: understanding your horse, if your horses behaviour changes - get a vet, don’t keep doing the same thing that’s not going well & expecting different results - get expert help, don’t withhold food

    1:09:36 - important end-of-series announcements


    Link from Julia:

    While not mentioned in the podcast, Julia has requested we share the link for the Western Australia (WA) Equine Clicker Trainer group so that those in WA who are interested can join and share.

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Start Your Engines course+workshop

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    1 hr 16 min
  • S1 E7: What IS training with positive reinforcement?

    In the previous podcast episode with Sara Jackson, and in the next episode with Julia Inglis, you’ll hear mention of ‘positive reinforcement’ as a training approach. We’ve mentioned it ourselves too in talking about our Start Your Engines course+workshop.

    I suspect that some of you listening will be well familiar with training using positive reinforcement, but there are likely others listening who are not so sure. So in this episode, we’re going to touch on what training with positive reinforcement, often abbreviated as R+, actually is.

    We are not positive reinforcement purists at Abbey’s Run Equestrian, but training with positive reinforcement has become our primary and preferred approach to training anything with our horses here.

    This was a big switch for me, as I grew up learning and then for many years also teaching, a more conventional approach to training with horses. It was some 8 years ago that I started to change my approach, initially as I had run out of other options with a challenging horse. Since then, I have continued to learn more and more about this training approach, the body of scientific research that sits behind it, and have been thoroughly exploring it with my horses, and absolutely loving the approach, the ethos and the results. Never have I had so much consistent fun with my training.

    You’ll hear us talking quite a bit about positive reinforcement and all the connected bits and pieces through our podcasts to help share this fun and result producing training approach with you.

    In this episode I discuss:

    • a working definition of the words ‘positive’ and ‘reinforcement’ in a training/learning context and what it means when we bring them together
    • who decides what’s pleasant (the added thing), why context matters and so the importance of having options
    • broad types of positive reinforcers (the something pleasant)
    • the need to provide the positive reinforcement immediately after the desired behaviour
    • the potential to strengthen unwanted behaviours if we reinforce them
    • a reminder of why we need to observe & interpret equine body language
    • the importance of choice in training with positive reinforcement
    • what you can do to start your positive reinforcement training journey right now

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Start Your Engines course+workshop

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    18 min
  • S1 E6: A journey to speaking horse with Sara Jackson

    In this episode, I’m speaking with Sara Jackson who is across the other side of the Country from me, over in Western Australia. For those unfamiliar with Australia, that’s a 4-hour flight, plus the drive at each end to the airport, which at my end is over 3 hours.

    We’re speaking about Sara's her own, quite colourful journey with horses and how this has brought her to sharing with other people about equine body language, equine behaviour & how important understanding this is for having a 2-way conversation with our horses and improving our relationship with them. Sara helps others learn more about equine behaviour and body language through her business Equestrian Balance and the Learn to Speak Horse Online Program.

     

    Important note on this episode:

    Please do note that Sara has experienced a couple of quite impactful, scary incidents with her horses that are discussed as part of this conversation. While these incidents are inextricably connected to the direction Sara has taken with her own horses and what she shares with others, some listeners may find the recounting of the stories upsetting. Please take care of yourself and stop listening if it gets too much for you.

     

    Sara Jackson:

    Sara Jackson is a coach for people who feel something is missing in their relationship with their horse. Helping them to move from longing for a remarkable relationship with their horse, to actually having a deep connection and understanding.

    She does this by showing people how to understand their horses body language and how to respond in a way that enables them to have a conversation. It is these conversations, which open the door for the horses’ voice to be heard, which can utterly transform a horse-human relationship.

    With qualifications in Equine Behaviour, Science and Teaching, Sara is well placed to share her knowledge. She is skilled at simplifying important concepts and presenting them in ways that are easy to understand and relate to.

    Sara is a member of both the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants and the Pet Professional Guild of Australia.

    Sara lives in the beautiful South-West of Western Australia with her partner and their young son, and has the luxury (and labour!) of having her 3 horses at home.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    5:00 - Sara's formative years with horses

    10:03 - the first turning point that influences Sara's journey 

    14:17 - the second turning point 

    21:04 - the third turning point

    31:17 - equine behaviour & body language comes to the fore

    38:26 - about the 'Learn to Speak Horse' program

    45:24 - top tips for you the listener & what you can do to improve your understanding of equine behaviour & body language


    Links referenced by Sara:

    Website: www.equestrianbalance.com.au

    Free resource: www.equestrianbalance.com.au/love

    Facebook: www.facebook.com/EquestrianBalancePerth

     

    Our links mentioned this episode: 

    Sign-up to our email list

    Start Your Engines course+workshop

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected].

    56 min
  • S1 E5: But it says ‘horse’ on the label…

    It is so easy to fall into the trap of assuming that because it says horse on the label, or comes from a saddlery, or produce store, that your horse will know what to do with, whatever the thing is. Especially if you believe that your horse had some life experience before it came to be with you.

    This episode could be a super short one, where I just tell you that your horse DID NOT get the memo that they are supposed to know about things we humans have created for them, and that for all the things, to get a reliable response from the horse we need to go through a training process.

    Cool, now you know what to do right? Shorted podcast episode in history… just joking, we’ll unpack this some more.

     In this episode I discuss:

    • the common pitfall of assuming your horse knows what to do
    • examples of where it’s easy to assume our horses just know
    • the need for a training process
    • why a training process done by someone else (ie, previous owner or a trainer) won’t necessarily translate across to you
    • what to do right now about it

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Start Your Engines course+workshop

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

    19 min
  • S1 E4: Preparing for Bushfires as a Horse Owner with Sharon Merritt

    In this week’s episode, I chat with Sharon Merritt from Victoria’s Country Fire Authority, better known here as the CFA, on preparing for bushfire (or you might know it as wildfire events) when we own horses. This is something we feel strongly about having had friends and family impacted in some of the more recent major fire events in our Country and having had fire come close to where our horses live a number of times. While we had a very wet Spring in our part of the world, fires still happen, and all the vegetation growth brought on by the rain will be creating fuel load for future fires. Join us for invaluable information and actions to implement that we all need to be aware of and implement for our own and our horses safety. 

     

    Important notes on this episode:

    1. This episode talks about preparing for fire when you own horses. While this is a hugely important topic and one that all horse owners need to be aware of, there may be material covered in this episode that is triggering, particularly for those who have been involved in past fire events. You are very important. Please take care of yourself and skip this episode if it’s too much for you.
    2. The recommendations contained in this episode are not the be-all and end-all of preparedness information. We are making recommendations based on past knowledge and experience however this will not cover every situation and every eventuality. Do not constrain your actions to what is mentioned in this podcast. Do your own research and work with your own local authorities to develop fire and emergency plans that are relevant to your situation.
    3. You may be wondering why we’re putting this episode out of the back of the La Nina wet season and floods we’ve had in Victoria and NSW here in Australia. While it’s so far shaping up to be a quieter Summer due to the weather, there will still be fires in the landscape. And, all this amazing grass and other vegetation growth that’s happened with the wet, will be creating even more fuel for future fires. The time to prepare for fires is when it is wet and cold – not when the hot and dry weather hits, or a fire is approaching. So please, take the time afforded to us by the wetter season and get your fire preparation happening in a big way.


    Sharon Merritt:

    Sharon has been a horse owner for over 60 years, moving through Pony Club, then Adult Riding Club and spent many years competing in various disciplines. With a horsie family, Sharon taught at Pony Club for many years and is currently the owner of a couple of older horses and a colt that she is starting.

    Sharon has been a CFA firefighter for 26 years, having been on the front line of fires, been in charge of crews, been the Incident Controller and been part of an Incident Management Team in most states of Australia and overseas. Sharon has spent many weeks at large fires including the Black Saturday fires in Victoria and the more recent 2019/2020 in Victoria and NSW.

    Sharon is involved in Technical Large Animal Rescue, which involves rescuing horses, cattle and other livestock when they become trapped in dams, creek, horse floats in car accidents, septic tanks etc.

     

    In this episode we discuss:

    2:21 - Important information before listening to this episode

    4:13 - Introducing Sharon Merritt

    5:29 - What is the Country Fire Authority (CFA) & what does it do

    6:49 - Why is it important to prepare for fire events as horse owners and carers

    8:50 - How can we prepare as horse owners and carers?

    The need for multiple fire plans that work in different scenarios

    10:31 - Importance of leaving early

    Preparing for leaving early and organising the destination you’re going to ahead of time

    11:51 - The need for Plan B & setting your horse up in the safest way possible

    13:39 - The paddock you want ready for your horse(s) to be in during days where fire is possible

    14:56 - Not restraining a horse in enclosed, indoor spaces during fire events

    15:15 - What horses will tend to do when fire is coming

    15:54 - Open internal gates, NOT external gates

    16:54 - Alternatives to an eaten-out paddock

    17:24 - What else we can do to prepare our properties

    18:04 - Context of Black Saturday impact

    The need to have a good water source that can sustain a fire moving through

    19:33 - If your plan is to leave early but you have more horses than you can transport at once

    20:20 - Alternatives to horses eating out a paddock

    21:35 - Radiant heat & awareness of nearby forest

    Importance of having vegetation/trees around for our horses

    24:41 - Identifying your horse

    25:22 - What to protect besides our horses

    26:43 - Impact of road-blocks to accessing your horse/property

    28:03 - Get a Property Identification Code (PIC) or similar through Department of Agriculture

    29:27 - Fire truck access & availability

    30:17 - Considerations after the fire front has passed, ie. laminitis risk, tree roots burning

    Checking for contamination of water supply from fire-fighting materials

    Emergency temporary fencing

    First Aid materials

    33:09 - Example of when we enacted our Fire Plan at Abbey’s Run in 2019/2020 fires

    37:44 - The risks of shifting horses location without planning for it ahead of time

    Expectation from many public safe places to stay with horses, not leave them

    Challenge of float-loading horses when stressed and in a hurry

    39:52 - Risks with powerlines down - blocks and electrocution risk

    41:11 - The impact of shifting fire-fronts & new fires to where it is safe to relocate your horse

    41:53 - Horses ability to negotiate fire when set up well

    43:18 - Importance of training with our horses for our fire plans

    46:25 - Horses behaviour during fires

    47:27 - Avoiding putting humans at risk

    48:16 - The need to help for a long-time after fires

    49:50 - Top tips & what you can do right now

    52:26 - Connect with your local CFA or relevant authority & attend pre-season briefings or information sessions to learn more local information

     

    Links referenced by Sharon:

    Country Fire Authority - Horses and Bushfires information: https://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/plan-prepare/how-to-prepare-your-property/farms/horses-and-bushfires

    Department of Agriculture Victoria - Property Identification Code information and applications: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/farm-management/property-identification-codes

    Department of Agriculture Victoria - Horses and Bushfire information: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/livestock-and-animals/horses/health-and-welfare/assessing-horses-after-bushfires/horses-and-bushfire

     

    Our links mentioned this episode:  

    Sign-up to our email list

    Start Your Engines course+workshop

    Abbey's Run Equestrian website

    Abbey's Run Equestrian on Facebook

     

    Thank you to Matthew Bliss for podcast production & consultation. You can find out more about podcast support on offer via: Blissery.FM or email [email protected]

     

    59 min

About An Equine Conversation

From the publisher's feed

This podcast aims to help you, the horse owner, improve your knowledge by giving you access to top quality information that will help you be the best horse owner you can be so that you can give your horses the best life possible.