Horses And Stress

There are many factors in day-to-day living that might cause your horse stress, many of which could be eliminated with just a little attention to detail. First, though, we need to understand what stress consists of, the mechanics of it, and what actually happens when we and our horses are subjected to it, both in the short and the long term. Investigations into primary and secondary causes of stress, strategies for coping with stresses when they occur, and practical advice on developing plans for preventing the occurrence of stress in the first place are all covered. There is advice on stress-free care and management as well as riding technique and training. Conditions and diseases related to stress are discussed, along with stress-busting treatments and techniques.

What if you discovered that you could eliminate most if not all of your horses' health, hoof, and behavior problems by doing one thing. Seriously. One single thing.Joe & Kathleen Camp have eight horses. Three mustangs straight out of the wild, a rescued American Saddlebred, two Arabians, a paint and a quarter horse. And at their farm there is no colic, no laminitis, no strangles, no insulin resistance, no ulcers, no founder, no navicular issues, no cribbing, pawing, kicking, weaving, pacing, or biting.How did they accomplish all this? By eliminating stress. They banished it. Sent it packing. And you can too. Joe never intended to write a book, never mind several. He and Kathleen were just trying to figure out how to keep and care for a small group of horses that had somehow landed quite unexpectedly in their front yard. They were two complete neophytes who, a few short months before, didn't have a horse or a clue. So they were asking a lot of questions, and getting a lot of answers that didn't seem to make any sense. After stumbling through mistake after mistake, digging through an enormous amount of research, and spending a great deal of time with their little herd they discovered that either they were stark raving nuts or there was something very wrong in this world of horses. That's where The Soul of a Horse began. Thankfully for us it turned out that they weren't nuts. At least not in the clinical sense. And it was too late for them to turn back."Joe Camp is a natural when it comes to understanding how animals tick and a genius at telling us their story." - Monty Roberts, Author of NYT Best Seller The Man Who Listens to Horses"One cannot help but be touched by Camp's love and sympathy for animals and by his eloquence on the subject."Michael Korda - The Washington Post"Joe Camp is a gifted storyteller and the results are magical." Rick Lamb, Author and TV/Radio Host of The Horse Show"Joe Camp is a master storyteller." The New York Times

Control Your Stress And Enjoy Your Horse is the second part of a journey you have already started. Wherever you are right now - with your horse, your ability, your confidence and your self esteem, your destination is to be free take part in any activity or event with a sense of fun, with excitement not fear, and ride like you intended to when you first decided to get on a horse. It's not the riding you do now - or the horse that you have - or how much you have or haven't achieved in the past. Your success is already fixed in the investment you've already made, the foundation you've already laid - the time, the money, the worry, the magazines, the books, the lessons, the articles, the knowledge you've acquired, the effort, the rain, the snow, the numb fingers, the cold, the sunburn, the lugging hay bales, the early mornings and the aching muscles - all of the obstacles that you've had to go through to get where you are right now - and this same character is begging you to allow it to take you step by step to being the rider you want and deserve to be. It's inevitable and it will happen for you, and all you have to do is allow it. Every horse deserves to be ridden to the very fullest of it's potential, and every rider deserves to ride as they've always dreamt to, and you can learn not only the steps to take, but how to take those steps ..... and just what makes the achievers different to the wishers and the dreamers. "To each there comes in their lifetime special moment when they're figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour." - Winston Churchill Your riding success matters and this book is your figurative tap on the shoulder.Karl Greenwood educates the reader with witty caricatures from our own yards and thoughts seemingly plucked from our own heads, in a easy-going chatty style described as engaging mix of advice, experience and observational comedy. Over the past decade Karl has shown over 2,000 riders how to build their confidence on horses through internet courses, books, articles and live events. He is an author, public speaker hypnotherapist and confidence coach. Karl also owns and performs in The Stampede Stunt Company, and founded The Centre of Horseback Combat.He is coach to the British Dzhigitovka team, who compete in Mounted Weapons - sword, lance, pistol, throwing knife, archery and freestyle in Moscow every year at the Dzhigitovka World Championships. His equine career background is in filming, live shows, theatre and sport. His stables are based near London.

This practical book helps you interpret and connect the physical signals that horses display in response to their environment. These signals are evident in the everyday actions, gestures and attitudes that horses communicate to each other, but are often so subtle that they can go unnoticed by humans. This book aims to rectify that, offering horse lovers and equine professionals an opportunity to gain a unique insight into their 'horse's world'. Key features: includes detailed description of language signs of domestic horses, with a special emphasis on calming signals includes 275 pictures to visualize various language signs, calming signals, behaviour sequences and facial features presents communication ladders to show how a horse responds to incentives in his environment, and what signals he uses at certain moments contains tips on the use of the communication ladders and calming signals to improve the socialisation, training and wellbeing of your horse considers equine psychological stress from an environmental perspective, providing a valuable alternative to the current common clinical perspective. After reading this book you will be more astute in spotting calming signals, displacement activities, stress signals and distance-increasing signals, and better able to see which stimuli your horse can handle and which he cannot. This means you will know what to do to calm your horse before his stress rises to an unmanageable level. Language Signs and Calming Signals of Horses is both fascinating and important reading for any equine veterinary practitioner, student or nurse, as well as horse owners and trainers.

Joe Camp and his wife found that eliminating stress from their horses' environments has taken care of most health, hoof and behavior problems horses may experience.

The first complete reference to help equestrians make the changes needed to ensure social license and the ability to ride and compete horses for years to come. Renowned wild horse ecologist and equine behaviorist Mary Ann Simonds provides a practical soup-to-nuts manual for understanding how horses think, feel, learn, communicate, and interact with each other and with humans. Integrating over 30 years of field research, identifying functional social behaviors in wild horses with her lifelong professional practice working with equestrians solving equine behavioral issues, Simonds helps readers gain a strong foundation into the emotional and cognitive lives of horses and explore various horse-human relationships. She provides numerous tools for assessing personalities, communicating with horses, and understanding how horses learn, with an emphasis on improving care and reducing stress in competitions and sports. In three parts, each introduced by top researchers and scientists in the equestrian field, readers will: LEARN the natural history and social ecology of free-roaming wild horses. UNDERSTAND the instincts, learned behaviors, gender differences, social roles, and social bonds that are the driving factors in horse culture. DISCOVER how adaptable horses really are, and how that makes them an ideal species to share their social lives with humans. FOCUS on horse-human relationships applying the knowledge from Part One to reduce equine stress and improve communication in the management and training of all horses. EXPLORE how to better assess the horse’s personality and emotions, understand his learning style, and use various communication channels to establish trust, improve friendship, and enhance performance. ADDRESS the ethics of horse sports and ask the questions needed to ensure horse welfare in all the disciplines. CONSIDER dozens of changes related to horse management and competition recommended by respected industry professionals. BE EMPOWERED to be an influencer to improve the lives of horses, whatever the profession, breed, or sport. Filled with hundreds of color-coded tips and beautiful photos, and backed by science, personal stories, and unique insights, readers have multiple ways to quickly find useful information and apply it to their own horse-human situations. Whether preparing for a horse show, working with young stock, riding on the trails, adopting a wild horse, running a rescue, or just hoping to improve your communication and relationships with all horses, this book is a catalyst for much-needed change in the equine industry.

Ever wonder what it means to be “as healthy as a horse”? Equine-imity teaches you how to achieve optimal mind-body health with qigong, a tai chi-like moving meditation, in the presence of gentle, sensitive horses. Written especially for non-equestrians and non-meditators. Seven easy-to-learn exercises. International resources for how to find a horse near you. Based on our course of the same name at Stanford, Equine-imity draws on principles and techniques from yoga, tai ji, mindfulness meditation, and Reiki lovingly laid on a foundation of Daoist philosophy and Jungian psychology. From an East-meets-Western medical perspective, Equine-imity includes state-of-the art information on stress physiology, sports medicine, mirror neurons, and the physics and metaphysics of energy measurement.