In addition to providing honest advice, we at AskHELTIE believe it's important to have a wealth of information available for horse owners. This way, you can expand your knowledge and help your horse to the best of your ability. Together, we ensure that horses come a little closer to nature.
Guest blog
Stress
Guest blog HOPE for Horses: Sometimes you have to invest first!
I had to laugh a little at this title myself! Anyone who owns horses knows that keeping them is, or can be, quite an investment. As long as your horse is healthy, it’s all manageable, but when health issues arise, the costs can really add up.. I often hear, "My horse doesn't have that," or "My horse doesn't do that," or "My horse isn't bothered by that..." Well, great! Keep it that way! Horses are puzzles When I look at a horse, I actually see puzzle pieces. Either they fit perfectly together, or a few pieces are missing. Sometimes the puzzle has been forced together in a way that it might need to be taken apart first. Many of my clients have horses like this. The pieces have been forced together—at all c...
Guest blog
Behaviour
Guest blog
Guest blog HOPE for Horses: what are we doing?
Heady title of this blog huh? I agree, but it should perhaps be discussed at some point. Because, what are we doing in horse country?. Not too long ago, I helped an incredibly sweet girl with her horse (and they're not alone). The first time I saw them, a few things about this horse caught my attention. Thick neck, little muscle on the neck, no muscles on the back. So, a very thick neck, but the muscles elsewhere on his neck were simply gone. Not every horse has a nice "fat neck," but you can see when the balance is off in the horse's body. Additionally, sensitive all over the back. Barely able to walk "normally&...
Guest blog
Lymphatic system
Guest blog Marjan Cornelis: How to prevent CPL from worsening
Marjan Cornelis is an orthomolecular nutritionist and lymphatic drainage therapist for horses. She has extensive experience treating horses with CPL and has a draft horse with CPL herself. In this guest blog, Marjan is going to tell you more about the condition CPL. What is CPL? What can you do if you think your horse has CPL and how best to care for a horse with CPL. But most importantly, how can you prevent CPL from getting worse? You can read about it in this blog.. What is CPL? Chronic Progressive Lymphoedema (=CPL) is a condition of the legs of horses and is common in cold horses with fur and in Friesians. Years ago, CPL was only seen in heavier horse breeds such as draft horses and Shires, but nowadays it is also seen in many Tinkers and Friesians, recently, unfortunately, CPL has also been observed in other breeds. There are different manifestations of CPL and different stages at which a horse can have CPL. The abbreviation (CPL) stands for: Chronic Pro...
Behaviour
Guest blog
Stress
The introverts, it's not about what you see!
*Written from personal experience by Marjolijn.* "People often say "What a calm horse you have", "She doesn't seem to startle easily", "How nice to have such a cool cucumber". These are a few comments I regularly hear about my mare Floxely. And yes, from the outside she does appear calm, and in daily interaction she is quiet and composed. She is not a horse that immediately freaks out when she sees or hears something strange, or at least... you don't see it, but internally there's a lot going on. And that's where the "danger" lies with introverted horses/introverts.. Looks can be deceiving You often see Floxely passing by on social media and she is also depicted on the label of our dandelion tincture. She is a Friesian x Tinker mare who has been with me her entire life. A big, tough mare with an imposing presence and everyone who sees her in person finds her beautiful. And she is, she is fantastic, both in appearance and character. But she always gets labeled: calm, cool, easy, and relaxed. But looks can be deceiving! Floxely is an incredibly sensitive mare,...
Behaviour
Guest blog
# HOPE for Horses: Respect always pays back
So, "the suffering caused by fireworks" is behind us for a while. No matter how well you prepare your horses, it's not their favorite day.. Respect for the leader Since the former leader is no longer around, the new leader (Trustful) is insecure during New Year's Eve. He runs back and forth, wanting to keep everyone together. When another horse experiences stress, he wants to be there. Because it's not practical for us to leave all horses outside, this is the only time of the year when a door is placed in the stable. Not all horses are inside, some trust in the new leader's abilities. They are just as calm as Trustful used to be. Th...
Behaviour
Guest blog
Stress
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HOPE for Horses: Training with a traumatized horse.
Sometimes you buy/receive a horse of which you already know that it comes with some baggage. And sometimes a horse comes into your life of which you suspect that there are already some items in the baggage, but it is not clear at first.. Most traumas are not physical Traumas are definitely not always just physical. No, most of the traumas our horses experience are of a different nature, namely: Often moved Overwhelmed Constant pain Stress from a changing herd Stress from improper housing Low-quality roughage Poor quality of the ground. Just a few possibilities where stress can come from, but the list is much longer. Feeling safe on the ground One of our horses had enormous stress from the ground. As soon as it rained for a longe...
Guest blog
Guest blog Finecto+: Is keeping chickens with horses dangerous?
People who have animals at home usually don't just keep one type of animal. Often, it becomes a whole stack of animals that run around and live together. With chickens, there are often problems with mites, especially red mites can be a huge nuisance. Is it dangerous to keep chickens and horses together? Finecto+, specialist in the control of red mites, explains!. What are red mites? Red mites is actually the wrong name, they are actually mites, but generally the name red mites is used. These mites occur on birds, poultry, and also on reptiles. But especially with chickens, red mites are a huge nuisance. Infection usually occurs by adding a new chicken, but wild birds often bring an infestation of red mites as well. Red mites are extremely persistent, a real nuisance, they reproduce very fast, so within a week a few red mites can become 10,000 red mites....
Guest blog
Feeding
Guest blog Vitalbix: How to choose a good balancer?
A balancer is meant to restore the balance in your horse's diet. This means: replenishing the vitamins and minerals that are not present in the roughage or grass, tailored to your horse's needs. Madelief from Vitalbix tells AskHeltie how to make a good choice for your horse.. “If you feed your horse exclusively roughage, there's a high chance of deficiencies,” says Madelief. “The soil is poor in minerals such as copper, zinc, and selenium. Horses that don’t graze often don't get enough vitamins A, D, and E either. These mineral and vitamin deficiencies are often not immediately apparent but can surface in the long term. This leads to various problems, such as a weakened immune system, poor hooves or coat, and weaker muscles, tendons, and bones. It can take years for...
Guest blog
Stress
Guest blog HOPE for Horses: Stress in horses
The science has discovered that when a body is experiencing stress, cell division occurs differently than when there is no stress. This is the reason why a body becomes "sick". The stress remains in your cell, so every cell that divides afterwards carries the information of the stress again. Only when this stress is released can the next cell division take place without the information from the stress! It's pretty cool how something like this works, right?! But then, the question may arise: How do you relieve the stress?. Learning to release stress I think we all know that being exposed to stress for a long time or frequently is not beneficial for health. Unfortunately, you cannot escape stress, it is a given that you will have to deal with stress in your life. The good news is that you can learn how to deal with it and how to release stress. This varies from person to person and certainly also from horse to horse! Knowing that avoiding stress is impossible, how can we help release the stress? From well-behaved t...
Guest blog
Feeding
What nutrition and supplements does Floxely, the horse of our colleague Marjolijn, receive?
At HELTIE horse, we are all horse girls and each have our own horse. Talking about horses, horse health, and horse nutrition fits perfectly within our interests. We always discuss healthy food, natural food, grain-free, low in sugar, etc. But how do we apply this to our own horses? What do we feed them? In this section, Marjolijn will explain what she feeds her mare, Floxely.. Getting to know Floxely You may have already seen Floxely in photos on social media and blogs. Floxely is an 11-year-old mare, a crossbreed of Friesian and Tinker. She stands at 1.67m tall and recently weighed over 770 kg. Floxely has been my horse since day 1, so she has been my companion for 11 years and I know her like the back of my hand. She's a true mare, so her nicknames are Milady and Tuthola. Floxely is always honest, caring, and has a great sense of humor. When it comes to nutrition, F...
Guest blog
Respiratory
Guest blog: Francis Dalebout - The Limits of Supplements in respiratory complaints and where homeopathy goes further.
Hay fever, pollen allergy, dust allergy, asthma... Many horses suffer chronically from respiratory problems with coughing, excessive mucus production, and often even breathing difficulties. This never develops overnight; usually, it is preceded by a period of increasingly clear symptoms.. When the first cough arises, we try some supplements, some herbs, we ensure a dust-free environment, and then we hope it will go away. And sometimes it does. If it doesn't, then we go to the vet for 'stronger measures.' Sometimes that's enough, but more often than not, the treatment needs to be repeated regularly because the symptoms don't stay away permanently. And now that you think about it... secretly, it's getting a little worse, taking longer to recover, or the bad periods are coming close...