Holiday Greetings from Women & Horses

In case you missed it, "Aromatherapy for Horses" was the feature of The Rick Lamb Show on RFD-TV in October. This program stemmed from an interview Rick did with me during the World Equestrian Games 2010. Rick Lamb's production team did a beautiful job in putting it all together and we have it here for you to click on and watch or go to the home page of my website www.womenandhorses.com.

We received a tremendous response from this show from horse people all over the world wanting to purchase The InBalance Horse oil blend.  We had orders from rural Iowa to Ireland, New York City to Dusseldorf, Germany.  And from the early reports people are experiencing very positive results.  I have a few to share with you in this newsletter.

The power of aromatherapy, endorphin release and acupressure continue to amaze and inspire me. I have Swift Taylor's yearling half brother under my care now and he is a big strapping colt. These natural tools have given me the depth of relationship and the positive mental attitude toward his training that I seek. When a horse that has had this kind of foundation goes into serious training, people notice the difference. The horse is trusting, confident, and clear about accepting direction.

Until December 31 you can take advantage of a special holiday offer on the oil blend and the DVD. Just click on the green "Special Holiday Offer" below for this special offer and check it out.    

SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER 

Purchase The InBalance Horse oil blend get a free DVD and a $5 discount on your next purchase.

The InBalance Horse oil blend is a unique and thoughtful gift for anyone involved with horses and will last for months. The oil blend comes in a blue cobalt glass bottle with dropper and artful label. The bottle is safely packaged in a purple velvet drawstring pouch with user guide card inside. Plus, you get the how-to-use the aromatherapy oil blend demonstration DVD free! Your gift will have added impact by including your friends in our free subscriber list.Subscribers receive Mary Midkiff's newsletters, notices, resource tips and training aids, and receive notice of special offers which Mary creates during the year similar to this Holiday offer. 

You can have the kind of relationship you have always wanted plus share it with your friends. The InBalance Horse oil blend also gives you a tool to recommend when you see someone who could use a little help with horse behavior issues. Another added benefit is it tends to help the person focus and relax too!

I wish you and your friends, family and horses a very happy and safe holiday season!

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Magnet therapy can be a great help during cold weather months. I have a wonderful magnet blanket that I bought for $50 about 10 years ago that I still use today. You can find this blanket, no longer for $50 but still very reasonably priced, at sstack.com. It is basically a fly sheet with magnets placed on the acupressure points. It works so well and my horses relax and enjoy the comforting feelings it offers.

Any magnet blanket will help but the blanket I use was cleverly designed to touch on key acupressure points while stimulating the ions in the blood stream. If I am going to work with my horse I will put the magnet blanket on, start my grooming with head and oil blend/massage process, neck, hooves, mane and tail, fold the shoulder section of the blanket over the rump and continue my grooming.

I continue by bringing the blanket fully over the back again, then folding it from the tail forward onto the shoulders and finish. By then it has usually taken about 15-20 minutes and your horse should be sufficiently warm and the circulation process complete. If it is deeply cold you may want to give it another 10 minutes. You shouldn't need any more time than that.

Now your horse is ready to be tacked up and go right into work. You could add some ground work before you mount but I hope this will help you minimize or eliminate your need to lunge. I just get on my horse and walk him for a few minutes and do some lateral work then go into the trot or gait. This process can really eliminate a lot of stress and warm up time before you ride.

I used it the other day when we had a very cold rain and my horse was soaking wet and shivering. I brought him in and put on the magnet blanket for about 20 minutes and took it off. He was warm throughout his back and content.

Magnets can also help you stay warm. I have magnet boot inserts that I wear everyday that I purchased from a Nikken representative. They not only keep my feet warm but provide excellent circulation and help with my balance in the saddle.

Swift Taylor Heads to Florida

It's been a couple of months since my last report on Swift Taylor. She was training very well with fast workouts, had passed on starting gate requirements and her trainer was looking at the condition books to find her a starting or maiden race, when she came back from training one morning with a tiny shin splint.

Tom and I were on vacation so I could not be there to actually see the injury but we were told what happened which is very common for youngsters and given a few options by the vet. The options went from very radical severe quick fixes to various expensive therapies to sending her back to me and giving her time off. We chose the later.

So Rita and I were back together again for about 6 weeks. It was up to me to manage her very competitive mind and body. She had loads of energy to expend and I had to contain it to help her mend. I started right away with the oil blend, my massage techniques and putting Arnica on her front legs. I used my photonic health laser therapy daily and did some cold hosing when the weather would allow.

Unfortunately I also had to use 1/2 to 1 cc of oral tranquilizer each morning to keep her from acting out and further inflaming her injury.  You may remember that Peggy Cummings is my mentor and I used everything I had learned from Peggy's "Connected Ground Work" techniques. I worked with Rita in the indoor arena each morning for the first 2 weeks using the connected ground work to get her to release through the poll and spine and shift the nervous system.

Once she was completely calm and 100% connected to me, then I could trust her to be turned out in her paddock and quietly graze or we could tack her up and walk under saddle. Occasionally I would take her to the round pen and let her play in the deep sand for a few minutes to blow off steam.

From those first 3 weeks of high maintenance she slowly began to settle and I was able to back off the tranquilizer and keep the same responses. We began jogging then galloping her slowly again and by the end of the 6 weeks the injury had become smooth cold bone and she was ready to go back into training.

She is now with a wonderful rehab trainer, Randy Bradshaw in Ocala, Florida. Randy and I are always on the same wavelength as fellow holistic trainers. It's been great finding other like minded people in this tough racing world. Once she is fully prepared she will go to my good friend and outstanding race trainer, John Ward at Palm Meadows. If all goes well she may be in her first race at Gulfstream this winter.

I miss her and love her but she is so ready to move on. She loves the race game and loves to train more than anything else. What a joy to see her in her element!