OM on the Range Alternative Therapies

Intestinal worms Naturally, we think that horses’ intestinal worms live and cause damage in the intestines we are finding the worms in the poo, we are testing... for an egg occurrence in the fecal balls, right? But many worms are doing even more harm out of the intestinal lumen. There are some worms that will travel through out the horse’s body causing inflammation of different tissue and organs (as a round worms or large strongyles). Maybe you have heard about verminous arteritis or verminous aneurysm. Those are a culprit of large strongyles (usually called bloodworms), one particular - Strongylus vulgaris. The large majority of adult S. vulgaris specimens are found in the cecum, but a few can sometimes be located in the ventral colon. The complete life cycle takes up to 6 months, with about 4 months spent in the mesenteric arteries. Ingested third-stage larvae (L3) exits the large intestines and enter into lumen of arteriole (small artery) and will swim against the blood flow into artery at its origin (or root - where the artery branches from the aorta). The cranial mesentery artery or celiac artery are usually the most affected vessels. Larvae damage the inner layer of the vessel, causing an inflammation (called verminous arteritis). Inflamed intima (inner lining of the vessel) encourages platelets adhesion which will progress into thrombus (a clot) formation and narrowing the lumen of the artery. Many times the larvae can be found in the trombus material (picture). Sometimes the wall of the vessel is so damaged and weakened that it balloons (bulges) and enlarges - that is called an aneurysm. The symptoms appear when there are complications like rupture, thrombosis, or distal embolization. Both conditions are common causes of colic in horses. Thromboembolic colic occurs due to embolic occlusion of mesenteric arteries and the focal ischemia (no blood supply) of the jejunum, colon, or cecum. The aneurysm may rupture and that causes catastrophic blood loss and possibly sudden death, especially if the aorta involved. For my Patrons I prepared a little video from my recent dissection. Thank you for your support. https://www.patreon.com/equineanatomyinlayers

A number of years ago I had an interesting lesson with a student. The rider was struggling with getting a constant contact with her horse. After watch both of ...them move around the arena for a while and seeing the mare, chomp, and fiddle with her tongue and bit I asked the rider where is your tongue sitting in your mouth? To this the rider stopped the horse and said how the hell did you know that so it turns out that this rider has a gap in-between one of her upper molars and she has a habit of twisting her tongue to place the tongue in the gap. When I asked her to place her tongue softly onto the top of her mouth the horse became quite in its contact and as the lesson went on the horse began to move freer in the shoulders, the rider’s tonal quality of her arms into her hand and fingers became a soft tone. So why is this so, I asked myself, and did some research. Why would the riders tongue affect the horses tongue so much? Well from what I have researched the hyoid bone is part of the tongue movement apparatuses as the omohyoid muscle origin site at the superior border of the scapula and can vary in location and in size, and at times the muscle also originates from the superior transverse scapular ligament. The attachment of the central tendon can be only to the clavicle or to the clavicle and the first rib. Wow I thought so when her tongue curls up a whole tension goes from her tongue down to her shoulder which must create a tension down her whole arm to her hand. This in turn puts a tension onto the rein and bit which travels onto the horse’s tongue, so guess what this also affects the horses hyoid bone and his omohyoid muscle into the shoulder causing the tight steps and fussy mouth. It’s a circle of tension. Along with this is the TMJ joint of both parties again the hyoid bone, which is located in the throat latch area in the horse and upper throat of the human comes into play, as the hyoid connects to the larynx, pharynx and tongue and articulates with the temporal bone. With the horse it’s more complex as the TMJ also has the ear movement involved so mouthy horses, head shakers or sensitivity in this area could be a having tension in this area, if the rider is tight in the hyoid or TMJ it should be checked out. If a rider is constantly clamping the jaw I often get them to chew gum to help prevent this. I was so fascinated by this I asked Sharon May Davies to show me the hyoid of the horse on my last course with her. I was amazed how big it was and yet frail it was. And so when the rider asked me how did I know that, it was a simple answer the horse told me but I did tell them the next day exactly why it was affecting her mare after doing some research. It’s all part of looking outside the box, to find a solution which works for the horse and can carefully guide the rider into a better place. Sometimes the rider makes the coach look deeper as to the why something worked. Your gut feel can’t always be enough information for the rider. Also by having hard facts it takes away the mystical element of the lesson. View and follow my blog posts https://annmontgomery.com.au/can-the-riders-jaw-affect-the/

This is what frustrates me about the saddle industry. Both of these saddles are "full quarter horse bars" with 7" gullets (as correctly measured between the co...ncho's and listed as such by the manufacturers). But clearly the difference in flare and bar angle is huge! Saddle on the right is a Martin and the saddle on the left is a Charmayne James by Cactus. Why can't we buy saddles by bar angle????? **edited to say - I didn’t take this pic - found it on FB about 4 years ago from someone who forwarded it. The original mastermind is Jenny Barnes - I found out from her posting here that she took the picture. Hats off to Jenny for trying to educate folks to begin with so ! See more

Happy Thanksgiving from OM on the Range Alternative Therapies! Wishes of warmth and peace to all my wonderful clients, friends and family.Happy Thanksgiving from OM on the Range Alternative Therapies! Wishes of warmth and peace to all my wonderful clients, friends and family.

Amazing fascia. This photo was taken after the skin was removed from the equine leg during a whole horse dissection that I did. Fascia holds everything together... and is present in the whole of the horses body (and humans too). Some fascia is full of water and substances to help it glide, and other deeper fascia is thick like tendons. It holds nerves, lymph vessels and nerves. It covers muscles tendons and ligaments. It seems to be a bit of a buzz word in 2020 but I think bodyworkers have known about it for a long time. Feel free to comment as I love learning from you and so do my followers. My studies- http://www.patreon.com/hoofstudies My supporter- Australian Farriers Conference https://www.australianfarriersconference.com.au YouTube- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtZyYceJ1CXR7LVpJm4Y3tA