Be Well At

Wellspring Farm

Holiday Edition Newsletter

A Note From Tiffany

"I think so often, what people misunderstand about boundaries is that the point of setting them is not to change other people's behavior or convince them to value different things- it is to advocate for yourself regardless of how they respond."

Daniell Koepke

Boundaries are like fences for behavior. ALL relationships need boundaries, and that includes relationships between horses and humans. The obvious benefit of boundaries for horses, first and foremost, is to keep humans safe. The less obvious benefit, is that boundaries make horses feel safe.

Like fences, healthy boundaries define what is acceptable for a horse (or a person).

They allow both parties to understand expectations.

When boundaries are set, they provide choices, options for change, and new perspectives on things we always felt the need to "give in to" or are "just stuck with".

Let me give a real-life example, you are leading a horse that sees a trash truck coming towards them. You feel the horse getting tense, the horse lifts their head and starts making snorting noises like a fire-breathing dragon.

They are ready to lose it-give them a choice!

Set a boundary.

Stop your horse and back them up a couple of steps, then offer them the back of your hand to sniff and a kind word. Let the horse know that they have a choice. They can flip out and live in fear of the loud, smelly, unusually shaped monster driving by, OR they can reset and reconnect with their handler and learn that they have an option through boundaries to live a more peaceful life.

Another example in our human life is, receiving a text from an old friend. They are coming to town with their husband and two kids. She is wondering if they could stay at your house for a couple of days. As we read, we get tense, and a sense of dread and feeling overwhelmed is setting in. You don't want to let an old friend down, but you also don't have time to get the house ready for their stay.

What do you do?!

STOP, RESET, and RECONNECT with yourself.

You now see you have options to respond to your friend in a kind AND firm way to decline their stay without feeling guilty you set a boundary for your well-being.

We ALL have choices to set healthy boundaries and live our lives with our horses and each other peacefully.

The holiday season is a perfect time to remind all of you that setting boundaries with people and horses is okay!

Boundaries advocate for your peace and happiness in life and your safety and happiness with horses!



Be Well, Happy Holidays and please practice setting boundaries!

2nd Picture down is Karly Hosterman completing Introductory at Harvestfest 2023

3rd Picture down is Brooke Hill jumping stadium with Baloney at his very first event at Loch Moy in 2020

Baloney

Baloney, also known as "Baloney the Pony" (BTP) is a 15-year-old, 12.1-hand high, chestnut pony mix.

K.C. adopted Baloney from the New Holland Auction in 2018 at the age of 10.

Baloney was scared of his own shadow when he arrived. You could tell he did not trust humans very much. As we do whenever a horse comes from auction they go into quarantine. Well, thank goodness that protocol was followed because, within a couple of weeks, Baloney got sick. In fact, very, very sick. With symptoms of fever, loss of appetite and then developing into being wobbly on his feet, and loss of coordination. It was confirmed with a blood test, that Baloney had West Nile Virus (WNV)!

WNV is a viral disease in the Flavivirus family that can result in fever and neurologic disease. The virus can infect horses, humans, and many different species of birds. Clinical signs of the disease usually present within about 15 days after a bite from an infected mosquito. The virus was introduced to the United States in 1999, since then over 27,000 horses have been infected and WNV is considered an endemic disease.

We know there are no treatments for a virus, Baloney was given a lot of love and time to recover. Luckily Baloney was a fighter and survived WNV.

Baloney's training started very slowly. He needed to learn to trust, which is a slow process that can not be rushed. Over time and with help from many at Wellspring Baloney flourished into the pony he is today! What kinda of pony is he? He is a summer camp pony, the pony ride pony, the lesson pony, and the eventing pony!

The pony that may look sour on the outside with his tiny ears back while working face, but is a sweetheart on the inside!

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