Free Flow Equine Therapies - Susan Rousak

https://www.facebook.com/share/1KS9J5JEks/

I found this interesting. I'm a stockist for Inside Out Equine Health because I like Erika's knowledge and honesty, and she makes damn good products! I've been using these products for a number of years now with various horses with fantastic results.

For me, I'd trust a small business over a larger one. Probably my years in the corporate world but I saw how larger companies tended to loose the focus on quality and become more about quantity. Not what I'm after personally.

https://www.facebook.com/share/19b8mEr5qY/

Does a bigger brand mean a better product?

I had an interesting question from one of my stockists recently. A customer of theirs expressed concerns about buying supplements from a smaller company because they assumed we'd be using cheaper, imported minerals, rather than the higher-quality ingredients they believed the big companies would be using.

I found this interesting, because I'm not entirely sure why being a large company automatically makes you more trustworthy. And as someone who's been in the industry for over a decade, I don't think this is a particularly safe assumption to make.

Some of the big feed and supplement companies have marketing budgets that completely dwarf my entire annual turnover. Of course there's nothing wrong with spending money on marketing, however, why do we associate a big advertising budget with a better product?

The reality is that the size of a company tells you nothing about where its ingredients come from, the quality of those ingredients or the standards under which the product is manufactured.

I'm committed to using Australian-grown and sourced ingredients wherever possible. My h**p is Australian-grown, as are the lupins and lucerne meal used in my mineral products. The flaxseed oil is Australian-grown and produced. Everything that can be Aussie is!

Of course, not everything is available in Australia, particularly when it comes to certain vitamins and minerals, and that's the reality for businesses of every size.
All my products are manufactured here in Australia, and something I'm particularly fussy about is that they're manufactured in an equine-only mill. This is important to me because I don't want my products manufactured on equipment that also processes feeds containing substances such as monensin, lasalocid or urea, which present serious risks to horses. Do I pay extra for this? Abso-freaking-lutely I do! The health and welfare of horses is my number one priority.

My manufacturer also has established quality control procedures and undertakes regular testing. I'm not suggesting that being a small business automatically makes my products better, any more than being a large business makes someone else's products worse.

However, it's absolutely worth questioning why we're so quick to trust a familiar brand name, yet sometimes suspicious of a smaller business simply because we haven't seen its logo plastered everywhere. A big marketing budget doesn't guarantee a better product, and a small marketing budget doesn't mean corners have been cut.

Perhaps we should be judging products on what's actually in them, how they're manufactured and whether they're appropriate for the horse, rather than how much money the company spends convincing us to buy them.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1HHouXi6JG/

Lack lustre.

We often assume pain in the horse is a dramatic scene, a huge explosion, a reactive mind, the spook, the rushing, yet we often miss the quiet discontent, the horse that often has an explosive moment often has a quiet before.

We often put a personality trait rather than a painful reaction to continue to do things, the grumpy girther, the stubborn limb lifter, the pinned ears are a symbol of colour and gender rather than a unhappy horse.

We often put a time limit on investigation, one visit, one diagnostic tool declaring nothing found or if something is then that is the only cause, yet we know when we see things its often become insidious reaching every part of the horse, mind and body locked down, in a protective state.

If a muscle is tight we simply think by adding length we resolve the issue, yet if we look at it as in a protective state, we would simply keep pulling the limb until we found the length we desire no matter how much the body gave us the indication it was feeling in crisis by the minute resistance we often miss.

If we reflect to ourselves when not feeling good, we often want to be left alone, we slow down, we become more methodical about our movement, our personality only changes when we are asked to much of what our mind and body is telling us what is in the safe zone and what may represent more damage. Yet we disregard anthropomorphism because thinking our horses might feel the same way about pain like we do is somehow seen as a fault, but maybe if we did we might address the issue quicker, we may not push our horses past it, train the pain away, adjust their body to an ideal they cannot hold.

Change and not accepting this is just how things are are the friends of the horse, if someone tells you its normal when you think its not then listen to your voice, dont dismiss those niggles for they are the quiet alarm bells beginning to ring, dont let them get to loud before you believe what your horse is desperately trying to tell you.

I hope everyone attending The Bungendore Show has a fabulous time! I'm very happy to be sponsoring some classes with beautiful prizes!

Mandy from ErgoX2 of Sweden in Australia is coming back to Canberra in November. You may not need a new saddle but I highly recommend the rider assessments in order to understand your balance and how you might be able to help your horse better 🙂

And sorry not sorry if you try the saddles and fall in love..... 😄

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CCHpt9j7o/

So my Friday didn't quite go to plan 🤦🏻‍♀️ Hopefully it's something minor! Luckily I have a very supportive husband who came out with the other car and let me finish my day while he waited for the tow truck, so huge thanks to him!

One of the hardest parts of being a bodyworker…

…is noticing something in a horse that isn’t actually a problem yet — but could become one.

And honestly, this can be a tricky place to be as a bodyworker.

Do I tell the owner what I’m seeing? And if I do… what do we actually do about it?

Of course, in an ideal world, we’d get veterinary diagnostics. But the reality is that when something is mild, subtle or more biomechanical in nature, there may not be anything obvious for a vet to find.

There are often things an owner can do — exercises to strengthen an area, improve balance, address movement patterns or simply support the horse before it becomes a bigger issue.

But let’s be honest… sometimes those exercises don’t happen. 😂
It’s hard! I know — I’m guilty of not always doing my own horse’s exercises too. 🤣

So this is something I’d really love to hear your thoughts on:

Would you want your bodyworker to tell you if they noticed something that wasn’t a problem yet, but could potentially become one?

Even if there isn’t a clear answer or solution?

Or would you rather not know until there’s an actual problem?

I’m genuinely curious. 👇

A couple of updates:

Unfortunately, due to all the increasing costs of everything, I'm going to have to increase my prices of equine bodywork services by $10 and canine bodywork services by $5. This will be effective from 01 November 2026.

I am also unable to take card payments effective immediately.
Due to recent legislative changes, card fees can no longer be added to the cost of the transaction. I only have a few clients that pay via card and so I've not included those charges in my service costs. I'd rather not increase my fees further, so at this point I will only accept cash or bank transfer for payment.

Thank you everyone for your ongoing support! I know everything is getting expensive and if you are worried about costs, please let me know so we can come up with a plan 😊

Please enjoy this photo from my recent trip from Western Australia

Thinking of entering our online competition, here is some more info!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14pLvsBzEm7/

Submitting Online Competition Videos Filmed your test? Uploaded your video? Here is how to send your online competition entry to Lagoballo for judging.One of the lovely things about an online competition is being able to ride your test in a familiar environment, with your own horse and without the float trip, parking puzzle or traditio...