Equine Therapy

Posted on July 10, 2018 by blogeditor

Equine Therapy in Littleton

Mental health is an issue that many Americans deal with on a daily basis. In researching options, you may have come across the term Equine Therapy. This is a unique and experiential type of therapy that involves interactions between people and horses. Also, you may hear the terms Horse Therapy or Horse Assisted Therapy. These terms refer to equine therapy and the definition given above.

Patients engage in certain activities such as grooming, feeding, haltering and leading a horse. Mental health professional supervise the activity. Make sure that the animal is comfortable during the process. Opportunity strikes during the activity and after the patient has finished working with the horse. Therefore, the equine therapist can observe and interact with the patient. This will help to identify behavior patterns and process thoughts and emotions.

Additionally, consider making the move to Littleton. Littleton is a great place to live, work, and raise a family. However, is it close to the premier horse therapy center Happy Dog Ranch. Search for homes in Littleton now, many of which include accommodations for horses on the land. Here you will find a link to information about the equine therapy ranch in Littleton.

Colorado Horses

Posted on June 20, 2018 by blogeditor

Colorado Horses

Colorado horses form groups called harems. A harem has one adult male, several females, their foals, and younger horses of both sexes. This also includes one to five stallions. Each group is led by a dominant mare. Harems are usually small, containing between three and thirty-five animals; this number changes as young animals are driven out of their natal band and join other bands, or as stallions challenge each other for dominance.

Do not confuse a band or harem with a herd. In herds, there is usually a single stallion, though occasionally a few less-dominant males may remain on the fringes of the group.

Horse Hierarchy

It is no secret that horses have evolved to live in herds. As with many animals that live in large groups, establishment of a stable hierarchical system is important to reduce aggression and increase group cohesion. Dominance can depend on a variety of factors, including an individual horse’s need for a particular resource at a given time. Some horses may be dominant over all resources and others may be submissive for all resources.

The herd stallion is not the king of a harem of females. The horse that tends to lead a wild or feral herd is often a dominant mare. The mare will lead the herd to food and other resources as well as control the groups routine and movement. This mare will ensure the general health of the group of horses under her.

However, there was a recent theory published that says there is no single horse that leads the group. In this 2014 study, researches observed many harems. They discovered some herd movements may have been started by any individual horse. They also found that some higher-ranked mares are followed more often by other herd members. For more information on horses and their behaviors, contact Colorado Horse Property.

Colorado Feral Horses

Posted on June 13, 2018 by blogeditor

Colorado Feral Horses

What are Colorado feral horses? Feral horses are horses that live in an untamed state but have ancestors who have been domesticated. This separates them from what are commonly known as “wild” horses. In fact, there are zero original wild horses from pre-domestication times that are in existence today. Therefore every horse living in the wild today are in all technicality feral.

The best-known examples of feral horses are the “wild” horses of the American west, including Colorado. When Europeans reintroduced many horse breeds to the Americas some horses escaped and formed feral herds. We call these herds “mustangs” today. For more information on feral horses in Colorado, contact Colorado Horse Property.

Feral Horses Around the World

In North America, feral horses are descendants of horses that were domesticated in Europe. Certain genes show similarities of both modern and fossil North American horses. However, they are not members of the same species. The west protects feral horses under the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971. But Colorado is not the only place where these horses can be found. You will find feral horses in parts of Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, India, and many other countries.

Australia has the largest population of feral horses in the world, with in excess of 400,000 horses. The Australian name equivalent to the ‘Mustang’ is the Brumby. English settlers brought these feral descendants of horses to Australia. More than 400 feral horses live in the foothills of Cincar mountain in Bosnia and Herzegovina. These animals, which descend from horses set free by their owners in the 1950s, enjoy a protected status since 2010.

Horse Sleeping Patterns

Posted on June 8, 2018 by blogeditor

Horse Sleeping Patterns

Just like us, horses must sleep to stay energized and healthy throughout the day. But how much do horses sleep and what about horse sleeping patterns? Horses can sleep both standing up and lying down. Horses are able to sleep standing up because a “stay apparatus” in their legs allows them to relax their muscles and sleep without falling over.

Humans tend to need an unbroken period of sleep, but horses do not. Horses sleep in short periods of rest. Horses usually spend anywhere from four to fifteen hours a day in standing rest (not to be confused with sleep), and from a few minutes to several hours lying down. The total sleep time in a day may range from several minutes to two hours.

Horses require approximately two and a half hours of sleep, on average, in a twenty-four hour period. Most of this sleep occurs in many short intervals of about fifteen minutes each. These short periods of sleep consist of five minutes of slow-wave sleep, followed by five minutes of rapid eye movement sleep (REM) and then another five minutes of slow-wave sleep.

Horse REM Sleep

Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep, REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, distinguishable by random/rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied with low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream vividly.

Horses must lie down to reach REM sleep. They only have to lie down for an hour or two every few days to meet their minimum REM sleep requirements. If a horse is never allowed to lie down, after several days it will become sleep-deprived. Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while others stand guard to watch for predators. For information on horse sleep patterns, contact your veterinarian. For a list of horse clinicians in Colorado, provided to you by Colorado Horse Property, check out our Local Resources page.

Renting for Horse Owners

Posted on March 19, 2018 by blogeditor

Do you own your own horse in Colorado but don’t own your home? Do you rent an apartment and board your horse? There are many reasons why a horse owner should own their own home. Colorado Horse Property has over 10,00 horse property listings. Also, we are committed to getting you into the horse property you and your horses deserve. Here are a few problems with renting in general.

Rending As A Horse Owner

The problem with renting is that you payment is higher that what home owners are paying for their mortgage payment including taxes and insurance. The experts in the field are saying that we may never again experience the incredibly low mortgage interest rates currently available. When you rent, you do not have the same advantage that homeowners have by using their home as a leveraged investment.

If you are renting, consider looking for loans that could help you buy your own home. Talk to a loan professional to find out exactly what types of loans are available and the specific down payment required. Remember, down payments can be a whole lot less than twenty percent, and therefore very affordable. Contact Colorado Horse Property for a referral to a loan professional near you.

ATM Safety Tips

Posted on January 18, 2018 by blogeditor

ATM safety is important for everyone. Using the ATM is almost a weekly thing for a lot of us. Especially during the holidays, you need some cash for those last minute gift purchases. Nowadays you can find an ATM almost anywhere you spend cash. This includes the mall, gas stations, sports venues, grocery stores, and even outside of your bank. Therefore, you don’t have to go inside and deal with a teller just to make a small withdrawal.

This makes accessing your funds easy, however it is also easy to have your personal information compromised. No one wants to have their information and money stolen just because they were distracted for a moment at the ATM. The following are a few tips that can help you keep your accounts safe from theft. Looking for a First Bank ATM in Colorado? Try these ATM locations.

ATM Safety Tips

Be Prepared
Having your card out and ready and knowing what you plan to do at the ATM can reduce the time spent in front of the machine and therefore the window that thieves have to steal your information. Remember, if you are making a withdrawal you can always count your money when you are safely back in your car.
Shield the Keypad
You are probably not the only one needing to get money out of the machine, but any of those people that are in the queue behind you could be a thief in disguise. Always shield the keypad when entering your PIN. This is the first line of defense against your account being compromised, so don’t share it with anyone or even write it down.
Drive-Up ATMS
If you are using an ATM from the safety of your car, you could still be at risk. Be alert and aware of your surroundings during the entirety of the transaction. Keep your car doors locked and the other windows in your car raised. Don’t accept help from strangers.
Walk-Up ATMs
If you aren’t in your car, make sure to choose a machine in a safe place—if it is night, then make sure the location has adequate lighting. Some thieves out there are technologically inclined and use skimming devices to steal your information so if someone looks suspicious then find another machine.
Post-Withdrawal
Don’t put your guard down just because you are done taking your funds from the ATM. Stay aware if you are on the street; someone could be following you. If you think that you are being tailed, then stay drop into a busy store with lots of people and call the police immediately.