Silverhand Ranch

11/10/2024

This little escape artist is finally secure.

06/21/2024

Happy Summer Solstice!

05/27/2024

So good to be back in the saddle. This warm weather brings a bit of hope and energy that is greatly needed. Hope you all are enjoying the weather!

04/13/2023

Spring is here!

04/09/2023

02/15/2023

This is old news to a lot of people who have educated themselves about the anatomy of the hoof, but it's a great reminder. As long as the hoof is in the proper shape, it should be able to withstand most work. When shoes are needed, there are plenty of temporary hoof protection options like boots, which are becoming increasingly popular for good reason.

The tough part for a lot of horses is getting that hoof to the proper, balanced shape. There are many kinds of hoof distortions that can be seen with the naked eye and we like to educate horse owners about what to look for in a healthy hoof. Unfortunately, we see a lot of work by trimmers and farriers that is less than desirable. That's why we started searching out an education in problems of the hoof and how to help them by manipulating the hoof so the horse walks itself into the proper hoof shape.

For more information, email us at [email protected]!

Preliminary results of a research project studying the movements and forces of shod and unshod horses find that “traditional iron shoes change the hoof’s ability to expand and contract across tracts, as well as the tracts’ ability to move up and down in relation to each other.”

10/30/2022

When you are training their brains, are you also training their body? A horse's posture can either be beneficial or detrimental to their overall health and comfort. And as we know, the more discomfort a horse feels, the less engaged their brain is!

08/28/2022

I'm very happy to announce that after almost a year of studying, practicing, attending clinics and spending countless hours on case studies, I have just finished Block 1 of the Masterson Method certification course. It has taken a lot of sweat and a few tears (luckily no blood) to get here.

I started this for a client of ours - a beautiful red roan mare named Queenie. Despite being healthy and young, Queenie was so reactive that it was clear she was in extreme discomfort. Unfortunately, I could strongly relate to this personally and I wanted to do anything I could to help her. Enter the Masterson Method.

The basics of this modality are so simple and gentle, that anyone with patience and ability to read a horse can do it, without any risk to the horse. As I built my skills and confidence, I used them to help Queenie, who is doing so well now. I continued on to help our horse, as well as many others. I can see the difference this work has made and it's beyond rewarding.

I'm looking forward to the next steps of the journey and thank everyone, horses included, who have helped to support and instruct me so far!

- Alysabeth

08/06/2022

Working up to a good release!