Highland Springs Equestrian Center

06/04/2025

04/21/2025

SOLD OUT!!! SOLD OUT!!! SOLD OUT!!!
Once again the smart horsemen and women have voted that this seminar is unequaled in its presentation, deep content and worthwhile practical knowledge. We are so excited to once again host Neuroscientist, Dr Steve Peters and learn even more about the horses brain and how they perceive the world around them and how they truly learn to become super performers! 5 professional trainers are attending to hone their competitive edge.

And, Dr Peters will return to Northern California hosted by professional trainer and judge, Melissa Kalember, on June 20-22, 2025, SONOMA COUNTY, (Sebastopol) CA, Horse Brain Science Clinic, Contact Melissa Kalember, [email protected]. Almost full, $500 per seat. Don't miss this...Your horse will thank you!

So, if you missed our April clinic, then sign up for his June 20-22 as he will not return to Northern California till 2028.

03/09/2025

Kelseyville, CA – Northern California welcomes equine neuroscientist and passionate horseman Dr. Steve Peters presenting the “Horse Brain Science Seminar” April 25-27 at the Highland Spring Equestrian Center, Kelseyville, CA, laying out the science of how the horse thinks and why he reacts the way he does.

01/09/2025

great article on "connection" by Andrew McLean in Concordia magazine

Concordia Equestrians is a trading name only of the Athena Herd Foundation CIC. Please note that the team is made up of independent consultants. All members of the Athena Herd Foundation Team are not employed by the Athena Herd Foundation CIC. Each member brings a wealth of experience in their parti...

10/04/2024

Equitation Science is a science-based approach to understanding and training horses

Like many animals, horses are often at their most dangerous both to themselves and to humans when highly aroused and attempting to escape perceived danger.

Horses are a large prey species reliant chiefly on flight at speed to keep themselves safe.

This poses a problem for them in many human–horse interactions, as it is common for horses to be confined or restrained to varying degrees when around humans.

Being contained where the horse is worked with or housed reduces a horse’s options for gaining safety. If sufficiently aroused, it may run blindly into fences or other structures, or into humans.

More commonly, inability to escape may pressure the animal into experimenting with confrontational behaviours such as charging, striking with hooves, and biting.

Equitation science focuses on managing horses in ways that avoid provoking dangerous behaviour in the first place.

Avoiding flight responses and minimising confusion and frustration in horses are the cornerstones of promoting safe behaviours and avoiding dangerous behaviours. The goal of equitation science is to apply scientifically obtained data to training and riding horses to improve the safety and wellbeing of both horse and rider.

It is not a single system or method, but it allows all methods of horse handling, training and riding to be assessed on the basis of a cost-benefit analysis that embraces their effectiveness and humaneness.

https://esi-education.com/contribution-equitation-science-minimising-horse-related-risks-humans/

10/01/2024

AI may help horses....

Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to improve welfare, enhance diagnostic accuracy, and enhance the relationship between veterinarians and clients.

Below are five applications for horse care that are currently being developed, which are expected to become commonplace in the near future.

1. Health Monitoring: AI-powered systems are using computer vision and machine learning to monitor horses 24/7, detecting signs of distress, abnormal behaviour, or potential health issues, when human eyes are not able to do so.

2. Gait Analysis: AI technology can analyse high-speed videos of horses in action to detect subtle gait changes that may indicate fatigue, minor lameness, or potential performance issues before they cause serious injuries to help trainers and veterinarians make informed decisions about a horse's care and training.

3. Disease Diagnosis: Researchers are developing AI models to support the diagnosis of conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in horses. By analysing the gut microbiota composition from f***l samples, these models can potentially provide a non-invasive, cost-effective early screening method.

4. Performance Optimisation: AI enables the analysis of various physiology metrics to optimise training plans and performance objectives in equine sports or for rehabilitation.

5. Early Detection of Ocular Diseases: Deep learning tools have been developed to diagnose conditions like equine recurrent uveitis (ERU) from photographs, enabling earlier treatment and better outcomes.

In the end, the quality of AI outputs will depend on the quality and representativeness of the input data. Therefore, ongoing collaboration between AI developers and equine professionals will be essential to ensure that these tools are trained on diverse, high-quality data that reflects real-world applications.

Do you use any of these AI applications? What are you looking forward to or worried about in the future?

09/27/2024

Learn acupressure techniques to help your horse while waiting for a vet to arrive. Saturday, October 5 from 10 am - noon at Highland Springs Equestrian in Kelseyville, with Dawa from Blissful Equine.