Is Adaptive Development EQ for me and my horse?
If you resonate with Adaptive Development EQ’s philosophy, you may very well have found your new equestrian support network! Whether you or your horse has a specific issue you would like to work on, you know there’s a problem but you just can’t find it, or you are searching for an educational environment to improve your horsemanship and riding skill that is effective, supportive, kind, and has the capability of offering you ongoing inspiration, Adaptive Development EQ welcomes you.
Service Roster
Lessons and Training
Euki offers in-person, private, semi-private and group riding lessons as well as training rides for your horse, with a minimum frequency of one contact a week. Additional mileage may apply depending on your distance. She also is available for instruction a/o consultations via telephone, video, and email.
Equine Complete – A Comprehensive Training and Wellness Program
This bespoke wellness program is our cornerstone service and considered a full training package. Euki will ideally start with a nutrition analysis for your horse and develop a training program that perfectly suits you and your horse’s unique needs. This program includes rehabilitation training, foundation re-training, lessons, management of adjunct therapies as needed, and the option to include in-depth nutritional support along the way.
Learn the art of developing fine riding and show horses alongside your horse’s developing education and ability.
Nutrition Analysis*
Diet analysis and consequent adjustments to diet can be a cornerstone to behavior and rehabilitation work. Here, Euki will perform a full nutrition analysis based off of your horse’s current diet, including lab work on your hay. From this base point, she’ll create a customized diet plan that is catered specifically for your horse and takes into account the specific pain points discussed. For example, your horse may be recuperating from an injury, have allergies, or poor coat condition and hoof quality. It really can run the gamut, but her nutrition plans are geared to specifically address your concerns, and should be re-balanced each time you get a new load of hay in.
*At this time, nutrition services are only available to clients in full training.
Equine Wellness Consultations
If you are feeling stuck in any way, consider a wellness consultation. During an initial wellness consultation session, Euki will:
- Ride the horse (if it is possible and safe to do so) and watch the horse jog
- Lay hands on the horse (look at legs, conformation, and examine the hoof, for both long term and emerging weaknesses)
- Discuss current diet
- Discuss medical and training history, behavioral issues, and lamenesses that may be influencing current conditions
- Discuss owner’s goals
- Make initial recommendations and begin formulating a plan for the owner to execute
My horse is already perfect. I just need help with one little thing….
Wonderful! Euki can probably help you with that! Every horse and rider combination is unique and requires a customized matrix of therapies to resolve pain points whether large or small, and improve areas of deficiency, both with the horse and rider in order to create a thriving team. In the horse, as corrective efforts progress and the horse begins to feel better or “go” better, formerly unidentified issues are revealed that we see were also contributing to the horse’s difficulties in meeting the expectations of its owner and/or trainer. As these layers are uncovered, this requires adjustments to the original wellness program for that individual horse.
This is training and it is a matrix that is constantly evolving. For example, if we see there is lumbar pain, there is discomfort in the stifles, and the hooves are also sub-par (this is a common presentation in our sport horses today), we address the diet first in order to better support the changes we will begin making to the feet, and then begin adjustments to training technique. These steps alone often resolve stiffness, soreness and other low grade, long term obstacles, higher in the body because poor angles and otherwise poor quality feet also often cause compensatory locomotion inefficiencies that begin to cause wear and tear on the hocks, the stifles, the shoulders, and back, and even can change the structural physique and visual beauty of the animal in question.
The changes to diet ensures we are truly feeding the horse what we think we are, and helps uncover hidden deficiencies or toxicities due to environmental factors, multiple and multi-ingredient supplements, improportionate feed/forage percentages, and fluctuations in hay values.
This single therapy of addressing nutrition often helps multiple systems throughout the horse’s body including muscle quality, coat quality, hoof quality, and even improvements in demeanor (formerly skittish horses may become calm), but you will see bigger results when you make additional changes along the way! Examples of this are addressing gaps in foundational training (formerly sour horses may become interested in training), among other benefits mentioned below.
So, if the soreness only improves but does not resolve with the changes to the hoof, and progresses from diet, we must also look at other factors (rehabilitation training for old injuries, equipment changes, overlooked environmental factors). Results are maximized when you address multiple areas of deficiency over time and make additional changes as positive, visible results begin to be exhibited by the horse.
If you have been told retirement is the only option:
Every horse will see improvement going through this program. What cannot be guaranteed however, is the extent of the improvement. Some injuries, illnesses, abuses and long term neglects are so egregious that the best we can do is work to improve the pain and quality of life. Many “miracles” CAN happen in horses when retraining and/or rehabilitation efforts are instituted.
If you have a difficult case for Adaptive Development EQ, Euki will treat the horse the same as any other in her program and be completely transparent with you along the way. Sometimes, part of her job requires creating a team of professionals including veterinarians, farriers, chiropractors and other specialists, when needed for your horse, and she works with them to make sure everyone stays on the same page.
In the case of rare, unusual and or non-performance related disease processes, Euki will work to refer you to a specialist better suited to your horse’s special needs and will be happy to work with you and your horse on an adjusted, therapeutic training plan that makes sense for your horse.
Can I do this on my own?
Yes, certainly! Euki is always happy to share information and attempts to provide a lot of information here on her site, for free. However, there are benefits to hiring her services. Like humans, all parts of the horse are connected, so when problems are allowed to go on long term, know that always, corrections will need to be made in multiple areas. Even single issues (resolving just ulcers, for example) often requires multiple areas of change that must be addressed. To an extent, making a variety of changes via a “best guess” or online research WILL often result in visible improvements, though the improvements will not be quite as effective or long-lasting as you would typically see when you hire a professional to identify problems and develop new processes for you.
Euki has the background and experience to ensure you will be maximizing the speed and effectiveness of each modality required for your horse’s therapeutic improvement. Not only does her experience allow her to put together a combination of therapies in a way that will have the greatest impact for your horse, she also knows when and how to implement program changes as the horse improves. In the long term, this delivers you savings in a healthier, happier horse, and an equine partner that is hopefully kept out of retirement for many years to come.
The amount of time spent on each horse/owner combination is also variable, and finally, the length of time that passes before visible progress to changes in demeanor, comfort, trainability, and/or physical appearance is also dependent on the individual animal, where the extent of the neglected issues, and the owner’s ability to create an environment of lasting change moving forward affects the outcome as well.
To see an example of how Adaptive Development EQ can transform your horse, including before and after photos, please read Euki’s article, “In Defense of the Average Horse.” Read about Euki here, or see examples of her work from her sampling of featured transformations.
