me (Leah Hope) and my trusty/feisty mare Stiletto camping in Trapping Creek BC at the end of July, 2024

I hope you all and your equine friends are enjoying the best of what summer has to offer. My favourite thing in the summer, as those of you who follow my social media know, is horse camping! I’ve been enjoying some great adventures with my horses and friends and happily escaping much of the 🔥 wildfire smoke that’s been impacting BC.

In July, I also had the opportunity to join Nika Fried of STANCE Eq Canada at the World Equine Osteopathy conference in Olds Alberta. As you all know I’m a BIG fan of osteopathic work and was thankful for the opportunity to attend.

It was an amazing lineup of great practitioners from all over the world. I had the opportunity to volunteer with my good friend Dr. Laura Taylor DVM where we were on stage for an audience participation moment. We demonstrated a ‘Coherent Heart’, while also talking about the ‘power of presence’ in osteopathic practice and the work of the HeartMath Institute.

Read the story of how I came to meet Dr. Taylor many years ago when trying to find answers for my rescue horse Spirit ➜ HERE.

I was impressed by all the speakers, especially Janek Vluggen’s presentation, which was a blend of ‘OMG’ and ‘what did he just say?!’ Perhaps over my head but the interconnectedness from head to hoof was not missed. Dr Tom Beech referred to hearing Janek speak as “Being hit by a firehose when all you can take in is a garden hose!” Or something to that effect... 😂

The presentation by Dr Christina Fritz on metabolic disorders was the most impactful for me since I have a horse with PPID. I can’t even count all the a-ha moments! (Her website is in German so use chrome’s built in translator to translate to English).

• Insulin Resistance (IR) can be passed on to a foal from a mare who is IR *want to read more about this? ➜ HERE’S AN ARTICLE

• Foals will look like a horse at a very young age and will be fully Insulin Resistant by age 6

• Hay suitable for IR, metabolic horses is less than NSC 6%! Where does one get that I wonder? Given the presenter was from Germany, perhaps more information will evolve so that we as Canadians may have reliable access to lower NSC hay in the future.

• **Pseudo- Cushings? Really… it’s a thing!

• Diffuse lymphatic swelling was presented as a potential cause of the symptoms commonly identified as IR, Cushing’s or pseudo-Cushings. It was unclear what can be done about it. It certainly requires further research.

• In humans cushings it is diagnosed with 5 tests administered including CT, whereas with horses it is 1 test, which is ACTH in a blood draw

• There is a very useful free app, created by Dr Christine Fritz and colleagues, called Sanoanimal, that can be used to monitor progress and changes in your horses.

  Get it here ➜Apple App Store
  Or here ➜Google Play

I was also very impressed by the Veterinary presentations especially by Dr Connie Fancy and the wealth of information… turns out a friend a week later asked “Have you heard of vulva being deviated on a horse?” “Why yes” I said….. “just last week!” 😂🤔

So much more I can speak about…. But I won’t!

You can find the full roster of speakers along with their bios here.

If you’re interested in learning about this fascinating and important topic of Osteopathy I highly recommend purchasing the ➜RECORDED LECTURES HERE your horse’s will thank you.

Until next time,

Leah Hope

**”Pseudo-Cushing's refers to a metabolic disorder that consequently disrupts the hormonal balance. In horses suffering from pseudo-Cushing's, the symptoms disappear almost completely if the metabolism is extensively rehabilitated and possible stress factors are suppressed.” Read more about Equine cushings here.