Marley, a 10 yr old Stationbred X.
Marley came to us in 2017 and has been turned out for several months. He was not very lucky with his owners over the last years. Marley was handed around and never really had the chance to build up trust or bond with anyone.
People described him as unpredictable, very pushy, forward and disrespectful.
I personally met him as a sad and needy horse.
From the first day he gave me all his hope and trust. Marley is the most loyal and sensitive horse I have ever worked with. He was always very patient and tried his absolute best to communicate with me.
We started liberty training and horsemanship, with great support from my sister-in-law and horse trainer Patience Svensson. Marley did great from the very start, but something did not feel right.
I decided to get a medical check done, so we can work on the background of the behaviour issues- physically and mentally.
The local vet told me that Marley has teeth like a 25 year old horse. He has a few missing and the ones he has left are in terrible condition. Some years ago he had an abscess which has been removed, but the dental work he needed never happened.
An oral surgeon for horses from the UK agreed with my vets opinion. Marley was born with some teeth with no enamel on them, so they wore away too quickly or never developed properly and resulted in the flat yellow things you can see in the picture. This is known as dysplastic teeth or enamel hypoplasia.
Marley has swelling on the right side of his face which turned into a bony change, due to fracture. Furthermore, there is a communication (hole) between mouth and sinus on the same side. He has had a neglected mouth for a long time and had to live with pain and discomfort.
With only being 10 years old, he should be in the prime time of his life, but because of not caring for him, not getting dental work or check ups done his life quality changed dramatically. Marley will need a special diet, nutrition and regular dental work for the future.
When he came to us, he had absolutely no “life balance”. He had no routine, no proper nutrition, no training or exercise, no one to trust or to follow, health issues, not the right care for his needs and he was not the happiest horse I would say.
We tried our best to help him and to take any advice we could get. I started studying every single horse book, magazine, article and met with trainer, vets and nutritionists. I wanted the very best for him and especially I wanted to take the discomfort away from him and to become a great team on the ground and in the saddle.
I decided to start studying Equine Therapy. I wanted to help and support horse owners to keep their horses healthy, but furthermore I wanted to take pain and discomfort from them.
Due to Marley’s dental situation, he has problems along the spinous process. Everything in the body is connected. Misalignment of the cervicals and his back causes discomfort in his everyday life.
He will need regular adjustments and dental work done. This will not be a “fix”, but I can help him to have a longer life span and enjoyable, pain free and comfortable life.
