Thoughts on "The Traveling Horse Witch?"

[SinMiedo]

I have yet to wrap my head around what it is she actually purports to do (aside from fix literally any horse issue, real or imagined). There are a lot of buzzwords and anatomical talk, but no real substance that I can find.

[Scribbler]

@SinMiedo

The sad part is that last I checked, there were 200+ comments and the majority were recommendations for said “practitioners”.
There’s another group called Non Violent Equestrians, of which the general theme is “any method other than asking Pony nicely/using a Vulcan mind meld is literal violence and the horse police have been notified.”

Very often on such threads, the majority of the posters are non horse owners, certainly non riders. You can’t tell from how they self present. There’s a lot of cosplay online .

I know several people who have gone exclusively R plus, initially sometimes to try to fix “problem” horses. None of them have succeeded in actually getting their horses going under saddle, and one of them now just has minis. I use R plus for some things, it’s very effective, but many other things require R minus (pressure and release) and a few things will require actual “positive punishment” including biting me.

[Sticky_Situation]

@Lunabear1988

So when I started this thread last year it’s because two blogs I followed for awhile suddenly started singing praises for the program although were incredibly vague about it. One rider was fairly accomplished (I think a silver or gold medalist on a previous horse) She was currently riding third level with her horse. I know there had been suddenly a lot of trainer switching and the vibe of the blog became less cheerful. That’s when the traveling witch entered the picture. There’s lots of enthusiasm and excitement for short while. But eventually she posted that she was done with dressage and mostly trail rides now or dabbles in other things.

The other blog, had a horse in training at third level. She also got into the traveling horse witch stuff. She also posted about quitting dressage.

These are purely observations but I did notice that both of these women were going through a big changes in their lives at the time when they found the traveling horse witch. Maybe that’s completely unrelated.

I’m not even sure what to make about it. They both quit dressage but they also both stopped posting about the program too. My guess especially for the first blogger, is she’s always felt something not quite right with her horse. And I think she really jumped on this program as the answer. But I wonder if it just made things kind of unattainable. Chasing something that can’t really be done in reality?

I do hope both of these bloggers continue to find joy in their horses with whatever they do. And I hope they give themselves a little grace as there’s a little bit of perfectionist tendencies to both of them and I sure can understand that.

It sounds like, in both cases, things stopped making smooth progress. This could be due to soundness problems with the horse, failure on the trainer’s part, the horse just not being suited for upper level work, or just horses being horses and dressage being hard.

Rider/blogger then hears about the Traveling Witch and her claims that she can turn grumpy, unsound horses into sound, willing partners through magic with just enough anatomical buzzwords to sound legit, and hopes it’s the way to get back on track. Shockingly, it doesn’t work. However, publicly admitting you were wrong isn’t always the easiest thing to do, and so they convince themselves that her work is the only reason their horse is even able to trail ride … when undoubtedly the horse would have been perfectly happy with a light workload and low impact job all along.

[Caol_Ila]

You mean you’re not all training your horses with the Vulcan Mind Meld? What a bunch of bloody Romulans.

Live long and prosper.

[sascha]

@Caol_Ila

You mean you’re not all training your horses with the Vulcan Mind Meld? What a bunch of bloody Romulans.

Note, my horse is an amazing Vulcan. The number of tricks she has taught me is remarkable. Me though? Bloody Romulan.

[Lunabear1988]

I ran across this old photo from 2 years ago on Facebook. It was shortly after I had gotten my horse and holy neck tension. Granted he did have a confirmed stifle injury before that And we were working with a farrier that just did not work for his conformation.
But I took a different photo the other day and the difference is pretty remarkable. Unfortunately they aren’t the same side of the neck but I can’t imagine that the other side looks completely different…

No online programs used. Just dressage, lots of groundwork, and lots of body work and recently targeting and treating mild kissing spine.

[Lunabear1988]

This was from two days ago. Granted he’s had a lot of time off with just light rides here and there and mostly groundwork. Nothing special though. Not perfect but there is improvement. I’ll have to get a photo of the other side to compare. Hopefully it’s improved too.

[Paint_Party]

I just have to say that he has beautiful eyes! They’re dreamy. He looks like he’s wearing eyeliner.

[Lunabear1988]

He’s a cutie and a good boy!

[GoneliketheWind]

Celeste posted that she is hosting a “dental clinic”, with a person who is not a DVM, or LVT overseen by a DVM.
More woo-woo BS, but now with dental care.

Someone commented that this is illegal in Washington state (RCW 18.92.010), and Celeste quickly deleted the post.
She is still having the dental clinic, so I reported it to the Unlicensed Practice Division of WSDOH, for illegally engaging in the practice of veterinary medicine.
They have come down hard in prosecuting this in particular, in the past…

[foggybok]

@GoneliketheWind

Celeste posted that she is hosting a “dental clinic”, with a person who is not a DVM, or LVT overseen by a DVM.
More woo-woo BS, but now with dental care.

Someone commented that this is illegal in Washington state (RCW 18.92.010), and Celeste quickly deleted the post.
She is still having the dental clinic, so I reported it to the Unlicensed Practice Division of WSDOH, for illegally engaging in the practice of veterinary medicine.
They have come down hard in prosecuting this in particular, in the past…

Washington State takes this seriously. In some states lay practitioners can practice, but WA is not one of them. I know a dentist that got in serious trouble in WA.

I wonder who the partnering vet is? It could mean big trouble for them as well.

[signmypapyrus]

I’m curious about this now. I’ve used equine dentists in the past, including ones who aren’t DVMs. I’ve read/heard conflicting things about using equine dentist practitioners versus DVMs. Right now I use my vet who is doing a good job on my horse’s mouth.

I realized who Celeste reminds me of (Teal Swan):

[Kduplantis]

Good for you! I wish someone would report her for practicing veterinary medicine WITHOUT a license in ALL the states she visits. Because teaching people to manipulate nerves on equine and not having or requiring anatomical knowledge is just horrendous

[Mondo]

I hate that this person is local to me. Glad you saved the post for posterity. You might send that post to the WA authorities. They will come down hard on her.

[whoknew]

Heather Bo’s fb profile claims she’s a digital creator. I’ll buy that.

[foggybok]

@signmypapyrus

I’m curious about this now. I’ve used equine dentists in the past, including ones who aren’t DVMs. I’ve read/heard conflicting things about using equine dentist practitioners versus DVMs. Right now I use my vet who is doing a good job on my horse’s mouth.

Some of them are very good. I used to use one myself. Laws vary from state to state. In CA, where Heather Bo does most of her work, it is legal for her to do dentistry as long as she is working with a vet (which apparently she does). In WA, it is not legal, even with a vet. I had a dentist ask me to work with him in WA and even though he was very good, I had to say no because it is not legal there.

One of the things that gets a lot of them in trouble is they somehow get drugs and are administering them. This is not legal in any state.

[Paint_Party]

@foggybok

In CA, where Heather Bo does most of her work, it is legal for her to do dentistry as long as she is working with a vet (which apparently she does).

That’s why I was a little confused. In CA, the dentist had to have a vet administer any sedation and stay there for a bit afterwards. Then the bill included dentistry and a vet bill. But in WA, that’s not allowed. Got it.

So the fact that The Witch says Heather will be doing her dentistry majick “in partnership with a veterinarian” means nothing. It’s still illegal in that state.

I wonder if this little cabal of witchery realizes this, or simply doesn’t care.

[SpicyPRE]

so she is just figuring out that good dental care is important…WOW

[foggybok]

here is more info

wsvma consumer guide to veterinary dental services.pdf (ymaws.com)

[blue_heron]

I love this group… for bullcrap like this. The other day someone posted a picture of their horse with no topline and asked why she could see his lumbar vertebrae (she did not use this language, it was a single photo with a vague description). Someone replied that his colon was inflamed because of parasites.

I do think the one you’ve posted has probably been translated and might not be exactly what the OP was getting at, but it’s dramatic nonetheless.