Equusential Therapies: Equine Massage, Saddle & Bit-Fitting

24/06/2025

Saddle Slip Isn’t Just a Saddle Problem 🐎💡
If your saddle keeps slipping to one side, don’t just blame the rider or the saddle balance, it could be the horse.
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🔬 Research by Dr. Sue Dyson & Dr Line Greve shows that hind limb lameness is a major cause of consistent saddle slip.

Results found in studies from 2013-2014:
🔹 The saddle consistently slipped to one side in horses with hindlimb lameness. The association between saddle slip and hindlimb lameness was significant.
🔹Diagnostic analgesia abolishing the hindlimb lameness eliminated the saddle slip in almost all the horses.
🔹The saddle slipped to the side of the lamer hindlimb in most horses
🔹 Stiff or stilted canter results in more slip.

Link to Study Abstracts: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23360352/ + https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24372949/
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✨ So what can you do?
🔹 👩‍⚕️ Vet – Assess for hindlimb issues and treat as necessary
🔹 🐎 Bodyworker – Facilitate muscular tension release and better symmetry
🔹 🏇🏿 Farrier - Ensure balanced trimming/shoeing to support even loading
🔹 🏋️ Trainer & Owner– Focus on straightness and improving hind-end strength (think poles, hill work, correct transitions)
🔹 📏 Saddle Fitter – Adjust saddle through girthing and shims as needed to support saddle position during rehab, this may need adjusting frequently as the horse improves in balance.

💬 As a saddle-fitter I find hind-limb issues are common in saddle slips, in my experience: other factors that contribute to slip can include: saddle gullet angle and tree mismatch, muscular asymmetry - saddle falling to the hollow/ weaker side, needing a pad with more grip, needing shim to support hollow/ weak side, loose girths, saddle in the wrong position and billet/ rigging placement. Rider balance and asymmetries may also be a factor.
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💬 A slipping saddle is often a *symptom* if it always slides the same way, get curious—your horse may be asking for help.
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23/06/2025

Love my Melbourne II jump saddle, comfy and secure ❤️ 🐎

21/06/2025

🐎❤️

⭐️It’s easy to assume your horse doesn’t understand.
✨But more often than not, they do — they just don’t understand you.

🐎Horses are masters of feel, timing, and energy.
✨They respond to what’s clear… and reflect what’s not.

So if your cues are muddy, your mind’s distracted, or your energy is all over the place —
don’t be surprised if your horse looks uncertain, resistant, or disconnected.

✨It’s not rebellion. It’s reflection.

✨Clarity starts with you.
✨Your breath.
✨Your focus.
✨Your intention.
🙌🏽Your ability to ask with softness, wait with patience, and mean what you say.

If you want a calm, responsive partner in the saddle,
become one in the mirror first.

⭐️Because when you get clear — everything else starts to click.

20/06/2025

Love this ❤️ 🐎 saving as a reminder

20/06/2025

Chilly morning for winter solstice 🥶 🧊 but that means we're on the trajectory to longer days yay! 🐎 🥳

It was another cool morning across the eastern parts of mainland Australia today. Patchy morning fogs and frosts have been observed once again, mainly through parts of New South Wales, Victoria, and southern inland Queensland.

The lowest overnight temperatures last night were observed across elevated and inland parts of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, including:

• -8.5 °C at Cooma, NSW
• -8.1 °C at Goulburn, NSW
• -7.2 °C at Canberra, ACT
• -6.2 °C at Bombala, NSW
• -5.8 °C at Tuggeranong, ACT

Some of the lowest overnight temperatures from Victoria and Queensland include:

• -3.4 °C at Omeo, Vic
• -2.2 °C at Latrobe Valley, Vic
• -1.8 °C at Roma, Qld
• -0.7 °C at Oakey, Qld

On Saturday morning, sub-zero temperatures are forecast once again across much of inland NSW and inland and south-east Victoria.

Foggy, frosty conditions will grow less widespread through the weekend, contracting to the south-east and clearing from the forecast as overnight temperatures and winds increase from Sunday.

For the latest forecasts and warnings, visit www.bom.gov.au or the BOM Weather app.

20/06/2025

Couple spots left:
Yarram/ Corner Inlet/ Fish Creek area on Thursday 3rd July
🐎 PM to book

20/06/2025

Local hay for sale 🎑

20/06/2025

❤️ 🐎 Thank you for sharing the love for massage therapy Koper Equine working towards wellbeing for our horses (and ourselves) benefits from a multi-modality approach

I see a lot of people recommending chiropractors and pemf and excluding massage therapists. I want to give you a few reasons why I believe a massage therapist should be used regularly at times in a horse’s life:

We all have different skills to contribute to your horse’s care. Bodies need different kinds of help at different times.

Remember that it’s the muscles that create tensile strength and hold the bones and organs in place. They are also what pulls the body out of optimum, by strength or weakness, which combine to create imbalance and potential unsoundness. This is especially true and important when a horse is coming into increased work, coming back into fitness, or when a horse is older and needs a little help staying loose and comfortable. You can be a great trainer, your horse will still build strength unevenly, it’s simply what happens when out of shape horses are put into exercise. It’s natural, normal and expected.

By being proactive and working with a great massage therapist you can help your horse be more balanced and comfortable and so sounder, more mentally balanced and train more easily. We can help the horse through the process by manually suppling, helping him learn his body, improving awareness and letting him use himself the best he can while he works to build and become, hopefully, the best version of himself.

Learn more here - https://koperequine.com/why-hands-on-massage-is-the-best-way-to-for-sore-care-muscles/

19/06/2025

Couple spots left:
Wed 9th July:
Sale/ Fulham
PM or call/ text to book 🐎

19/06/2025

I'm sure plenty of you have heard this. If the horse had soundness issues, it wouldn't want or be able to jump.

In my experience, the answer to this statement is that it depends. Each horse's sensitivity to discomfort and desire to 'try' despite pain or soundness issues can be different:

💖 I work with competitive horses that might be nursing low-grade lameness or soundness issues but still 'appear' to be jumping willingly. The issue usually has to escalate before they will show hesitation. They are usually a very naturally forward horse with a lot of 'try'
💖Other horses might be jumping but start to have performance issues such as knocking rails, awkward jumping, the occasional stop, or the inability to get or maintain the correct lead. They are inconsistent.
💖In many horses, their sensitivity to pain or discomfort results in consistent refusals and a dramatic loss of confidence jumping. They often become stressed and spooky travelling and being ridden.

Common causes for performance problems are: muscle, ligament or tendon strain/ injury, hoof problems, skeletal issues, saddle-fit issues, gastrointestinal or respiratory problems, overall fitness and jumping talent.

In any of the above cases,if you suspect or are alerted to soreness or soundness problems: consulting with your team of trainer, bodyworker, saddle-fitter, vet, and farrier can help problem solve performance issues.

It is best to have a full lameness assessment/ performance review with your veterinarian for treatment and management for ongoing issues.

If you're in Gippsland and would like to discuss or book Saddle fitting or equine massage for your horse, please get in touch with me (Yvette) via DM or call/ text 0400 852 426 🐎 💖