ZE Equine Therapies - Zara W

05/12/2023

Yes!
When we ride, how much of our attention is on how our horses are going around versus how we are riding?
Don’t forget that some issues you may feel under saddle could be stemming from your own asymmetry and imbalances.
The best riders are ones that are aware of their own imbalances as well as their horses, and work to correct their asymmetry in the saddle before blaming their horse for not going around perfectly.

**THURSDAY RESEARCH MEME**

Todays meme relates to the rider biomechanics.

Horses develop a locomotor strategy to compensate for rider asymmetry. After inducing rider asymmetry by shortening one stirrup (B), we found that horses altered their movement patterns and increased limb loading.

These locomotor strategies reinforce the importance of rider symmetry and correct rider biomechanics.

🤓

www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/blog/

30/10/2023

🐴 The competition season has started 🐴
Did you know getting your horse regular massage appointments during competition season not only helps them to feel good but will help them perform better?
See below for a list of the many benefits of regular massage!

27/10/2023

Did you know I am now also a certified practitioner of MSTR for horses
Has your horse recovered from an injury but still feels disconnected in their body?
Or are they still favouring the leg even though it’s healed?
Is the scar large and obvious?
MSTR could help to address all of these issues and more.
Send me a message now to book your horse or pony in and witness the awesome changes MSTR can make happen in your horse 🐴

26/10/2023

Have you had your saddle readjusted recently because your horse or saddle has changed shape?
Having a saddle that is even slightly ill fitting can cause points of pain/muscle tension in your horse that needs to be addressed even if your saddle has been re adjusted.
Getting their saddle checked is the first step, but booking them in for a bodywork session should be the next step to ensure your horses are pain free and have no lingering issues from a saddle that wasn’t quite right.

Massage helps to address issues that are caused by unbalanced saddles and ensures your horse can perform for you to the best of their abilities. It also keeps them happy and comfortable in their bodies, and who doesn’t want their horses to feel their absolute best! 🐴

I’m taking bookings for equine sports massage and am available to take on new clients! Practicing days are Saturday-Tuesdays

24/10/2023

Yes this! Great post about kissing spine.

23/10/2023

Super interesting read!

04/10/2023

This! Horses that look atrophied too often get labelled as just ‘lean.’ Learn to spot the difference!

27/09/2023

‘He’s just quirky’
‘He’s only trying to get out of doing what you want him to do’
‘Hes just being naughty’
‘It’s just something he always does’
‘You can’t let him get away with that’
I hear these and more almost every time I’m around other people with horses.
Every time we say something like this and brush off our horses trying to communicate with us, or force a horse to do something they are trying to tell us they can’t, we are ignoring their pain or discomfort.
All they can do when we continually force them through their pain is to either shut down completely, or get louder, becoming ‘nasty’ or ‘dangerous.’

Listen to and observe your horses, both their obvious and less obvious behaviours, you might never know the extent of their internal issues that lead to these behaviours and body restrictions!

13/09/2023

Read this, follow their page and educate yourselves as horse owners on how to spot NPA, underrun heels and unhealthy hooves in your horses. There’s too many professionals out there who would think this foot is ok and not causing the horse discomfort.

Horse owners need to know what a healthy hoof looks like so they can ensure their horses aren’t getting trimmed/shod by someone who thinks this kind of hoof is ‘normal.’ It’s up to us to learn and to be our own horses advocate to ensure they aren’t in constant discomfort

NPA

I took over a horse yesterday with a really sad story & one that makes me question if we should be allowed to own horses?!

This TB has been struggling for a number of years & the owners have been searching for answers. Unfortunately, IMO, they have not been given the right information

Initially, when they first purchased the horse he was a bit of a handful & the daughter came off him a few times. They also thought that his gait wasn’t quite right, which may have been contributing to his erratic behaviour, so they sought vets advice.

The vet felt that, as he had been a racehorse l, he was probably sore & he needed joint injections. So over the course of the nxt 2yrs this was the treatment incl hock & coffin joint that injections.

Unfortunately nothing really changed & they sought the advice of another vet who took X-rays of the feet, finding the horse NPA in both hind feet. This vet, in discussion with their farrier, felt that the NPA was not overly significant & as such was no real concern & the horse continued being shod as per usual.

On reading my FB page the owner contacted me & we went out to assess the horse. Instantly u could see the horse had poor posture & tension, which is a common sign of NPA. The owner also told me the horse is always standing on an upslope & has dug little trenches in his paddock so he can stand toe down.

This poor horse has been trying to tell everyone around him he is sore & uncomfortable & that his feet are the cause, but nobody is really listening except the owners.

NPA is not ok!
All TB’s are not NPA as the last vet & farrier told the owners!
Horses, not even TB’s, get used to being NPA as the owners were told!

12/09/2023

A must read, again on hyperflexion in the sport. More awareness on this needs to be spread, and maybe one day things will start to change

This past weekend, I was invited as a speaker to the Collectif Pour Les Chevaux’s International Horse Welfare conference in Paris with the primary topic being hyperflexion.

Amongst the other speakers that included DVMs, equine scientists, osteopaths, saddle fitters/bit fitters, body workers, lawyers & more; there were also FEI officials sent to speak.

There was a ton of excellent speeches on the ethical dilemma that is hyperflexion in competition rings & warm ups & many evidence backed discussions about the prevalence of issue & the problems it poses horses.

When it was FEI’s turn to speak, Bernard Maurel, the 5* international judge they sent openly defended LDR (low, deep, round), a form of hyperflexion. He claimed that with experienced hands it’s harmless & a study found it to be beneficial. He insinuated those at the conference were overreacting.

This was eye opening as while I knew that the FEI had to enable these practices for them to occur, I did not think they would openly defend them surrounded by educated people vehemently against them.

The judge’s fixation on finding 1 study to justify his belief system is confirmation bias. I asked for his citation & was not given one but was able to find the study he was likely referencing and it is not credible, in addition to it being one study in a sea of MANY studies showing welfare deficits associated with riding behind the vertical.

In my opinion, the FEI came to the conference mostly to virtue signal and try to put on a brave face. I felt there were a lot of excuses made. They cited their Horse Welfare Code of Conduct as if to promote ethics, despite it being easy to see it’s not being adequately upheld given the prevalence of current issues.

Lastly, the FEI director of solitary Jean-Philippe Camboulives claimed that bitless riding cannot be made legal across FEI disciplines due to safety and “risk.” He claimed that if allowed, accidents would sky rocket.

When I commented on the lack of evidence of this perceived risk & the number of accidents we already see with bits, he interrupted me multiple times (stay tuned for the clips).

Change must come but I believe it only will if we continue ensuring that our voices cannot be tuned out.

The full recording of the conference will be posted in early October after the host gets a much needed break after all the planning she’s done for this.

I will be posting my presentation clips and the exchange I had with Jean-Philippe once I am given the recordings others took.

12/09/2023

Riding extremely behind the vertical or in “hyperflexion” is detrimental, whether the horse “does it on their own” or not.

You know what else horses would do on their own? Eat an entire bag of grain if you allowed them to have access to it. Eat ad lib sugar cubes or apples or other high sugar feeds if they were allowed access.

Horses choosing to do something on their own doesn’t equate to said thing being healthy or harmless.

That aside — more often than not — hyperflexion is a learned behaviour. Riders ride horses in a restrictive manner where going behind the vertical is the only way a horse can seek relief. Eventually, they learn to find this position even in the absence of pulling and strong handed riding and will appear to “choose” to be in such a position.

But naturally, in the absence of ridden or in hand work with humans, you would be extremely hard pressed to find any horse who would opt to maintain a hyperflexed position for more than a fleeting second to bite at a fly or something.

We cannot use “horse’s choice” as an excuse to defend practices that have substantial evidence displaying the fact that they’re damaging.

It completely removes accountability from the riders and handlers who condition the response from the horse and cause them to “choose” such postures.

It allows people to justify harmful practices and pretend their horse simply “prefers” them.

So, in the off chance that someone owns a masochistic outlier of a horse, remember that their “choice” doesn’t change the fact that such posture is damaging to the body and mind.

And as their caretaker, it is your job to keep their best interests at heart.

Besides — loose reins doesn’t necessarily equate to an absence of force. Learned and trained behaviours through force can and will be retained even after force is removed.

10/09/2023

Testing girth materials. Absorbency is tied to heat dissipation and thermoregulation (as long as the moisture can evaporate from the materials).

Note how the fabric and fleece girth area is dry despite being in 95° weather in a full sun arena.

The neoprene (foam rubber) girth trapped heat and moisture (which leads to chafing, as we ladies know with our breeches), despite being in slightly cooler weather and shaded by an indoor arena.

For the comfort of your horse, it is important to choose a girth based on materials as well as design.

05/09/2023

I am a fully qualified and insured Equine Sports Massage Therapist offering massage to horses and ponies in Southern Tasmania.
I also have just recently been qualified to provide MSTR - McLoughlin Scar Tissue Release for horses.
I’m based on the eastern shore, but I often travel from Cambridge to Geeveston and lots of places in between.

Sessions are around 1 hour.
Initial sessions for new horses will take a little longer and include static and dynamic (standing and moving) assessments of your horse.
Every session includes a full body massage, with focus on problem areas, some gentle stretching afterwards if needed, and some tips on how to continue to help keep your horses body stay supple and feeling good.

Send me a message to get your horses booked in!

04/09/2023

Exciting times!
I look forward to helping even more horses feel their best selves

02/09/2023

29/08/2023

21/08/2023

I was fortunate to attend this dissection and see in person just how little room there was for a girth on this mare.
Unfortunately, length of sternum is not something that’s taught or thought about when learning about tacking up horses, or when getting your saddle fitted!

The cartilagenous structure known as the xiphoid process is at the back of the sternum to which muscle fibres of the diaphragm are attached.

Consider that we do not want a girth restricting the xiphoid process (in turn causing issues for the respiratory diaphragm).

The length of your horse’s sternum and position of the xiphoid is CRITICAL to your saddle and girth fit!!

As you can see, this horse had very little room for a girth to be comfortable :(

20/08/2023

There’s always a reason for what we label as ‘bad’ behaviour in horses, but it’s really just them trying to communicate with us that they can’t do what we are asking, or that they hurt. They are not machines, they have body and internal issues and feel aches and pain just like we do
Have a look at the internal adhesion in this mare below

With a more recent history of terrible hiccups / thumps, this mare had multiple issues with her internals. The omentum adhesion to her respiratory diaphragm also had phrenic nerve implications. The phrenic nerve innervates the respiratory diaphragm. Spasms of the respiratory diaphragm are called thumps (hiccups).

More of Ellie’s story can be found on our patreon https://www.patreon.com/bonesbrainsbodiesbehaviours

17/08/2023

Struggling with getting and maintaining contact when riding your horse? Or feeling frustrated they don’t accept contact? Read this! A great way of explaining this topic.

“I’m teaching my horse to accept contact”

If I had a dollar for every time I heard this! Typically it is accompanied by a horse throwing their head up, diving behind the vertical, gaping at the mouth- essentially attempting to be anywhere BUT the contact.

Here is something I often say to people in my clinics.

Imagine you’re on a date. Your date grabs your hand and doesn’t let go. You squirm to get away, but he holds tighter. He says, some day you will have to hold my hand so you need to get used to it. I won’t release until you accept this contact. Maybe he’s brought up in the school of thought that your display of evasion should be countered with a strap of some kind to prevent you from moving away- a flash nose band of sorts for you.

It doesn’t matter how light or heavy he touches- it is contact that isn’t right for the moment. It’s greedy, and inappropriate.

Now imagine you’re on a date and the conversation has lead you to realize you really enjoy his company. Your relationship is developing, he brushes your hand, you reach out and hold it.

Those are two very different feelings, and they come from two very different places.

When the conditions are there, the contact is taken by the horse. Not the other way around.

Contact has meaning. It is not meaningless pressure on the horses mouth, it is a holding of hands while you dance- it is a connection between your body and the horse’s hind legs. It is the display of everything you believe and who you are- manifested through your hand and into the horse- and the horse’s response is a direct representation of their preparation and feelings about your body and hands.

15/08/2023

Looks small from the outside but look how big that scar really is under the skin!

07/08/2023

Definitely worth a read! More on how the tongue is connected to the whole body and can affect movement!

05/08/2023

02/08/2023

We are constantly scrutinising how our horses feel and move under saddle, but how often are we aware of and thinking about our own imbalances, and how they affect our horses under saddle?

**THURSDAY RESEARCH MEME**

Todays research post relates to a study we did on rider asymmetry.

In that study, despite the rider’s perception that they were standing “equally” on both feet, objectively we found they had increased load on their right foot. From a previous post we have shown that when sitting, riders had more weight on the left seat bone. These differences in what we “perceive” and what we do, highlight the importance of improving our balance and proprioception “off horse”. A new paper will be out early next year discussing in detail rider proprioception and it’s relationship with riding position 🤓

www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/blog/

25/07/2023

Don’t over rug your horses! They can cope in much colder temperatures (down to 5 degrees C) than we can! The next time you go to add an extra rug, or a heavier rug onto your horse because you feel cold, stop and check them first to see if they actually need it, or if they are plenty warm enough in what they already have on.

14/07/2023

A fantastic post on how the bit and pressure on the tongue affects horses hind leg movement.

How much does applied contact / bit pressure affect stride length? …. This much!!!

There is a huge difference to applying contact to the reins VS the horse coming up, through and onto its own contact. Applying strong unforgiving contact can hollow the horse and inhibit the hind leg action, riders often then have to resort to excessive forward to keep the horse going.

The connection from “hyoid to hind leg” involves the sternohyoid to sternum through the diaphragm to psoas major.

To see the videos of this in action check it out on our patreon (this one is from todays live feed dissection).

https://www.patreon.com/bonesbrainsbodiesbehaviours/

07/07/2023

Interested, albeit sad, findings on a 7 year old Standardbred

03/07/2023

Horses don’t misbehave for no reason! There is always something causing an undesirable behaviour.

Some of the most seemingly emotionally troubled horses we have dissected have had internal adhesions…

Follow our patreon to learn anout Buddy who’s lung was adhered to the inside of his ribcage! Ouch!!

https://www.patreon.com/bonesbrainsbodiesbehaviours