Essential Equilibrium

26/11/2025

A great perspective.

The Catch-22 of Try.

Your horse appears to not enjoy doing the thing you're asking them to do. But they are not actually trying the thing you're asking them to do. Before they tried, they "told" you, they don't like the idea. They tell you by long delays, blocking you out, being distracted, even showing overt frustration. Often, they are not accomplished at the task you're asking them to do.

Is this a lack of consent. No, I do not think so.

A horse can only show preference or lack of preference to things they know. The rest is emotional avoidance.

If you told me you disliked Pistachio Ice Cream, but you never actually tried Pistachio Ice Cream, I would ask that you actually try the ice cream before you develop a preference or not for it.

This is a Catch-22 I have seen a lot of horse people get stuck on. Confusing their horses emotional avoidance and low relationship to try as a sign the horse doesn't like the thing they are asking them to do.

So what I have found helpful is the following process:

1. If they cannot do it easily, ask them to try it briefly.
2. If they cannot (yet) try it briefly, ask them to think about it.
3. If they cannot think about it (yet), ask them to think about thinking about it.
4. If they cannot (yet) think about thinking about it, ask them to think.
5. If they cannot think, you probably shouldn't be training them, or training this, right now. Turn them out, reevaluate and try another day.

It is time for a new Renaissance of TRY. Try got a bad rap in recent years because (surprise surprise) a bunch of folks with a penchant for violence co-opted try and rebranded Force as Finding the Try.

Reclaiming it for ourselves involves maturing our relationship to watching our horses actually grapple with new and uncomfortable things, before deciding with them what their true preferences are.

17/11/2025

Let what you have fill you with joy ♥️

09/11/2025

Im beyond words as to how some of the things said by the fei make sense..
How is this an improvement for the horses welfare ? A mandatory vet check should already of been in place for any blood whilst competeing, or any obvious health issue.
Why make the vet check mandatory but amend the rules so its okay to compete with blood ? I dont think its okay to support horses continuing to jump with a blood nose...

The Fédération Equestre Internationale approved a controversial new blood rule for show jumping on Thursday evening (Friday local time) during its 2025 General Assembly in Hong Kong by a vote of 56-20 with two national federations abstaining .

04/11/2025

Your horses physiotherapy appointment is only as effective as how your horse lives in between treatments.

If your horse has reoccurring poll tension, feeding from haynets, having a disharmonious contact, riding a horse overbent etc in between treatments will still mean your horse has tension in their poll when it comes around to their next appointment.

If your physiotherapist provides stretches to do and you don’t do them, the problem will continue to bubble.

If your horse is uncomfortable, and your physiotherapist recommends that they see a vet to investigate further, don’t continue to ride your horse.

If you only ride straight lines, rarely hack, and your horse is constantly sharp and spooky so they’re lunged more often than not in a training aid, your horse is going to have reoccurring rib, neck and back pain.

If your horse is stabled for most of the day, or equally spends most of the day in fetlock deep mud, they’re going to be braced and they’re not always going to feel the full benefits of a treatment as treatments will focus on alleviating the “brace” and not on improving performance.

If you’re riding in a saddle that doesn’t fit, hooves that are unbalanced, or an arena with too deep a footing… changes need to happen so that your horse is able to thrive and develop and not just survive in between treatments.

The quality of a veterinary physiotherapy treatment is arguably just as important as the life your horse leads in between treatments.

As horse riders and guardians, we should be seeing the body under the skin; the nerves, the fascia, the muscles and really envisioning caring for this in everything we do 🤍

29/10/2025

Are we approaching asymmetry or laterality with curiosity… or with a pre-conceived bias?

It’s a question that’s been on my mind as we draw closer to the Vet Rehab Summit, and I’m spending more time preparing for each of the lectures.

Dr Kevin Haussler is speaking about “redefining laterality,” and that title alone has given me pause.

When I think laterality, my mind immediately goes to asymmetry - and from there, straight to lameness, pain, compensation, dysfunction, injury.
In my head, asymmetry is something to correct. It’s a sign that something isn’t right.

But then I read studies reporting that a huge percentage of performance horses - even at the highest levels - show measurable asymmetries, often without any obvious lameness.
And it makes me stop and think:
If these horses are still performing, are we looking at normal laterality?
Or are they, in fact, competing with undiagnosed pain or pathology?

That’s one side of the conversation:

Asymmetry = something is wrong.
Find it, fix it, restore balance.

But the other side says something quite different:

Asymmetry is normal.
Horses are naturally one-sided - just like humans.
Trying to make them perfectly symmetrical may be unrealistic, even unfair.

We hear it often - “he’s left-sided,” “she’s always been stiffer that way,” “it’s normal for them to favour one rein.”
And perhaps, in some cases, it really is.

But as Haussler reminds us in his 2025 paper, “The Challenge of Defining Laterality in Horses,” the reality is far more complex than either extreme.

The study outlines how what we interpret as laterality can actually be the result of a whole network of other factors - some benign, others not.
Among them:

▶️ Structural differences: variations in limb length, hoof balance, joint angles, or muscle development.
▶️ Functional or biomechanical asymmetries: uneven loading, stiffness, or range of motion linked to use patterns.
▶️ Pain and compensation: where injury, discomfort, or low-grade lameness drive protective movement patterns that look like “side dominance.”
▶️ Rider and handling influences: saddle fit, mounting habits, rein tension, the rider’s own asymmetry, and the way we lead or train.
▶️ Environmental factors: arena shape, surface type, turning direction, or even how horses are stabled and fed.
▶️ True neurological laterality: an innate preference for one side, which can influence motor control and coordination ( but is just one piece of the picture.)

Haussler’s point is clear: when we see asymmetry, we can’t jump to conclusions.
We have to ask why.

Because sometimes, that “left-sidedness” is nothing more than conformation and habit.
And other times, it’s the first whisper of discomfort, a subtle sign that the horse is protecting itself.

Our job is to stay curious long enough to tell the difference.

So perhaps the goal isn’t to eliminate every asymmetry, nor to accept them all as harmless.
It’s to understand the story behind them, to look for patterns across time, in different contexts, with and without a rider.

And speaking of the rider… we can’t separate them from the picture.
The rider’s posture, balance, strength, mounting routine, and even the distribution of rein tension can all shape what we perceive as the horse’s “bias.”
As Maria Teresa Engell will explore at the Summit, the horse and rider form one moving system - each influencing the other, for better or worse.

So as we head into the Vet Rehab Summit, I’m holding onto this:

Let’s approach laterality and asymmetry with curiosity rather than assumption.
Let’s be willing to ask why ▶️ and be open to answers that may not align with our bias.
And let’s keep seeing the horse, in all their beautiful complexity, as a conversation between structure, movement, training, and the human who guides them.

08/10/2025

Another amazimg opportunity offered by raquel !
And on a topic that affects so many, everything our horses do is telling us something. The more we learn about understanding them the better

Picking up legs for the farrier

Jelly (my warmblood) used to have a lot of trouble picking up his hindlimbs for the farrier or any exercises and it created a lot of anxiety for him.

It was a product of lumbar sacral pelvic discomfort including lumbosacral disease, Sacroliliac changes including liganent damage, iliopsoas dysfunction and an underlying muscle disorder (myofibrillar myopathy).

He was not just being naughty or difficult.

When a horse is struggling, refusing or reacting to having their limbs picked up - we need to ask WHY?

Join me in my FREE MASTERCLASS to gain an insight into the potential WHY!

Register now - https://www.integratedvettherapeutics.com/pbmc-oct25

Thursday 23rd October

26/09/2025

👀➡️🐴 Did you know your horse’s eyes play a huge role in how polework improves their posture?

When a horse approaches poles, their oculomotor system (the way the eyes track, focus and guide movement) is activated. To safely place their feet, the horse has to:
🔹 Visually scan the poles ahead
🔹 Adjust stride length and rhythm
🔹 Coordinate head, neck, and limb movement with what their eyes are telling them

This “eye-body connection” sharpens proprioception (awareness of where the body is in space). The horse learns to balance their body better, engage the core, and lift through the thoracic sling instead of collapsing on the forehand.

Over time, the repeated oculomotor + postural response builds:
✨ Improved spinal alignment
✨ More lifted, balanced, elastic movement
✨ Stronger topline and core stability

Now - the key here is BALANCED movement, as having improved proprioception means that the horse can coordinate their limbs and body over, around and through obstacles, changes in surface, undulations and speed with ease.

When you’re doing polework, you’re not just training muscles and joints, you’re training the nervous system too!! That’s why it’s such a powerful tool for posture, coordination, and overall wellbeing 👀

27/08/2025

21/08/2025

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change 🙏🏻

There are some amazing human beings putting themselves on the line to give horses a better life.
Im lucky enough to have met many of them and surround myself with those that want to do better ☺️

Be the change you wish to see ❤️

Today on the show… On the podcast .. she has been involved in the horse racing industry most of her life She has kept quiet for years now about the abuse, th...

10/08/2025

Biggest suppot for this lizzy 🙏🏻
Always a reminder to be as proactive and honest as possible to keep your practitioners safe

📣 After 10 years of thinking about it… I finally joined the club.

I’ve started wearing a riding helmet while working with horses.

It might seem like common sense, but it’s not common practice amongst equine vets in Australia yet. And honestly? It should be.
I know firsthand how quickly things can go wrong 🤕

When I was 17, I was kicked in the head during a freak paddock accident. I wasn’t riding or doing anything “risky” – just wrong place, wrong time. It split my forehead open, requiring 19 stitches. I was lucky it wasn’t worse.

A 3-year study run by CVS and the University of Liverpool revealed that 90% of equine vets experience work-related injuries, with 25% requiring hospital care! Head injuries were common, often from horse limbs during routine procedures.

Here are 3 things you can do to help keep your vet (and everyone who handles your horse) safer:

1️⃣ Train for touch
Help your horse get comfortable with being examined – especially legs, feet, head and mouth. The more familiar this feels, the safer it is for everyone.

2️⃣ Practice taking their temperature
If they clamp their tail, dance around, or threatens to kick during temperature checks, start training this essential skill using cooperative care techniques. (I'm a huge fan of Sarah Nickels from Abbey's Run Equestrian for this type of training - she's amazing!)

3️⃣ If they’re needle shy – address it now.
If your horse panics or lashes out when they see a needle, there are gentle desensitisation techniques that can rewire this behaviour. (Dr Lily Wilson has excellent training for this – worth checking out!)

Let's work together as horse owners and vets to help make veterinary care safer for everyone involved. A little training incorporated into your everyday horse care can go a long way! 🐴🙏