Riding Free

31/03/2025

People can be oblivious to the ramifications of starting horses too young and asking more from them than they can ‘physically’ give, but the horse does anyway, as is their nature.

The result, permanent damage that can remain unseen or unnoticed for many years. This may present in the following excuses:

🙄 He’s just girthy
🙄 That’s just him, he is quirky
🙄 He just needs a lunge before ridden work
🙄 That’s just his personality.

Under the surface; however, you could be dealing with something much more sinister, for example, a dropped hip (pictured), or a sprung pelvis (also pictured).

All behaviours deserve investigation to rule out pain and injury. The horses welfare comes first, always!

31/03/2025

31/03/2025

The jaw, the Hyoid and the hind end

The most important thing to remember is we may manipulate the tongue position through our hands or bits but ultimately the position of the tongue in the horses mouth is mostly done subconsciously in a response to how the horse is perceiving a situation we often think a restriction in the jaw is due to mechanical strain when in reality its due to mental stress just because your horse is not showing an external reaction does not mean the internal is being overloaded

Where one is restricted the other will follow, so I am not going to do a generic post about the hyoid and the connections as there are many many posts out there, I am going to turn this upside down, or back to front

We often talk about restrict the tongue and restrict the hind end (and not forgetting the front limbs) and many of us who have been on dissections got lucky enough to feel this when pressure was placed on the tongue with a bit, ( remember it’s the restriction not pressure) and we could feel the hind leg move less and different bits gave a different restriction and it is a sort of you have to be there to really appreciate how restricted it was and again there are many posts out there just saying working on a certain line and viola all the problems will be solved, umm I don't think it is that clear cut because unless there is no other connection but a line you are going to come across many other structures as you travel from the tongue to the hind end, horses are just not that simple in design, for correct function of airways the tongue has to be depressed (no not sat in a corner telling you how rubbish it feels) but more towards the floor of the mouth for that action enables the intrinsic muscles of the tongue to create dilation and stabilization of the upper airways

Occipitohyoid, this tiny but very important muscle often gets less mention than the more favourable ones of the omohyoid, sternohyoid because often if something is small we think it less important but it is hugely important, when we think of the hyoid we think of the tongue but less so of the eyes, but it has connections to facial nerves, it connects the hyoid to the occiputs and in horses our desire to have balance then we have to think of the eye, occiput, hyoid, connection, now how many horses have issues at the poll and we only see it as a poll issue then we have to think of the muscles that feed off from the occipital and atlas area so when we omit the head when working are we forever addressing the afterthought and not the issue, I see many horses that lose the pendulum effect when moving the jaw, have bulging or uneven fascial muscles, eyes pointing in all directions, continual chewing to one side and if we cannot restore correct function at the tip of the iceberg nothing underneath will ever be long-lasting

And when we move further down into the omohyoid, and sternohyoid and the sternothyroid these are indicators of how your horses nervous system is coping for these are the true flight muscles and are responsible for respiratory and tongue movement so it makes sense that if your horse is tight mouthed, or tense then these will prioritise over others that we may visually see to know how they are feeling in that moment in time, the amount of times I have heard oh the horse is tight at the shoulder and when you look further towards the head we have that super tight mouth, wrinkles around the mouth and nostrils and that blank staring eye, again we have to look globally

So when we think about the hyoid and the connection to the hind end we always think of dysfunction in the hind end could be a result of restriction in the mouth but we also have to think of dysfunction in the hind end could result in tightness through the mouth, we have to think is pain from maybe hocks leading to a clenching of the jaw, is that restricted stride due to ulcers having a chain reaction back through to the hyoid, systems are designed to flow back and forth not just one way and let me tell you if you come across a horse that has that clenched jaw probably starting at the head may not be a good idea as they will be immediately on defence, we want to slowly work our way up to the area only when the horse is ready

Exercises you can do to help

Vary your feeding stations so your horse has to move from side to side while eating, this will help keep the horses jaw mobilised instead of feeding from one place all the time

Gently run the back of your hand down the edge of the front of the shoulder (you will feel the hard bony surface of the scapula) about midway down you will be in the area of the omohyoid (it’s a deep muscle) and leave the back of your hand there and wait, you will see your horse lower its head as we are in one place but affecting two areas (well more because we are also in the area of the subclavian and we talk about hyoid and hind end but it does affect front limbs too)

Gently place each hand on each masseter (cheek) and cup your hands and spread your fingers out so the bottom of your hand is cupping the underneath of the jaw and your fingers are spread out over the masseter and just wait, you will feel the horse drop the weight of its head into your hands

Gently make a fist with your hand and place it under the jaw (in between the jaw bones) you will feel a soft squishy lumpy above your fist and this is the tongue just rest your fist in there and let the horse dictate the pressure (if your horse has a teeny jaw you can do this with the back of your fingers) it's important we don't push up we allo w the horse to add the pressure it needs

Gently front and hind end mobilisation helps Aswell there are lots of videos found anywhere but often I incorporate small circles with the front limbs and increasing the size as the horse allows and little figure eights with the hind limbs again increasing in size as the horse allows

Seeking veterinary attention quickly if your horse has any intermittent lameness front of hind end is paramount for an early diagnosis for any changes in these areas the quicker the diagnosis the quicker the issue can be treated, and then appropriate work can be done for the rehab

So just to recap remember whole horse the hyoid is only a small cog in the huge machine of the body, Ying and yang by simply addressing one area we may be missing another area, if the jaw is tense the rest of the body will follow, look closely at your horses face it will reflect back to you how your horse is coping with what you are asking

16/03/2025

Introducing ECVM: This photo is a cervical vertebra from the low neck of a horse affected by ECVM, the malformation identified as a widespread condition and established in the canon of equine science literature by anatomist Dr Sharon May-Davis.

My 2017 blog introduces the topic and is still one of the most read articles on the The Horse's Back website today. It includes the recording of Sharon's webinar discussion of the topic with Wendy Murdoch. A lot has happened since 2017, so look out for more informative links in the comments. 👇

Read: 'All You Need to Know About the Hidden C6-C7 Malformation That’s Bringing Horses Down': https://thehorsesback.com/c6-c7-malformation/

- Jane

15/03/2025

🏇✨ The 5 Domains of Horse Welfare are the foundation of happy, healthy horses! 🐴💙
1️⃣ Environment – A safe, comfortable physical environment
2️⃣ Mental State – Reducing stress & promoting positive experiences with both people and other animals
3️⃣ Nutrition – Balanced diets that support optimal health
4️⃣ Behaviour – Freedom to express natural behaviours
5️⃣ Health – Preventative care & prompt treatment for injuries

At Mad Barn, we’re committed to supporting every aspect of equine well-being so your horse can feel and perform at their best! 🌿🔬

👉 Check out this video to learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYW9GRgU6hc

13/03/2025

I did this post before and want to add in extras

Its only grass glands

Were you brought up to believe that the swelling of the parotid (grass) gland is normal, its why it adopted the name of grass glands because years ago we would only come across this as we turned our horses out full time in the springtime if I had a penny for every time I heard oh its only grass glands I would not be writing this post I would be sat on a beach and be mega rich lol

And again, we often hear the word metabolic and go straight to Cushing's or some other extreme but metabolic simply refers to metabolism and how the body utilizes the content we put into the energy it gives us and how the intake of nutrition may affect us. Basically, is the horse taking in a substance which may help or hinder it

So if we start omitting the word grass and replace it with the correct word parotid and add itis we may get an inkling as to why a gland is swollen, I mean we all know why ours swell it usually means we have eaten something which we may not have an allergy to but we may be a little intolerant to and remember it's not just what is eaten, environment can have a huge effect on how our bodies are coping

Glands swell for a reason and it's usually the bodies response to something which it is trying to combat, it often can coincide with shedding season and we know that is a hormonal response so is there a link there somewhere? Remember just because it's common does not means it's normal

And at least as humans we only have to cope with environment or food, horses sometimes have to cope with the riders' hands placing the horse in such a position that the swelling will occur because of how they have to hold their heads the saliva glands are innervated by the glossopharyngeal nerve (cranial nerve nine) which is a mixed nerve so aids with swallowing and tongue movement (again rider influence can have a major affect so freedom of the mouth is so important we often only focus on a relaxed jaw but we need a jaw to be able to move) so we must strive to give as much chewing time for horses that we can and often when anyone hears the word metabolic the horse is placed in an area where less chewing time can occur and less chewing time can change the saliva composition to could lead to more dental issues

Saliva production is an autonomic response to chewing the longer a horse chews the more saliva will be produced

We often not only see horses with swelling in their jawline but also underneath the jaw and the nasal area and you can see by the picture that there are more than one salivary gland and if one is affected then all are affected, I have also included cutaneous areas as these areas go hand in hand and can become over sensitive (most people will be either familiar with the horse being irritated and twitchy either at the girth area, or the horse shaking its head when you touch the base of the shoulder) so this tells you it’s a more global problem rather than a singular gland

So, if we visually see it, we must also look at how internally is the horse being affected (omitting the rider part for now) if your horse is also super sensitive with the fly twitch muscle (cutaneous) if your horse is bloated, if your horse is lethargic, if your horse is showing out of the norm behavioural signs then often I try to explain it to owners like having a food intolerance we may be able to keep eating it but we are going to not just have swollen glands we are going to feel pretty crap also but if your horse just has a swollen parotid gland with no other issues then you may have to look at your hands, your bit or the riding style and we can't forget environment you could be the best rider, feed the best quality feed and fibre but look at the surrounding fields as the content of them could be the culprit in your horses intolerance's and allergies

So no its not just a grass gland swelling there as always is much more than just one part

Does stress play a factor, if your horse is uncomfortable then is their nervous system under fire we all know how stress can have an adverse affect on the body as it tries to regulate itself and combat the internal struggle

Whatever the factor swollen glands are in the most basic terms uncomfortable, sensitive and will restrict movement and remember just because something is common does not mean it is normal

11/03/2025

24/01/2025

24/01/2025

Fascia- tissue paper thin tissue that can make your horses body (& ours) as happy or as unhappy as can be.
Head to tail to toes- EVERYTHING CONNECTS. Treat the body as a whole.
"Fascia is a thin casing of connective tissue that surrounds and holds every organ, blood vessel, bone, nerve Tiber and muscle in place. The tissue does more than provide internal structure; fascia has nerves that make it almost as sensitive as skin."
So when you have a trauma related injury, a bad fall, or structural damage, things move. You might bring a chiropractor in to help your athlete out, rightfully so.
Well when they "don't hold their adjustment" it's typically because fascia has already adjusted things internally and re-learned how to be wrong instead of correct. So we have to release the fascia in order for the body to learn how to be correct again. Bring in Acuscope/Myopulse. We can help the body do some fascia release! My chiropractors, osteopaths ect.
Find that when I work on them before or after, things go hand in hand, and results stay put.



" - The left side is balanced and correct.
The right side, somewhere, something (fascia) is holding/ pulling on part of the body and throwing the whole body off. Causing over compensation, soreness, ect.

24/01/2025

The amount of times I go out for a fitting and there’s so much misinformation. We find a bit that’s the correct size and the difference is phenomenal 🫶 The right bit and size can make a world of difference.

Did you know that the size and fit of your bit can greatly impact your horse’s comfort and performance? Here’s why:
🔹 A bit that’s too large can move side to side, causing cuts, sores, or even damage to the lips and mouth. It also won’t work effectively, making it harder to deliver clear aids.
🔹 A bit that’s too small can pinch or squeeze your horse’s face, leading to discomfort and potential injury.

Don't forget that you can always reach out to us with any questions, or book a Bit Fitting with one of our accredited bit fitters if you need further help.

Getting the right fit is essential for your horse’s well-being and communication in the saddle. ➡️ www.bitbankaustralia.com.au/bit-fit-and-sizing/

24/12/2024

Kinesiology Tape - used to decrease pressure, pain, inflammation and to isolate and assist individual muscles to function correctly 🫶

19/11/2024

05/11/2024

🎉 This month, we’re celebrating a huge milestone - Charmae’s 10-year journey at the helm of Bit Bank Australia! Over the past decade, her passion, expertise, and dedication to the equestrian community have transformed Bit Bank into a trusted name for quality, comfort, and fit. 🐴✨

To mark this special occasion, we’re offering 𝟏𝟎% 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐝𝐞, including already discounted items! Use code HAPPY10 at checkout.

Thank you for being a valued part of the Bit Bank family! 💙 Shop now www.bitbankaustralia.com.au/

02/11/2024

20/10/2024

15/10/2024

A must watch. Sometimes the issue is much deeper than we can see. Especially for those started young and particularly those who have started young in racing.