Perfect Balance Equine Body Work by Jules Davis

01/20/2025

INDIVIDUAL STABLING FOUND TO ALTER IMMUNE RESPONSE

Research has found that horses moved from group housing to individual stabling showed changes in their white blood cell counts and plasma cortisol levels. These changes could mean they are at a higher risk of infectious disease.

Equine scientists at the University of Hohenheim in Germany studied 12 warmblood geldings aged 2-3 years old during several management changes, monitoring their behaviour and immune response.

The horses used were all living in a group, turned out at pasture. For the first part of the study the group was then split into two, each kept in a separate paddock so that the horses in one group could not see the others. After a trial period of eight days all the horses were returned to their original group, living together. They were then were left out at pasture for eight weeks.

For the second part of the study the horses were all moved into individual stables, where they could see and touch their neighbours through bars. During the first week of being stabled, the horses were given 30 minutes of turnout in an indoor area. From the second week onwards, the horses were lunged.

Throughout the study the research team collected blood samples from the horses to analyse their immune cell numbers and cortisol concentrations.

The results showed that moving the horses to individual stabling led to acute stress-induced immune changes. However, dividing the larger group into two smaller groups at pasture did not.

“The number of eosinophils, monocytes and T cells declined, whereas the number of neutrophils increased resulting in an increased N:L ratio. This pattern of change resembles the well-known picture of an immunomodulation induced by acute social stress."

The plasma cortisol concentrations didn’t change after dividing the group into the two smaller groups at pasture, but there was an increase in cortisol concentrations one day after stabling which then returned to the previous levels eight days later. However, the researchers reported that “Although cortisol concentrations returned to baseline level after 8 days, the alterations in most immune cell numbers persisted, pointing to a longer-lasting effect on the immune system of the horses."

The team also found that some of the horses started to perform stereotypical behaviours as soon as one week after stabling.

The team reported that the results “strongly indicate that social isolation is a chronic stressor with negative impact on welfare and health of horses and highlight the advantage of group housing systems in view of immunocompetence."

The researchers concluded that “relocation to individual stabling represented an intense stressor for the horses of the present study, leading to acute and lasting alterations in blood counts of various leukocyte types. In contrast, fission of the stable group did not result in behavioural, endocrine or immunological stress responses by the horses."

This sudden change from group turnout to individual stabling with training being introduced is a very common scenario for horses being started for the first time. This study gives us yet more evidence that stabling horses individually is stressful for them and detrimental to their physical and psychological wellbeing. The majority of the horses I see are stabled for the bulk of the day. I do wonder how much evidence is needed before horse owners, yard owners and professionals act on this information and change their management to increase turnout and group living...

The research is free to access and is a very interesting read: Schmucker S, Preisler V, Marr I, Krüger K, Stefanski V (2022) Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0272445.

01/19/2025

Nice to see the B.H.S. are recognising the subtle signs
If you look back at my posts you will see many drawings and videos on this subject
What does this mean for the horse ??? That the information the horse has always told us will become more widely available at all levels xx

12/04/2024

𝗪𝗘𝗟𝗙𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗗𝗔𝗬: 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗱-𝗡𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗗𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀

A recent study by K. Kienapfel et all (2024) investigated the relationship between head-neck positions (HNPs), conflict behaviour (CB), and judging scores in elite dressage horses. The study examined how these factors align with the animal welfare principles and competition rules established by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI).

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀:
• Conflict behaviour increases with lower nasal plane angles in elite dressage horses.
• Relationship found between head-neck positions and conflict behaviour.
• Surprising rule contradiction: tests with small poll angles received high scores.
• Urgent need to address animal welfare and enhance solutions in dressage sport.

𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆:
The study observed 49 horses participating in the Grand Prix Special (CDIO5*) at CHIO Aachen in 2018 and 2019. Researchers analysed video footage of warm-up and competition phases, measuring HNPs (angle at the vertical, poll angle, and shoulder angle) and recording instances of conflict behaviour. These were evaluated against judges' scores.

The results showed that:

▪️ The nasal plane was behind the vertical more frequently during warm-up than in competition (-11° vs. -5°).
▪️ Poll angles were larger in competition (28°) than in warm-up (24°).
▪️ No significant differences were found in shoulder angles between warm-up and competition phases.

Conflict behaviours, including unusual oral movements, occurred more often during warm-up than in competition. Tail swishing was not affected by the nasal plane’s angle.

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀' 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
The study authors concluded that the findings raise concerns about the welfare of elite dressage horses and the application of FEI rules. According to the authors, horses showing restrictive HNPs—such as nasal planes behind the vertical—exhibited more conflict behaviours, yet these positions were not penalised during scoring and, in some cases, correlated with higher scores.

The authors emphasised the importance of addressing these discrepancies to ensure that dressage practices align more closely with established rules and prioritise horse welfare.

10/27/2024

09/28/2024

09/10/2024

09/06/2024

08/30/2024

Walking through the girth section in the tack shop can be daunting, there are so many shapes and sizes of girths available for purchase today, from leather, sheepskin lined, neoprene and mohair to non-slip, anatomically shaped, shoulder freedom and sternum support girths with elastic on one-side, both sides or none at all. The options are truly overwhelming. So how do you become more selective in the tack store and invest in the right piece of equipment?

Basic physics and logic can help you! The area of tension and ultimately area of pressure distribution will be on a straight line between the buckles (we've illustrated this in the attached graphic for you).

Offset girths while they're marketed as being able to help horses with forward girth grooves, actually fail to properly distribute the tension across the body and show localized pressure, with sometimes zero contact in the offset portion. That means a 4" wide girth may only exert pressure across a 1" width, leaving the rest hanging there.

Using a simple ballpoint pen, you can run the pen tip just along the edge of your girth, lying it flat against the horse so as to not poke them) to check the tension.

We typically find offset girths have a large gap on one side, while being so tight on the opposite side we cannot even slide the pen underneath.

So next time you're in the tack shop, don't let clever marketing cloud your judgement, think logically about the functionality of the mechanisms you're purchasing.

08/18/2024

08/06/2024

I’ve been working on a new aspect of a technique that I have been developing for over 15 years, but one that I am really excited about. It has so much to do with forehand disfunction and helps to aid areas impacted by poor posture.
Poor posture contributes to everything from poor head carriage positions, poor top line development, changes in forehand development, base-narrow balance, and makes it difficult for abdominal and psoas muscles to function, and gives inadequate space for the hind legs to maneuver under the horse, they literally cannot lift themselves up to put themselves together. We misconstrue this as behaviour but it is their biomechanics failing them.
There is hope though. And it is exciting because it doesn’t have to be endless exercises over poles (although they help!). This gives hope to the horses whose vets have cleared them of all other possible issues, of metabolic disorders, of chronic hoof issues that can be fixed by better farriery (again, always necessary to have your horse in a good routine with a good farrier as those angles determine all that sits above it).
The thing is that sometimes you do everything right and the horse still isn’t able to be functional.
I work on unwinding, and unraveling of old holding patterns to unearth the original structures and give them the possibility of being usable once more.
The newest aspect is very fresh and I’m still learning about how it impacts the horses. So far it has had exceeded expectations on each horse and each owner /trainer is finding in the horses buttons that they can now use that the horse never had access to due to the previous disfunction and discomfort in their bodies.
I’m thrilled. The owner is thrilled. And most importantly, those horses are so proud of themselves and thrilled to be able to move as they once did.

From one of my clients:

JULES! You my friend are definitely on to something BIG. I have not seen Zoomer move like this (after just one time with you) in a very long time. I’m watching her just seem to unravel in such a good way! Tracking: way better. Hind even overstepping at times. Head carriage: way lower and relaxed. Attitude: Happy! Cooperative. We her old self. I can’t wait to see you again. More progress with ONE TIME than I’ve seen in ONE YEAR of bodywork. 🙏🏻♥️

07/05/2024