Perfect Balance Equine Body Work by Jules Davis

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

06/07/2024

Really important video to appreciate how much movement there is through the whole back, side to side, up and down and forwards, backwards all while In the creation of tremendous power.

06/04/2024

Exactly...that's not loving horses at all, that's only loving the sport you can use them for. And there's a world of difference...

Picture credit: progressiveequinepartnership.com

06/03/2024

I’ve been a bit quiet the last three or so weeks because on May 5th my mare’s long awaited foal was born. We did everything right. The stallion was confirmed to not be a carrier of the FFS Or Fatal Foal Syndrome not “For $ck’s ” as some might be apt to call it should their foals be afflicted”.

The foal checks were done on time. The mare carried the foal well and to term. The labour went smoothly. The foal stood and nursed and passed meconium but not a lot. She seemed a bit too easy going.

I am suspicious of any foal who is too easy. In my experience, easy horses, easy foals are often the ones who cannot do more than that, however when they feel better then they are more excitable and show more movement.

I watched her start to show more and more discomfort. I called the vet, she was given banamine, attempted to give her enemas but when the enemas trickled back out without pay-dirt, the problem seemed to be ahead of the pelvis, which would imply something more serious.

The vet assured me that foals rarely became surgical. After the vet left I palpated her stomach and there was a moment that she winced. I tried to tell myself that I imagined it. But her discomfort continued to build.

The way that she expressed her discomfort proved to me that horses definitely lick, chew, yawn, press their legs out (if she was standing it would have been a stretch) all during the course of expressing deep discomfort.

As such it helps me understand that while my foal was exhibiting deep discomfort that a lot of the images that we depend on to determine whether or not the horse is receiving a benefit from care in terms of Body Work, Massage, Chiro, Accupressure techniques, etc.,- she was taken into the veterinary surgical hospital where she ended up having colic surgery.

It’s been a lot of chaos and worry over the little one. She’s awfully cute but her start in the world has been nothing short of a lot of drama and unexpected expense. Not having had the opportunity to have had her insured before hand means that I will be living the life of a horse obsessed hermit for the foreseeable future but I’m not going to lie, it’s worth it for her cuteness.