02/27/2025
Have you ever tried to learn something new while totally overwhelmed? Like reading a book in the middle of a rock concert? 🤘🏻📖
That’s what happens when we push a horse past their emotional threshold… the learning stops, stress takes over, and the body locks down. 🔒
Fascia (that magical, spiderweb-like connective tissue that holds everything together) is designed to keep us safe. 🕸️
When a horse trains under stress, fascia tightens and restricts movement—kind of like shrink wrap.
Repetitive stress? That fascia pulls tighter and tighter until snap—we’ve got tension patterns, compensations, and eventually, injury. 🩼
The other day, my own horse was on high alert—the wind was howling, tarps were flapping, and honestly, I think he saw ghosts. 👻
I could’ve “worked him through it,” but that would’ve been forcing a body already in survival mode to go into protection mode even more.
Instead, I kept him under his threshold, which actually meant dismounting.
Instead of forcing him to be an obedient soldier, we worked on emotional regulation and Pillar 1 in-hand: breathing, connecting, parasympathetic posture, and softening. 🫠
The difference? By the end, he was settled, not shut down. His fascia
stayed supple, and he learned instead of just surviving.
The ego tells us we need to ride in order to progress our training, when the truth is we can get just as much accomplished in-hand. 🤝
If your horse feels tight, bracey, spooky, or reactive—maybe it’s not about more training, but about better regulation.
If you want to learn more, I can help! Book a virtual consult and let’s get you started on Pillar 1 from the Balance Through Movement Method.
www.primeequine.ca/pillar1