Tsunami Wynd Equine Inc

12/25/2024

From our family to yours, warmest Christmas wishes.

11/30/2024

11/10/2024

08/13/2024

WHY DO SO MANY HORSES "LOSE" THEIR SUSPENSION

I'll never forget a case where we had removed a front leg splint bone on this lovely young warmblood post injury. Despite loads of rehab and a return to soundness this horse never regained his suspension. I still remember the owner saying over and over again,

'But this is not my horse, this is not my horse'

I had never met this horse prior to the injury that led to the surgery and at that time I didn't understand what she was talking about. Feeling proud and happy that this horse had returned to soundness, I was without the vision or the tools to be of any help.

That was then. I understand now that suspension is normal but not common.

Horses are very heavy

If you put something under a horse there is an excellent chance it will get squished

How do their little tiny legs do it anyway ???

Well most of the time they don't. They go into collapse or brace and thus you lose 'suspension'

For me, loss of suspension is your first sign that you have now tipped over into dysfunctional biomechanics and your system of levers and pulleys so uniquely designed to store energy in the soft tissue and then use that stored energy to propel the great mass of the horse forward has malfunctioned.

SO, instead of LOAD - SPRING - LOAD - SPRING, on our tendons we have
COLLAPSE - HEAVE YOUR BODY - COLLAPSE - HEAVE YOUR BODY

(Ever watch how a horse heaves his body out of a stall ???)

This is because we have lost the ability to LOAD our tendons because we are afraid / have forgotten how to PUSH into the ground

AFRAID ...
Because our joints are unstable and out legs might collapse
Afraid because if we stop squeezing our front legs together against the rib cage the whole front end will be on the ground
Afraid because no one removed all the dead tissue on the frog and it feels like knives going into sensitive tissue every time I put my foot down
Afraid because my feet have no flex and feel kind of numb and I cant feel the ground
Afraid because I'm not safe and need to move rapidly there simply is not time in my gait cycle to push into the ground - I'm not sure I even remember how anyway

This process of restoration of suspension has now taken upon both a physical and neurological manifestation in the horses body - in some ways it becomes like 'skipping' and the horse has forgotten how to find the rhythm that effectively loads and springs the tendon as there is a bit of a cadence that informs this. Then there is the alignment of the joints in the limb, often stuck in a form of extension, these joints have to be re mobilized and re activated through the range of motion that came with the original manufacturing. Then of course the feet are a huge part of this as well.

Finally there is the safety factor, the horse must feel safe- allowing it to be relaxed enough in his body to allow this beautiful system to work.

Suspension is my birthright

08/07/2024

MoreAid Ground pad...coming soon to a sole near you!

08/04/2024

07/29/2024

𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐲: 𝐃𝐢𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰?

Steel shoes on hooves can cause nerve and soft tissue damage through increased vibration on impact. These vibrations can destroy living tissue, and increased speed raises the vibration even higher, potentially causing more damage.

This statement is grounded in biomechanical studies that suggest the detrimental effects of vibrations caused by steel shoes. However, the exact impact can vary based on factors like the type of shoe, the surface the horse is moving on, and the individual horse's hoof structure.

For more detailed, scientific information, refer to the following sources:

* Bowker, R. M. (2003). Contrasting structural morphologies of “good” and “bad” footed horses. In Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners (Vol. 49, pp. 186-209).
* Van Heel, M. C., Barneveld, A., van Weeren, P. R., & Back, W. (2004). Dynamic pressure distribution measurements on the distal forelimb in horses when walking on a hard surface. The Veterinary Journal, 167(1), 54-62.
* Benoit, P., Barrey, E., Regnault, J. C., & Brochet, J. L. (1993). Comparison of the damping effect of different shoeing by the measurement of hoof acceleration. Acta Anatomica, 146(2-3), 109-113.
* Moore LV, Zsoldos RR, Licka TF. Trot Accelerations of Equine Front and Hind Hooves Shod with Polyurethane Composite Shoes and Steel Shoes on Asphalt. Animals. 2019; 9(12):1119. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9121119