A Plus Equine Bodywork

12/19/2025

More stock clean out!

Pure Sole Hoof Wax

I have two containers up for grabs. $40 each.

This 100% natural wax works great for horses that need an antimicrobial packing. This soothing, protective wax helps treat and manage issues such as hoof wall separation, deep cracks and crevices, white line disease. It can also be applied over nail holes after shoeing or to fill in holes when shoes have been pulled.

12/18/2025

Friendly reminder to please reach out and let me know if your horse is sick or if there is a sick horse at your barn so we can plan and reschedule accordingly!

The upper respiratory disease commonly referred to as strangles is caused by Streptococcus equi subsp equi. Strangles is spread from horse to horse through direct contact. Horses can also contract the disease by coming into contact with contaminated surfaces. The disease is highly infectious.

12/18/2025

❤️TWELVE DAYS OF GIVING: DAY SEVEN❤️
A Plus Equine Bodywork
We would like to take the time to thank Ashley for the positive impact she makes on the equine community! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, Love all of us at Sunset Acres!🎄🐴

12/18/2025

Today’s gratitude moment is about movement. Not how it looks, but what it allows you and your horse to share.

Maybe it’s a quiet trail ride.
Maybe it’s a balanced transition.
Maybe it’s relaxed groundwork or a calm walk together.

Whatever it is, take a moment to appreciate what your horse’s body can do today.

Movement is communication, adaptation, and partnership and it changes over time.

Pause, notice, and offer gratitude for the experience of moving together, exactly as you are today. 🐴💛

12/17/2025

This morning I had a question posted in my Equine Functional Posture Course and I thought it would be good to post here as it is an important question

“My horse has been cleared by the vet to be ridden… but when is the right time to actually start riding?”

This is such an important question!!

Being cleared by the Vet means tissues have healed enough to tolerate load.
But healing and readiness are not the same thing.

Before we climb back into the saddle, it’s worth asking a deeper question:
👉 Is my horse’s body prepared and able to carry me well - physically, posturally, and emotionally?

True readiness is about function, not just timeframes.

I look for signs like:
• Can they maintain balanced posture at rest?
- Limb alignment and positions
- Head and neck position - braced or relaxed?

• Do they have mobility and strength through the thoracic sling to enable lift at the base of the wither and maintain balance and weight off the forehand

• Is the core able to support the spine, or does movement collapse under load?
- Is there mobility of the spine in a belly lift?
- When they trot is the back well supported or is it dropping downwards with a disconnect to the pelvis

• Are they moving with ease, confidence, and symmetry or guarding and compensating?

• How do they respond to light requests - calmly and softly, or with tension and resistance?

🐴Riding too early doesn’t always look dramatic.
Often it shows up quietly:
– Loss of balance
– Subtle resistance
– Changes in behaviour
– Tension, stiffness, or reluctance
– Patterns that become “training problems” later on

💡 The ideal time to start riding is when your horse can carry themselves before they carry you.

This is where groundwork, posture work, controlled loading, and progressive reintroduction to movement become acts of welfare, not delays.

Because of the horse…
we owe them the time to rebuild balance, strength and confidence in their body not just return to work.

If you’re unsure, listen to what the body is telling you.
Posture and behaviour are always communicating - we just need to learn how to hear them.

💜🐴

12/17/2025

12/17/2025

Today’s gratitude moment is about something we often only notice when there’s a problem: your horse’s hooves.

Those hooves support every step, every landing, every transition, and every moment of balance.
They influence how your horse moves, how they carry themselves, and how comfortable their body feels overall.

Take a moment today to really look at your horse’s feet.

Notice their shape, their growth, their wear.
Offer a quiet thank you for everything they do to support your horse from the ground up.

Strong, supported hooves matter and today, we appreciate them. 🐴💛

12/16/2025

“Over at the knee” — is it conformation or posture?

Being over at the knee (also called buck-kneed) is often labeled as a conformational fault. And yes, true bone structure and joint alignment are things we cannot change.

But here’s the part that’s often missed: not every horse that looks over at the knee is built that way.

In many cases, what we’re seeing is a postural pattern, not fixed conformation.

🔹 Chronic tension through the chest and forearms
🔹 Restriction in the shoulders or fascial lines
🔹 A nervous system stuck in a guarded or braced state
🔹 Compensation from the feet, neck, or back
All of these can pull the horse forward and make the knees appear more flexed than they truly are.

Through targeted bodywork, I’ve seen horses:
✔️ stand more upright
✔️ load the limb more evenly
✔️ reduce that “over at the knee” appearance
✔️ move with more confidence and ease

Posture is changeable.
Conformation is not.

When we address how the body is using itself, not just how it’s built, we can create real, visible change.

If your horse looks over at the knee, the question isn’t just “Is this conformation?” It’s also “What is the body protecting or compensating for?”

12/15/2025

Today’s gratitude focus is all about the little things that make your horse uniquely them.

Maybe it’s the way they always have to investigate everything.
Maybe it’s the particular way they choose their favourite scratching spot.
Maybe it’s the soft expressions they offer when they’re relaxed and feeling good.

These quirks are part of your horse’s individuality. It’s the small, genuine details that make you smile and deepen your connection with them.

Take a moment today to list three of your horse’s quirks that you’re grateful for.

What makes your horse wonderfully one-of-a-kind? 🐴💛✨

12/14/2025

All spoken for! Thank you!

Cleaning out stock to make room for new stuff!

4 bottles of Pure Sole Sore Muscle Relief Spray (each bottle comes with a spray nozzle head)

$35 each

12/14/2025

Today’s gratitude practice is about finding calm — for you and your horse.

Stand quietly with your hand resting on your horse’s shoulder or ribcage.
Slow your breath.
Feel the rise and fall beneath your hand.
Let your nervous system settle into theirs.
These moments of stillness are powerful.
They remind us that connection doesn’t always require movement, training, or goals. Sometimes it’s simply about being together.

Take this pause today.
Let it ground you.
Let it reconnect you. 🐴💛