Zoe Smith Equine therapist

12/08/2024

It's a hard life 🥰🐈🐈

08/08/2024

I spent the morning with this little beauty who showed me exactly the spot to work on 🤣🥰

30/07/2024

The roads were so busy this morning, traffic jams of the best kind 🤣🥰🐎🐎

30/07/2024

What a beautiful but rather hot day, this lovely lad was showing me exactly where the right spot was today 😆😁🥰

16/07/2024

It's fascia week for me ! This is a fantastic read giving great insight into fascial unwinding. Great to have a look at with your morning cuppa ☕️🐎🐎
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/Cb2MxPTEQB6S2Cwc/

23/05/2024

Do come along it looks like a fantastic day 😀

23/05/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/2w9k8SjTPgstgZTf/
Do come along there's so many interesting things to see and learn 😁

16/05/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/GPTv7wFWrchMWKYP/

04/05/2024

Very interesting article, especially if you have a laminitic 🐎🐎

03/05/2024

It's a hard life for this one 😆, happy Friday everyone !

03/05/2024

13/04/2024

When there's a patch of sun 🌞

29/03/2024

Sometimes the horse can act out of character or do things we don't understand. There's always a reason the horse has changed they cannot think ahead, plot things or decide before a ride to be naughty their brains don't work that way . There's always a reason . So it's up to us to investigate why , as a therapist i look at the "whole" that includes the history, accidents, changes in home/lifestyle etc and how your horse moves and stands, a whole body assessment to try and understand what the root cause is . Once we find the root cause that's half the battle won and we can begin to change and improve things for that horse and that in turn improves things for us to. 😊🐎

29/03/2024

Happy Easter everyone 🐣🐇🐇🥚

29/03/2024

This is another good way to find yourself a therapist for your horse and for cpd courses . Happy Easter everyone, hopefully it will actually stop raining to ! 😁

22/03/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/Wv2EzMhucAAC85ma/

What is ‘on the bit’?

When a horse is described as being ‘on the bit,’ it means that a connection has been formed from the horse’s hindlegs to the contact.

The horse is relaxed and moving rhythmically forward. He tips his pelvis under, engages his core muscles, and lifts his back as he steps further underneath his center of gravity with his hind legs. He stretches up and forward through the base of his neck while, at the same time, propelling the energy created by his hindquarters over his back toward the end of the reins, thus creating a connection to the contact.

When done correctly, your horse will create a beautiful arch over his back and neck as he stretches toward the bit. He will flex softly at his poll and bring his nose closer towards the vertical, only coming onto the vertical in high degrees of collection.

As you can see, ‘on the bit’ involves your horse’s whole body, and it is only possible through correct training.

13/03/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/k2zjmsCetXf4mHeF/

04/03/2024

Some general health screening today , checking heart rates, pulses and airways etc . Always an interesting part of the job, osteopathy evaluates " The whole" , this can be a great way to make sure your equine friend is in great shape 😀

18/02/2024

What can osteopathy and massage do for your equine bestie?

1. Promotes natural healing. It focuses on enhancing your horses natural healing abilities, helping them to recover from injuries and discomfort.

2. Improves performance by addressing musculoskeletal imbalances and restrictions.

3. it can enhance flexibility, range of movement and performance.

4. Enhances well being, horse just like us experience tension, stiffness and discomfort.

5. Each session is tailored to each individual horse.

If you think your horse may benefit please get in touch on
07772 310307

Initial session usually lasts about 1 to 1.5 hours and is £50.

02/02/2024

Injuries and dysfunction in one area of the body will always have a cascade effect and create a change in different areas of the body.

Unless these are addressed then the secondary symptoms can become more obvious than the primary cause.

This can be seen in lameness cases where the secondary symptoms are treated and not the primary so the issue comes back.

So lets get passionate about our horses functionality!

What can I do ......

Well I use a combination of osteopathy, massage , fascial release and stretching.

the key benefits of this are -

It works by addressing the interconnectedness of your horses body, it helps to optimise function and maintain a healthy happy horse.

Pain relief - addressing discomfort from injuries or chronic conditions.

Enhance performance - Boosting flexibility and mobility.

Preventative care - keeping the horse in top shape.

If you would like to know more or would like to make an appointment please get in touch !

Initial treatment involves a case history, static and dynamic assessment, saddle check if needed, and treatment. £50 . First session usually about 1.5 hours .

15/01/2024

Lets talk about fascia!!
Here is a few interesting facts about fascia.
Connective tissue known as fascia covers every muscle and wraps groups of muscle.
It goes from the intracellular matrix to cell membranes, to muscles, groups of muscles and is imbedded into the skin.
This provides a source of constant information from the skin to the cells all over the body.
Fascia is super strong it can withstand over 2000lbs of force per square inch !

where there is an injury to the body say a blow to a muscle, fascia clamps down which provides a natural compression bandage to immobilise the injury site and reinforce the surrounding tissues to take up slack. As an example if a horse is lame in the right the left shoulder and left hindlimb will have more weight shifted onto them.
After the injury has healed the thickening of the connective tissue does not go away , the extra fibres that have been laid down like in hyperactive scar areas can sometimes attract more thickening which is called fibrosis.
Over time this can cause excessive compensation patterns which result in reduction of movement and a loss of elasticity.

There may be a stiffness in your horse that cannot be explained .....
repetitive motion can cause structural microtraumas and can cause compensation patterns to form.

Does your horse feel unbalanced or one sided weakness that is difficult to overcome?

A girthy horse could have fascial restrictions in key muscle groups behind the shoulder, in the chest and between the forelimbs, these connect the chest to the underside of the pelvis . this could be inhibiting their ability to really engage their hind end making it impossible to to have a rear to front way of going and impulsion.

To compensate the horse may lean in on one side , counter flex other parts of their body , pop a shoulder , they do this to rebalance themselves and avoid opening the areas of fascial restriction to stay comfortable .

This strengthens the the imbalance pattern. Causing further fascial restrictions even on the other side.

There may be other reasons your horse doesn't feel quite right but this is one of the possible reasons to consider.

Have a great day!!😄

03/11/2023

Trust your instincts if you think your horse may be in pain . Happy Friday everybody. Here is a quick read . How can you be sure your horse isn't in pain?

You can't. 😞

I'm sorry, it's true. 🤷

Until we can read horses' minds or they learn to speak, we can't say for sure whether a horse is in pain or not.

Let me share a personal story with you. 📚

My knee has hurt me for YEARS. As a kid, I twisted my knee terribly in a skiing accident. Later I hit the asphalt hard while running on the same knee. Then about a year ago, a running horse hit me from behind, causing me to land on the same knee on the asphalt again. 😫🤕

It's never been the same since.

HOWEVER... I walk and run normally, I'm extremely active (I can ride, squat, hike, swim, whatever normally), the knee palpates and flexes normally, and it's not reactive to any touches or movements... The doctor even told me my *bad* knee palpates better than my good one 🤷

But yet it hurts.

Just because the doctor can't find it (yet, we are waiting on further diagnostics), doesn't mean it's not there.

Now imagine if I couldn't communicate with the doctor in any way to tell them I'm in pain. If they could *only* go off of symptoms.

Now pretend that story was about a horse.

The moral of the story is... Just because your vet can't find the cause, doesn't mean your horse isn't in pain.

And the only way your horse can communicate pain is through their behavior. Sometimes that's a sour expression when the saddle goes on, and sometimes it's three-legged limping around. Sometimes pain looks like "laziness", sometimes it looks like a tail swish, and sometimes it looks like a rear. Sometimes it's as subtle as tension around the eyes and nostrils.

Believe your horse. Listen to them. If they say they are in pain, they are in pain.

01/11/2023

Interesting to see it from the horses perspective https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=861598618732466&id=100046470086209&post_id=100046470086209_861598618732466

26/10/2023

Sadly this is all to common but it doesn't have to be https://www.facebook.com/100063454910196/posts/829631542495335/