Journey to Sound

23/08/2024

I recently listened to a short talk on training horses that interested me. It looked at training as having two components. The ability to communicate our wishes to our horses, and the desire of our horses to meet our requests.

The communication part is what we would normally think of as training. But equally important is our horses desire.

If we think of that desire as being a bank account that needs to stay in credit, we need to keep topping it up with positive deposits of good experiences, fun and trusting situations. For every negative experience, scary situation, boredom, repetition or moment of overwhelm, withdrawals are being made from the bank.

If the point is reached when that bank account becomes overdrawn, then you have lost your horse's desire, regardless of how good your communication is. Both parts are equally important within training.

Finding something fun that your horse can do that puts money back into that bank account will go a long way towards successful training.

I have recently discovered that Loki's favourite thing is to pop a little jump at liberty. No lunge line, his choice, that tops up his bank account ❤️

What tops up your horses bank account of trust and happiness?

28/06/2024

Friday's Foot Facts- White Line Disease, treatment and prevention

26/06/2024

Donkey's Words of Wisdom

Stop worrying about how little you have and start enjoying what you do have to the max

Be more like Donkey ❤️

08/06/2024

Stable 101 - The equine equivalent to Room 101

If I had to choose one thing to start this regular feature of things I'd throw out, it would be flash straps. A happy horse, appropriately bitted, working in a comfortable balance will rarely choose to open their mouth. So if they do, it's always best to listen to them and work out what is wrong asap. Rather than strapping their mouth shut so they can no longer communicate

What would you choose to put in?

18/05/2024

Should you worry if you see your horse standing like this?

For information and discussions head over to What's Wrong With My Horse https://www.facebook.com/share/CFbq2EA91M8sg1Q8/

15/05/2024

Twenty two years ago, I was a novice owner and competitor who was worried about my horse, knowing things weren't right, but unable to get clear answers. The professionals didn't communicate with each other, and I was lost in a sea of inaccurate and conflicting advice from well meaning colleagues.

So I set about learning everything I could to help myself through the rollercoaster ride of finding out what was wrong with my horse.

And with that knowledge I hope to help guide others on this frustrating journey using my professional qualifications, research and considerable experience, rather than hearsay and guesswork.

My inspiration was this gorgeous chap TJ Tigga. I'm so sorry I let you down and couldn't help you to a happy pain free life. But I have never forgotten you, and your life was the start of me being able to help so many other horses 🙏

If you don't know which way to turn and who to listen to, head over to the safe space of my group What's Wrong With My Horse where we can discuss best options

11/05/2024

Badminton Horse Trials - Love it or hate it? I’m on the fence but feel compelled to watch

As the first horse was counted down for cross country, “5 4 3 2 1 GO good luck” ………
I felt my adrenaline levels rise just as they used to when I was last in the start box over a decade ago . By start box, I mean competing at BE90 and 100 - a totally different sport to 5* eventing for sure!

During that first round I felt a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye multiple times as I witnessed the generosity, honesty and athleticism of Tom Jackson’s horse Farndon. Then as the day goes on, watching the impossible starts to feel more achievable and almost expected. And it loses some of its reverence. It then takes a much less perfect round to remind me that this level of excellence is not normal!

I love watching the cross country phase because when it goes well it is truly stunning to see the end result of the training, the fitness and the trust between horse and rider. And at this ultimate level, every hole is exposed, hopefully with penalty faults rather than falls. Watching the likes of William Fox-Pitt, Emily King and Caroline Powell fills my heart with joy at what horse and rider can achieve in harmony with an obviously good relationship. I have no doubts about the ethics of their training

Preparing a horse to have the physical fitness to negotiate the xc, when the ground conditions and temperature on the day are unknown until the day, is so tricky. And of course you can over prepare so your horse can cope with the worst combination of holding ground and higher temperature. But you will then have a horse so full of energy they may explode in the dressage and may be so keen at the jumps that you lose that essential level of control at the complex combinations, skinnies and angles they have to negotiate. They literally become like a small child on a plane flight after a bucket full of blue smarties, which is quite frankly dangerous.

In pure dressage, sadly force and coercion are very possible. And as all the recent social media has highlighted, there are many incidents of unethical training and dubious horse welfare going on that need to be better addressed.

In show jumping ,hopefully less so, because you can’t physically force a horse to leave the ground and clear a fence. But show jumping doesn’t demand quite such a two way level of trust over a fence that easily falls down compared to the rigidity of xc fences.

But for xc at this level your horse has to have a huge desire to lock on and jump anything in front of them, whilst still listening to their rider who knows the order of the fences, what is on the landing side and what sort of fence is coming up next. They need to want to keep galloping, but be soft in the contact and come back from their rider’s weight change and light rein check. If they fight and throw their heads up, they hollow in their back and drop their back legs, as well as tiring quicker. If horse and rider can’t stay riding committedly forward because the horse is taking over unsafely, then doubt comes into the horse about their ability to jump and then the run outs, stops or awkward jumps come. They need to stay super straight at the skinnies, but be totally turnable. Any hint at crookedness will see them jumping out through a shoulder and not staying between the flags.

Badminton is not for the normal. It takes an exceptional horse and an exceptional rider, both of whom, quite frankly, have a less than average imagination for what can go wrong. And it provides an amazing showcase for the brilliant. Less easy to watch are the not quite brilliant but very lucky, and even harder, the not quite brilliant and unlucky. Seeing the horses struggle with fitness, or fighting with the control is the bit I hate.

Everyone who gets here is an exceptional combination, but it is very obvious to see who are the truly brilliant ones who inspire me, at my vastly lower level, to want to achieve that level of harmony and partnership. Whilst NEVER wanting to jump those fences!

I’d love to hear what you think, did you watch, do you love it or hate it?

10/05/2024

Where did my love of horses begin?

It actually started when my mum took me to a neighbours and lead me out on a pair of seaside donkeys who used to come and stay in the winter. Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble. Sadly they're aren't any pictures of them, as back then you chose carefully what to photograph on your 24 picture roll of film, that had to go to Boots and be developed.

So my first photograph is aged about 9 or 10 on a little Dartmoor pony called Bunty. Back then we wore secondhand velvet hats with stretched elastic straps knotted to being vaguely tight(or no hat if you were an experienced adult rider), rubber riding boots, string girths, no numnahs, no restrictive nosebands and plain loose ring snaffles. Some of those things we are coming back round to. Luckily, not the Loveson rubber riding boots which made your feet very sweaty!

Once I was deemed competent I would hack her out alone around the apple orchards of Kent. She regularly used to take off with me under the trees, I'd get dragged off backwards and be winded, whilst she took herself back home for tea. Undeterred by this I kept trying, and never lost my enthusiasm. As an adult, I discovered on MRI, that I had some old fractures in my thoracic spine, which I suspect we're thanks to Bunty. But I survived to tell the tale ❤️

07/05/2024

My husband passed comment a few days ago about where had my bottom gone?

I'm naturally pear shaped, so carry more of my weight in my bottom and thighs. And since my knee operation and subsequent immobility, I have lost a huge amount of muscle, leaving my bottom and legs looking a bit under inflated

I had anticipated putting weight on with the lack of activity, instead of which I had dropped 2kg in the first 3 days. Because of the speed of that loss without me cutting me back on food, I knew it had to be muscle loss rather than fat

In my Osteopathy training we were taught that muscle atrophy (wastage) starts within 24 hours of not using it, hence the saying "Use it or lose it"

It really made me start thinking about box rest for horses following injury or surgery. And the importance of doing the in hand walking that is recommended.

It's easy to think that the horse will be moving around their stable on their own. So what difference will 5 minutes of in hand walking make?

Actually it makes all the difference. Straight line consistent one foot in front of the other several times every day will massively reduce that muscle atrophy. As well as the mental health benefits it brings from a change of scenery and gentle movement

Start as soon as you are allowed. The sooner the better

Stay consistent so your horse knows this will be happening regularly. If they can predict, they will less stressed and desperate for outside movement, meaning a lower risk of explosion behaviour

Stay safe. That probably means you wearing protective footwear, a hat and gloves.

Ideally practice in hand walking before surgery so you know where they are relaxed doing it and what they need to be wearing. Are they better alone, or with another horse being walked with them. If they need sedation to be walked safely, ask your vet to prescribe some in advance

And be aware, that in hand grazing for 5 minutes is a great mental health and digestive activity for them, but it is not the same thing as 5 minutes of consistent walking. They need both

26/04/2024

Fun Friday Observations

As an Osteopath, a lot of my degree was scientific.
Anatomy, physiology, neurology, pathology, pharmacology. But we also studied the less scientific skills of palpation, observation, body language, instincts, cranial and energy work.

Collected lived experiences are known as anecdotal evidence, and tend to be viewed by science as very inferior to clinical controlled research.

So I love science, but don’t believe it explains everything? I feel there is equal value in things that don’t have research? Staying open minded to assess everything on it’s individual merits, is important to me.

Within the horse world there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence that is drawn on to assist progress and teach others. Science often follows up some time behind, and shows why the beliefs were correct.

But I do encounter some resistance from scientists, to anything that lacks researched evidence, which I believe can inhibit progress. Should we be waiting for evidence before making welfare changes for instance. And when reading research papers it is important to look at the question the research is proposing, how it is carried on and how big and varied the sample group was.

A statement that is important to me is that coexistence does not equal causation ie just because two things happen at the same time does not mean one caused the other. As an example, I recently noticed that I tend to come up in little bruises on my thighs during the wet winter weather. Scientists would look to explain this by researching blood supply to the skin in colder temperatures, effect of increased humidity and decreased barometric pressure.

However, if you watch the video you will see my lived experience in the winter and the real reason for my bruises as I struggle up the wet muck heap with a full wheelbarrow! Anecdotally I knew exactly why 🤣🤣

24/04/2024

Although we can never share the spoken language with our horses, in the way we can with people, we can still build a progressively expanding communication system with them

Horses are excellent readers of body language. In the wild they rely on observation of each other to function in a herd, without collision and without being left behind

They need to be able to alert each other to potential danger, without highlighting their existence to other predators

When we think of having an intention to do something, we make tiny changes in our body towards that thing. As humans, with such a complex language system, our skills at observing intention in others is often very rusty at best, obsolete at worst. But to our horses it is quite clear

But in such a busy, noisy world many horses have had to learn to filter out all but the most obvious, to avoid overwhelm. They are effectively wearing noise cancelling headphones

Once we start to show our horses that we see the language they are displaying to us, and trust them to read our subtle signs, their headphones can come off and the dance can begin

I used to be at my happiest testing my training competing in a dressage test or riding round a tricky cross-country course. But for now, I adore the simplicity of playful exploration with no agenda and no judgement

Do you ever find time to just play with your horse and see what happens?

21/04/2024

20/04/2024

Last week I got to work with Bobby who I have been helping for 14 years now!

He is one of the oldest horses I treat, and has been with me ever since I first graduated as an Osteopath. He has some challenging front limb conformation and requires a lot more help now for the compensations his arthritic front legs create

His mum Debra Potter, and I used to event together on the two amazing horses we had back in the early 2000's. And now she is doing her best by another special friend 💕

17/04/2024

What happens when it all goes wrong with your horse - part 4. The happy outcome

15/04/2024

What happens when it all goes wrong with your horse - Part 3

Eight days ago we identified that the emerging spring grass on top of some higher sugar nutrition had caused hindgut acidosis, causing Nemo to be very tense, anxious, distracted and uncomfortable. Eight days in of using pre and probiotics and a hindgut buffer, and he is starting to feel almost back to normal 🤞

Today was his first schooling session and he felt much more focused on me from the beginning. Still aware of things around him, but not desperate to check everything out. His trot was rhythmical and relaxed from the first step. And the video shows his first canter, which was on a long rein in a light seat, which I couldn't have safely done when he was feeling bad.

We went on to ask for lateral work, direct transitions and more engagement of his hindlimbs, and he offered with willingness. A few bits of tension popped up at times, but the overall feeling was one of calm, content and happy to try. Very different from our last schooling session where the feeling was tense, anxious and disconnected. Back then he felt so distracted by everything around him that he was incapable of listening to me, let alone trying with me.

As I talked about in part 2, the extra sugars are highly likely to cause some foot soreness, so Nemo was in his Flex hoof boots for added protection during this time. As a barefoot horse, his soles are in direct contact with the ground. So he will feel the ground much more than a shod horse. This is a really useful early warning of things going on that may get missed with the shod horse.

If you are struggling with similar symptoms with your horse and need help or advice please do get in touch

12/04/2024

What happens when it all goes wrong with your horse - Part 2

Five days ago we identified that the emerging spring grass on top of some higher sugar nutrition had caused hindgut acidosis, causing Nemo to be very tense, anxious, distracted and uncomfortable. Five days in of using pre and probiotics and a hindgut buffer, and he is starting to feel better.

At the start of this session he was still quite rushed and tense, but he wasn't as anxious as before and looked somewhat more comfortable. So we carried on working him encouraging stretch, softness and more attention towards me than towards the environment outside of the arena. When feeling sore he always becomes hyper vigilant to any perceived dangers, and therefore disconnects from me.

He made a good improvement in ten minutes, not yet back to normal, but heading in the right direction. So we will continue on the gut supplement protocol and light work.

We will try a ridden session in a few days time and see how he feels. The extra sugars are highly likely to cause some foot soreness. That soreness is much more visible on a barefoot horse than if he were shod, simply because the shoe lifts the sensitive sole away from the ground surface. So it will be important to support his feet with the use of hoof boots in the short term.

Are you struggling with similar symptoms with your horse? If you need help or advice please do get in touch

08/04/2024

What happens when it all goes wrong with your horse?

Over the last two weeks Nemo has become increasingly more tense in his ridden work. This shows up the most in his canter, but he has even been spooky and on edge to hack out. The video shows him head tossing and rushing in canter, then breaking into a fast trot, where the smaller circle is used to slow him down, rather than strong hands. Once in walk he anticipates more canter and starts jogging. Bending was tried to relax him, without much success.

Horses don't change without a reason. This could be lameness, back or neck pain, abdominal discomfort, tack fit, teeth, stress, a change in management, nutrition, the possibilities are endless.

My first thought with any horse who starts to behave differently, is what has changed in their management recently. I would start by looking at those reasons before looking further.

Nemo had dropped off a bit of weight recently. He is 21 and takes Prascend for mild Cushings disease. This often has a side effect of loss of appetite. So getting him to eat more is a challenge. So he had been started on a little bit of Readigrass and low sugar Haylage to help with this.

It was discovered several years ago that he has a very sensitive digestive system, as do many native, or native cross breds and can be very adversly affected by certain foods. So changing his diet was always risky, but we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. All seemed fine, so the quantities fed were increased.

The combination of the grass starting to grow, and the extra sugars in the Readigrass and the Haylage disrupted his hindgut biome, resulting in hindgut acidosis. There is much research being done now about the gut brain axis, and how gut pain can affect behaviour.

So rather than treating this as a training issue, we took all the pressure off Nemo, stopped the haylage and Readigrass and started him on pre and Pro-Biotics and a hindgut buffer.

Within 24 hours his face looked more relaxed and his anxious eye had softened. It will take a good few days for his hindgut to settle down. And until then he will stay in non demanding work focusing on quiet relaxation and connection.

Never underestimate the effect of spring grass and other nutrition on your horses comfort and health. The sugars cause real discomfort, not just excess energy high spirits.

When you watch the video can you see the signs of a tense and unhappy horse rather than an over excited one? If you would like more information on the symptoms I look for or the supplements I use contact me on FB or ask questions down below.

06/04/2024

Doing vs Being - A video chat so listen with the sound on.

Are you as guilty as me in your allocation of time?

05/04/2024

Although I did my Pilates teacher training and do my own exercises at home, weekly eyes on the ground from Nicky Wylam, to keep my body honest really benefits my progress

Helping myself to help my horse

01/04/2024

Happy Easter from Donkey and me xx

28/03/2024

Yesterday, I had my pre-op appointment for the knee surgery I've got coming up. Ah, the joys of an aging equestrian's body! When the nurse went to check my blood pressure, I really wanted it to be close to normal. So, I took a few deep breaths and tried to relax. The blood pressure was good, but the nurse looked at me a tad worried and asked if my pulse was always that low. It was only 45, while the usual resting rate is between 60 and 100. My initial pride at having the heart rate of a super fit athlete, despite my knees not being up for anything athletic, quickly turned to concern. Within a few moments that caused my heart rate to jump up to 55, which reassured the nurse that I wasn't about to keel over.

This whole experience got me thinking about how working with anxious, highly-strung horses, who are often in pain, has actually taught me a lot about regulating my own nervous system, which in turn lowers pulse and blood pressure. I've had to learn how to ground myself, imagining roots growing down into the earth, to tune into the sensations in my hands, and to dial down the mental chatter. And the horses really pick up on that mindful state and relax with me. Especially the ones owners tell me are normally difficult or aggressive.

I wanted to share a picture along with this story, so I tried to snap one with my lovely Loki. Here's the interesting part: as I rushed to quickly get a picture I got distracted by a bunch of things, and Loki picked up on it, getting equally unsettled and disconnected. After about 30 seconds of this, I realized I needed to be present and grounded for him. As soon as I shifted my focus, he noticed the change in my body language and completely changed his behaviour. It's fascinating how our energies interact, and how quickly he picked up on my body language changes.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the video clip—as I bet everyone sees something different! And if it's a new idea to you, try this with your own horses and share what happens. Prop your phone up and leave it videoing so you can close your eyes if that helps you relax.

26/03/2024

I love days like today when every horse needs slightly different help and I get to use a variety of skills and be a bit of a detective.

Maintenance treatments for horses who have had orthopedic veterinary interventions.

Assessing the effect of saddle fit on a hypermobile cob who's back shape changes so much between walk, trot and canter, that conventional treed saddles aren't working.

Looking at things that an owner can implement in her horses daily handling, to help address shoulder balance and straighness as he comes into a rehab plan.

And helping the owner of a lovely young well bred mare who has shown some aggression recently. Despite good conformation she had poor posture and incorrect muscling with many areas of bracing and soreness. On checking her bridle fit, the anatomical headpiece wasn't the best shape for her and was causing ear discomfort and the cheek piece buckles were pressing on her trigeminal nerves. Poll and face discomfort coupled with having such a powerful back end that was pushing her out of balance, had caused her to brace through her neck and work with poor compensatory posture.

Every day is a school day with horses ❤️❤️❤️

24/03/2024

Home after a fabulous three days of immersing myself in horses and learning - two of my favourite things.
Training with Veronika Buhn at the lovely Equiperformance venue with my awesome buddy Nemo.
Great lessons, great gang of students, great organisation and great cake.
Thanks to all who contributed and especially my dear friend Louise Harkin, who introduced me to this lot.
Full write up to follow once I've come back down to earth

20/03/2024

I always used to think that I should only have one trainer. That seeing different people would be confusing and contradictory.

For a long while I didn't take any lessons at all. I had tried someone who I hadn't watched teach first, but who came highly recommended, and they tried to make me bully my horse. "Fix the head and kick them into the contract". I left there feeling very disappointed, isolated, misunderstood and feeling even more strongly how much I needed to advocate for my horse.

But years without any eyes on the ground giving me feedback and guidance, ends up feeling like a rudderless boat bobbing around direction less on a still pond.

So I started searching for people on my wavelength. No coercion, no fake outlines, no big egos that get in the way. And I have found several lovely trainers out there quietly doing their thing for the good of the horse.

And they all fit together in a beautiful way.

One focuses strongly on correct horse biomechanics, timing of the aids and finds an individual logical progression for every horse.

One is all about correct rider biomechanics and helping my body to match the movement of the horse to create the appearance of stillness in the saddle.

And one helps me to bring those two ideas together, gives me honest feedback and discusses ideas and future plans in an empowering way.

Each of them deserves a shout of thanks from me, but more importantly a big thank you from all the horses whose lives are that bit better for their input.

Jan Carter
Andrew J Murphy
Regina Staples

Do you have regular lessons?
Do you use one instructor or several?
Do you want to give a shout out to someone special?

17/03/2024

This week brought about two significant moments that have really got me thinking. Firstly, I had a conversation with a confused and worried novice horse owner regarding her horse's lameness. She was understandably feeling overwhelmed and conflicted, having been bombarded with conflicting advice from every other livery on her yard.

Secondly, on a personal front, I've embarked on learning about business and marketing for some future endeavors. Let me tell you, diving into this realm feels like stepping into a foreign land. The language is alien, the technology seems light-years ahead of my grasp, and the concepts are as clear as mud. It's left me feeling pretty inadequate, to be honest. The sheer volume of information is overwhelming, and the temptation to throw in the towel is strong, especially when I see others in my learning circle seemingly breezing through it with confidence.

But amidst all this frustration, it's made me reflect on what it feels like to be a beginner. To be inundated with advice and not know which way to turn. To feel like a fish out of water among a sea of experts. And strangely enough, I think it's a good thing. It's given me a dose of empathy for new horse owners who find themselves in similar situations.

13/03/2024

Who doesn't love an excited Donkey at tea time ❤️
Watch with sound on

02/07/2023

Back in March 2017 a horse called Nemo came into my life and everything changed. Aged 14, he was enthusiastic, fun and adrenalin fuelled. He was a bold jumper, but his flatwork was very tense and erratic.

As a successful low level event rider and an equine osteopath I conceitedly thought I would quickly improve his dressage and would be out eventing that summer. But Nemo had layers of problems that required me to have many more skills than I had back then.

For several years I wished him to be different, to be easier, calmer, more like my previous horse Jet, who had always tried so hard for me and been so consistent. I kept thinking what is wrong with him, why wouldn't he change. I consulted vets searching for a reason for his behaviour. And slowly the realisation dawned that it was me who needed to change. Following convention was not what worked for Nemo. I needed to listen to what he wanted and needed. And that was the start of a new mindset of researching, learning, observing and thinking more like a horse. So thank you Nemo for being you and giving me the gift of curiosity.

Journey to Sound is my reflections on things I have learnt and continue to learn that have helped Nemo to be physically and mentally well and for us to have a mutually enjoyable relationship. My hope is that this may help other people to help their "problem" horses when the answers aren't forthcoming and you don't know where to turn for help.