Pandiculation!
This is something that really interests me, and I see it from various horses during and after bodywork. Sometimes it takes the form of an upward stretching motion of the head and neck, a long and sustained retraction of a hind limb, or it can be a huge 'downward dog' as seen at the end of this session with my sponsored horse Rocky (with thanks to his humans Lel Brown and Izzie Brown-Aherne, my sponsored rider )
Pandiculation is the involuntary stretching of soft tissues - often body-wide, but sometimes a single area. It is suggested that it may be the body's way of maintaining myofascial integrity (Bertolucci, 2011). Yawning is often involved in pandiculation, stretching out the fibres of the muscles of the jaw, neck and face. We often do it when we wake up - the contraction, or tightening of muscles with a controlled and gradual lengthening, then contracting again into a resting position. This helps increase oxygen and bloodflow to soft tissues throughout the body, and help to prepare the system for healthy and functional movement - which we all need, whether for simply moving around or for fleeing prey!
The combined action of pandiculation along with yawning is described as 'Stretch-Yawning Syndrome' (SYS) which helps to reset the nervous system after a period of rest/inactivity and is involved with arousal. Bertolucci also suggests that it may play a part in the locomotor system, helping to maintain functional integrity of the myofascial system, therefore enhancing co-ordinated movement.
The pandicular stretches that the gorgeous Rocky performed were following cranio-sacral therapy along with massage and myofascial release techniques <3
Bertolucci LF. Pandiculation: nature's way of maintaining the functional integrity of the myofascial system? J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2011 Jul;15(3):268-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jbmt.2010.12.006. Epub 2011 Jan 14. PMID: 21665102.
#equinemassage #equinemyofascialrelease #equinecraniosacraltherapy #equinepandiculation
I'm very behind posting, again, but a bit of time has appeared so! Rewind a couple of weeks to the 3.5 day clinic held at Equicode Nicky Donohue and Lynda Davey hold these clinics three times a year, and kindly invited me onto the team <3
The last day of the July clinic provided various activities for the attendees and their horses, including private biomechanics lessons with Nicky and Lynda, a visit from Kate at Equiweighh to give a weigh in to each horse, along with an individual chat about their nutrition, a surprise visit from Hannah Jarvis who provided us with some amazing photography (more on this!).
I also brought along a balance pad for each horse to try out. This particular one isn't designed for horses, but is quite handy for inviting them to put two feet on at once relatively easily. It's also not as padded as individual balance pads but great for horses who have never done this before.
Standing on a surface with 'give' has many benefits, including;
🐎 Balance and co-ordination - engagement and honing of the vestibular system
🐎 Aids proprioception - the awareness of one's body [and its parts] and where they are in relationship to the environment and each other
🐎 Engagement of stabilizing muscles - tiny contractions and corrections in order to maintain balance
🐎 Good exercise for horses who travel and must be able to 'right' themselves frequently in this situation
🐎 Over time, aids posture and core strength
🐎 Helps with joint and soft tissue stability
🐎 Stimulates sensory processing
🐎 Can provide relief from tense tissues if a horse has been compensating or habitually has an unbalanced posture
When using this, or similar, horses are given the choice to remain on them as long (or short) as they wish. The horse in the video, Dazy-Lou, was invited onto the pad with her front feet, which she accepted, but after a short while chose to walk off. We then asked her on with her hinds. And there she stayed. For almost 20 minutes! Du
The beautiful Hector 🥰🥰
Some petrissage and gentle brachiocephalic tissue stretching.
I have a lot more to say about this boy but just need time to compile a post (I did it once and FB deleted it as soon as I added photos..... 😖)
Meanwhile.....
#equinebodywork
#equinemassagetherapist
#equinesportsmassage
#equinetherapy
#standardbred
More Shinies!!!! 🥰
Check this out - my new 3D printed half skeleton from Equine Bodyworks By Mary Sargeant
My next project is to assemble it, but this is going to prove so useful for clinics, demos and just as a visual and tactile aid for explaining some of the limitations and abilities of the skeletal system. Aside from that, to just be able to marvel at the amazing and beautiful structures of our horses ❤
Propped the sacrum up so you can see how detailed it all is 🫶😮
And yes, Absolute 80s playing <3 (pretty much always!)
#equineprofessional #equinewelfare #equineanatomy #equineskeleton #equinebodywork #horseskeleton #3dprinting
The very Super Trooper having an unwind after his session this week 🥰🐎
#equinemassagetherapist #equinecraniosacraltherapy #equinemyofascialrelease #wholehorse #rockymountainhorses #horsesoffacebook #horsesofnorfolk
The beautiful Fell Pony, Kitty <3
Kitty had a remedial/maintenance bodywork session last week. She is such a gem. No major issues, but lots of fascia work to help release a few areas of tension.
Kitty's human does a variety of activities with her, both for mental and physical stimulation - in-hand hacks, ground-work of various types, light ridden work, and just hanging out together. Kitty's early years in previous homes left her carrying a degree of emotional trauma, which always takes time, patience and understanding to work through but she is now such a happy girl with a wonderfully enriched life 🥰🐎
See you in the spring Kitty - it's coming (they say!)
The beautiful Fell Pony, Kitty <3
Kitty had a remedial/maintenance bodywork session last week. She is such a gem. No major issues, but lots of fascia work to help release a few areas of tension.
Kitty's human does a variety of activities with her, both for mental and physical stimulation - in-hand hacks, ground-work of various types, light ridden work, and just hanging out together. Kitty's previous home, although it was a few years ago now, left her carrying a degree of emotional trauma, which always takes time, patience and understanding to work through but she is now such a happy girl with a wonderfully enriched life 🥰🐎
See you in the spring Kitty - it's coming (they say!)
She's Blossoming 🥰
Blossom is a very sweet gypsy cob who has always lived with her Mother (see post from yesterday about Rosie). Her human hadn't realised when she got Rosie that she was in the early stages of pregnancy 😮😮 but the wonderful outcome is that the two will always be together as Blossom was welcomed into the world and has been cherished ever since.
Both are going through a weight loss programme and are about to transition onto a different diet 🥰 Also on the cards is a water buffet self selection exercise for both ponies, plus their older friend Arthur - this will be hugely interesting!
Lovely session with her last week (because I'm always late posting)
The lovely Rosie 🥰🐎 (2/2)
This video was some more work of patience with soft tissue, gradually stimulating and stretching out areas of tension around the shoulder. During this I noticed another change to her breathing patterns - more thoughts about diaphragm! (original story below ICYMI))
Rosie just wasn't quite right towards the end of last year. Her wonderful human and Fakenham Farm and Equine Vets explored various possibilities and then scoped her for ulcers. They found some very angry ones 😔 Rosie's previous life was a stark contrast to the one she has now, with various possible causes for gastric ulcers which have possibly been rumbling around for a time. She had her treatments leading up to Christmas and was rescoped recently. This showed that they had dramatically reduced and the angry inflammation was no more 🥰
I had a lengthy session with her last week and not surprisingly, found lots of restriction through her intercostal muscles, external abdominals, transverse abdominals and shoulders. I find a lot of horses hold tension through their shoulders, and of course, the myofascial chains (of which there are many) mean that patterns of hypertonicity, tension, pain, dehydration and restriction aren't limited to the area in question.
In Rosie's dynamic assessment, I noticed less protraction (forward swing) in her nearside hind than her offside, with a difference in tracking up and the swing phase. Interestingly after this work to her offside trunk, she took a huge retracted stretch with her nearside hind and held it (another demonstration of the interconnection of tissue and the paths of the myofascial chains!). The other thing I'm hoping is that this work will facilitate proper engagement of her diaphragm, which is positioned between the thoracic and abdominal cavities. Imagine gastrointestinal pain or discomfort for a minute and brace as if you have tummy ache - see what that does to your breathing!
Massage therapy doesn't look dramatic in
The lovely Rosie 🥰🐎 (1/2)
Rosie just wasn't quite right towards the end of last year. Her wonderful human and Fakenham Farm and Equine Vets explored various possibilities and then scoped her for ulcers. They found some very angry ones 😔 Rosie's previous life was a stark contrast to the one she has now, with various possible causes for gastric ulcers which have possibly been rumbling around for a time. She had her treatments leading up to Christmas and was rescoped recently. This showed that they had dramatically reduced and the angry inflammation was no more 🥰
I had a lengthy session with her last week and not surprisingly, found lots of restriction through her intercostal muscles, external abdominals, transverse abdominals and shoulders. I find a lot of horses hold tension through their shoulders, and of course, the myofascial chains (of which there are many) mean that patterns of hypertonicity, tension, pain, dehydration and restriction aren't limited to the area in question.
In Rosie's dynamic assessment, I noticed less protraction (forward swing) in her nearside hind than her offside, with a difference in tracking up and the swing phase. Interestingly after this work to her offside trunk, she took a huge retracted stretch with her nearside hind and held it (another demonstration of the interconnection of tissue and the paths of the myofascial chains!). The other thing I'm hoping is that this work will facilitate proper engagement of her diaphragm, which is positioned between the thoracic and abdominal cavities. Imagine gastrointestinal pain or discomfort for a minute and brace as if you have tummy ache - see what that does to your breathing!
Massage therapy doesn't look dramatic in practice, it's a game of detective work and patience, waiting for identified tissues to soften and release their restriction, but the results can be so hugely beneficial for the horse, good things come to those who wait I guess 😉 (and Rosie's poor human DID wait,
(second attempt at this thank you Meta)
With Christmas upon us, I just wanted to say a HUGE thank you to my wonderful clients, friends, colleagues and followers - you have made this year great 🙏🐎🥰 Your support and trust is SO appreciated.
I hope you all have a peaceful and restful Christmas and that all good things come your way in 2024 😁
My phone has thousands of pictures, these are just a snapshot of some of the wonderful horses and ponies I've worked with this year (and a couple of goofy ones 🤪)
See you after Christmas 🐎🎄🎄
