Una Browne McTimoney Equine & Canine Practitioner

02/07/2024

The summer diary is looking busy, only a couple of spaces left for July and August is filling up fast!Please get in touch asap if you’re looking for an appointment over the next couple of months ❤️🐎🐕

18/06/2024

07/06/2024

Tuesday tip - Backing up

This low-impact exercise with no moment of suspension can be done in-hand and ridden. You horse should move his limbs in diagonal pairs.

Executed correctly with relaxation, impulsion and with the head lowered, the movement increases the throacic vertebral rotation, encourages core recruitment of the abdominals , thoracic sling and hip flexors. It also contributes to back mobility, the ability to collect and good posture.

This exercise requires your horse to carry more weight on his hindquarters, and maintain increased hindlimb, lumbosacral and back joint flexion throughout the stride cycle.

For maximum benefit ask your horse to back up in-hand daily. Start with 1 or 2 steps and progress to 20 steps. The aim is good quality, long, marching steps.

24/05/2024

Sponsored horse Bear had a treatment this morning to help keep him in top top condition. He was so relaxed and loved it. He’s even had a snooze this afternoon allowing his body process it all ❤️❤️❤️

21/05/2024

Event horses that had a lower total number of misalignments were more likely to be placed higher in a FEI 1* eventing competition. Further research of effects of correcting misalignments on performance parameters is recommended.

21/05/2024

TUESDAY TIP - STRAIGHTNESS

A key pillar of training
👉 Walk is the most effective pace to see how straight your horse is because it’s the slowest and gives you the time to watch and make assessments.

👉 Observing your horse as he walks towards and away from you is an effective way of evaluating symmetry and soundness.

👉 A horse that’s straight, sound and symmetrical should move on two tracks with his head and neck aligned with the middle of his chest.

👉 As your horse walks towards you look at the alignment of his joints starting at the hoof and working upwards.

CANTER is the most difficult pace to ride straight as this gait is asymmetrical.

🐎 Riding your horse in a slight shoulder-fore position in canter will help to straighten, strengthen and balance him.

If you want to learn more about how your horse moves from the the anatomical perspective read ANATOMY IN ACTION - https://www.horsesinsideout.com/aia

or watch the on-demand webinar Striving for Straightness - https://www.horsesinsideout.com/about-webinars/straightness

14/05/2024

Tuesday tip - Stretching the neck muscles 🐎

This is a great exercise to use as part of your schooling warm up or try it when you're out hacking.

Ask your horse for lateral flexion in his neck to one side, then ride straight, then ask for lateral flexion to the other side, then straight.

Pick a number of steps for each, for example, 10 steps with left lateral flexion - 10 steps straight - 10 steps with right lateral flexion.

As you ask for the bend it’s important that your horse maintains his rhythm, balance, and impulsion. If he struggles reduce the number of steps you ask for.

Try this exercise in walk first once you’re both happy and confident you can try it in trot and even canter.

Lateral flexion in the neck is good for:

✅ Core stability and balance

✅ Coordination and proprioception

✅ Developing straightness and symmetry

✅ Forelimb movement and expression

✅ Reducing tension and restriction in the neck muscles

✅ Muscular strength, control and suppleness

✅ Neck joint flexibility

27/04/2024

Massive good luck to sponsored horse Bear who is competing at the Riding Clubs Intermediate Show Jumping Championships today! go smash it 🐎❤️

17/04/2024

Fab day today at the Animal Chiropractic and Rehabilitation Conference! Thank you to the MAA and The McTimoney College for organising it. Look forward to the next one! 🙌

09/04/2024

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽 - 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀

This great in-hand exercise encourages and improves:
🔹 Lateral suppleness
🔹 Core control
🔹 Coordination
🔹 Proprioception

As you walk your horse on the serpentine between the poles he must bring his hind and front legs closer together to negotiate the grid - core muscles are recruited and the back is rounded.

02/04/2024

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽 - 𝗥𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀

A great exercise with many benefits including:
✅ Rounding the back, flexion and extension of the lumbosacral junciton and hindlimb reach
✅ Strengthening the back and hindquarters
✅ Strengthening the muscles involved in supporting and raising the forehand
✅ Recruiting & toning the abdominal muscles, hip flexors & the spinal flexor muscle chain
✅ Improving agility and coordination
✅ Reducing back stiffness

Raising the poles alters the footfalls of the canter, causing the diagonal pair to dissociate, resutling in your horse rocking between the fore and hind legs.

𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘: 𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒔, 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒏, 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆'𝒔 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒔. 𝑰𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒉𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒍𝒊𝒎𝒃 𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒋𝒖𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒙𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒊𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒅.

31/03/2024

30/03/2024

𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁 - 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀

The function of deep muscles are for posture and stability.
👉 They attach directly to bone
👉 Located close to the joints
👉 Often have a number of points of origin and insertion
👉 Are often responsible for supporting individual joints - for example, the deep gluteal muscle only affects the hip joint
👉 Have a high number of nerve endings, which makes them more sensitive to postural alignment

29/03/2024

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗽 - 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀

Canter poles (set at 𝟮.𝟲 - 𝟯.𝟮 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀 apart) encourage flexion and extension of the lumbosacral junction.

They also improve:
🐎 Rhythm
🐎 Balance

Canter poles are particularly useful for suppling the back and as a rehabilitative exercise for horses recovering from back injury.

𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗮 𝗴𝗼:
Canter over two ground poles set at a 6-8 stride distance. This gives you the scope to increase or decrease the number of strides between the poles.

Try this fun exercise - it's a good way to start teaching collection and extension.

Having the ability to adjust the number of strides will help you prepare for jumping a course of fences as well as improving rhythm and regularity.

15/03/2024

𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁 - 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀

Core stability provides the strength and co-ordination for control, balance, posture and carrying weight. It can improve self carriage, enhance performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Core muscles include:
🐎 The thoracic sling
🐎 Abdominal muscles
🐎 Pelvic stabilisers
🐎 Deep ventral muscles

💪 Ridden exercises to strengthen your horse's core focus on engagement of the hindlimbs to lighten the forehand. These include frequent transitions and half halts that encourage your horse to collect and push from behind.

💪 Hill work and pole work using raised trot and canter poles are also valuable exercises.

💪 In-hand exercises to strengthen the core include carrot stretches, backing up, walking over raised poles and back lifts.

We have some great on demand recorded webinars that will help you understand more about your horse's core and how to improve it:

𝗣𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀
https://www.horsesinsideout.com/webinar-pilates

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲
https://www.horsesinsideout.com/webinar-posture

𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀
https://www.horsesinsideout.com/webinar-misconceptions

𝗧𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀
https://www.horsesinsideout.com/about-webinars/thoracic-sling

13/03/2024

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽 - 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝘃𝗲

Raising the poles on the outside of a curve encourages reach and range of movement in the outside forelimb.

This exercise stretches the latissimus dorsi and forelimb retractor muscles, increases the range of movement in the shoulder and elbow joints.

It is also useful for helping straighten a horse with asymmetrical forelimb movement.

09/03/2024

08/03/2024

Good luck Roo and Blythe at Crufts today. Great example of how keeping these animals competition ready can be a team effort 🥰

05/03/2024

𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝗽 - 𝗧𝗿𝗼𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀

To negotiate trot poles sucessfully requires increased momentum, flexion of all the limb joints, power and spring.

Trot poles encourage your horse to push equally from behind, and are an excellent exercise for developing an equal stride length and for improving symmetry, straightness and coordination.

𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝟭.𝟮 - 𝟭.𝟳𝗺 𝗮𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁

05/03/2024

Great photos showing the growth plates in the horses back, highlighting why we need to be so mindful of how much we do with our young horses. They are very much still developing around the age we tend to back them.