ALD Equine Solutions

11/12/2024

Well after three years of juggling a house move and renovation (in progress), full time work and a tonne of practice, (and patience from all of my family, friends, and clients). I can officially confirm I am an animal physiotherapist. 🙌 woohoo!

01/12/2024

Why and how does an indentation infront of the withers develop? And what is it?

A: The existence of the dip in front of the shoulder could have many reasons. It is mentioned in many books describing faulty conformation of the neck - a horse with short neck set on low, but carried high, will exhibit a noticeable dip in front of the withers and the whole neck will tend to look upside down, described often as a 'ewe neck'. In my experiences (and also in yours as you noticed it) this "posture" is often acquired and it can come and go. I witnessed a horse who came back from the "trainer" with large dip in front of her withers, 6 month was enough to get that damage done (and took almost a year to get her back into her previous perfect frame).

Bad training/riding of horses, badly fitting saddles, injury (pull back) or fall related accidents can cause musculo-skeletal problems leading to the changes of posture. Chronic spasms of neck muscles (brachiocephalic, rhomboid, splenius) or over development of the wrong neck muscles and lack of fitness of the correct muscles prevents the horse from using its neck in the correct manner - raising the base of the neck and curving the neck in a nice flow. This is very important for the horse to enable it to use correctly, the rest of its body.

The majority of horses with 'ewe neck' tend to have a very similar body posture and related "health issues". They have an upside down neck, but also a sway back, a dip in front of the withers, over-developed rhomboid muscles, a dip in front of the croup, a possible hunters bump, and an under-developed hind quarter. Their whole body looks upside down. They also exhibit a very similar pain pattern - being very tender in their “Sacro-Sciatic”region. As an equine bodyworker I hope you realize that this is too common a picture nowadays.

How to help? First we have to find out the correct cause - is it badly fitted saddle, or dentistry issues? Is it a lack of understanding how the horse is moving and how we have to prepare them to built proper muscles to be able to carry us on their back without hurting themselves? We need to realize that long term posture changes will also create changes in horses feet and teeth, so to my best knowledge the multidisciplinary approach is the best - team of specialist would look at the horse and make a plan of priorities. A bodyworker can start to release the muscles which brace the base of the neck - not only brachiocephalic which crosses directly this region, but also muscles in distance - splenius, trapezius and rhomboid. Releasing the poll area is crucial, as a “locked” poll can lock the base of the neck and of course the sacrum area.

The Equine Touch whole body balance address of BBB (Basic Body Balance) or ABB (Advanced Body Balance) would be perfect to start - to detect the tight muscles, targeting the above muscles can help tremendously to release the base of the neck. Mobilization and stretching of the body can speed up the "discovery" of loose neck and break the vicious circle of habitual movement. Sometimes this is it, as the base of the neck is free the dip in front of the shoulder disappears.

Many long term problems will unfortunately require a longer approach. The horse will need to build up the correct muscles and will need to learn how to use the hind quarters (and the rest of the body properly). Basic ground work will be necessary as well as a new riding approach. The Rider will need to learn how to stretch the horse, allow him to use the top line and neck properly. I also witnessed how a little adjustment of the rider position and body movement could unlock the upside down horse. I would surely recommend some progressive lessons in riding for all open-minded riders.

One thing that has to be mentioned…All the above suggestions are necessary in rehabilitation of the horse. But there is one HUGE CONDITION - everything has to be done in a calm and peaceful, horse friendly environment! Any stress placed upon the horse will be counterproductive to our effort. Do not forgot that "upside down" posture is also part of survival reflex that helps the horse to escape from danger!
Written by Ivana Ruddock - Founder of The Equine Touch From the archives - 16 January 2011

19/11/2024

18/09/2024

“GIVE YOUR HARD WORKING HORSE TIME TO RECOVER!

Horses replenish their muscle fuel (glycogen) stores more slowly than humans, and working them hard on consecutive days will gradually result in impaired performance due to a lack of muscle fuel.

Fit horses should not be worked hard 5 or 6 days a week, and an easy day should always follow a hard day.

These rest (nil or easy work) days aren’t just key for muscle fuel stores, but also for muscle strength and stamina. Muscles break down during work, then build up in the rest period after work!

Performance horses should have their work tapered back in the run up to an event, to ensure optimal muscle glycogen levels and to ensure full recovery from the last bout of hard exercise.

Good hydration including adequate electrolyte intake is also important in optimal muscle glycogen replenishment.” - Clare MacLeod MSc RNutr Independent Equine Nutritionist

Something to think about…

(Give Clare’s page a like and follow. She puts out great stuff!)

09/09/2024

Congratulations to all of our fantastic nominees- feel free to tag them below!
Do you want to join us in celebrating Scotland's wealth of equestrian talent? Buy your tickets here- https://horsescotland.sumupstore.com/category/my-shelf

25/08/2024

14/07/2024

So after a dud start with a Broken car, trailer and horse, we finally made it back on the circuit at forgandenny.
Zorro did me proud with a lovely dressage test of 30.3. Clear showjumping and cross country. I didn’t push him however. I wanted to make sure he was good, so we did pick up some time faults. However, I’m chuffed at how well he did. 🥰
Safe to say he was a little excited to be back on course after over a year since his last run! 🤣❤️

21/05/2024

This has been on my mind a lot lately.

A horse that displays a particular issue or behavioral problem and is declared "pain free" by a professional practitioner, even a veterinarian, may not actually be pain free.

A horse can have an issue that cannot be detected by the diagnostics we have access to.

A horse can be diagnosed with a pathology that is not actually the cause of the symptoms that prompted someone to go looking for a cause in the first place.

A horse can have an issue that is outside the scope or understanding of veterinary medicine and scientific understanding as it exists today.

A horse can have a combination of small issues that on their own merits probably wouldn't be a huge deal, but together create significant issues.

I was talking to someone in a session today about the fact that once you become aware of something, it's impossible to go back to being unaware of it. If you buy a red truck, all of the sudden you're seeing red trucks everywhere you go. They were always there, and you did in fact SEE them, you just weren't AWARE of them.

It is both a blessing and a curse. Many of us look back on the "good ol' days" of playing with our ponies, hopping on ba****ck with nothing but a halter, laughing when we got bucked off, except now we recognize how much we weren't aware of, how tolerant our horses really were...and just how much discomfort we caused them by virtue of how much we didn't know.

As I've grown in my awareness, I have to admit there are a lot more situations that in times past I would have gotten on a horse but won't do so now. There are a lot more situations where I'm looking critically at feet, at posture, at diet, at husbandry, at tack fit, at rider finesse...you name it, I've probably considered it. I can sit a decent buck, but I no longer value that "skill" as much as I used to. I'd rather help figure out why the horse is bucking to begin with and see if it can be addressed in such a way that I might avoid having that skill tested in the first place. My days of believing a human, even one with an advanced degree, over my horse, have long gone.

The more you know, the more you realize how little you really understand. Riding is not a right, it's a privilege. We owe it to our horses to keep that in mind, instead of falling prey to the belief that if we can't see it, it doesn't exist.

27/04/2024

More reasons to never pull the rein and have a stable contact.

A horse’s mouth is very sensitive, as it is densely populated with mechanoreceptors allowing it to sense temperature and touch. The soft tissue in the mouth - gums, inside of the cheeks, and tongue also has a high number of nociceptors, specific receptors that detect harmful or potentially harmful stimuli that can cause tissue damage. These signals are carried to the brain where they are converted into conscious experiences of pain.

Wounds on the tongue, bars, corners of the mouth, bruises, inflammation, and impeded blood flow (blue colour of tongue or mucous membrane) will cause PAIN!

Bit-related injuries are common, but because they are not always visible, as they are in the oral cavity, they are often ignored. Many studies are reporting bit-related soft tissue injuries in the mouth after a race, after a cross-country test or in dressage-, polo- or driving horses.
A study of K. Tuomala (1), reported the occurrence of oral lesions in a bit area in Finish trotters after a race. Of all the horses examined, 84% (219/261) had acute lesions in the bit area. In total, 21% (55/261) had mild lesions, 43% (113/261) had moderate lesions, and 20% (51/261) had severe lesions. This statistic is pretty scary. This isn’t OK.

Even more scary is, in my opinion, that horses are clearly showing their discomfort or pain in the mouth. Fighting the bit, keeping their mouth open, crossing the jaw, chewing, holding the bit between their teeth, tongue persistently moving or protruding from the mouth, tongue placed above the bit, head tossing, stiff neck, behind the vertical…..well…those are examples of behaviour that was noticed in ridden bitted horses (2). When there was a change made and horses were bitt-free, most of these behaviours were absent. Why is this a surprise?!

Horses suffer silently, but they DO communicate with their clear, silent language – with changes in their behaviour, facial expression, posture or movement. Why Is it so hard for us to learn that?

LET’S DO BETTER!

Love the cooperation with Dr Heidi Nielsen, Caroline Davies and Dr Popkova. Thank you ladies for raising the awareness.

References:
1. Tuomala K, Mykkanen A. Oral lesions in the bit area in Finnish trotters after a race: Evaluation, Scoring and occurrence

2. DJ Mellor. Mouth Pain in Horses: Physiological Foundations, Behavioural Indices, Welfare Implications, and a Suggested Solution