A specialist equestrian’s physiotherapy practice working with children and adults
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These ladies were amazing yesterday! A real challenge for body and brain, working on maintaining posture and alignment whilst giving the correct aids for leg yield with the brilliant SMS Equestrian👏👏👏
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
You know you’re in the right job when your CPD looks like this!
Fun and games with this week, planning our next mounted clinic.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
📣📣 Exciting news! 📣📣
Total Body Riding now has a website!
www.totalbodyriding.co.uk
Take a look to find out more about this specialist physiotherapy practice for people working alongside horses for sport, leisure and therapy.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
When assessing and selecting a horse or pony to work in equine assisted therapy and hippotherapy, of course we need a quiet and reliable individual who is not going to be stressed or worried by working with unbalanced riders and people who might struggle to regulate their movements, sounds and emotions.
But we also need to assess confirmation, gait and movement to work out what the equine can offer the client to help provide their therapy. In this way, clients can be matched to the ideal horse or pony to meet their therapy needs.
We also need to have a thorough knowledge of the equine’s veterinary and behavioural history to ensure their welfare is not compromised by this important and special work they are involved with.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
Happy New Year!
What are your riding goals for 2024? How about spending as much time “schooling” yourself as you do schooling your horse?!
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
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Can I tell you a bit about hippotherapy?
Not many people know what it is!
Hippotherapy is defined as the use of “evidence-based practice and clinical reasoning in the purposeful use of equine movement within a therapy session.” (ACPEA 2022). This means using the three-dimensional movement of a horse to deliver physical therapy to people who have challenges to their movement, mobility, balance and sensory systems.
In other words, it is a goal-based physiotherapy session delivered on horseback.
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A few weeks ago we had fun with the brilliant getting some lovely shots for the Total Body Riding website (watch this space!) With huge thanks to the humans and horses at and for being so beautifully photogenic! 🐴📸🌟
It was a real joy to work with a group of motivated and open-minded riders yesterday in the Total Body Riding mounted clinic, run in partnership with
We worked on posture and breathing, making subtle adjustments to where we sit and how we move on our horses in order to get the most from them. Now those riders are going away to train their bodies on the ground and make them strong and mobile enough to accommodate these adjustments.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
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Excited to host the first Total Body Riding Zoom exercise class this evening! 🐴💪🧘
Wondering what the “Riding for Physio” bit means in Total Body Riding?
Equine Assisted Therapy involves a qualified therapist working with a client to achieve their goals with the collaboration of the horse.
I work with a great variety of clients, both children and adults, who have a range of physical challenges. This means that they need to do exercise in order to progress or maintain their function, mobility and quality of life. There is no escaping the fact that following a lifelong rehabilitation program can be exhausting, boring and sometimes painful. In some cases, the desired movements are impossible for people to do on their own due to movement, balance and coordination restrictions.
By working with a horse, either on the ground or mounted, I can introduce movement, motivation and the just right level of challenge to help people achieve their goals and create physical opportunities, which might otherwise be inaccessible.
It’s outdoors, it’s animals, it’s physical and it’s fun!
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
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Have you ever stopped to think that in the partnership between horse and rider, your body makes 50% of the contribution?!
As riders, we diligently spend hours schooling and training our horses to achieve balance, symmetry and coordination in their movements, but what about us?! Riders are athletes (regardless of what level) and all athletes need advice and training to enhance their performance and get the most from their sport.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
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How did Total Body Riding develop?
As a physiotherapist and also a rider myself, I have always been interested in the connection between the body of the horse and rider.
Total Body Riding started many years ago with a student placement that I organised at a hippotherapy centre in America, where I learnt how the movement of a horse can be used to provide physiotherapy to people with a range of physical and sensory challenges. As time went on, I started to use this knowledge in my own practice, culminating in studying for postgraduate qualifications in equine assisted therapy.
As more people learnt about me being a physiotherapist working with humans and horses, I started to work with sport and leisure riders who were looking to improve their riding through targeted exercise programmes.
And so Total Body Riding came into being! A specialist physiotherapy practice for children and adults on horses.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘
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Who is Total Body Riding?
Laura Piper BSc(Hons) PGCert (EFT) MCSP
I am a Chartered Physiotherapist with over 20 years experience working in rehabilitation and exercise prescription for clients with a wide range of needs and backgrounds. Gradually, I have developed my practice to be working more and more with clients in an equine setting, and have gained post graduate qualifications in this area.
I am also an experienced rider and am lucky enough to help exercise some beautiful event horses every day, keeping my own horsey “fix” topped up and my equestrian skills relevant and up to date.
I firmly believe that physiotherapy and horses can make a real difference to human physical and mental health and well-being. It is a real joy to work with children and adults, learning how to use their bodies in partnership with horses.
I will share more about how Total Body Riding developed and what services are offered in future posts 🐴💪🧘
When we ride we are interacting and moving with another living being. We develop a physical partnership with each other, where the movement of one affects and influences the movement of the other.
Total Body Riding uses detailed knowledge of human and equine anatomy, movement and biomechanics to work with this human-horse relationship.
This might be to help riders to develop and improve their riding, or to provide motivating and effective movement rehabilitation through equine assisted physiotherapy.
Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪
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Hello and welcome to Total Body Riding, a specialist physiotherapy practice dedicated to all aspects of riding and equestrianism.
Having been working with children and adults on horses for some time, I have decided to take the plunge with an online presence!
Please follow and share and find out more!
Salisbury
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Walking Wednesday!In hippotherapy we pretty much only use walk. The three-dimensional movement of the horse delivers a unique movement experience and challenge to the child on board, who often can’t access that movement independently themselves.Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘#totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedphysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! Be mindful. Be grateful. Whether hacking or schooling, walk gives you time to notice the important things. What do you see, smell, hear and feel while you’re out on your horse? Spring is just round the corner now! And in our troubled world, take an extra moment to be grateful 💙 Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! Motor Planning refers to the ability to work out a plan of action before taking part in motor (ie physical) activity. To successfully execute school movements on our horses, we need to plan and coordinate what we are going to do with our bodies. Use your time walking around the arena to plan what it is you are going to ride and what you need to do with your body to achieve that. Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! Use walk to analyse where your seat bones are. Can you feel them? Are you in the middle, or perched forward or a bit slumped back? Are you sitting evenly on both sides? Can you feel the activity in your hip muscles around your seat bones (in your bottom!)? Is the activity the same on both sides? Working on body awareness and hip and pelvic mobility and strengthening, both on and off the horse, can really help you improve your position on your horse. Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
This month’s clinic with @_smsequestrian was “Bending and Turning”. This dedicated group of riders really analysed what we do (or perhaps what we should do!) with our bodies to help our horses to turn. We discussed what sometimes goes wrong with turning, how that looks to your instructor, and learnt some exercises and body awareness techniques both on and off the horse to improve bending and turning, helping our horses to feel more balanced and move more freely. Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! Use your walk time to breathe. And I mean really breathe. Take a long, slow deep breath into your lower back and fill your chest from the bottom up, sigh it out and allow the tension in your body to loosen. Breathe in and out in rhythm with your horse’s footfalls. We all carry unrecognised tension in our bodies and so much of it can be relieved with a regular healthy breathing technique and just simply remembering to breathe. Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! Spend some time in walk when riding. Focus on what walk “gives you” as rider. How does your horse move under you and how does their movement make your body move? What can you feel in your body as it moves with your horse? Horses’ movements make riders’ bodies move. It can be really beneficial to focus on these movements for a bit. Is it comfortable? Is it smooth? Does it feel free or do you feel any restrictions? A bit of work on some of these areas off of your horse could help you to move better on your horse. Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equineassistedpjysiotherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
Walking Wednesday! How much time do you spend in walk when riding? As a physio working with riders who partner with horses for leisure, sport and therapy, I spend the majority of my time working with them at walk. Over the next few weeks, I plan to write a few posts on why walk is a wonderful gait 😊 Physio for riding. Riding for physio. 🐴💪🧘 #totalbodyriding #riderphysio #ridertraining #equineassistedtherapy #equinefacilitatedtherapy #hippotherapy #wiltshirehorseriding #hampshirehorses
