North Lodge Equine Centre

11/01/2024

Are your fields under water ? Horses cold and miserable? We still have a couple of crew yard pens for rent whilst the weather is bad.
Please contact Chris on 07831 538689for more details . Near Grantham

07/01/2024

17/10/2023

13/10/2023

Have you ever considered sending your horse to a professional for rehabilitation? We can help with:
Recovery from soft tissue injury (tendon and ligament damage),
Recovery post surgery (orthopaedic or colic surgery)
Recovery from chronic dysfunction- may present as lameness or behavioural problems
Returning to ridden work after time off for any reason
Strengthening work after spinal injury or surgery

07/10/2023

We will have space for a new rehab livery in a couple of weeks. Please do get in touch if it is something you are thinking about!

Many happy clients who can recommend us!
Please share if you know anyone who may be interested.

04/10/2023

Water treadmill (WT) exercise may induce limb and back kinematics that meet specific training and rehabilitation goals. The study aimed to investigate…

15/09/2023

We have another new Show on board for 2023! Veteran Horse Society - National Veteran Champs 2023, 29Sept-1Oct

Body Condition Scoring will be carried out by Equine Athletes Veterinary Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation part of North Lodge Equine Centre. Many thanks for their time and expertise.

We look forward to sharing the success of the winners of The Horse Trust's Healthiest Body Condition Awards!

Photographed here is "Mary" who's with Mel Murchison and is 31 - a great age!

15/08/2023

It is always lovely to receive a message like this from a client- especially one who is doing an amazing job of riding at a high level while holding down a ‘proper’ job!
Incredible work from Team Pedlar and the fabulous Solo at Hartpury International 4* 🙌🙌.

03/05/2023

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: posture is key to rehabilitation! It is a chicken and egg type situation where poor posture creates dysfunction (and often, ultimately,lameness) and dysfunction or lameness create poor posture.

I don’t think you can separate the two but pretty much every horse I have in for rehab will need to start with posture work.

This is a gorgeous new rehab client, there is one week between the photos and every day of that week I have focused on postural rehabilitation. Top pic is pic 1, bottom is pic 2.

This includes static exercises- baited stretches and sternum lifts.
Dynamic exercises- pole work, core engagement exercises and encouraging him to stretch his neck forwards and down while lifting his back. No gadgets, just helping him to find a more comfortable, relaxed way of holding himself.
(I will post some pics of him in action in the comments.)

I think you can see that his posture has improved, his shoulders are starting to come up a little and his frame looks better.
In terms of his work he is softer through his back and more active with his hindlimbs. Small changes but it is a start!

17/11/2022

The well bred Glen Cannel (by Flemensfirth) stayed on well in the testing ground at Market Rasen to record a well earned victory on his hurdles debut.

17/11/2022

https://youtu.be/KqrRusezSKw
Great to see Glen Cannel make a winning hurdles debut at Market Rasen. He was broken in here during the first lockdown back in 2020.

The well bred Glen Cannel (by Flemensfirth) stayed on well in the testing ground at Market Rasen to record a well earned victory on his hurdles debut.

21/09/2022

Thank you Mick Atkins for this pic of Mutjaba winning for William Haggas at Doncaster last week in his Fairfax Race bridle. All William’s horses are trained at home in the full Fairfax Race Exercise kit - saddle, bridle girth and pad.

08/06/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: it sounds obvious but every horse is an individual and your training programme needs to be adaptable for each horse’s needs. There is no such thing as a one size fits all!

Top pic is Heather when she first came in this year and bottom pic is 6 weeks later.

I was aware that Heather lacked muscle development generally and her original posture was slightly lordotic with a tendency to dip her back and brace through her thoracic sling.

So from day one I have worked on correct activation of the thoracic sling and strengthening her back using a combination of bodywork, static exercises, groundwork and, eventually, ridden work.

I think you can see a difference in her body- she has greater muscle development in her back, shoulders and hindquarters and her posture has improved. You can definitely feel a difference under saddle- she is feeling stronger, more coordinated and is beginning to be able to lift her back with a rider on while staying relaxed.

It is very much a work in progress with a long way to go but I am happy with how she is doing and looking forward to seeing her continued progress!

01/06/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: I believe that allowing young horses plenty of time to develop at their own speed is one of the most important things you can do to set them up for a sound and healthy future.

This is Heather (homebred TB), top pic was almost exactly a year ago, bottom pic today.

A year ago she was 4 years old so, according to conventional wisdom, ready to begin her ridden career. However, as you can see, Heather was still very small and weak at 4! So we did a little education with her to prepare her for the future- she was sat on for 10mins max and only in walk and halt- then turned her away to strengthen and grow.

She has come in this year, at 5, much stronger and mentally more ready to begin working. Her posture and balance under saddle has improved without even trying just because she is stronger throughout her body! She has now been in work for about a month just building up her fitness hacking around the farm.

When she is mentally and physically ready we will introduce a little schooling and build up from there.

28/05/2022

Nothing like a bit of spring grass and some sunshine to help the horses look their best! Here are Heather, Maple and Austin (3 horses who can be hard to keep weight on over the winter) showing that they have come out of winter well this year 🌞🍑🌞. I find taking photos regularly really helpful for monitoring any weight changes over the year.

25/05/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: this is a progression from Heather’s earlier demonstration of forelimb abduction and adduction.

Maple is demonstrating the same exercise but over a pole- this requires increased limb flexion, balance and stability through her core while the limb is off the ground, and increased activation of the muscles in her thoracic sling to allow her to abduct the leading forelimb in a controlled fashion over the pole.

I have highlighted her pectorals so you can see how much she has opened up through her chest to perform the exercise.

11/05/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: 5 yr old homebred, Heather, demonstrating forelimb abduction and adduction.
This means to move the limbs towards and away from the body.

I find this helpful for developing the muscles of the thoracic sling (around the chest). Developing these muscles will help stabilize the horse’s forehand which helps them carry a rider without falling onto the forehand.

I start this exercise as groundwork- as seen here- and build up to using it during ridden work.

Heather is just coming back into work after having the winter off so it makes sense to develop her strength and dynamic stability before beginning her formal education.

19/04/2022

13/04/2022

24/02/2022

10/02/2022

Good luck to all the runners and riders at Huntingdon Racecourse today. Fairfax is sponsors the Owners & Trainers  this season and today we are also giving the lucky winning trainer of each race a Fairfax Race Exercise Saddle Pad. The high-performance shock absorbing Prolite foam is so effective you will only need to use one pad again! Particularly beneficial when combined with the Fairfax Race Exercise Saddle.

02/02/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: Patience is a virtue which you will need huge amounts of if you are trying to rehab/re-educate your horse!
Here is another progress pic of Scout. 8 weeks between these photos so it is not an overnight change by any means.

I have highlighted where I see the most muscular development but you can also see that he is looking generally stronger and that his hindquarters and shoulders are both building up.

We are focusing on developing his thoracic sling so that he can lighten his forehand and gradually start to take more weight behind. I don’t think there is any shortcut to achieving this- we are now 5 months in to a consistent training programme with this horse and he can still only lift his forehand up and soften through his neck and back for a few strides at a time.

So, don’t be discouraged if you feel you are not getting anywhere- small changes lead eventually to big changes. I find taking pics and videos really helps me to see the progress and therefore keep enthusiasm levels up!

05/01/2022

WEDNESDAY WISDOM: suppling work is key to, well, pretty much everything! If your horse is not supple it cannot be engaged, balanced or light in front. So it makes sense to start suppling work as soon as possible- any horse can practice this exercise of walking a figure of 8 of two 10m circles. Keep calmly repeating it in walk and see if you can feel where any stiffness or blocking is and then if it frees off as you do the exercise. 😊