Equine - Straight On Soundness

14/01/2024

My dad has bees.Today I went to his house and he showed me all of the honey he had gotten from the hives. He took the lid off of a 5 gallon bucket full of honey and on top of the honey there were 3 little bees, struggling. They were covered in sticky honey and drowning. I asked him if we could help them and he said he was sure they wouldn't survive. Casualties of honey collection I suppose.
I asked him again if we could at least get them out and kill them quickly, after all he was the one who taught me to put a suffering animal (or bug) out of its misery. He finally conceded and scooped the bees out of the bucket. He put them in an empty Chobani yogurt container and put the plastic container outside.
Because he had disrupted the hive with the earlier honey collection, there were bees flying all over outside.
We put the 3 little bees in the container on a bench and left them to their fate. My dad called me out a little while later to show me what was happening. These three little bees were surrounded by all of their sisters (all of the bees are females) and they were cleaning the sticky nearly dead bees, helping them to get all of the honey off of their bodies. We came back a short time later and there was only one little bee left in the container. She was still being tended to by her sisters.
When it was time for me to leave we checked one last time and all three of the bees had been cleaned off enough to fly away and the container was empty.
Those three little bees lived because they were surrounded by family and friends who would not give up on them, family and friends who refused to let them drown in their own stickiness and resolved to help until the last little bee could be set free.
Bee Sisters. Bee Peers. Bee Teammates.
We could all learn a thing or two from these bees.
Bee kind always.~
~author unknown
art: Autumn Skye Morrison

29/10/2023

“Don’t let him get away with that!”

Your horse is not trying to get away with a damn thing.

“Get after her and make her pay attention!”

Do you really think that harassing your horse into obedience while she is anxious is the best solution?

“You have to be the leader and get him to respect you!”

Respect is earned through trust, not forced. Read that again. And again.

“Don’t let her win!”

If you think this is a competition with your horse, neither of you is ever going to win.

Check yourself. Check anyone else who tries to employ these methods with you or your horse. Be willing to get some science-based education on horse behavior and brain function. Be willing to change trainers or barns.

Your horse is always communicating in the only way she can, not trying to get one over on you. Pain. Trauma. Fear. Poor training. Poor nutrition. Too much confinement. Ill-fitting tack. An overly demanding training/competition schedule. Not enough conditioning. Your unbalanced body, your challenging energy, your fear, your lack of riding or handling skills. This is what they are responding to.

Step up, or step off. Before your horse makes the decision for you.

02/09/2023

29/08/2023

20/08/2023

“Lame”
To this day, if a horse was not labeled as lame it was considered sound enough to ride, or sometimes serviceably sound, despite the fact that the absence of head-bobbing lameness is not enough for a horse to be sound.
The equine community and industry as a whole needs to do away with the term “lame” as an all-encompassing term to identify pain and/or injury in the horse, oftentimes ignoring compensatory posture and movement unless accompanied by a severe asymmetry in the gait (head bobbing) or posture (non-weight bearing).
What then, instead of lame, do we need to use to identify a horse who is incapable of carrying itself properly?
Using a single descriptor may end up back in the same spot we are now, instead, we should be separating the different facets of care and identifying if there is a problem in those respective fields.
Is the horse standing correctly, can they even stand square, are they camped under or out behind?
Does the horse have physical signs of compensation such as hunters bump, uneven muscling, tightness, or severe asymmetry?
Is the horse able to be put together under saddle and carry themselves? Are they able to engage, even briefly? Are they showing symptoms of pain when ridden/through transitions/in certain directions/while being tacked up/during mounting/etc.?
Does the horse show aversion to the bridle, saddle, girth, holding their foot up for cleaning/farrier, grooming?
All of these can be indicators of discomfort somewhere in the body, either internally or caused by external stimuli (saddle, girth, bridle, bit, having to have their leg up for the farrier, the list goes on).
A horse who is “sound” but displays these behaviors, patterns, and aversions is not entirely sound and requires additional support work. Many of these horses may also need a break from riding to fully recover, something all too many equestrians are not willing to accept because of their own self-imposed goals and aspirations of competition or whatnot.

Join us this September as we delve into creating true soundness, which begins by understanding the complexities of lameness.

Partners in Soundness is the first event of its kind to bring together speakers from various practices and modalities to create soundness in the equine athlete.

https://saddlefit4lifeacademy.com/partners-in-soundness-event/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_content=ap_8uct30u71c


Cashel Farms: Equestrian, Horse Riding

14/07/2023

How much does applied contact / bit pressure affect stride length? …. This much!!!

There is a huge difference to applying contact to the reins VS the horse coming up, through and onto its own contact. Applying strong unforgiving contact can hollow the horse and inhibit the hind leg action, riders often then have to resort to excessive forward to keep the horse going.

The connection from “hyoid to hind leg” involves the sternohyoid to sternum through the diaphragm to psoas major.

To see the videos of this in action check it out on our patreon (this one is from todays live feed dissection).

https://www.patreon.com/bonesbrainsbodiesbehaviours/

26/06/2023

"I am a horse. I wasn't designed to bend. I was designed to graze and run (and walk, nap, play and socialize and move as one with the herd) It will take time for me to become supple, loose and flexible, straight and balanced. Please be patient. Please be kind. I am doing my best to please you."

I am grateful for all I learned about crookedness from the late Dr Kerry Ridgway.

Here as some recommendations for useful information because when you know better, you can train better.

𝐴𝑢𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑟: 𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑖𝑙ℎ, 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑑𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑠𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠

Online:

www.drkerryridgway.com

Crookedness and fascia:

https://ivcjournal.com/fascia-and-why-its-so-important/

Low Heel/High Heel Syndrome:

http://www.endurance.net/blogger/RidgewayLowHeel.pdf

The Crooked Horse Syndrome:

https://cms.arr.de/uploads/pdf/DrRidgway_Laterality.pdf

Streaming Videos

𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲’𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗿. 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗴𝘄𝗮𝘆 & 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗹 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/improvedhorseperformance

𝗘𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 & 𝗥𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 – 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗿. 𝗥𝗶𝗱𝗴𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘇

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/equinewellnesscourse2013

𝗜𝗻-𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘇: 𝗔𝗻 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻-𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/inhandlessonswithmanolo

𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝗦𝗶𝘅 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲

https://learn.kathleenaspenns.com/courses/TrustedPartners

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲: 𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀, 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹? 𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆

https://learn.kathleenaspenns.com/courses/the-nervous-horse

𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿/𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

24/06/2023

1. Don't annoy the horse
2. Ride the horse you are on and not the one you think you are on
3. When something does not work... Stop doing it
4. With a horse, like in dating... Consent is required
5. If the horse does not want to be with you, there is a reason
6. The more you know, the gentler you are
7. Horses do not wear wrist watches and as a result, they always have time
8. Intelligent action always brings intelligent reactions. If not, it's you and not the horse
9. It is not the bit which is the problem... It is the hand operating it
10. Don't annoy the horse

(author unknown)

22/06/2023

Success in rehab

We are often led to believe that the only successful rehab is when we can ride the horse again, if you cant ride then the rehab has failed

But what does successful rehab mean to the horse often the simple answer is it is no longer in pain or restriction

We often then spend many years and lots of money trying to get the horse back to where it was before and often depending on the reason for the rehab physical changes have occurred that means simply the horse may no longer be able to sustain the level of riding it once did previous to rehab

And if your horse keeps breaking down then we have to ask the question is there so much going on that we cannot see that we need to take a complete step back, turn the horse away and see if the horse is even capable of just being a horse for if they cannot even do that then is it fair to continue asking the impossible

Sometimes I hear of horses riddled with arthritis, intermittently lame throughout their life, aggressive, generally unhappy in their own body and for me my first question is why you would want to ride such a horse, are you measuring success on your ability to still ride or the horse's tolerance to being ridden and remember that’s only what we see on the outside often inside these horses are a complete mess as they try just to get by the best they can

It seems stopping and saying this is enough is very hard we are persuaded by others and often like I have said before there are professionals who will persuade you that every professional before them is wrong when they have said stop and keep you on this false promise of everything can be fixed and the heavy price you pay is just prolonging the inevitable

Its why I strongly believe in you need to see the horse and really need to see the horse, I have seen many videos of “success” and look bewildered as the horse still looks lame or not right, I have seen many before and after pics where the focus of pain or dysfunction has just shifted elsewhere but no one is looking or seeing, we are so immune to dysfunction that we sometimes have no normal to compare with

Just because we cannot see it does not mean it isn't there, I mean how many times have you been to the doctor knowing something is wrong and everything comes back clear, yet you still know something isn't right, it’s the same for horses we can only look so deep into the body some changes are so minute in the beginning that even though machines may not see it the pain may still be there

Successful rehab for me is a horse who is in a place where the body can function better without creating more issues and with that the pain levels dim, successful rehab is about seeing if the horse can just be a horse without falling apart that has to be the baseline on which we start for if the horse finds it difficult to just be in its own body then is it fair to keep asking more

Successful rehab is not riding as the end goal that should be a bonus

In human rehab movement is the key yet in horse rehab movement is the key yet never on their own terms we strap gadgets on them to tuck their bum in or hold their head in, we put them in circles on deep soft surfaces, and then add weight to their back, and more often than not any negative behaviour we will relate back to old pain not new discomfort

The basis of all rehab is making sure a horse is happy in its own body and can move without causing further breakdown

12/06/2023

07/06/2023

07/06/2023

I’m still processing all I learned from Bellus’s dissection. It gave me a closure I’m extremely grateful for, because as you can imagine, it was a very hard decision to make. Putting a beloved horse down is never easy, but there are always the complicated feelings of guilt, wishing you’d done more and known more, regret, and mourning for the life you know your horse deserved. I think I did the best I could, but facts are facts- he suffered, and didn’t deserve it.

The one thing I am certain of is that he was an incredibly generous, beautiful soul. Upon discovering the details of his body, I am also certain that horses are experts in surviving at any cost. Bellus was in chronic pain and thus chronic stress- my priorities might have been good posture and bend and the like, while his were just surviving.

I am confident in saying that we must do better in understanding. We have to take interest in what lies under the skin before we can take the reins and insist on forward, or bend, or collection, because without an idea of the inner workings of a horse, we have no way of monitoring the damage possible.

The things I’ve seen will change me forever - places his body remodeled, places that adhered, places that atrophied, places that were unable to function. It was never a question of not wanting to - it was a case of unable to.

I don’t believe we shouldn’t ride them, or that any refusal is a reason to quit.
But I firmly believe we need to be brave enough to face the repercussions of our ignorance, no matter how well meaning. I believe we have to face our every flaw squarely and stare it down until we are what a horse needs.

They are so generous - you know this only as a nebulous idea until you stare directly at the evidence of all a horse gave even without the ability. The least we can do is give back half that much in growth, in knowledge, in personal change.

The horses deserve it

01/06/2023

30/05/2023

25/05/2023

24/05/2023

18/05/2023

"The work is for the horse even if the horse was bred for the work"

Coming from a classical dressage background, the development of my understanding of horse training is that its founded upon "it depends"

How much flexion? It depends.

How much collection? It depends.

How small is the circle? It depends.

And I'm enormously grateful for this start; for the instructor I had that cultivated the idea of riding the horse for the body they have, to develop it into the body they could have.

For cultivating the start of my understanding of healthy biomechanics.

But throughout the duration of my career, I've started to understand something else - the stimulus for rehabilitation doesn't have to be that complicated.

I used to believe that to rehabilitate from complex pathology, you needed to learn the art of collection, the art of lateral work and the art of working a circle in a thousand and one different ways. Without this, the horse would not improve.

But with this, I found that in a lot of training ideologies, seeing the weakness in your horse's movement meant that perhaps the horse was concurrently overtrained to "fix" it, no matter how relevant it was for the horse's day-to-day purpose.

That the horse's weak spots became the rider's ambition - "my horse finds a 10m circle in shoulder in to the left hard, so this is what I want to fix"

And with that, I saw that many of the horses I met were corrected and over corrected and over corrected. Until their opinions on the subject were bulldozed, and instead you were left with a shell were a personality once lay.

Which, if we liken this to development in a child, can you imagine the issues created when they're repetitively told "not good enough, try again" or "and now I want more" or "try a bit harder"

And now I'm at a point in my career where to me, rehabilitation looks like enrichment.

Because when we own a horse, whilst we might have other interests and hobbies which light our world on fire, the only way a horse can live a happy, healthy, enriched life is if we create it for them.

This life looks like SO much more than going into the arena and being trained on the daily.

And interestingly enough, the biggest challenge I've found with this is helping owners to be okay with when the horse might not give them the answer they want, rather than going straight for correction.

-

Musings from: 🎧 Adult Onset Horsemanship: Ep. 27 Nahshon Cook, Classical Dressage Trainer, Author, Clinician, and Poet

17/05/2023

Keeping up to date with the latest research is a great way to know better and therefore do better for our horses

**SUMMER WEBINAR PROGRAMME**

As we roll in to spring and summer here is our summer webinar programme which features some of our popular extended online courses as well as some new webinars. All come with CPD certificate, 30-day video replay and Q and A session. As with previous series, our webinars bring some of the latest research and education direct to your laptop, delivered by leading researchers.

Details below:


🐎Evidence-Based Saddle Fitting, Sunday 28th May 2023 @ 14:00 HRS, BST - Saddle fitting with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire and Mark Fisher https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/evidence-based-saddle-fitting-tickets-603469492497

🐎Recognising, Understanding and Managing Saddle Slip, Sunday 11th June @ 14:00 HRS BST, with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire and Mark Fisher https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/recognising-understanding-and-managing-saddle-slip-tickets-603430756637

🐎The Locomotor Apparatus of the Horse: from a Biomechanical Perspective, Sunday 9th July @ 14:00 HRS BST with Prof Hillary Clayton https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-locomotor-apparatus-of-the-horse-from-a-biomechanical-perspective-tickets-603451418437

🐎A Strong, Healthy Back: The Foundation of a Successful Sport Horse, Sunday 30th July 2023 @ 14:00 HRS BST with Prof Hillary Clayton https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-strong-healthy-back-the-foundation-of-a-successful-sport-horse-tickets-603447817667

🐎Equine Back Movement During Circular Locomotion When Ridden, Sunday 6th August 2023 @ 14:00 HRS with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/equine-back-movement-during-circular-locomotion-when-ridden-tickets-607133391317

🐎Equine Laterality and its Effect on Equine Health & Performance, Sunday 20th August @ 14:00 HRS BST, with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/equine-laterality-and-its-effect-on-equine-health-performance-tickets-603474196567

12/05/2023

Something is always getting stronger every time we ride our horse. If the movement patterns are dysfunctional, we need to take care that we strengthen the right things. Quite often, well meaning riders attempt to engage a horse’s core and hind legs by making them “round” before addressing crookedness, tension, or even developing relaxation.

It’s the rider’s job to develop a calm mind in their horse, develop alignment, and unlock what is locked before ever entertaining the idea of trying to compress the horse’s body.

11/05/2023

Keeping photographic records of the feet, and the body is a great way to monitor training progress and general health.

The importance of photos.

Greg van Heerden taking photos of his clients horses feet.

At PES we take yearly X-rays of all our clients shod horses feet & photos every 6mths minimum

Each of our clients has their own file with photos, X-rays, HoofBeat data & Biomex data if applicable stored on each farriers tablet.

PES feels this is important to ensure the feet are continuing to progressing well &, if necessary, make early corrections.

It’s near impossible to remember small details & where the feet were at a few shoeings ago when your doing 120-150 horses (600 feet) every 5/6 weeks.

This is a big part of our business model, our success, is important to the long term health & well being of the horses under our care & very much appreciated by our clients.

10/05/2023

The other 23 hours 🐴

There is so much focus on training, you can find countless videos online showing you how to “fix” your horse’s unwanted behaviours, but I rarely see anyone addressing management practices in relation to training/behavioural problems. If a horse’s basic needs are not being met the ramifications on a horse’s ability to learn and perform can be huge.

Obviously we need to ensure horse’s are free from pain and discomfort in their bodies, but that’s another post for another day. I want to talk about the 3 Fs:
🐴 Freedom - being in an environment where they are able to express natural behaviour, such as foraging, rolling, playing and pottering about.
🐴 Forage - having access to species-appropriate long stem fibre and not being left stood without food for long periods of time.
🐴 Friends - being allowed to socialise and build relationships with other horses.

These are the things horses need as a species to be emotionally and physically healthy. I will elaborate on each one in another post and give some ideas. This doesn’t always have to look like 24/7 turnout in a perfect setup, there are many ways we can give our horses these things even if its not the ideal, but if your horse does not have access to all of these things on a daily basis their welfare is being compromised and, in turn, their ability to learn and perform is going to be compromised.

I have often been called out to help with a training problem, to find a horse that is really not coping with their day to day life and definitely doesn’t have any capacity for learning without the use of excessive pressure, which is just not something I will do any more. You can make a horse comply but they’re not going to feel good about you, nor is it going to help with the stress that is still present in their daily life. Often when you change your management to more horse-friendly those behavioural issues cease to exist.

It also makes no sense from a physiological standpoint to take what is essentially an athlete and confine them to a tiny space for 20 + hours at a time. Lack of movement has a detrimental effect on every system in the horse’s body and it is definitely not conducive to a strong, fit, healthy horse.

We are so used to seeing chronically stressed horses that we do not recognise abnormal behaviours for what they are, stress behaviours are not quirky personality traits. What is your horse doing all night after you leave him at 6pm?

I understand that while we are on livery we can be very restricted with how we are allowed to manage our own horses, but we are all ultimately responsible for our own horse’s welfare, he can’t fix it for himself. For how much we ask of our horses in pursuit of our own goals, it really is the least we can do and while you might not be able to change the yard management you can always vote with your feet. There are always other options, even if they’re not perfect and you have to make sacrifices in other areas, always put the horse’s needs first, he’ll thank you for it. 🐴

www.lshorsemanship.co.uk

04/05/2023

Where is the beginning and where is the end

Please bear with my drawing but I wanted to show just a small example of some muscles and fascia and show how everything slots into place to help aid movement in the equine body, there are approximately 700 muscles in the horses body and not one is more important than the other for a healthy functioning body, and then we have tendons and ligaments, fascia, bone, organs etc all designed to make the horse what it is

One muscle doesn't just end it turns into a tendon to connect to bone to aid with movement, it attaches and merges with other muscles, if melds and is intertwined with fascia we cannot think of a muscle we have to think global that all serve a purpose

We have the words whole horse echoed throughout the equine yet we are still so hooked on one answer to solve all the issues when often there is no simple answer, the answer is as complex as the body and just because we see something it doesn't mean the problem is there and often what we see is the last place that is compensating. Focusing on one, two, three or four muscles out of 700 is such a small percentage of how the horse functions

We have to not think of doing we must think of the why, why did the horse get like that in the first place or else we are plugging the damn with our thumb we may get initial results but often because the issue has never been addressed the long term sees even worse results as the horse is now not only still got the original issue it now has been made to load onto that issue to find where we think if the perfect balance or posture, the problem is we often strive for good posture on an already compromised body

Throughout any rehab the first piece of advice is stop riding your horse, so your horse can recover with its own body first before dealing with an extra load, and also it gives us a clue how the horse moves without any outside force, but this takes time to get a baseline of how your horse is doing, but I will tell you the mere fact you are no longer riding often yields results it just makes common sense as now the horse has to time to recover, but the truth lies when you are ready to get back on has the work you have done been enough to support that horse through the next stage because if your horse goes back to square one then the issue is still there

If we load onto an already compromised body, then the problem will just shift somewhere else if your horse has an issue in the left coffin joint and its taking the pressure off by loading onto the right we can't just school it back onto a painful leg we need vet intervention and therapy to help get rid of the pain before we ask or else you may find the outside looks balanced while the inside is at crisis point if a horse has a sore hind end and you keep loading onto it then often they will widen their stifle angle to compensate then you are going to have hock, si, lumbar issues in the long term

Saying and doing whole horse therapy can have vast differences and I know I keep banging on the same drum buts it so important to really see the horse as a whole unit every time that horse takes one step the whole body needs to be working together to produce that step so why would we not want to work on every part of that step

If you see a muscle over or underworked, we must ask ourselves this is not just a muscle that is affected but where are the connections, where does the fascia go to, where is the tendon connected, which muscles feed out from the same bone what ligaments are affected by the connection of bone what ligaments connect the bone, is the muscle showing because of problems in the deeper muscles etc this should be the thought rather than lets work on the muscle we see

And I haven't even covered the environment that may be a mitigating factor for the health of the horse's body and mind

27/04/2023

🐴 Enriching your horse’s environment

🌿Stabling your horse for extended periods can lead to boredom and frustration, as Sophie learned when her horse Chuck had to undergo eight weeks of box rest. However, by using enrichment techniques Sophie was able to create a greater variety and choice to enhance Chuck’s physical and mental wellbeing.

💡Enrichment doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. From providing homemade toys to varying their diet and creating a comfortable living space, there are plenty of ways to get creative to help enrich their environment.

👉 If you're not sure where to start, check out our latest blog where we share some tried-and-tested ideas as recommended by Justine Harrison - Equine Behaviourist. To learn more visit: https://www.bhs.org.uk/horse-care-and-welfare/features/enriching-your-horse-s-environment/