Kate Fisher - ESMT - Shadow Sports Horse Massage & Rehabilitation

26/11/2025

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🐴🧠 When Behaviour Changes, Don’t Blame the Gut First! Look at the Whole Horse

One of the problems in modern equine care is how quickly gastric issues get blamed for every behavioural change.

Yes, the gut matters.
Yes, diet, forage access, feeding routines, and stress can absolutely contribute to gastric disease.
And yes, gastric discomfort can absolutely influence behaviour.

But here’s the key point we keep missing:

👉 Gastric issues are often the result of something else going wrong, not the root cause.

The two biggest and most commonly overlooked contributors?

1️⃣ Musculoskeletal Pain

Musculoskeletal pain, even subtle, low-grade, or chronic, is one of the most frequently missed problems in horses.

As discussed in one of my old articles

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/recognising-pain-in-the-horse/

When a horse is working in pain:
• Cortisol rises
• Eating patterns change
• Resting patterns change
• The nervous system shifts into protection mode
• And the gut is one of the first systems to suffer

Pain doesn’t just change movement, it changes physiology.
Ulcers may then develop secondary to the stress and compromised function caused by the underlying pain.

2️⃣ Psychosocial Stress

Horses are highly social, highly emotional animals. Their environment shapes their physiology.

As discussed in our ethology series

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/bundles/how-can-the-equine-industry-maintain-its-social-licence-to-operate

Psychosocial stresses such as:
• Inconsistent routines
• Social isolation
• Frequent transport
• High-pressure training environments
• Poor turnout opportunities
• Rider inconsistency or conflict
• Unpredictable handling
• Lack of choice or agency
…all elevate stress hormones, suppress the immune system, and destabilise the gut environment.

These stresses can cause or worsen gastric disease.
And yet, these are rarely the first things examined.

⚠️ The Gut Is Vital, But Often Not the Starting Point

Of course, diet and gut health can be primary issues.
Poor forage quality, long fasting periods, high-starch feeds, dehydration, and certain medications can all contribute directly to gastric discomfort.

But more often than we acknowledge, the gut is the victim of a larger, unaddressed problem, not the villain.

🧩 Behaviour rarely has a single cause

A horse may show gastric symptoms…
But that doesn’t mean gastric disease is the origin of the behaviour.

A whole-horse approach means considering:
• Musculoskeletal integrity
• Hoof balance and farriery
• Saddle fit
• Rider influence
• Workload and biomechanics
• Environmental stability
• Herd dynamics
• Stress load
• Diet, forage access, and feeding rhythm
• And finally… gastric health

🌿 The message is simple:

When a horse changes behaviour, look deeper than the stomach.
Recognise that the gut is part of a wider system, influenced by pain, emotion, environment, and biomechanics.

Gastric disease deserves attention.
But we should never allow it to become the easy scapegoat that distracts us from the real underlying welfare issues.

See the whole horse. Follow the root cause. Honour what the behaviour is telling you.

Join Dr Ben Skye’s and I tomorrow for a delve into gastric disease.

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/egus

Recording will be available!

21/11/2025

❄️🥶 Cold Weather and Your Horse: Keeping Muscles Happy! 🥶❄️

I just finished a fascinating 2-hour CPD on how cold weather affects equine posture and muscle function—perfect timing as it was -3°C this morning!

Cold weather isn’t just uncomfortable for us—it has a real impact on our horses’ muscles:
• Muscles tighten reflexively in the cold, leading to stiffness and postural tension.
• Reduced circulation slows nutrient delivery and waste removal, which can delay recovery.
• Fascia and connective tissue lose elasticity, limiting joint mobility.
• Protective postures can develop, leading to subtle misalignments if tension isn’t managed.

💡 Tips to help your horse stay supple and comfortable in the cold:
1. Keep them warm: Rugs, shelters, and insulated blankets help reduce muscle tension.
2. Warm-up before work: Gentle walking and stretching get muscles pliable and ready for exercise.
3. Massage or bodywork: Even short sessions increase circulation, reduce tension, and improve fascial glide.
4. Turnout when possible: Movement keeps blood flowing and muscles active—even short walks are helpful.
5. Regular monitoring: Pay attention to stiffness, tight points, or reduced range of motion, especially in the back, shoulders, and hips.

A little extra care in winter goes a long way to keeping your horse moving comfortably and performing at their best!

13/11/2025

🌿 The Power of Hacking 🌿

So much of Denis’s progress this year has come from the simplest — and often most underestimated — form of training: hacking.

Denis will be 6 next May, and as a big young horse, he’s been a slower starter. He was only backed just over a year ago, and we’ve spent much of that time working in and out of light work to give him space to grow, strengthen, and straighten.

Long, relaxed hacks in straight lines have been a huge part of that process. They’ve helped him:
🐎 Build even muscle tone and natural straightness
🌳 Strengthen his core and hindquarters without the strain of circles or schoolwork
💨 Improve his balance, rhythm, and stamina
🧘‍♀️ Relax his mind and enjoy varied environments

It’s been lovely to see him becoming more supple, confident, and comfortable in his body — all through steady, thoughtful miles out hacking.

Hopefully, if he’s ready, we’ll think about getting him out competing next year. But for now, it’s about enjoying the process and appreciating how much these simple, consistent hacks have done for his development. ❤️

12/11/2025

Last night I had an incredible session on a horse simulator with the amazing Ellen Berchner-Nolan, and it honestly blew my mind how much insight it gave me into my own body.

Since my car accident, I’ve been struggling with pain and tension when I ride — and it’s been frustrating not being able to move as freely or communicate as clearly with my horse. But seeing myself off the horse made everything click. I could finally feel what my body was doing, without worrying about the horse beneath me.

It’s so powerful to strip things back and rebuild our awareness — not just to become better riders, but to be kinder to our horses*. When I sit correctly and ride from a place of balance, it helps my horse move more freely, evenly, and without tension too. Our bodies reflect each other.

With some simple exercises, tweaks and tools, I learned ways to release deep-held tension and start finding balance again:

💫 Hip flexor release: Franklin balls and gentle stretches to open and lengthen.
💫 Ankles: keeping flexibility so the whole leg can breathe.
💫 Shoulders: engaging the obliques to soften the shoulder girdle (using light weights and twisting side to side).
💫 Seat bones: looking over my right shoulder to help drop my left seat bone — game changer!

Even tiny shifts made a massive difference in how I felt. I came away inspired to keep exploring body awareness and healing movement, both for me and for my horses.

If you ever get the chance to ride a simulator — do it. It’s such a kind, insightful way to reconnect with your body, especially after injury or time off. 💛

06/11/2025

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05/11/2025

The other day I had the pleasure of working with Lola, an absolutely stunning chestnut mare who really relaxed into her session. We focused on gentle massage and Reiki around her neck and pectorals, which she clearly appreciated — soft eyes, lowered head, and lots of deep breathing 🕊️

Lola also showed me, in her own way, that there were a few areas she wasn’t comfortable with. I always listen carefully to what a horse is communicating — it’s such an important part of the process. I’ve left those areas for her vet to assess, as I’m a massage therapist, not a vet, and it’s never my role to diagnose or push through discomfort.

It was beautiful to see her unwind and release tension where she was happy to receive touch. Horses always know what they need — we just have to listen

29/10/2025

28/10/2025

Horses hold a quiet, ancient wisdom. They listen with their whole being — through breath, movement, and energy — and reflect back what they sense within us.

When we slow down and truly connect, they remind us that communication isn’t about control, but presence. Horses teach awareness, authenticity, and the beauty of simply being.

Their sensitivity helps us see ourselves more clearly — beyond words, beyond thought — into the calm stillness of shared trust. Every soft breath, every glance, becomes a conversation in energy.

Being with horses has taught me that healing often begins in silence, in the spaces where words aren’t needed. Through their gentle wisdom, we remember how to listen, to feel, and to reconnect with our own natural rhythm.

✨ I offer spaces for both horses and humans to heal, reconnect, and find balance through mindful interaction, reiki, and holistic support. If you’d like to experience this kind of connection for yourself — or for your horse — you’re warmly invited to get in touch.

🐴

22/10/2025

Guess who I got to treat today… 👀
BOUNCE — fresh off his incredible Man vs Horse victory on the Quantocks! 🐴💥
He gave everything out there and was feeling a bit jarred afterwards
So I used massage + energy work to help release tension and support recovery ✨
Massive well done, Bounce — true superstar! 🏆💚

From the race to relaxation 😌
Helping equine athletes feel their best — inside and out 💫

21/10/2025

These photos were taken in 2016 from the skeleton of a 6 year old pony, showing severe kissing spines and fused facet joints in the saddle region. Nearly ten years later, in 2025, we still see the same attitudes ponies labelled as ‘stubborn’ when in reality, many are in pain. That is truly frightening.

It’s easy to understand why a pony suffering like this might refuse to jump, struggle to bend, or appear unwilling/ stubborn. Their behaviour often isn’t defiance it’s discomfort and desperation.

Take a look and see what you think.

Credit: Kitty Shanahan, Irish Osteopath, Equine and Canine Osteopathy- Kitty Shanahan