Kate Fisher - ESMT - Shadow Sports Horse Massage & Rehabilitation

15/06/2025

Another great CPD from completed. This time looking how to modify treatments during the summer months to best support the horse.

15/06/2025

🗒️5 fun facts about equine sports massage therapy:

1. It Can Improve Performance
Equine sports massage isn’t just about relaxation—it helps improve a horse’s stride length, flexibility, and range of motion, which can directly enhance performance in disciplines like eventing, dressage, and show jumping. 🐎

2. Horses Communicate Their Enjoyment
Horses often show visible signs of enjoying their massage—like licking, chewing, yawning, lowering their head, softening their eyes, and even leaning into the therapist’s hands to ask for more pressure. 🧘🏼‍♀️

3. Massage Can Reveal Hidden Problems
Skilled equine massage therapists can detect areas of tightness, soreness, or compensatory patterns before they become bigger issues, sometimes picking up on things even before the rider notices a problem under saddle. ❤️‍🩹

4. It Can Speed Up Recovery
Sports massage promotes circulation, which helps flush out lactic acid and metabolic waste, supporting quicker recovery after intense training or competition—like giving your horse a post-workout detox! 👩‍⚕️

5. It’s Not Just for Elite Athletes
While often associated with competition horses, sports massage is beneficial for horses of all ages and workloads—even happy hackers or retired horses can enjoy and benefit from it, improving comfort and overall well-being. 🐴

14/06/2025

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13/06/2025

🐴 5 Fun Facts About the Trapezius Muscle in Horses
1. It’s Split into Two Parts!
The trapezius muscle in horses has two distinct sections:
• Cervical Trapezius (front part): originates from the neck region.
• Thoracic Trapezius (back part): originates from the withers and mid-back.
These parts work together but can have different levels of development and tension.

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2. It’s a Lifter!
The trapezius muscle is one of the main muscles responsible for lifting and moving the shoulder blade (scapula). Without it, horses would struggle to raise or extend their forelimb properly.

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3. Sensitive to Saddle Fit
The trapezius sits right under the front of the saddle panels. Poor saddle fit (especially pressure points or tightness near the withers) can pinch this muscle and lead to soreness, muscle wastage, or performance issues.
👉 This is why the trapezius is often checked during saddle fittings.

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4. It Can Show Early Signs of Discomfort
Tight, sore, or underdeveloped trapezius muscles can be one of the first clues to back pain or front-end lameness. A horse may show signs like shoulder tightness, reluctance to lift through the withers, or short, choppy strides.

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5. A Happy Trapezius Likes Polework!
Stretching exercises, hill work, and polework help keep the trapezius supple and strong. Working in a long, low outline also encourages good trapezius engagement without over-tightening the muscle.

11/06/2025

Everyone meet Milltown Star aka Jackson ⭐️

A former racehorse who unfortunately had a freak accident whilst in training 😢 which resulted in a fractured pelvis and damage to his hamstrings. My awesome team of vets, body workers and I hope to rehabilitate him the best we can so please follow us along for his recovery journey ❤️‍🩹

Huge thanks to for putting up with the hideous drive to collect him, incredibly gracefully! ❤️

10/06/2025

🐴💆‍♀️ Equine Sports Massage & Rehabilitation Therapist vs. Osteopath vs. Physiotherapist – What’s the Difference? 💆‍♂️🐴

There are so many amazing professionals who can help your horse feel and move their best — but what’s the difference between them? Here’s a quick, clear guide: 👇

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✨ Equine Sports Massage & Rehabilitation Therapist
Combines soft tissue work and exercise-based rehabilitation.
✅ Releases muscle tension and improves flexibility
✅ Designs tailored rehab and strengthening plans
✅ Supports recovery from injury, surgery, or poor posture
✅ Helps maintain performance, comfort, and long-term soundness

💡 Perfect for horses needing a mix of hands-on therapy and structured rehab exercises — supporting both muscle health and correct movement.

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✨ Equine Osteopath
Focuses on the whole body — joints, bones, muscles, and how they move together.
✅ Identifies and releases restrictions
✅ Restores balance and natural movement
✅ Supports postural alignment and compensation patterns
✅ Uses holistic, hands-on adjustments

💡 Great for addressing long-standing issues, stiffness, or subtle imbalances affecting performance.

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✨ Equine Physiotherapist
Specialises in clinical rehabilitation, usually working via vet referral.
✅ Treats injury, post-surgery, or lameness cases
✅ Uses manual therapy, corrective exercises, and sometimes electrotherapy
✅ Provides structured, vet-led rehab protocols
✅ Focuses on tissue healing, joint mobility, and controlled return to work

💡 Essential for more complex or serious rehabilitation cases needing medical supervision.

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👉 Quick Recap:
• Sports Massage & Rehab Therapist: Soft tissue work + tailored rehab exercise for performance and recovery.
• Osteopath: Whole-body balance and functional movement correction.
• Physiotherapist: Clinical injury rehab, often vet-referred, with focused healing protocols.

✨ We professionals can often work beautifully together to keep your horse healthy, moving well, and performing happily! 🐎💙

07/06/2025

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.”

04/06/2025

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03/06/2025

Here’s how horse muscle function connects directly to rider biomechanics — this helps you ride more effectively and harmoniously:

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🔄 1. Your Seat Mirrors the Horse’s Hindquarters
• The horse’s gluteal and hamstring muscles drive their movement from behind.
• As a rider, your pelvis and core need to follow that motion—not block it.
• A mobile, balanced seat lets you absorb the swing of the back without gripping or bouncing, helping the horse move more freely.

💡 Try this: Practice feeling the horse’s hips alternate under your seat at the walk—this builds awareness of the hind limb timing.

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🪞2. Muscle Asymmetries Show Up in Both of You
• If your horse is stronger or tighter on one side (often from one-sided training or conformation), you might feel:
• One rein heavier
• One seat bone dropping
• Crookedness through turns or transitions
• If you have tight hip flexors or a dropping shoulder (like you’ve mentioned), it can restrict the horse’s ribcage swing or shoulder freedom.

💡 Try this: Mirror your horse’s movement, but also check yourself in stillness—are you collapsing, twisting, or clenching anywhere?

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⚖️ 3. Core-to-Core Connection
• Horses engage their thoracic sling (the deep chest muscles that hold up the front end) when they’re lifting through the back and balanced.
• As a rider, you need core stability (especially transverse abdominis and obliques) to stay soft in the limbs and light in the hands.
• A “quiet” rider doesn’t mean weak—it means independent, strong postural muscles.

💡 Try this: Pilates, resistance band work, or balancing on a physio ball builds the kind of strength that supports good riding posture.

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🧠 4. Tension Travels
• If your horse braces through the neck or back, it often starts with tight muscles or defensive postures—and the same goes for riders.
• Muscle tension in the rider (tight hands, braced knees, clenched jaw) can cause resistance or dullness in the horse’s body.

💡 Try this: Ride with “soft focus” on your own breathing and jaw. When you relax, your horse often mirrors it almost immediately.

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🔥 5. Both Bodies Thrive on Cross-Training
• Horses benefit from varied movement (hill work, poles, groundwork) to build balanced, supple muscle chains.
• Riders benefit the same way! Tai chi, Pilates, yoga, and resistance work help activate stabilizing muscles and prevent compensations.

💡 Try this: Walking hills with your horse on the ground or doing lateral stretches after a ride helps both of you unwind.

02/06/2025

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🐎 Rushing Can Cost You Dearly.

This is an X-ray of an almost two-year-old horse. It’s that time of year when many owners are excited to send their young horses off to a trainer to get started under saddle. But this story is a reminder of why patience matters.

This c**t will turn two in June. We sent his X-rays to university specialists — and the answer was clear: he’s not ready. The growth plates in his knees are still open. He needs another 10–12 months before he’ll be physically mature enough to handle consistent training.

❗Starting too early isn’t an advantage — it can lead to serious consequences like osteoarthritis, chronic lameness, and a lifetime of pain.

👣 If you have any doubts — get the X-rays. Give your horse time to grow strong. A true horseman doesn’t chase fast results — they build a future with care and respect.

🤍 Patience is also love.