Animal Muscle Release Therapy Ltd

04/06/2024

23/03/2024

06/02/2024

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should...

Going back almost 15 years and as far as I’m aware, I didn’t have a bad reputation in the horse industry. I backed horses calmly and quietly. I would ‘bit’ them, put tack on, lunge them, long rein and lay over them, all before quietly getting onboard.

When schooling, I could get a horse in a frame and hold it together with relative ease and I could sit a bronc or a rear if needed. I was pretty fearless. I rode some horses in draw reins if they didn’t soften to my hand or were inconsistent in the mouth. My whip was for correcting behaviour and I certainly wasn’t afraid to use it if I thought it was necessary (or if I ran out of ideas or patience).

I took on problem horses and had a really good success rate at dealing with those problems.

Only I didn’t.

Looking back, I think it’s likely that I only dealt with the symptoms of the problems. For example, the horse that didn’t want to stand at the mounting block; I trained him easily by using ‘pressure and release’ with a well timed reward and he soon learned to go to the mounting block. What I probably didn’t see were the tight, sore, angry muscles. The stiff back, the poor posture. The atrophy under the saddle. The compromised gait. All of which contributed to his lack of willingness to be mounted.

The horses with poor mouths that I lunged in training aids, side reins, rode in draw reins, all learned that they couldn’t escape the persistence of my rein and began to comply. Eventually they learned to compensate elsewhere in their bodies, likely becoming shut down in the process.

Over the last 15 years, I have watched countless hours of horses moving. I have studied their gaits, I have felt their musculature. I have picked up hundreds of limbs, palpated countless tendons, lesions and effusions, and I have witnessed the damage caused by doing things the way that I amongst others used to do them. I can say with a degree of certainty that if you are having a problem with your horse - no matter what the symptoms are - your problem lies with a lack of one or more of the following:

(Ambi)dexterity/straightness
Strength/fitness
Balance
Coordination
Comfort
Confidence/trust
Communication
Resilience

Treating the symptoms without addressing the cause will usually mean that the human’s needs are met and the horse’s needs aren’t.

Like many trainers, I am aware of the signals a horse gives to express how it feels: whether it is threatened or whether it feels safe. I am able to quit right before I pass a threshold. I instinctively use approach and retreat techniques to foster anything from confidence through to suppleness. All of this gives me an ability to help a horse to overcome a problem very quickly, but it also gives me the ability to bend the horse to my will - a fact we must treat with great care and respect.

I could probably load a ‘problem loader’ in half the time I take, if I only used ‘pressure and release’. If only I wasn’t so aware of the delicate structures around the horse’s head and face and the potential psychological issues I could cause by forcing the horse to load without understanding it’s side of the story.

Nowadays I do things very differently. I can hear what the horse is saying through his actions. I can feel what his body tells me when I ride him, through my seat and down the rein. Which parts move well and which parts don’t. I constantly observe the entire picture. His breathing, gait, demeanour, muscle tone and posture. I read his actions and I learn from his reactions. I take everything on board and work in the most physically and mentally appropriate way for that moment. I condition his body whilst gently conditioning his mind. As a result I can desensitise a sensitive horse without waving objects like flags and tarpaulins around and I can prepare a horse for saddling without the need to send it broncing around an arena aimlessly.

Nowadays, despite having the ability to back your horse in days, I won’t. Because I know that in the long run I would’ve done your horse a disservice and any trust he placed in humans would likely start to falter when his body started to ache and his brain started to fry through being ill prepared.

I could train your horse to approach the mounting block, but only once I’m confident that his reasons for resisting mounting have been heard and his needs have been met.

Horses are the most fantastic animals. Sure, they do stupid stuff sometimes and they aren’t always the most logical(!). But they are unbelievably generous and forgiving. They are adaptable, malleable and trainable. Therefore, we owe it to them to make sure that their needs are met when we are ‘problem solving’.

They will give and give, which puts us in a position to take and take.

Just because we can, doesn’t mean we should.

05/02/2024

Based on a discussion in the Equine Functional Posture group tonight I want to say "Be your horses sunrise"🥰. Be their advocate.🦄

Empower yourself with knowledge so that if your horse is telling you something is not right - you believe them and then they won't have to scream (buck, bolt, bite, become the bitchy mare)!!💜

Listen to the subtle signs, learn how to hear your horses voice, ask why and don't be told there is nothing wrong or to push through it.!!
I don't care if it is the world best trainer or farrier or vet or friend. 🥰

I have been told my horse was just sick of me in a lesson - I got off to find the tail swishing was nothing to do with my horses opinion of me it was to do with a red raw rub mark on his back and he should have bucked me off but our relationship meant he didnt!!😔

I have seen people seriously injured because they did not listen to their intuition, their connection and communication from their horse. 🐴

Horses are the greatest compensators, they are a prey animal. Yes they will flight, fight or freeze when they are pushed to their breaking point but there are any signs we need to take notice of before they get to that. 💞

The Equine Functional Posture course is one part of the journey that aims to empower you to help your 🐎 I am so grateful for my wonderful horse teachers who have taught me and continue to teach me to be a better listener!! 🙏

Especially Thankful to all mare clients for speaking clearly but especially to Patch, as although she was the most giving soul our heart felt connection meant that I prioritised her well-being over everything and once she realised that, she gave me everything but also told me in a polite but no uncertain terms way when it was too much. Thanks Patch! 🥰

30/12/2023

Reposted as with a lot of horses being kept in longer and exercised less due to wet weather, it is important to keep an eye on our horses muscles.

A little diagram to highlight the importance of monitoring gluteal muscle mass. The gluteal muscles are truly a window, providing a view in of the quality of exercise and the bodies response to training. Atrophy or weakness can have an unzipping effect, causing other areas of the musculoskeletal system to be compromised and at risk of injury.

It should also be noted that this solely considers muscle mass, and not tonicity; where a muscle should be well developed, this shouldn’t compromise on the quality of the muscle.

29/11/2023

SLOOOOOW DOWN!

SLOW your walking down to 1 step per second with and without your horse next to you.
SLOW your hand movements down as you touch or do things.
SLOW your talking down.
SLOW your breathing down.
SLOW your pulls and pushes down on the leadrope.

SLOW to FLOW!

Humans are WAAAAY to fast for horses and this is one of the leading causes of reactivity and opposition reflex in horses.

Speed = stress.

Let me teach you what speed does...

When the brain perceives a threat, it causes the body to release the stress response hormone cortisol. Cortisol levels and speed go hand in hand.
Cortisol provides the body with the fuel it needs to flee a scary situation or fight against it.

The thing with the mind-body relationship is that the brain feels an emotion such as fear, which create a physical response in the body, but the body can also move at a certain speed or in a particular way and create an emotion in the brain. It can be reverse engineered.

This is how special the intimate relationship is between the brain and body.

The other thing to remember is that, collectively as a social animal, when speed is noticed by another mammal (no matter the species), it alerts the unconscious brain to threat.

Speed is an alarm system in a social system (consciously and unconsciously).

If you walked down a road and everyone started running, you'd find it hard not to run even if you didn't know what the cause was. You are noticing that others are running and in a direction, so you mirror them to increase your chances of survival. You don't need the reasoning part of your brain for this. You just activated your primal (survival) part of the brain.

One other thing to remember: HORSES CAN SMELL CORTISOL. So not only does your speed act as a visual alarm system to your horse, it also acts as an olfactory one!

Would you want to interact with someone who caused you to feel constantly on alert?

These little things are the beginnings of what ripples into chronic stress in both humans and horses.
You spend enough time around someone who is fast in their movement, your nervous system will condition itself to being on high alert.
HELLO 👋 CHRONIC STRESS!!!

Slow your movement down = slow your thoughts down.
Slow your movement down = lower your cortisol.
Slow your movement down = feel connected with yourself, the world and others in it.
Slow your movement down = slow your alarm systems down and eventually they'll turn off.

Slow down so much that it is uncomfortable. It won't be uncomfortable for long, I promise 😉

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 🙂

25/11/2023

😱Not everything is wrong😨

I'm sure my fellow equine practitioners can resonate with me this one, but something I have increasingly become aware of is this notion of only seeing what's 'wrong' with a horse😫. As practitioners, in any field in the equine industry, this is what we are trained to see, as mostly our job is to improve the 'problem'. Whilst of course this is useful, it can also be a hindrance, especially considering the owners take on your findings and all they hear are negative things about their horse 😢

Having owned a typical broken Thoroughbred for over 14 years and another pony with body 'issues', riding, feeling and even dissecting many horses, I can safely say the 'perfect' horse does not exist🤯!

Every horse is crooked, every horse has something 'wrong' and this is where the job can get exhausting and deflating😮‍💨. Instead of focusing on the negatives and prescribing your horse 'cant' do this and that, I think it's more important to realise what the horse IS capable of, and positive ways it can manage its asymmetries or postural issues, or even emotional ones.

Yes your horse may be crooked and short stepping on the left, but it doesn't mean you should not touch them, the same as us, if you have a compensation pattern or a postural habit, you need to work through it in a way that isn't going to cause more harm. In my opinion exercise and movement is the best way to achieve this! Being overly conservative can do more harm than good. So if you are feeling like there is no hope and your horse is broken feel free to give me a call as I'm sure I can flip that way of thinking and get you and your horse achieving wonderful things 🦄
🥰🦄

26/10/2023

**THURSDAY RESEARCH MEME**

Todays meme relates to the rider biomechanics.

Horses develop a locomotor strategy to compensate for rider asymmetry. After inducing rider asymmetry by shortening one stirrup (B), we found that horses altered their movement patterns and increased limb loading.

These locomotor strategies reinforce the importance of rider symmetry and correct rider biomechanics.

🤓

www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/blog/

14/10/2023

10/10/2023

❓ ARE YOU CONDUCTING THIS STRETCH CORRECTLY?

A stretch is not just simply moving a part of the body from A to B and back to A. It is the careful repositioning of a body part from neutral (A) gently to correctly mobilised (B), held for 10-15 seconds before a controlled return back to neutral (A).

A stretch that is commonly struggled with in relation to this progress is a lateral cervical mobilisation stretch. In the left photo you can see the stretch being incorrectly carried out, with the tilting of the head and neck to get the treat without stretching the muscles of the top of the neck and poll region.

In the right photo, the ears remain perpendicular to the ground and you can see a clear stretch of the muscles around the body of the handler. You can imagine here that each vertebral joint has an even extension around the handler, rather than some joints being mobilised and others locking.

If you are using stretches for your horse, ensure your physiotherapist has seen you conduct them to make sure the desired result is being achieved. ✨

01/09/2023