Beyond Vet Med

11/21/2025

National governing body for equestrian sport in the United States. Uniting the equestrian community by ensuring fairness, safety, and enjoyment.

11/19/2025

This is also true for chiropractic, acupuncture and other forms of bodywork.

Why Some Horses Feel “Different” the Day After a Massage

It’s normal for a horse to feel a little loose, wiggly, or slightly uncoordinated the day after bodywork. This isn’t a setback — it’s a sign the body and nervous system are reorganizing after tension releases.

Why It Happens

1. The Brain–Body Map Just Updated

Massage changes how the body moves and how the brain senses it. When old restrictions release, the horse needs 24–48 hours to recalibrate balance and coordination.

2. Fascia Is Rehydrating and Reorganizing

Fascia gains glide and elasticity after bodywork. As it reshapes, the horse may feel temporarily loose or “floppy” while new tension lines settle.

3. Muscle Tone Drops Before It Rebalances

Protective tension turns off first, and postural muscles turn on second. That short gap can feel like softness or mild instability.

4. Proprioception Is Resetting

The horse is getting a flood of new sensory information. The nervous system needs a bit of time to interpret it and organize new, freer movement.

5. Old Patterns Are Gone — New Ones Are Forming

When restrictions release, the old compensation disappears instantly. The new, healthier pattern takes a little time to establish.

Normal for 24–48 Hours

✔ Slight wobbliness
✔ Extra bendiness
✔ Feeling loose or “disconnected”
✔ Mildly behind the leg

Usually by day 2–3, movement improves noticeably.

Not Normal

✘ Lameness
✘ Heat or swelling
✘ Sharp pain
✘ Symptoms worsening after 48 hours

These need veterinary attention.

How to Support Integration
• Light walk work or hacking
• Hand walking
• Gentle stretching
• Turnout and hydration
• Pole work after 48–72 hours

Movement helps lock in new patterns.

Why Some Horses Recalibrate and Others Don’t

Every horse’s response reflects their unique body:

A horse may need more integration time if they’re:
• tight or guarded
• weak in stabilizing muscles
• coming out of chronic patterns
• sensitive or older
• less body-aware

A horse may feel great immediately if they’re:
• already symmetrical
• strong and conditioned
• biomechanically correct
• quick to adapt neurologically
• had fewer restrictions to begin with

Both responses are normal — they simply tell you a different story about the horse’s body and nervous system.

https://koperequine.com/the-power-of-slow-why-slow-work-is-beneficial-for-horses/

11/03/2025

Winter is coming ❄️ Make sure your horse stays warm and comfortable with my go-to blanketing guide!

09/18/2025

Upcoming Small Animal Days:
Sat 10/11 at Windhoek in Parker *New Location
Thurs 10/16 at EAH

07/28/2025

Research conducted by Kienapfel and colleagues (2025) set out to investigate the relationship between head–neck position (HNP) and behavioural indicators of welfare in elite dressage horses.

Their goal was to provide an objective, evidence-based threshold at which flexion during riding becomes problematic for equine welfare, and to clarify the respective roles of vertical and poll angles in this context.

Concurrently, the occurrence of conflict behaviours—such as tail swishing, abnormal oral behaviours, headshaking, and gait irregularities—were quantified by trained observers.

The study used linear mixed-effects models to show that greater head–neck flexion—especially more negative vertical and poll angles—is clearly linked to increased conflict behaviour in dressage horses, with other factors like age, breed, or bit type not significant, though stallions did show more conflict than mares or geldings.

The authors identified that a -7.5° vertical angle (nasal plane behind the vertical) was an evidence-based limit: positions less flexed than -4° can be considered safe, -4° to -7.5° require caution, and beyond -7.5° pose a welfare risk.

Notably, more than 90% of horses examined were ridden behind the vertical, with half of these exceeding the -7.5° threshold, despite regulations.

📖: Kienapfel K, Hartmann E, Preiss B, Bachmann I. Head–Neck Positions in Ridden Horses: Defining Degrees of Flexion and Their Impact on Equine Behavior and Welfare. Int J Equine Sci 2025;4(2):107–124

07/16/2025

Dr. Felix Duerr of Colorado State University examines common factors affecting a dog’s ability to move comfortably, and how he and other top veterinarians are working to prevent, treat, and rehabilitate these conditions and injuries.

Read more in in the newest edition of Platinum Magazine!

🔗Link in the comments! ⬇️

06/23/2025

DON'T UNDERFEED BALANCERS!

Do remember that you must feed the full recommended amount of a balancer (a concentrated compound feed, often in pelleted form) for your horse to have a balanced diet.

Don't feed less because you think they 'don't need it'.

If you feed less, your horse won't get enough vitamins and minerals to balance their forage.

If your horse really doesn't need a balancer because they're struggling to lose weight, and/or gaining weight, then swap to a vitamin and mineral supplement instead (mixed with a palatable base feed).

Feel free to share!
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06/23/2025

Respecting Fascia’s Nature - it’s common to hear people talk about stretching the fascia to improve flexibility and mobility. But this widespread belief is rooted in a fundamental misunderstanding: fascia does not respond to stretch the way muscle fibers do.

Fascia is a dense, fibrous, and reticulated tissue composed mainly of collagen and elastic fibers. It’s structured for support, connection, and tensile integrity, not extensibility.

Unlike muscle, which can actively lengthen and shorten, fascia lacks this ability and is not built to stretch.

What truly limits movement in restricted fascia is the loss of gliding mobility between fascial layers - read on here - https://koperequine.com/fascia-is-not-an-elastic-band-why-stretching-misses-the-point/

Tissue Play: Restoring Freedom and Relieving Myofascial Pain in the Horse’s Body - https://koperequine.com/tissue-play-restoring-freedom-and-relieving-myofascial-pain-in-the-horses-body/

05/26/2025

Last day of the Memorial Day Weekend sale! Get your orders placed today!

05/24/2025

05/24/2025

The new Cool on Track series has this cooling towel that’s on ’s wish list for this weekend’s sale!

Somebody loves their Cool on Track Cooling Towel! 💙

"With the Florida heat, Cruiser loves using the Cool on Track Towel when cooling out after our ride!" - Hannah H.

Thank you, Hannah, for sharing this fun photo of your boy staying cool.

Summer is almost here! Don't let the heat hold you back. 🔥

Check out our Cool on Track collection of cooling towels, dog coats, bandanas, and horse boots.

https://backontrackusa.com/collections/cool-on-track

05/24/2025

WORRY ABOUT BALANCE ⚖.. rather than whether or not feeds are processed.

It's interesting how fashions change.

Over the 25+ years I've been working in horse nutrition, I'm not sure I've ever come across so many unbalanced diets, usually in horses whose owners are trying to avoid compound feeds (e.g. nuts, pellets, mixes).

Unbalanced diets are harmful!

If we feed straights ie avoid compound feeds then we need to have much greater nutrition expertise in order to ensure the horse's diet is balanced.

I keep coming across horses whose owners have good intentions, yet are feeding bad diets, because they're unbalanced.

Here's some unbalanced diets that are commonly fed by owners trying to avoid processed feeds:
❌ hay or haylage-only (or hay/haylage plus grass only)
❌ using grass or alfalfa (lucerne) nuts as the concentrate feed
❌ using phosphorus-rich straight like copra meal or linseed, without balancing for calcium
❌ 'natural' balancers that do not contain added microminerals (with forage)
❌ chopped forage feeds with herbs/other additions, that do not contain added microminerals (with forage)
❌ 'balancer' supplements without vitamins, fed to horses on low or no-grass diets

Unbalanced diets are definitely bad, and can lead to a myriad of health issues.

Processed feeds are not bad, and I've worked with thousands of horses over 25+ years who've been fed successfully with compound 'processed' feeds.

For clarification:
Can you feed a horse successfully without compound feeds?
Yes, you can, but you need to have much greater nutrition expertise to ensure the diet is balanced (the whole point of making a compound feed is to balance the forage).

I'm going to write another post tomorrow on why processed horse feeds (compound feeds) are worlds apart from processed human food - especially the unhealthy ultra processed food that anti-compound horse owners often point to.

If you're interested in this, don't miss tomorrow's installment!
(Feel free to share)
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