Mountain Air Trails and Stable

11/22/2025

11/22/2025

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"He feels unbalanced, like he's limping! We need to stop," my student says.

"The tempo is too slow, he needs a greater stride. As soon as he can get the right tempo he will be more balanced."

My student goes into a kind of fetal mode, half urging the horse forward, half hauling the horse back. "It isn't working, she says."

"You need to let the reins out so he can go forward," I say.

She starts to cry. And this is where I realize the problem -

It's not really a riding lesson. This is so often the case - and I think back to my 20's, where I didn't have a clue about these inner workings. The horse needs to go forward to be safe internally and physically, and yet this is the human's greatest fear - and somehow the two of them have come together, and the human is the only one who can bridge this gap.

So we pause the riding and we talk. Logic is not the answer, I remind myself - where are these feelings coming from? It all stems back to a childhood bolt.

"If it's hysterical, it's historical," I remember to myself, a quote I heard from a friend

So what is missing here, and how can we go forward? First understanding the root - we are not riding in the now, we are riding in that childhood bolt. So we ground - how does your horse feel, sound, smell, look? What do you see around you?

And then, we discuss what skills we need to go forward. What the horse needs, and what she needs.

I say, I understand your fear, I really do - but it is imperative that you guide your horse. He is scared too. But we can find a way that you can stay mentally with him - in hand, at the walk, for now, but you have to stay here with him. He needs you.

I'm not a therapist, but it turns out I'm not really a riding instructor either. And so often, we are not riding today's horse - which is why the training, the logic, the reasoning, the lessons are not helping us get where we want.

The root, somewhere deep down is buried. Our real task is to find a way to ride today's horse: to be present with today's horse and learn to honor them. They need us, desperately. And only we can bridge the gap.

And so a choice has to be made at a certain point - what will you do to honor today's horse?

11/22/2025

😲😲😲👍

11/20/2025

Adipose Tissue, Fascia Quality, and Fitting Up the Whole Horse

When we look at a horse’s body, we notice what’s visible — muscle, fat cover, topline, symmetry.
But beneath all of that lies a system that influences every stride, every load, and every moment of comfort or tension: fascia.

Fascia surrounds every muscle, bone, and organ, forming a continuous, responsive network. Its quality depends on nutrition, workload, hydration, and metabolic health. This means a horse’s overall body condition — starved, lean, or highly conditioned — directly influences the health of its fascial system.

How Adipose Tissue Interacts with Fascia

Adipose tissue (fat) isn’t just stored energy. Within the fascial system, it provides:
• Cushioning and spacing between layers
• Lubrication and glide for movement
• Local inflammatory regulation
• Metabolic support and building blocks for repair

Because fascia and adipose are interwoven, changes in fat volume or metabolic health change how fascia behaves.

In a Starved or Malnourished Horse

A starved horse is not simply “thin” — it is biochemically deprived. Without adequate nutrients, the body cannot maintain connective tissue.

This leads to:
• Dry, sticky, brittle fascia
• Impaired collagen production
• Poor hydration and reduced glide
• Loss of protective fat buffering
• Increased sensitivity and guarding
• Higher risk of strain or tearing

In other words: poor nutrition = poor fascia.

In a Lean but Highly Fit Horse

Lean does not mean compromised. A well-fed, properly conditioned athlete can have exceptional fascial quality.

A fit, nourished horse often maintains:
• Hydrated, elastic fascial layers
• Strong, well-organized collagen
• Efficient load transmission
• Excellent glide between tissues

“Lean” is not the enemy. Undernourished is.

A fueled athlete develops fascia that is supple, strong, and responsive — exactly what performance requires.

What This Means for Fitting Up the Horse

Saddle fitting, bodywork, training, and nutrition cannot be separated. Fascia connects everything.

1. Evaluate Nutritional Status First

A poorly nourished horse cannot maintain healthy fascia.

Compromised tissue is:
• inconsistent
• tender
• reactive
• unable to support load

Fitting on a nutritionally depleted body often leads to false readings and fluctuating fit.
Nutrition must come first.

2. Assess Tissue Quality — Not Just Quantity

A thin horse can have beautiful fascia; an overweight horse can have stiff, inflamed fascia.

Look for:
• skin elasticity
• hydration
• easy slide between layers
• suppleness
• areas of guarding or bracing

A fit horse with responsive tissues fits very differently from a horse whose fascia is dry, adhered, or painful.

3. Use Fascia-Friendly Management

Healthy fascia requires:
• balanced nutrition (amino acids, EFAs, minerals)
• consistent, varied movement
• minimal prolonged stillness
• regular bodywork to maintain glide
• hydration + electrolytes
• tack that does not distort fascial layers

Fascia thrives on load, release, hydration, and nourishment.

4. Fit through the Whole System — Not Just the Back

Because fascia is continuous, restrictions in one area affect movement throughout the body.

A thorough fit considers:
• ribcage mobility
• shoulder freedom
• pelvic and hind-end dynamics
• thoracolumbar hydration
• fascial lines linking neck, sternum, back, and hindquarters

When superficial layers are compromised, deeper layers are affected — and fit must be monitored more closely.

The Bottom Line

Yes — adipose tissue and fascial quality matter enormously.
• Starved horse: poor fascial quality due to lack of nutrients
• Lean, well-fed athlete: strong, hydrated, resilient fascia capable of supporting work

Supporting fascia through nutrition, movement, hydration, and thoughtful fitting is one of the most effective ways to improve your horse’s comfort, performance, and long-term soundness.

https://koperequine.com/exploring-fascia-in-equine-myofascial-pain-an-integrative-view-of-mechanisms-and-healing/

11/19/2025

11/18/2025

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11/17/2025

The Ribcage no matter how hard i try one or two (or maybe 3 or 4 in the ventral view 😃) always look deformed 😃😃
Trying to draw from the underneath view is hard oh why do I always want to things the hard way lol

I start off well then go boggle eyed by about rib 14
Off to try again 😄😄😄 especially when colouring them in i may even end up with extra ribs lol

If we dont show the journey to get to the end then people will always feel like a failure if they only see the finished product

11/17/2025

WHY DOES MODERN HINDQUARTER DISENGAGEMENT DAMAGE THE STIFLES AND HOCKS… BUT CLASSICAL LATERAL WORK DOESN’T?

There was some great discussion going on in the comments of my lead-up post.
Definitely give that a read before I share my follow-up:
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1H58mS4Smz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

WHY DOES MODERN HINDQUARTER DISENGAGEMENT DAMAGE THE STIFLES AND HOCKS… BUT CLASSICAL LATERAL WORK DOESN’T?

To understand this, we first need to clarify which hindlimb is actually most often at risk in lateral work, and why…

This video offers a great visual of how the hind leg is designed to load slightly under the horse’s midline (though not necessarily across it), very similar to how the stepping-under, trailing hind functions during classical lateral work:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17KVAYkgqD/?mibextid=wwXIfr

In comparison, the leading hind is most often the one at risk…

DISENGAGEMENT & THE LEADING LEG
Modern lateral work, especially the extreme hindquarter disengagement common in some natural horsemanship programs, often asks the horse to travel so far sideways that the leading hind leg abducts unnaturally, swinging clear out away from the horse’s body.

Upon impact, this loads the joints at an angle, and when the horse moves laterally across that planted limb, there’s a lot of twisting and torque, as illustrated in Denoix’s diagram below.

Over time, this places chronic strain on the stifle and hock, which, unlike the coxofemoral hip joint that initiates the swing, are hinge joints.

We can also see negative effects down into the fetlock and coffin joints and surrounding soft tissues (like the collateral ligaments) that have to support this unnatural movement.

The risk compounds when this is done…
• At speed,
• Repeatedly, or
• With green, weak, or physically immature horses.

As a c**t starter, I still use hindquarter disengagement and hindquarter mobilizations as elementary communication tools, but I advance out of that as soon as possible, because I believe it’s not biomechanically sustainable.

As well, I believe that repeated disengagement can keep horses from progressing in their emotional regulation and relaxation, because they feel unbalanced and unsafe.

SIDEWAYS vs ROTATIONAL
Let’s look at another difference between modern lateral work and classical lateral work…

Take shoulder-in, for example.

Classical shoulder-in is not a 2-D, sideways exercise.

It’s a 3-D, rotational exercise, as illustrated by Heuschman’s drawing below.

When organized back to front, there is a cascade effect on the pelvis on three different axes…

The functional rotation of the pelvis on the vertical axis (yaw) that comes from correct bending protects the leading hindlimb, by allowing the coxofemoral joint to keep the joints in alignment with the line of travel.

And, because bend is always accompanied by vertebral rotation, this affects the longitudinal axis (roll), which is also affected by the pelvis being drawn under with the stepping-under limb…

Which in turn draws the pelvis under on the lateral axis (pitch), allowing all the hind joints to fold and load, rather than brace.

(I personally find this to promote emotional regulation and relaxation much better than a disengagement.)

This is how classical lateral work, works to protect the joints and begin to engage, rather than disengage.

Leading hindlimb trajectory is also why shoulder-fore, shoulder-in on a circle (Newcastle-style), or shoulder-in with the leading hind limited by a wall (Guérinière-style) is safer for most horses, until they can organize their pelvis correctly.

This is also why I prefer renvers through corners and on a circle, rather than straight line travers work, and is why the shoulders must lead in halfpass.

As well, when we ride lateral maneuvers as 2-D, sideways exercises, rather than 3-D, rotational exercises, with the horse ‘pulling’ themselves along with the leading hind, rather than pushing themselves with the stepping-under hind, I believe that has an effect on the lumbo-sacro-iliac system that causes ‘guarding’ or pain in these areas, but that’s a different post for a different time.

SUSPENSION IN ADVANCED WORK
On the subject of pushing vs pulling, in advanced lateral work in trot and canter, the greatest amount of lateral travel occurs during the suspension phase created by the stepping-under limb, with load and breakover occurring during a minimal support phase on the leading limb.

Meaning lateral work in suspensioned trot and canter potentially presents less risk than lateral work in walk.

In walk, there is no suspension, so it becomes even more important that lateral work must be careful and purposeful.

OBSERVATIONS…
In my years of farrier work, I saw an obvious association of increasing amounts of stifle and hock dysfunction in horses who were in ‘disengagement-focused’ natural horsemanship programs. It was heart-breaking.

But guess where else I see issues?

Programs that refuse to do any lateral work at all.

Programs where ‘forward at all costs’ loads braced joints at speed.

Some of us have grown wary of lateral work, and rightfully so, but without the ability to fold the joints and address how that influences balance, straightness-focused programs will encounter dysfunction as well.

More recently, I’m seeing issues in programs that focus only on the front end- thoracic sling, shoulders, etc.- and attempt to transfer weight to hind limbs and joints that again, are fixed, rather than folding.

This creates a ‘Push-Me-Pull-You’ effect over the bridge of the back that’s making for some pretty unhappy horses.

WHY CLASSICAL WORK ENDURES
Exploring and embracing more and more into classical work, I’m understanding more and more why it’s stood the test of time…

Because when we protect the joints through balanced, tempoed straight lines and circles, and develop progressive pelvic function and limb folding through careful, purposeful lateral work, rather than seeing it as sideways work, we protect and develop what is otherwise damaged by straight line hammering and sideways clamboring.

Add your thoughts and observations below!

PHOTOS:
Disengagement as a purposeful but temporary safety measure with a young horse. The Calvary stop is a great alternative, as well.

Showing the effect classical lateral work can have on the function and posture of the hind limb, after just a few months. In renvers pirouette, notice the limb is not crossing the midline, but folding and advancing forward to the diagonal shoulder, drawing the pelvis under along with it.

Heuschmann

Denoix

11/15/2025

11/15/2025

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Empathy: An Important Word That Can Turn Human Discomfort Into Horse Problems

Empathy is the capacity to recognise, understand, and respond to the emotional states of others. It has multiple dimensions that include cognitive empathy, which is the ability to interpret another’s feelings or intentions, and affective empathy, which is the emotional resonance you experience in response. There is also empathic concern which is the motivation to act. So empathy is not just feeling sorry for a horse.

It is a blend of perception, interpretation, emotional regulation, and behaviour.

Which brings us to the real issue in the horse world...

➡️When Empathy Backfires for Horses

Humans can empathise with horses, but only up to the limit of their own imagination, their own emotional comfort, and their own understanding of how horses actually perceive the world. Horses do not think like us. They do not interpret pressure, learning, novelty, or social cues like us. Which means our empathy is a translation exercise and sometimes our translations are as inaccurate as a Google maps 10 years ago...

A distressed horse can stir up a wave of discomfort in a person that is harder to settle than the horse itself. So the human often shifts to soothing themselves and not the horse. This is where empathy loses the plot.

The horse might show stress while learning something new because it is confused or needs the task to be simplified or presented with more clarity and skill. The solution is usually better training, not a spiritual intermission.

But if the person feels uncomfortable watching the horse be confused, they may stop altogether. They may avoid the situation next time. They may proclaim that the horse does not like groundwork, or finds training sticks traumatic, or cannot be caught, or fears the mounting block, or hates being ridden. They make these declarations from the throne of empathy, as if being empathetic means never checking whether the horse can learn something new with good guidance.

They justify their avoidance by claiming they are being sensitive to the horse’s needs. Meanwhile the horse remains stuck with a problem it could have easily learned to navigate if only the person had sought knowledge, stayed consistent, or asked for help.

➡️What Real Empathy Requires

Practising empathy with horses is not about emotional purity. It is not about announcing your feelings and calling it care. It requires knowledge of equine behaviour and learning. It requires skill and the ability to regulate your own emotional discomfort so you do not project it onto the horse. It requires accepting that your feelings are not diagnostic tools.

Empathy becomes useful when combined with observation, strategy, and willingness to improve. Without these, empathy can collapse into avoidance and self soothing, while the horse quietly struggles with something it could have mastered.

If we want empathy to lift horses rather than trap them, then we can never stop learning. We need to pair empathy with competence, because the horse does not benefit from our discomfort. The horse benefits from our clarity.

➡️And what is clarity?

Clarity is the ability to present information to a horse in a way that is consistent, comprehensible, and free of mixed cues. It means your signals are clean, your timing makes sense, and your intentions are easy for the horse to interpret. Clarity is the opposite of emotional projection. It is the opposite of hesitation or avoidance. It is the steady, understandable guidance that allows a horse to feel secure enough to learn.

This is Collectable Advice entry 78/365 of my challenge focusing on words used in the horse world. Hit SAVE or Hit SHARE and spread the word - literally ❤😆

IMAGE📸: My good friend Isabelle and OTTB Dash. This is a heads up to all the OTTB and STB fans to Join our Racehorse Reboot 8 Week Challenge Event from the 3 January - 28 February 2026. Everyone already enrolled is welcome. If you haven't enrolled, do so now and follow our advice to support and prepare your Off-the-Tracker to be ready commencing re-training in January💪❤ More info below.