Hannah’s Equine Bodywork Services

09/28/2024

This 💛

Why do biomechanics matter?

No one uttered this term to me, in all my years of riding and lesson-taking, until I was well into my 20's. I heard lots of other words: contact, responsiveness, connection, rhythm, impulsion, suppleness. All of them felt like these ethereal concepts that had multiple meanings depending on who you talked to. They also had varying degrees of importance or ranking in terms of what you need first before the horse can offer the next thing, depending on who you talked to. I still see this all the time, and hear about how frustrating it is from other horsepeople trying to do the best they can.

Biomechanics are the physical relationships and structural laws that govern how living things move. Biomechanics are the HOW in all of those aforementioned ethereal terms. They are vital in understanding how to correctly develop a horse for riding. This is the first reason why biomechanics matter.

The second reason is because horses weren't designed to be ridden. I cannot overstate how important this is to understand if you want to ride horses and ride them well: horses were NEVER designed to be sat on. The horse is born with a specific set of biomechanical tools available to him, and they serve him very well...when they are needed.

The thing is, those tools were designed for maximum efficiency if the horse's life is in danger: used for brief moments, blips in between long stretches of calm. Those exact tools can cause injury, unsoundness, and degeneration if used every day, day in and day out, for years.
. . . . . . . .

I want you to look at these two photos.

The top horse is using what nature gave him (and what work with humans helped him turn into long-standing patterns in movement). The bottom horse has been given new tools and taught how to use them to move in ways that preserve soundness, not encourage degeneration.

The top horse is moving in a way that directly ties into the same sympathetic nervous system responses that kick in when a horse is in danger. The bottom horse is demonstrating all of the power potential the nervous system makes available when the horse is in danger, but accessing it through relaxation and completely different biomechanics.

The top horse is using the ground to support his weight in movement, putting a lot of pressure on his joints. The bottom horse is doing a lot of that supporting himself by virtue of his posture, putting significantly less strain on his joints.

You may have already figured out this is the same horse. These photos were taken approximately two years apart.

I guess what I'm getting at is this: the way to develop the bottom horse isn't to simply take the top horse and add contact, impulsion, responsiveness, ride circle after circle, do pole and hill work, etc. Whatever you apply to the ridden horse will only reinforce what is already in him.

You must teach him, literally from the ground up, a new way of moving, a different biomechanical perspective. Some horses will come by this easier than others, but not a one is born knowing how to put all of these things together on their own when the human asks it. Not a one.

We have to show them how.

PC: Mandy Helwege. Thank you for permitting me to share your lovely boy.

08/27/2024

When your horse lowers their head to the height of their withers, the funnicular portion of their nuchal ligament (the cord like structure which runs from their withers to their poll) will traction on their supraspinous ligament (which runs over the top of their thoracic and lumbar spinous processes).

As the nuchal ligament tractions on the supraspinous ligament, the early thoracic spinous processes draw forwards and apart.

As the horse steps under from behind, via engaging the hindlimbs and shortening through their abdominals, the supraspinous ligament over the lumbar spinous processes will traction towards the horse's tail, drawing their lumbar spinous processes backwards and apart.

These are key mechanisms in kissing spines rehabilitation.

However - if your horse has muscular tension around the neck and back muscles, the efficacy of this ligament system may be inhibited, potentially creating pain and, if prolonged, tissue remodelling (e.g. ligament thickening, lesions or bony adaptation).

This means that, whilst we can look at training practices set to target supporting these systems - you have to be able to OBSERVE if the exercises are actually acheiving the desired effect.

You can track your eye over your horse's topline and see where the dysfunction might be occuring by literally looking at the skeletal and soft tissue system at a standstill and in motion.

I think this has to be one of my favourite assessment tools to help me to help horses with their movement ❤️

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Want to learn how to do this?

Join me in my next live webinar where you will learn exactly how to do this and:

- How to feel for muscle wastage even in horses that are overweight
- How to see compression points throughout the horse's topline
- How to determine if your horse should be ridden or not.

02.09.2024 19:00 BST

Recording available after the event if you can't attend live!

08/26/2024

Love this.

The truth is, the standard exercises given out should not be given to every horse. That’s a hard thing to accept as a bodyworker.

It’s difficult to be doing things a different way. You do get ridiculed sometimes.

But when you find things that work AND allow the horse to:

-Regulate emotionally

-Use their body correctly and confidently

-Be motivated to work and be with you

-Stay sound longer

-Be developed to carry a rider before being started

-Work with pathologies still present because the body can better support itself

-Overcome many neurological obstacles or improve quality of life (head shaking, shivers, stringhalt)

-Allow true healing

The list goes on and on.

———

It is scary to step outside the box and try new things, to have an open mind, and find the ability to forgive yourself for the methods you used in the past may not align with you anymore.

I’ve given out exercises I would no longer touch with a ten foot pole.

When you’re given exercises, even by a professional, take a step back and ask yourself if you think it’s the best thing for your horse and why.

I’ve been given pole and hill work for horses that are dragging their hind feet.

If it was your body, and you could not pick up your feet, would a physical therapist have you stepping over poles and walking up inclines?

No!

So why would you ask this of a horse?

You will only strengthen dysfunction and compensation.

There are contraindications to every movement and every exercise.

Don’t be afraid to trust your gut or ask multiple bodyworkers, veterinarians or trainers.

You know what is best for your horse. There are always better options, it just takes an open mind and a willingness to learn. 🐴

"People often mistake kindness for incompetence" - LS Horsemanship

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I was working with a client yesterday, who also happens to be a very good bodyworker with excellent feel -

Her horse has kissing spines and presented with spinal stiffness and acute reactivity over his mid thoracic region. He is also reluctant to move forward, hypervigilant and often finds himself in freeze.

We were working through helping him to downregulate to release his back, neck and shoulders to find more freedom through his body.

What was really fun about this was that this was something she had been playing around with, recognising the benefits of it and how it positively influences his emotional and physical state. She was also REALLY good at it, but because it wasn't what the current rhetoric around rehabilitation -

It wasn't poles, or baited stretches, or progressive loading -

She hadn't given herself permission to do it more regularly.

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I have several friends who are horsemanship trainers and the thing they struggle with time and time again is that people will choose quick results, at the expense of their horse's emotional and physical wellbeing, because the slow considered approach doesn't feel like they're achieving anything.

As a result they get clients after horses have been traumatised through cruel training practices which envoke fear and pain (even if the horse's human has different intentions to this)

The road to rehabilitation then becomes even slower; meanwhile people on the yard watch and snigger:

"She's not even doing anything with her horse"

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For me, I believe that the skill around training isn't that you can stop a horse presenting the unwanted behaviour.

This skill is demonstrated by knowing full well what that horse is capable of demonstrating... and yet you ensure that you never knowing take the horse to that place.

Training that is kind and systematic to help your horse to feel safe.

It focuses on empowering both horse and human to make good decisions through positive affilations instead of punishment, flooding and fear.

❤️

08/24/2024

08/13/2024

Great to see this getting attention! Such a large number of horses have this.

𝐈𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐩 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝?

EDIT: Please see additional information from Dr. Haussler in the comment section, in answer to your questions.

Every now and then, a Member of this community will ask Dr. Haussler a question - we like to share his answers with all of you.

"The funicular portion of the nuchal ligament passes over the C2 spinous process and is normally anchored by loose connective tissue to the bone below. As the horse’s head flexes and extends, that portion of the ligament must lengthen and shorten. It will normally stay in place along the midline (no “flipping” back and forth), also because there is a slight concavity on the top of the C2 spinous process.

However, with repetitive use, that soft tissue connection can break down. With atlantooccipital flexion, the nuchal ligament is stretched. With added lateral bending, that portion of the ligament is less anchored down and can displace off the spinous process and “pop” to one side or the other.

As with any displaced ligament or tendon, less tension and increased stabilization is required to help keep the structure in place. Otherwise, it displaces more often, and due to repeated local trauma, a bursa forms and fills with fluid, resulting in bursitis."

Image credit: Ivana Ruddock-Lange | Equine Anatomy in Layers

08/09/2024

✨Look at these INCREDIBLE changes to Dreamer’s posture.✨

One of these is flipped so you can better compare.

Dreamer’s owner came to me with concerns from kissing spines and possible navicular issues. Kissing spines means the vertebrae are too close together, hence “kissing”. Navicular means there is irritation of some kind around the navicular bone.

In his case, he did not show severe discomfort, but did not seem comfortable doing traditional rehabilitation work, and it just felt wrong to his owner when she would saddle him. His radiographs were read differently by several veterinarians, some saying navicular some not.

Dreamer was consistently standing underneath himself, which puts more pressure on the DDFT (deep digital flexor tendon) which runs down the back of the leg, behind and under the navicular bone. The extra tension often causes inflammation around the navicular bone, and can lead to things like calcification and other boney changes, along with changes and thickening to the tendon. Sometimes even shredding.

While he made progress with bodywork and postural exercises, we could tell a lot of his discomfort still stemmed from his feet.

His owner gave me a huge deal of trust, and called Marissa Ondersma out for a consultation on composite shoes. Dreamer had been in open heeled steel shoes, which does not allow full expansion of the hoof, or activation of the digital cushion, and allows the heel to drop further than it normally would, which again, means the DDFT is stretching and putting extra tension and pressure on that navicular bone.

Hoof expansion, contraction, and use of the digital cushion acts as a pump to send blood back up the leg.

As we all know, blood flow is extremely important. When they’re not engaging the digital cushion or expanding their foot, blood flow is lacking. Limited blood flow and a compensation pattern can lead to poor hoof development (think under run heels, an unhealthy frog, and lack of cartilage in the digital cushion).

The digital cushion and frog also contain the majority of the hoof’s nerves and proprioceptors.

Proprioception is the ability to be aware of where your body is and allows us to know how to navigate things. Often times poor digital cushion health also leads to proprioception issues as well. In advanced cases you’ll see tripping, stumbles, toe dragging, etc.

One week into composites has changed Dreamer’s overall posture. What things do you see?

I see a horse that can stand directly under himself, engage his digital cushion, push into and engage his thoracic sling, engage his triceps, allow his pelvis to return to a neutral position rather than consistently stay stuck in flexion, the ability to better engage his quadriceps, and just has a better center of balance altogether.

This means he does not have constant pressure on his navicular bone as he did when camping underneath himself, and with his pelvis is not straining to get his hind feet under him, there is a lot less tension through his iliopsoas and lower lumbar, meaning less tension around his kissing spines.

The healthier, or closer to neutral, engagement through his feet allows so much more room for change in the rest of the body.

When there is dysfunction in the feet, the rest of the body will always struggle to make progress.

These composites are going to allow us to continue working on his posture while keeping him comfortable.

Not to mention this guy had a ton of head tension! The myofascial lines that connect the head to the feet have had extra strain as well, now that there is some relief to the fascial chains, his headaches should be getting better too.

He is moving better, with a floating trot, extension, and heel first engagement. His canter is better. He stands better. You can tell he just feels confident and happy in his body.

I LOVE what postural work and changes to hoof care can do.

I am so thankful for my clients. They step outside the box of traditional care with me, and expand into new knowledge that is truly revolutionary for our industry and for keeping horses sound and comfortable.

The changes made here prevent so much strain on tendons and ligaments, which in turn strains joints like SIs, hocks and stifles. I strongly believe this kind of work can help avoid needing things such as injections for a horse to be comfortable in their own body. By using the whole body correctly, you’re avoiding compensation and things like arthritis.

Think about it, if we used poor posture and did squats repetitively, would our bodies not break down too?

Learn to recognize poor posture. Help the body support itself before relying on bandaids and quick fixes that do not last.

Posture is key. Hoof health is key. Diet is key. Environment is key. Movement is key. Dental is key. Veterinary support is key.

And of course, the horse’s opinion is the ultimate 🔑.

08/01/2024

Highly recommend looking into Yasmin’s classes if you’re interested in learning about your horse. I love her teaching style, she truly helps develop your lens with solid information to back it up.

When your horse extends through their AO joint [the articulation between the base of the skull and C1], their lower jaw retracts - you can feel this yourself if you point your nose to the sky, notice how your bottom jaw glides back.

When your horse flexes through their AO joint, their lower jaw protracts - you can feel this yourself if you press your chin to your chest, notice how your bottom jaw glides forwards.

When your horse flexes through their AO joint, their laryngeal diameter decreases - you can feel this by pressing your chin to your chest and taking a deep breath in, notice how much harder that is.

If your horse has tension in their jaw, they lose range of motion through their AO joint - you can feel this yourself if you clamp your jaw shut, notice how much harder it is to point your nose to the sky or point your chin to your chest - your neck feels tight and immobile.

And the same can be said if your horse has tension through their AO joint or neck, they will lose range of motion through their jaw.

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Now do all of those movements again and notice how, when you drop your chin to your chest:

It's difficult to inflate your ribs to breathe,

It's hard to round your back,

Your hips tighten up.

This is because you've impinged your deep ventral line.

We do this to horses when we ride with a rein length/tension that doesn't accomodate and support their anatomy.

So if we compress their jaw and neck, we compromise their ability to:

Breathe

Lift their back to carry a rider

Activate their hindlimb.
..Gives us quite a lot to think about with how many horses are ridden and trained, doesn't it?

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Want to learn more?

The recording for Train Your Eye - How's Your Bit Affecting Your Horse? is now live on my website.

❤️✨️

07/26/2024

While I’m camping this week 🏕️

I’d like to try out digitally illustrating educational materials. 🐴

I would love feedback on what others would like to see most, as I definitely won’t have time to get to all of these. I’m also happy to dive into other topics that you may not see here.

Some things I’d like to touch on:

✨Common Postures/Compensation Patterns

✨Atrophy/Healthy Development/Hypertrophy

✨Healthy frog and digital cushion vs thrush

✨What processing or release can look like

✨The nervous system, parasympathetic and sympathetic response

✨Posture vs Conformation

✨Fascia (What it is/Why it is important)

✨Incorporating movement within a horse’s capability and comfort

✨”Creating a Plan” examples

✨When to “Keep the crutch” and not try to take away compensation

…….

What would you like to see?

07/23/2024

It’s always bittersweet when things you’ve been looking forward to come to an end.

The past 4 days learning under Ida Hammer as well as the other students and graduates has been so indescribably rewarding.

Ida’s way of teaching and building of a community that has zero judgement, tons of truly passionate horse people, and such substantial growth for everyone involved is just so profoundly powerful.

I’ve found another tribe of horse people that are truly there for the horse.

Horse people know how hard it can be to have open conversations and different ideas and opinions in the same room. When everyone just shows up for the horse, to support their peers, and dive in with a 100% open mind, it’s an incredible experience.

Thank you to everyone who made this week what it was. Not to forget Shane for hauling us and the camper down for me to do this.🐴💛

07/21/2024

Off learning again.

After Monday I will be certified as a non-trimming fellow. Once I have 25 horses in and documented I will be a trimming fellow.

I cannot wait to be able to support the horses’ bodies even further! 🐴

The whole horse matters. I love seeing the 🧩 pieces come together.

Boots, casting, composites . . All around hoof protection and support for three days and advanced trimming Monday.

07/11/2024

Sometimes in my practice I come across an owner who wants to normalize something that isn’t normal.

This sounds like:

❌ My horse works out of the stiffness/lameness after 15 minutes under saddle.
❌ He always crow hops after a bigger jump.
❌She throws her head around in the arena but not on the trail (or vise versa).
❌He always makes a face when I do the girth up.
❌It usually takes me 15 minutes to catch her and I need food to do it.
❌The left lead is always harder to get.
❌She’s always weaved in her stall.

These kinds of statements are usually followed by “that’s just the way he/she is.”

This is your horse speaking to you, over and over and over again. Please listen, before they have to get louder. Stop and think about what behaviors your horse demonstrates that maybe don’t seem totally right to you but you’ve just accepted them as “normal”.

This is a question very much worth asking of yourself, then your horse, then work with your trainer/horse care professionals to get to the bottom of it.

Answer the question as best you can, and you build a deeper, more solid partnership with your horse. Why? Because you listened. And then you did something about it. And your horse knows it.

07/02/2024

Full range of motion is important. You’d be surprised how many horses struggle with this.

06/28/2024

There is a place for all of us.

I support the movers and shakers speaking up and holding firm a boundary for their belief systems. We do need change in our industry.

I believe that multiple things can be true at once. That there is magic and a richness in our collective, yet individual experiences and that anything can be possible.

And I believe it’s going to take all of us standing together, in our own ways, to see change occur.

So for me.

I will keep working in the performance barns, keep shoeing their horses and keep sharing rays of light through education and living my truth.

I am very good at both trimming and shoeing to improve hoof morphology and function, especially on the performance horse. I will keep educating people and help them find better ways with their horses, if that is what they choose.

I refuse to walk away from an entire group of people and horses and shame them for the choices they make because they may not know better. I can’t help those horses and their people and plant seeds of change if I am not there. (Thank you, Beth Sabor)

So I will be there, holding my space with integrity and open arms for anyone wanting to make changes. I will be honest with you, I will support you, we will work together, and, I will also walk away when the situation is no longer serving.

The world is a kaleidoscope of color and possibility. It isn’t just black and white for me.