Equine Sports Massage Therapy

06/17/2025

06/15/2025

05/21/2025

Range of motion R.O.M

As with bodywork when I am asking for a range of motion through the limbs if the horse jerks the limb back then I have missed the subtle signal that came before of the horse saying I am struggling with what you are asking.

We see it as the handler wrestles with the leg the horse pulling and the handler holding on until eventually the horse gives in and often when the limb is then placed down the horse wobbles as it has become unbalanced.

The further you pull does not always mean its better for the horse because muscles will only go so far before they want to go back, joints depending on where they are will also have limitations and that is if they are healthy which can be a rare sight in the horse.

Going slow means we catch that tiny shift when the horse says no, but not to slow for then the brain loses interest, like goldilocks we want that movement just right.

If the horse wants the limb back then simply give it back then ask again we do not know if the horse needs that limb back to feel the millimetre of extra movement we have just created, and when you give it back the horse trusts that you are actually listening when they say hold up I got to think about what you have just done.

It may look cool for a photo to see the limb being stretched out but how does the horse feel.

We often obsess about the hindlimb stepping under yet as I watch my youngsters racing across the field I am in awe of the extension because if your horse can not move comfortably through all the ranges of motion then it becomes more difficult to ask for the one range of motion, and there is nothing like a good gallop and hoon about for the horse to engage all the ranges.

04/27/2025

Ok final draft of pictures
I took on board your thoughts
Added insertion and origin points colour coded
Found my new hyper focus which is transparent background so now added a little hyoid and going to put in skeletons and my logo and anything else I can make transparent so get ready for the 100 posts of transparent images 😃😃😃
I like it and not changing anything now as i am someone who always thinks things are not good enough
There you go xx
Remember flashcards will be a free element of this course you wil have access to them via a link so you can
It is getting there but I don't think people realise how much effort it takes to do a course especially when you do all of it yourself

04/23/2025

The massive medial gluteal

Why do I call it massive because it is the largest and strongest out of the gluteal group and is very important in assessing how your horses hind end is functioning

It is close underneath the skin and you can often see the two bumps behind your saddle (gluteal tongue as it is shaped like a tongue) but it is covered by the superficial gluteal and the thoracolumbar fascia (gluteal fascial) so remember fascia adapts to the outside force so if you are seeing these raised surfaces merely working on the muscle is usually not enough to address the whole issue and why do they become so pronounced in the first place we have to again follow a trail to the source, it has connections to the longissimus dorsi, ilium, pelvis and femur so again think of whole horse if the horse has raised bumps behind the saddle we need to think whole horse and many connections and we cannot just address one thing to be affective we need to work at many sources so we cover all the possible causes.

The main action of this muscle is for extension and abduction of the hip joint and to raise the body of the horse when the femur is in a fixed position (as my clients know when I ask for the pelvic tilt I will point out the muscle trying to take over when it should be the obliques and we will often stop and reassess as we don't want it to solely work by itself)

This is a power muscle, if your horse was to rear or kick back then this muscle along with the longissimus dorsi will be utilised yet if the back has atrophy then often the compensation will be seen in the lumbar area at the cost of the rest of the gluteal at the croup, it also a stabilizing muscle so it's important its being used correctly, but remember the power muscles have strength but not stamina so if this muscle is having to work harder because the deeper muscles are not functioning correctly then fatigue sets in quickly

Is it the fascial covering of this muscle that is in trouble, it is linked to the Thoracolumbar fascia which connects and intersects many muscles, or is the gluteal fascia in trouble??

As above often with the visible build up behind the saddle it is often accompanied by a sharp fall over the pelvis as the croup of your horse is designed by this muscle so if you have a large build up over the lumbar area and a ski slope over the croup then we need to work on first why and then how to strengthen this area

People often do not realise how far this can come forward on the horse back and again large muscles also protect organs where there is no ribcage

We often think of loading or stepping back, or pushing back as a help to strengthen these muscles but often if there is a dysfunction then loading onto an area already under strain can often only exasperate the problem, we first have to address the why before we begin the rehab

Poor saddle fit

Falls affecting the pelvis

Sacroiliac pain

Tears and strains

Rider balance

These are just a few examples of what may be of concern but often we have to look at the whole horse as to why this muscle is over or underworking

04/21/2025

Why I refrain from angles when it comes to working on and assessing if the changes I have made are for the better of the horse.

I want you to in your head line 10 people up, all shapes, sizes, different ages, different issues and then draw lines over each one of them and ask do they all fit your ideal of perfect and if not what are we going to do to make them all conform.

Sounds crackers right ??? Yet Why do we insist that every horse no matter what the individual requirements of that horse must all conform to our ideal of perfect and we will manipulate the body at all costs in the quest for the ideal

What do I see in almost every one of these pictures??? It may look better in one section yet almost always it comes at a cost to another and often it comes at the cost of a load shift onto the knees (stifles) and as they begin to turn out, the hocks begin to turn in and the toes begin to turn out shoving dysfunction right back upto the sacroiliac area, and in turn the push cannot come through for the front end and a chicken and egg situation begins.

What do I want to see on a good functioning body, its simple no sharp angles and no bulging or sunken muscles, for a body that is smooth means each part is working within the parameters of what it can do and stay healthy.

Yet in reality horses like humans have the stresses and strains, ups and downs, injury and illness, a bad hand dealt genetically and all the other things that come with just being alive, so never look for perfection we have got to look for function.

If your horses has athritic changes in the fetlock, hock, back etc it will not move the same as a horse that may not have any issues, and often when I have seen people put their ideal on what they think the horse should be like often further breakdown occurs.

We have social media ideal then real world work where often time is a luxury not a necessity, I have to see where I can get this horse to with time, money, facility constricts added in, the first thing when I look for improvement is simply can the horse begin to change without compromising another area that is where we have to start, if we change to much we cannot take back so small asks often get better results for don't we want to see if the horse can first utilise what we have done before we ask again.

Below are the main areas I look for in assessing the horse, postural changes I do not force I assess throughout the session and allow the horse to begin the postural change when they feel they can for if we force then the horse has not made the decision, and remember force is not just harsh hands its simply not listening to the horse when it says no.

Take away the photo, take away the lines and often you will struggle to know which is before and which is after.

Ps the photo i have used is one of my clients horses and just for reference, she doesn't have all that s**t going on 😀

04/17/2025

The Diaphragm

We can only control the quality of the breath for the horse in the moment, long term goals are to simply to give the horse an enviroment to live in that it can balance the appropriate internal response in reaction to the external enviroment.
For the subconscious is king when it comes to the rythum of breath for the horse.

Often at points where as humans we look the most relaxed is often the time when the sub conscious takes over and for those of us that suffer with anxiety or the myriad of issues that affect our quality of inhale and exhale it probably is at this point we may look relaxed on the surface yet often when our conscious takes over we are like bloody hell I am holding my breath only to be followed by that sharp intake of breath yet upsetting the yin and yang of respiration

When we flip that to horses who live in a world of micro stresses mostly with a human involved then we often seek the external view of what we deem a relaxed posture yet are they like those of us hiding that internal stress only shown by the quality of breath in a micro flash of time that we don't even notice, putting a horse into a posture that we feel is relaxed and relying on misread visual clues which often to the trained eye is doing the exact opposite internally to what we are seeing externally.

We add saddles and girths, gadgets and bits yet still maintain the horse can truly relax yet only again looking on the surface, I actually read from a professional that only bits can release the hyoid 🤪 like from where??? Its these flippant comments which can do so much damage

We often think only of the Diaphragm and Illiopsoas and release one to free another yet the truth is it is so much more complicated than a simple fix

Movement with controlled breath can redesign our bodies yet we can control both and have the awareness of the future benefit of moments of not feeling in control in order to be in control yet horses only live in the here and now in the what was safe and what could put them in danger so is the answer to make their enviroment that they spend the majority of the day being right so they create the freedom of movement with the quality of breath ???

Are we focusing to much on the short term effects we have and not allowing the horse to choose which system it needs at the appropriate time for it to be truly balanced in both the external posture we want and the internal function the horse needs
Feeling safe for a horse is not just a technique we apply its a way of life for the horse and the healthier the body and mind the safer the horse will feel, yet we have to ask for alot of horses just being in their own body and their pattern of movement can fail at the first hurdle.

This is where I always question for we cannot transpose straight from what works for us will surely work for the horse for they are not us
We can look to tomorrow and understand the discomfort we feel today will reap rewards tomorrow yet all horses can see is the discomfort in the here and now

03/21/2025

Hidden Cowboy Secrets

02/19/2025

Types of Saddle Bars!

02/17/2025

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When we talk about regulation with the horses nervous system we can often forget the one sense that can have an affect on the horse before we even recognise a subtle change
Why do I not approach and place my hand under a horse nose as an introduction and why do i let horses approach with nose outstretched and let them investigate without pushing them out of my space ??? Because simply when they introduce themselves first it's easier to work with them 🫠

Ok this is how I think I often think our hands touch many different things during the day and marching up to a horse and shoving a hand under their nostril when we may have just eaten a tuna sandwich may be a little bit to much for all those 300 million Olfactory receptors, they also have a personal space in which they need to not only see we are safe but they have to smell we are safe but they need to always take that first step or I like to call it an invite with their nose.

It's also why I am not keen into blowing into horses nostrils because if you have just finished your coffee and ciggie then euwww I don't think the horse will feel the connection we seek😀😀

I watch alot its how I learn i am studying every interaction and often the most common action I see is the handler standing next to the horse and chatting away, yet as the horse does that little stretch of the neck and nose poking out to get a good smell of this new person we often don't even notice, so we don't invite the horse in, the momentum is lost and with a quick flick of the leadrope the horse is sent back or we begin rubbing the head like the big kid at school that held us in the headlock 😀

I don't approach my horses when they are in the field I always sit and wait till they approach me, and each horse has its own timeline and reason to approach me and this can differ throughout the year, at this time they are often waiting to get their turn for a good scratch to get rid of their moulting I always let them not only recognise me as I walk down to the field but I think by allowing those olfactory receptors to get working confirms who I am 😀

So the first post is all about sense of smell and how important it is for not only sensory information but it has a huge social aspect to it aswell so it's important we allow them to be social with us aswell as work with us.

Try it, let your horses interact with you they often follow the same pattern which is usually your hair, knees and shoes 😀 they might just be collating vital information about us without us even noticing
Start looking at videos you will see it alot, and you will also see often that first hand the horse is holding out as an introduction often does not get reciprocated at such a crucial time

Let me know what else you would like to see this is your page, I do have a microphone to go live in my field with my own horses so we can chat and learn, remember no question is a stupid question we never learn if we don't ask xx