Galaxy Equine Wellness Magnawave Therapy

18/08/2024

15/08/2024

Some sweet moments captured. There’s nothing better then when they reciprocate with gentle nibbles.

30/07/2024

27/05/2024

As if day one wasn’t amazing enough day 2 exceeded all expectations. A surprise demo and crash course in fascia from Yanek Vluggen was a considerable bonus, and during training sessions, moments so pure between horse and human they brought tears to your eyes. To watch the dance between Master Manolo and horse is to witness someone working WITH the horse. Building and enhancing the horse’s natural movement. It allows the horses to OFFER what they have. There is no manufacturing, no driving, no pulling, no holding, no drilling. It creates such a different picture than what we are used to seeing. No veins bulging, no big eyes, no lather, no bulging parotid behind the throat latch. No angry, stressed horses. I ask myself if everyone could see this would they recognize it as a more beautiful picture then what is being rewarded in the dressage ring?

20/04/2024

Beautiful joint.

Did you know that it can take up to ten minutes for joint fluid to begin moving and lubricating the joints. I can’t stress enough how important this is especially for horses that spend the majority of their day stabled. A loose unrestricted warmup will give your horses body the best chance it has to cope with more demanding work. This is not just about the limbs- Don’t forget the neck and back! Chronic neck and back issues are almost more prevalent then leg issues in the horses I look at.
Although there are now surgerical procedures, that combined with tissue engineering, aid in the repair of cartilage damage, there is no way to my knowledge to fully regenerate true cartilage.
Motion is lotion but overuse, lack of proper warm up will lead to early breakdown.

Look at the glistening hyaline cartilage in this partial stifle joint (femur and patella). This is a particularly good example of a healthy joint. Which happens to be a ex standardbred racehorse. I’ve not seen such a great joint surface such as this in the past 28 whole horse dissections I’ve carried out.

Did you know that this cartilage has a low density of living cells. There is only 10% of cells per volume of cartilage and they are known as chondrocytes. These cells are embedded in a matrix (think of a stiff jelly) of collagen fibrils, proteoglycans and water! Water makes up 70% of the cartilage by volume. So it is literally cells suspended in a stiff jelly.

Did you know that generally there are no blood vessels or nerves in hyaline cartilage. Nutrition to the cells is by diffusion. This makes it difficult for the tissue to recover if it is damaged. Collagen and proteoglycans can be replaced but the important microstructure of the cartilage is lost and leads to permanent damage

Locomotion and loading is what is needed to keep the cartilage healthy. But not too much.

The key to a healthy joint cartilage is prevention of injury.
Careful exercise built up over time to strengthen all tissue including cartilage.

Ref AAEP proceedings vol 55 2009

21/11/2023

Proud to sponsor this team!
I have watched loads of hard work and love go into this partnership for almost 5 years now. I am so excited to see how far they will go!

18/10/2023

This page is not a place where "respect" is ever framed or taught as a brutal co-dependence and exchange of violent challenges for dominance.

Dominance theory has always been among us, but gained traction after the studies done in 1947 on wild wolf populations titled "Expression Studies in Wolves" by Rudolf Schenkel. In this study he presented the first "evidence" of dominance theory and the wolf pack structure of a dominant alpha female and alpha male whom all pack members remaining submissive too.

Shortly after publishing this study, his own theory was debunked... largely in part by himself! By that time his theory of dominance had rapidly escalated into an accepted reality. Trickled down into dog training, trickled rapidly into horse training (which in some cases already has a brutal streak, needing half a reason to continue) and trickled down into human relationships.

Rudolph Schenkel then spent the rest of his life, trying to de-condition and RE-train people against the very dominance theory he helped to spark.

It is proven that wolves have a more complex social structure than a top down, alpha/boss/dominance logic.

Horses too. No horse herd has been observed in wild or domestic settings where a single male or female made all the choices and the rest of the horses remained always submissive, over long periods of time.

Yes, as a short term solution, a loud and aggressive interlocutor appeared to assume the role as herd organiser and instigator. It was believed -WAS being the primal word- that the uncompromising, willing-to-use-violence approach of the alpha and the subservient submission the dominance implied upon other members of the social grouping, correlated towards an overall peaceful and fighting free social dynamic. No surprise that in 1947, so soon after WW2 that scientists believed in the logic that an atomic bomb held against the head was cause and reason for peace.

The threat of violence may stop further violence escalating today. But at a really crucial cost, of stronger social connections tomorrow. Those of us interested in long term success with a horse should step back from training modalities which dominate the horse to give a human-centric result TODAY... because it is that same horse whom will catastrophically fail them in the future, despite todays results.

The slower path, the path that takes selflessly into consideration the intelligent machinations of the horse; an animal infinitely more socially and emotionally hard wired than we are, that we may not get what WE want today, but the horse will give us what we really need, even and especially when we didn't expect for it, or ask for it, tomorrow or one day in the future. Take care today, be taken care of tomorrow. Or, results at any cost today, catastrophic fail looming later. We get to choose.

We know that the social intelligence of mammals causes the punitive exchange of the dominant creature to the submissive, to create a gradual build up of resentment. Resentment causes a lack of care. And carelessness eventually returns to violence and discontent.

Disregard a horses intelligence at our peril.

Correlation is not causation. I can stand on a crack in a highway. But because I am photographed next to this crack, even jumping on this crack, does not mean that I caused the crack. I am correlated to the crack. The crack is not caused by me.
Dominance theory is correlated to herd social unity. But is not the cause of herd social unity. This is what Rudolph Schenkel discovered when he debunked his own research into the Alpha wolf illusion. The behaviour he observed was real and tangible, but it was not the cause for over-arching peace and behavioural unity of the wolf pack.

Bully horses exist in all herds. They are not the social glue that keeps everyone together.

Dominant horse trainers exist. It is not their dominance of the animal which is the reason for their good results. It is more likely their technical proficiency, good timing, regular disciplined practice and years of experience and education that gives them results. Not the dominance. More than likely, the dominance they tout as the cause for their success is actually an unrecognised impediment to their success. Imagine what they could achieve if they replaced punishment with patience, retribution with repetition, and escalation with clarity?

Many horse trainers uphold dominance theory as the "yucky medicine" necessary for a safe relationship to a horse. I know trainers who promoted this, worked intimately with them, who in the same breath promoted being the Boss, and immediately could relate a bewildering story of a horse who suddenly and "unexpectedly" hurt them, despite many years of working together. Yet in this scenario they did not believe that their dominance caused the horses eventual safety failure. It was correlation and causation turned upside down.

Though I would have liked to believe, they believed me when I inferred, that the very dominance of the animal constituted a down-the-road scenario, where the horse didn't think twice about tossing their rider onto a pile of collateral damage, when s**t hit the fan. And explained about my own stories, where horses trained in the absence of dominance, tried exceedingly hard to TAKE CARE of the human, when s**t hit the fan... but I think I might have wasted my breath.

We don't teach pigs to sing. It doesn't work, and only annoys the pig.

What we know now, is that most mammals who live in social groupings, follow a complex dynamic where individuals share decision making, take turns in the roles of followers, instigators, boundary setters, care givers, movement drivers and resource seekers. That is the very function of community!

Safety in numbers moves much deeper than just safety of existence from predators. But safety in sharing the load! No individual can do it all alone. So mammals group together to cooperate. And cooperation includes all behavioural and emotional needs. It takes a village.

"But what about dominant behaviour? I have a horse who is always dominant over the others, pushes them around, tells them what to do".

Yes, the absence of dominance theory does not denote the absence of rage and boundary setting in inter-mammalian relationships. That is the function of rage- to set boundaries. Boundaries can be done non-punitivitely.

What we also now know is that permanently enraged individuals are usually dealing with an unmet need, be that physical, emotional, mental or spatial and will constantly dysregulate into bouts of beating up others as a displacement behaviour.

Or, we are measuring leadership by our own bias of "the strongest survive" mentality, and fail to recognise how the quiet horse in the background is the horse the herd follows in a nonchalant and simple way, when the herd in balanced and the tide has turned to peace.

We live in a world that trains us to recognise the vulgar, exaggerated signs of loud, dominant, hyper masculine behaviour as synonymous with leadership. Yet spend no time learning to read the signs and signals of gentle, non-punitive, clear leadership that sets boundaries without being an as***le.

"Dominant" horses, upon closer inspection, are usually struggling horses, at some level. Not always. But almost always, in my professional opinion.

Does the same go for dominant horse training? Is it a cry for help at some level? Considering the epidemic of equestrian professional burn out, I am cautiously saying... yes.

06/10/2023

Nothing like an open air session with some seasonal mums in the background. Happy October! Welcome to my favorite month!

31/08/2023

A great view and comparison of the sacrum in horses before growth plates fully close. Also great views of pelvis and function.

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24/08/2023

Finding the right recipe to keep your horse feeling it’s best is one of the most challenging (and sometimes exhausting) parts of horse ownership. Just when you think you’ve got it down pat that recipe may change. As owners you know your horses! Keep listening to your horses. Advocate for them when you know something is off even if others think your crazy; and don’t forget - ENJOY those perfect moments when things feel just right!

18/05/2023

ThanksHeart Equine for taking the time to do this thoughtful write up and sharing great takeaways for those that couldn’t attend.

22/04/2023

Honored to help this special boy feel his best on his 27th birthday!

22/04/2023

I had the pleasure of working on this beautiful girl! She enjoyed her first session and gave some big stretches after working on some tight muscles in her hind end. Looking forward to helping her prepare for her next big trial.

30/03/2023

Have you ever just come to the abrupt realization that you don't see anything the same anymore?

The two year old that you once would have approved of starting under saddle now looks like an incredibly immature baby that you can't imagine asking to carry a load.

Physical issues that lead to training and performance issues you no longer view as the problem but perhaps the solution to the actual problem.

All of the things you would have considered behavioral issues you can now see as the balance issues that they are. You no longer want to address the behavior but instead the reason for the behavior.

You are no longer fooled by words. Anyone can say anything about their training and approach...but the horse will tell you a lot about whether the words match the action, if you're educated enough to see it. Some things are debatable...other things definitely aren't.

You now recognize that you are a nervous system and your horse is a nervous system...and that the priority is to keep you upright and alive. That matters, A LOT.

You recognize that developing a horse is an endeavor that takes years. YEARS. Years of a lot of time and a lot of commitment. There's truly no substitute.

You also realize that getting here has meant admitting that there were times when you were wrong. That there were times when you did harm with the best of your intentions. That you had to walk away from circles of people whose beliefs and approach no longer lined up with what you now know...or maybe they walked away from you? Either way, it's hard to stand alone sometimes.

You realize you've had to become a beginner a thousand times over...and you'll continue to find yourself in that spot a thousand more times in the future, plus some. Maybe even at some point today.

You realize that even when it feels like you haven't grown at all...you actually have. That growth is something to be proud of, no matter where you're at on your journey.

- Terra

04/03/2023

I can’t believe I’m just seeing this video for the first time today. It is one of the best examples of how fascial restriction affects the body. I also love the facia suit and I know that I’m going to be connective tissues for Halloween!
Enjoy!

From the Life 360 Health and Wellness Summit 2018by Dana Sterling Founder of Sterling Structural TherapyTo learn more click https://sterlingstructuraltherapy...

27/10/2022

Don’t forget to ask about our rental machine!

It is ideal for getting yourself back to feeling your best and perfect for aggressive use on acute and chronic injury for yourself, dogs and horses.

27/10/2022

“Magic Machine” for the win.
Full recovery from acute debilitating nerve pain from shoulder to hand within 48 hours of first session.

22/09/2022

Good luck to everyone this week competing at regionals!

20/09/2022

Patrick king and of course Charles D

"Obedience is not some kind of slavery to the whim and will of the rider. Obedience is really the horse's willingness to serve the good of himself and the good of his rider." - Charles de Kunffy

I want to think about acceptance above obedience - the horse needs to be accepting of the rider, the aids, the conversation, before we can seek "obedience." I really think that's the willingness that Charles speaks of here.

This acceptance or willingness is largely predicated on the rider's presentation and awareness. We need to always keep it in mind that the PRIMARY function of the aids or tools should be to relax the horse or release negative tension. The SECONDARY function is to direct, education, or shape.

If a request from the rider's tool or aids are met with negative tension, then those aids have failed to meet the primary function. And if we continue to push for "obedience" in spite of that, the result is "some kind of slavery to the whim and will of the rider."

Veritas Saddles * Flexible Fit Equestrian USA * Romfh Equestrian Apparel * LM Boots

❤️🐉
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15/09/2022

Dynamic work - changing what your doing and keeping balance and relaxation through varying degrees of of carriages, collection and movements is key to long term health. When horses are fixed in anyone position for too long they will inevitably start bracing somewhere in their body. Drilling and too much repetition leads to fatigue, compensation and eventually injury. I also believe that riding surfaces should vary. Many train in one footing and wonder why their horses turn up injured after shows.

👉🏼 It’s much better for your horse to do lots of small bursts of good work than a long set of mediocre work. Imagine you’re at the gym, and you pick up a weight to start your set of 15 reps, but on rep 6, you’re starting to fatigue and your form is starting to fall apart. Better to stop and shake your muscles out and start again than to press on with crappy form, because you’re less likely to be targeting the muscle group you intended, and more likely to hurt yourself.

15/09/2022

Min never fails to miss a session… always runs right in and stands next to her buddy and the machine. Contact high or surrogate? I think it’s the contact high:)

07/09/2022

🔌⚡️EVERY STALL!!! BRILLIANT!!!

04/09/2022

🦈 When the land shark wants to groom you… it’s an excercise in trust. ☀️ 💜

02/09/2022

Traveling with some extra cuteness today. Found momma hopefully we can safely reunite them tomorrow and eventually get them all trapped and fixed 🙏.

30/08/2022

I was just talking about hill work today- here is a great video!

Jec clarifies how, why, and when to use hills to improve your horse's body mechanics and strength. Hills can be used-- in different ways-- to accomplish 1.) ...

30/08/2022

Sweet, trusting Amour laid down for her session yesterday. My heart😍