Why it's important to pause ⏸️
This filly needed a little time out in her session to really process all the releases, rebalancing & regulating of her body.
During this pause, some beautiful things came out to the surface ✨️
How many releases can you see 👀? Note- releases can be grand and small
A break in routine yesterday..
Advanced Class 🧘♀️ 🧘♂️
Once your horse gets comfortable performing routine leg stretches, you can up the ante by incorporating neck movements.
This creates:
👉 Core recruitment - when your horse is on 3 legs and moves the neck, a strong core is essential to perform this adequately and to maintain balance
👉Increased proprioception - The horse really needs to be aware if it's own body to enlist the muscles to perform this exercise. Better proprioception = decrease of chance of injury as the animal moves more mindfully
👉Flexibility - A good stretch routine will increase flexibility, helping the horse to perform and recover more efficiently
You can achieve this with either treats 🥕 or 😘😂
Save this post to try on your horse once you've established a stretch routine
#horseyoga #stretchroutine #equinephysio #racehorse #kissme #colt #happyhorse #cuteanimals #flexibilitytraining
Getting a horse to shift into recovery mode is always a satisfying and rewarding result of a session.
The 'release' signals the parasympathetic nervous system is in action and the horse is at rest and able to recover from it's training.
It was also great to see this horse trialling well a few days after this session 🙌
Withers sensitivity can be due to a number of reasons
👉You may find your horse resentful of the saddle
👉The horse may pull their head down when under saddle to get relief
👉They may be reactive to touch as in this video
So what can we do:
✅️Vet check to rule out any lower limb issue
✅️ Saddle fit check & saddling adjustments
✅️ Therapeutic treatment and regular stretching
📲 📩 Get in touch if you think your horse could benefit from a session
#saddlefit # equestrian #animalphysio #softtissuerelease #horses #therapeutic #equine
Go backwards to make forward progress ↔️
By asking your horse to walk backwards, you are loading up the posterior chain of muscles. A proprioceptive technique to alert these muscle (hamstrings and gluteals) and have them ready and engaged for work I'm their extension and propulsive roles 💥
I'd recommend doing them prior to exercise
3 sets of a few steps backwards, start small and work up to longer distances
You may know that some horses go to sleep during their sessions but did you know some then perk right up and are straight over to their feed 🍽? Not an uncommon sight in my day to day but some may not realise this is a direct effect of the session ✨️
Why?
Because during a treatment session one of my main aims is to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, also known as the 'rest & digest' state. Once this system is off and running we are in a restorative state of 'healing' and the body can recover from time in the 'fight or flight' state (the sympathetic nervous system)🧘♂️
The heart rate lowers, airways constrict meaning the lungs 🫁 work less hard, digestive mechanisms come into play nourishing the body.
It is one of my favourite outcomes of a session as we all know stressed and unhappy horses won't eat, so here we see an unstressed and happy horse post session 🥰
Daily convos 💓
Really enjoy all the feedback the horses give me during our sessions, both good and bad!
We are constantly checking in with each other, making sure I am in the right places, and using the right techniques 💆♀️ This allows us to find the best modalites and course of treatment.
Each horse is an individual and is treated accordingly 🤝
#cuteanimals #equinetherapy #equinebodywork #equinephysio #winner #feedback #checkin #racehorse #goodboy #feelbetter #performance #equestrian
The Equine Jaw 🐴
Depending on whether your horse is out on pasture or kept inside with routine meal times can dictate on how many times your horse chews a day and also the means in how they chew 🌾
For instance, when fed grain/concentrate, a horse's jaw 'sweeping' chewing action has been found to be shorter then when chewing roughage. This is why horses fed on grain/concentrate tend to have sharper edges on thier teeth than horses that are just grazing 🦷
Also, horses on unlimited pasture will be on the higher range of number of chews per day when compared with their stabled counterparts, which are at the lower end of the scale
We can also look after tension caused by the bit, which can have a number of reasons why and I'm sure we can name a few in the comments below 👇
Client review- straight from the horse's mouth 🩵
Aftercare: You might find your horse a bit zonked 😴 after their session so it's best to keep the next few hours more on the quiet side for them
During the session, us practitioners really get stuck into the parasympathetic nervous system (a.k.a the 'rest and digest' part of the nervous system) and having this part of the nervous system activated helps the body to heal within itself 🧘♀️🧘♂️
On the contrast is the sympathetic nervous system (a.k.a the 'fight or flight' part of the nervous system) which naturally inhibits the parasympathetic nervous system and is activated during exercise and high stimulus environments 🤸🏻♀️🤸
#aftercare
#nervoussystem
#parasympathetic #sympathetic #peaceful #serenity #horses #equinetherapy #tipsandtricks
Shoulder tension release 💫
The shoulder junction can be a big source of tension in the horse.
The horse carries 60% of it's body weight in the forelimbs and adding on a rider increases the force that will go through these limbs, and the shoulder can end up compensating issues in the lower limb.
The shoulder is a large area of many muscles, and everyone loves the fun fact that the horse has no collar bone. Meaning the forelimb is only attached to the body via all the muscles.
So we have to keep them supple 🧘♂️
My nemesis 👿
If you want you horse to go from 😈 to 😴 (temporarily at least)
Give me a call 📞 📩
The Hyoid Apparatus 👅🦴
A fascinating piece of the equine anatomy and one we should pay particular attention to.
It supports the tongue, the pharynx (swallowing), the larynx (breathing, vocalising).
It has a facscial relationship with the cervical spine, therefore helps with head positioning.
There is a relationship with the temporal bones, which are responsible for hearing, balance and articulate steering.
The Occipitohyoid muscle connects the poll to the hyoid and has fascial ties along the spine and back meaning a poll/hyoid issue often = a back issue
The fascial lines concept has the hyoid connecting to the WHOLE body
You'll notice I always begin my palpation assessment with the Poll & Hyoid as an issue here normally means an issue further down the body. And not treating the issue in this area will just cause the problems further along to resurface fairly quickly.
I'm a content creator now 😌
Does your horse resent being girthed up? 😠 This area can become particularly sensitive from the pressure of a girth being tightened up and should be checked if your animal becomes unhappy when being saddled. Other issues such as ulcers can also be a common reason why your horse may pin their ears or try to bite during saddling, so it is important to cover all bases when investigating this issue 🔎 #softtissuetherapy #musclerelief #coldlasertherapy #animalphysio #beforeandafter #transformation #equistrian #pectorals #athlete #saddlefit
How to stretch the hindlimb pt 2 Hip flexor stretching, there's a better way ❤
