Inner Soul Equine - Gilly Prime MMCP

17/02/2025

Some wonderful news today. I have been helping a lady on our livery yard with her horse who first came to her on loan. He was a bit of a handful with some behavioural problems due to mainly discomfort due to incorrect schooling and crookedness. Several bodywork sessions and in hand work to teach him how to use his body correctly, a summer of 24/7 turnout, he is know a transformed horse. Today he had a new saddle fitted, the saddle fitter did the template to find he was completely straight. This has just made my heart sing. This has taken months to achieve, a massive well done to the owner waiting patiently for the horse to change. They are now set for many happy adventures. ☺️

11/02/2025

This is an interesting and thought provoking article. Very often when I am working on a horse's shoulders I release varying amounts of emotion which I believe are connected to previous events. As they say we all hold on to stuff, I hope I have improved the horses life by releasing the past.

I don’t think people realize just how many horses out there carry trauma with them.

With that, I don’t even mean severely abused horses that have been starved, or beaten heavily. There are plenty of those around, and those usually cause a lot of outrage (as they should).

What I am talking about though, is the horses whose trauma is never really recognized as such. The ones who tolerate humans and their requests, but never learned to trust them. Those who get extremely obsessive about food which are labelled as “bossy” or ”dominant”. Those who deal with severe Separation anxiety, which are said to be “dramatic”. Those who cannot self-regulate, or co-regulate and constantly carry tension. Those who try to express their pain, which get punished for it because “just a mare”.
Those who are “perfect” until they finally get a choice.

Between Unethical weaning practices, unsuitable welfare, constantly moving homes & and ownership, and aversive training/handling approaches, most horses at some point experience trauma. And this trauma can present itself in a variety of ways. Some are more subtle than others.
Trauma doesn’t have to be this huge explosive reaction. Just like people, horses can carry trauma and move on with their lives fairly normally. It can shape their personality just like it can shape ours.
However, that doesn’t mean doing so is healthy.

The horse that has been in 6+ homes before the age of 10, and thus can’t cope with changes. That is Trauma.
The horse that has never had consistent companionship and becomes obsessive with certain herd mates. That is Trauma
The horse that has only known corrections when they tried to express their confusion, fear, or dislike, and turns from “a perfect beginner’s horse” to “Don’t touch me” the moment you stop using corrections. That is Trauma.
The horse that never had a chance to learn from other horses or connect with people and thus can’t trust people to make good choices for them, can’t self-regulate or co-regulate, and can’t think their way through a situation. That is Trauma.
The horse who was only ever fed 2 times a day and was left without food for 6 hours each night, and has thus become food-aggressive. That is Trauma.
The horse who experienced highly aversive training techniques, and thus now gets frustrated, tense and severely stressed out anytime they are handled in a similar manner. That. Is. Trauma.

Sometimes, awareness of this can be a frustration and defeating realization. I think as equestrians we are often blind to this reality, because sadly, it’s just so common to see horses like that.
It’s not until you work with young, untraumatized horses, or rehabilitated horses, that you realize: “Oh! This is how it should be!”

02/02/2025

Training and therapy go hand in hand

29/01/2025

There is so much to consider for the health of your horse

Case Study - The effect of exercise on muscle

This wither tracing is an example of a group of horses that have been used in a dissertation to show the change in muscle bulk in the back of a horse when exercised.

The experiment was carried out over three days:

Day 1 – Lunged on both reins with no saddle

Day 2 – Lunged on both reins wearing current saddle and numnah

Day 3 – Lunged on both reins wearing LM Saddle and Shim pad

Each exercise period was preceded by a back measurement of the static horse and the lifted back of the static horse. You can clearly see how after exercise with no saddle there is a small increase in the muscle, but not as much as when exercised in the wider fitting LM saddle and shim system. What shows very clearly is the compression of the back muscles when the horse is wearing its own saddle.

This perfectly illustrates how a horse with muscle atrophy will remain the same when its saddle is fitted to its existing shape, and how that muscle can develop and recover when a remedial fitting process is used.

ℹ️ lmsaddles.com

28/01/2025

Quick fix !!! Will fix the horse in a position which they will brace against. This does not teach the horse how it use its body correcty and build up the right muscle memory.

18/07/2024

Our horses are not being naughty, they are asking for help. Please listen to them

21/05/2024

Inner Soul Equine- -Gilly Prime
Masterson Method Certified Practitioner Bodyworker
Straightness Trainer Instructor

If you need help with your horse, feel free to contact me
Ask as many questions as you like