Dynamic Balance Saddle Fitting & Equine Therapy

14/09/2024

I tried to get this gorgeous little stallions shoulders, but my camera kept on focusing on his showstopper round apple bum.

Don't worry, camera

Same! 🍏

14/09/2024

Thorough measuring is always needed to get a good visual of what is going on in the back. A simple, unmeasurable, incomplete tracing is not accurate enough to see asymmetry, shoulder issues, or determine fitting requirements.

12/08/2024

Dear equestrian community, we need your valuable input!

Dynamic Balance Saddle Fitting is conducting a survey to gain insight on how much we know about the impact of saddle fitting on our horses' posture and performance.

https://forms.gle/y5E8zX8EgwLUzvc57

Complete this survey and gain‼️exclusive access ‼️to a free mini-course on the impact of saddle fitting, based on the survey results. Your insights will directly contribute to valuable knowledge, and the course will be sent to you by November 30, 2024!

Your participation will provide crucial data to help improve saddle fitting practices and ensure our horses stay healthy and happy.

Please take a moment to fill out our survey:

https://forms.gle/y5E8zX8EgwLUzvc57

Sharing this post within your own network would mean the world to us! Thank you!

12/08/2024

Dear equestrian community, we need your valuable input!

Dynamic Balance Saddle Fitting is conducting a survey to gain insight on how much we know about the impact of saddle fitting on our horses' posture and performance.

https://forms.gle/y5E8zX8EgwLUzvc57

Complete this survey and gain exclusive access to a free mini-course on the impact of saddle fitting, based on the survey results. Your insights will directly contribute to valuable knowledge, and the course will be sent to you by November 30, 2024!

Your participation will provide crucial data to help improve saddle fitting practices and ensure our horses stay healthy and happy.

Please take a moment to fill out our survey:

https://forms.gle/y5E8zX8EgwLUzvc57

Sharing this post within your own network would mean the world to us! Thank you!

17/07/2024

As every horse's personality is unique, so is every horse's back, with distinct conformation and unique needs.
Factors such as breed, age, muscle development, and overall health contribute to these differences.
Finding the right saddle fit is crucial to ensure your horse's comfort, performance, and well-being.

A well-fitted saddle prevents issues such as pressure points, soreness, and restricted movement.
Do you have your horse's back measured every time you fit? How else would you track development? How else would you determine the amount of asymmetry that is present, when it improves, or when it increases?
Building a back and top line is time-consuming and often frustrating. It needs just the right formula.
One of the key ingredients is a pain-free back and body.

How do we achieve pain-free? By being absolutely critical of staying away from the sensitive areas in a horse's back. By striving for a balanced fit every time.

Do you know what structures are NOT weight bearing areas on your horse's body?

02/07/2024

Assessing saddles is a serious job!
What a special character 🐴

19/06/2024

We are almost a *full house* people!

If you want to register, please do so asap as the spots are almost full, and we unfortunately do need to cap the number of people we take in.

Lots of info to take home to your own horse and to your yard and pupils.

Send me a message ON WHATSAPP if you would like to still book 082 875 5483. I'm not great on Facebook messenger 🙏🏻

13/06/2024

I'm looking forward to this half day presentation at the end of June in Centurion. It is going to be so much fun. We will be having an hour of theory, and then we will be doing some practical work in the yard with the horses.

If you are in the area, come join for this very informative session where we look at saddles and backs differently! And, you can take home a practical guide on how to look at your saddle yourself and learn how to make the best decision for your horse.

12/06/2024

11/06/2024

Spaces are filling up real fast ‼️

Register now! ⬇️

20/05/2024

The Path to Healthy Backs: Prioritizing Our Horses' Well-Being

No bad comments will be tolerated on this photo, this is for educational purposes, not for judging.

Happy Monday, everyone! 😊 Today, let's talk about a crucial aspect of saddle fitting and equine care that often gets overlooked: the importance of working with and fitting saddles to healthy backs.

At Dynamic Balance, we believe in the mantra: Healthy Horse, Happy Rider.

It's essential to recognize that a saddle can only do its job effectively if the horse’s back is in good condition. An unhealthy back, meaning inverted, painful, atrophied backs and toplines (the topline is everything from the poll to the tail btw) is so much harder to work with and is not capable of carrying any weight to begin with.

Here’s why we as riders need to shift our focus to be able to identify an unhealthy back. Healthy Backs Matter:

Prevention of Pain and Injury:

Fitting a saddle to and riding an unhealthy back and topline, can exacerbate existing issues and lead to more significant problems down the road. Even as, fitting a saddle to an unhealthy back and topline is evidence that something is already missing, overlooked and a cause for that unhealthy back to begin with, which means we need to address this first before we can continue our process of riding. I am talking bodily injury, hoof angles, nutrition, underlying health issues or a saddle that has already caused some damage which needs to be repaired and rehabilitated FIRST before we can get to enhanced performance.

Enhanced Performance:

A horse with a healthy back and body, moves more freely, comfortably, and efficiently, and can carry their rider more effectively and with less effort. An unhealthy body in a pain cycle also keeps compensatory patterns trapped and in cycle. Compensatory patterns cause more damage.

Long-Term Well-Being:

Taking the time to ensure our horses are healthy, promotes their overall well-being and longevity. They deserve the good farrier, the committed bodyworker/physio, the professional chiro, the best dentist, the kind tack, gentle trainers and a well balanced rider. But mostly, lets not forget what it means to them to experience freedom of movement and space and to be able to have a herd.

Our Commitment at Dynamic Balance, together with our network of service providers we are working with is:

Patient Care:

We prioritize the health of your horse above all. This means asking you to being open and being willing to do the groundwork and the basics necessary to bring your horse to optimal health.

No Shortcuts:

We refuse to saddle-fit desperately unhealthy backs. Instead, we advocate for the horse and effort required to build strength and a topline back to health before considering saddle fitting, if necessary. We also do not saddle-fit saddles that do not fit. And we won't overlook them either.

Holistic Approach:

We support and guide you in providing the care and rehabilitation your horse needs to recover and thrive if needed. There is nothing as valuable as a rider/owner that recognizes that one or two days a week could be dedicated to in hand strengthening exercises and we absolutely love working with those willing to walk the extra mile to rehabilitate both in hand and in the saddle. As any human athlete knows, cross-training, yoga days and rest days are essential in building strong, healthy bodies.

Our Promise to You and Your Horse:

We are dedicated to normalizing the practice of not riding or working unhealthy horses. Or in ill-fitting saddles.
It’s crucial to allow time for proper healing and muscle development. Our goal is to saddle-fit and work with healthy horses, ensuring their comfort and your peace of mind. Remember, the journey to a healthy back may require time and patience, but it’s a worthy investment in your horse’s future.

Let’s commit to making life better for our beloved horses by prioritizing their health and well-being.

Horsemanship before ribbons.

In the coming weeks we will post evidence based information on what is healthy, how to get to healthy, what to look out for, possible causes of an unhealthy back and body, and how to address the situation.

Together, let's create a healthier, happier life for ourselves and our horses! By Creating Balance In Motion 🐎❤️

07/05/2024

A part time research assistant needed!

06/05/2024

22/02/2024

Read this. And read again.

The Trapezius is not a weight bearing muscle. The Scapula is not a weight bearing area.

Horses do not develop around the withers if the saddle is too tight or too narrow, no matter how hard we train them.

Common Symptoms

Atrophy behind the shoulder/of the trapezius muscle is extremely common to see at every level of riding and is caused when the saddle is fitting to the wither angle, as well as trees that are too narrow in the width (different than the angle).

When a saddle tree is too narrow, it leaves no room for the lateral movement of the spine, as well as the flexion of the muscles during movement. An excess of pressure limits the blood flow and utilization of the muscle, both causing atrophy as well as an altered gait and posture that directly conflicts with the development of a healthy athlete. Abnormal posture is quite insidious in that it has a domino effect on other structures within the body, causing early wear and tear and additional impact and concussion on delicate structures along with compensatory muscling and an overall upside down way of going. A horse who is heavy on the forehand, leaning into the hands, dropped in the ribcage and not able to utilize the thoracic sling is predisposed to problems ranging from the poll to the hind legs if posture is not corrected.

Lack of mobility in the pelvis, pulling themselves along with the brachiocephalic muscle, ewe necked, sharp and angular topline as opposed to soft and round, heavy on the fore, prone to tripping, disunited, the list goes on.
Checking to see if a saddle pinches at the withers is fairly easy and straight forward. First and foremost you want to check the gap between the withers and the pommel, not just the vertical gap but also how much space is on the sides. You'd want to see a bare minimum of a 2 finger gap all the way around the withers (from one side, over the top, to the other).

Secondly, the placement of the panels and the angle of the tree, with many panels placed too high namely due to the fact that the gullet points are simply too short in many saddles. Think of the trapezius as a river, and the arms of the gullet plate a bridge that needs to extend beyond the width of the river to not disturb the flow. Short tree points typically end within the trapezius, a muscle we know should not be carrying the weight of the rider, and as such, you see the atrophy as mentioned above. Ideally, the contact of your panel (and the tree points) begins 4" down from the edge of the spine where the D-ring of your saddle is, allowing the trapezius enough room to flex and develop without impingement.

22/11/2023

Last week, when we fitted this gorgeous boy's saddle, his mom got hold of my chalk and created some artwork. I think he looks adorable with the heart on his forehead and its a true message of his personality shining, but more importantly, we created more wither and shoulder freedom for him to move and jump.

Building muscle is so important, but it can not build when a saddle is too narrow (or too wide for that matter). Most people don't know or don't believe that a Saddle must be fitted at least once every 6 months per average horse.

Horses are living, breathing, moving, growing, and shrinking beings, and if the saddle fits now, it might not in 12 weeks.

So let's stay conscious and mark the calenders, set reminders to fit regularly.

Saddle maintenance is just as important as any other maintenance on a horse.

24/05/2023

It has come to my attention that an email is going around saying my banking details have changed. This is complete fraud and false. I am not sure how or what account could be hacked but our banking details have not changed. Please be vigilant, hackers will do anything for a buck 🙄🙄🙄

20/05/2023

Side note, in case you didn't know.

27/01/2023

Thermography, opening the hidden world of physiological changes not visible to the naked eye

25/12/2022

We are looking forward to all new adventures in 2023 ♥️

29/11/2022

Worked with this super sweet boy, who gave the most precious goodbye cuddles AND had the opportunity to explore with my thermal camera.

24/11/2022

So grateful to be in a position to give back, what an amazing opportunity to work with some of the HHCU babies and contribute to the work they do Highveld Horse Care Unit Thank you for having me.

We would like to thank Jen Broadway from Dynamic Balance for giving our horses much needed therapy and treatments💙

12/11/2022

Our First Blog is up on the website… go have a read

Prehabilitation by definition is form of healthcare intervention that takes place before medical or surgical intervention with the aim to reduce complications or the need there of. This is such a c…

11/11/2022

Join the Dynamic Balance team, for an incredible clinic presented by the Helen Davies Equine Research Project.
A big thanks to our hosts at Quantum Stud for opening up their beautiful venue to us.

By supporting the Clinics not only will you get the unique oppertunity to have acess to real equine skeletons and gain immeasurable insight into your equine partner, but your support also means a much needed contribution to the funds required to keep the research on going!

Lara and I hope to see you all there!! Seating is limited so book now to reserve your spot.

22/09/2022

Our Feature Saddles of the week!

Beautiful new and like-new saddles available to view on our website https://dynamicbalance.co.za/saddles-for-sale/

11/08/2022

The trapezius and atrophy. A COMMON thing we see in horses.

Common Symptoms - Part 2

Atrophy behind the shoulder/of the trapezius muscle is extremely common to see at every level of riding and is caused when the saddle is fitting to the wither angle, as well as trees that are too narrow in the width (different than the angle). When a saddle tree is too narrow, it leaves no room for the lateral movement of the spine, as well as the flexion of the muscles during movement. An excess of pressure limits the blood flow and utilization of the muscle, both causing atrophy as well as an altered gait and posture that directly conflicts with the development of a healthy athlete. Abnormal posture is quite insidious in that it has a domino effect on other structures within the body, causing early wear and tear and additional impact and concussion on delicate structures along with compensatory muscling and an overall upside down way of going. A horse who is heavy on the forehand, leaning into the hands, dropped in the ribcage and not able to utilize the thoracic sling is predisposed to problems ranging from the poll to the hind legs if posture is not corrected.

Lack of mobility in the pelvis, pulling themselves along with the brachiocephalic muscle, ewe necked, sharp and angular topline as opposed to soft and round, heavy on the fore, prone to tripping, disunited, the list goes on.

Checking to see if a saddle pinches at the withers is fairly easy and straight forward. First and foremost you want to check the gap between the withers and the pommel, not just the vertical gap but also how much space is on the sides. You'd want to see a bare minimum of a 2 finger gap all the way around the withers (from one side, over the top, to the other). Secondly, the placement of the panels and the angle of the tree, with many panels placed too high namely due to the fact that the gullet points are simply too short in many saddles. Think of the trapezius as a river, and the arms of the gullet plate a bridge that needs to extend beyond the width of the river to not disturb the flow. Short tree points typically end within the trapezius, a muscle we know should not be carrying the weight of the rider, and as such, you see the atrophy as mentioned above. Ideally, the contact of your panel (and the tree points) begins 4" down from the edge of the spine where the D-ring of your saddle is, allowing the trapezius enough room to flex and develop without impingement.

27/07/2022

25/07/2022

Monday funny 😉

20/07/2022

Beyond Weight

When most talk about rider size, they're often referring specifically to weight ratios with the ideal being under 20% (15% in some cases) of the horses weight, including all tack. When we talk about appropriate rider size for the horse, weight is only one of the many aspects, and what comes first is actually the Saddle Support Area of the horse in comparison to the space the rider needs. We briefly touched on modern breeding in our last post and want to emphasize the importance of taking TRUE back length (SSA) into consideration when buying a horse, now more than ever, due to the shape and size of these more modern horses with their shorter and shorter backs.

It's important to note that Height =/= Saddle Support Area length.
We have seen 18+hh horses with 14" support areas. We've also seen 15hh horses with 19" saddle support areas. This is why you never use the height of the horse to guess, and have someone who knows how to identify the true SSA come out and at the very least measure yourself and your (to be purchased) horse.

If you haven't already, check out Barbara Schulte - Designer Horse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sENtuo5yZcc&t=29s

19/07/2022

Like our page for more…

Example 1
Let’s talk about unwinding and progress over multiple treatments:
This is a OTTB with a pelvic rotation, exceptionally body defensive and sensitive in the hind. Green circles indicate “holding line (tummy) stress lines in tense muscle (hind) which has melted away as the muscles start to relax.
There is not a significant improvement to either back profile or hind in fact the hind looks a little atrophied between top of pelvis and point of buttox. Comparing pic 1 to pic 2.
Let’s keep in mind that the first two treatments the horse would not tolerate any form of palpation around the pelvis or above point of hip.
Treatment 3 is where the magic started happening.. because of treatment 1 and 2 the body, nerves and mind have started unwinding, little by little the sensitivity has decreased to the point of the horse permitting me to work on her hind end. There we can see a marked improvement to the profile of her back in pic 3.
With continued strength building exercises, treatment and a chiropractic adjustment this horse is well on her way to reaching a point of correct functionality in a relatively short period of time.

19/07/2022

Example 2
In comparison to example 1, the results of 1 treatment on an Arab mare, who is not body defensive and showed a lot less sensitivity to palpation, a more intensive soft tissue manipulation could be applied from the onset, yielding a much bigger result after the first treatment. Treatment results will be prolonged and supported by the use of Kinesiology tape, providing a proprioception action as well as helping to support and further unwind the affected muscle groups around the rotation.
Why tape this horse and not the other?
Sometimes less is more. Horse 1 had to overcome a massive emotional as well as physical shift regarding alowing treatment on the hind. And the input of manual manipulation was sufficient to best set her up for the next treatment. Hence I only addressed the sensitivity over the wither with the kinesiology tape. (Ref to example 1)