Have you noticed that there is a rapidly increasing industry around fixing horses muscles and bone problems?
And have you noticed that you have to KEEP on having your horse attended to with body work, to keep them happy and performing well?
Why is that?
Why do horses need so much body work to perform successfully, to keep going, to not break down? And hey… please be aware that I’ve had a whole career fixing horses muscles and bones and I know how much body work they DO need, to perform well.
AND I know how many talented people there are out there fixing them up for you and what a great job they do and how useful they are!
WHY do our horses need so much body work?
You can’t see me shaking my head here while I’m writing. Because most of you aren’t going to like what I’m going to say and even so… it still needs sayiing.
99 point something percent of horses need body work because 99 point something percent of horses are not being ridden properly. The things that most of us were taught about riding has sooo… not been useful to our horse (my dry Aussie understatement of the year) and has made it so much more difficult for our horse to carry us with strength and ease. I already talked about how we can change that in an earlier blog. Here is that article if you haven’t seen it yet.
Here is the other cause.
99 point something percent of horses need body work because 99 point something percent of horses are carrying unnecessary emotional stresses and tensions that are then reflected as muscular-skeletal problems. Nobody taught us THAT either.
If you sit back and think about it, you’ll notice it for yourself. Have you ever been really stressed at work and had those muscles over the top of your shoulders get all tight and tense and end up giving you a headache or really bad neck pain? The bottled up emotions leads to stress, leads to tension, leads to muscular cramping, leads to bones out of alignment, leads to the pain in the neck and eventually a headache, all of which leads to bad moods and even temper tantrums.
Horses have the same emotions to stress to tension to muscular spasms to pulling bones out of alignment pathway that we do. But they can’t scream at their boss and quit their job, take two aspirin and go and lie down. And their temper tantrums have huge repercussions for us – we can get hurt.
For me it used to get so bad, that I needed massive pain killers, lots of body work and many multiple visits to the chiropractor to put things right again.
I didn’t know back then, that the links between those neck and shoulder muscles and my lower back muscles had both of ends of my body reflecting that emotional stress and tension in similar ways. Be aware that it is the same for a horse too. Anyone who wants to know the ins and outs of how that happens, is welcome to ask me in a live event one day. Here’s a link to our free monthly seminar.
I do things differently these days. I understand that fixing THE CAUSE of the tension in my body is the most effective way of feeling good overall. It’s sooo… fast and sooo… effective.
And fixing the cause of the emotional tension in our horse is the fastest way to their good health and well being too.
The bottom line is, that 99 point something percent of horses need a heap of body work because nobody taught us how to systematically change the cause.
You can fix a horses back until the cows come home, but if you aren’t fixing the cause of the problem, then you may as well get a match and burn your money up – at least that way it would keep you warm.
So how do we do that?
As important as it is to fix old problems, we’ll get to that later – because how to avoid NEW problems is more of a priority I think. How we can avoid the emotional stresses that cascade into tension to muscular cramping to pulling bones out of alignment?
It’s simple – help your horse to live the routine of their lives without stress and anxiety.
Stop the emotional upset way back at the beginning and you wouldn’t even have to worry about the stress and tension and muscular cramping and bones out of alignment, hey? I know that’s a kind of a derrrr answer, but the simplest solutions are very often the best solutions.
I see unhappy, stressed horses everywhere I look.
I see horses carrying tension when they have their feet done – there is the cascade of emotional stress to muscular tension to bones out of alignment starting right there.
I see horses getting tight and tense when they are being saddled. There is another cascade of emotional stress to muscular tension to bones out of alignment starting right there.
I see horses tight and tense about being haltered or bridled. Does your horse drop his nose happily into the halter and into the bridle? Because if they don’t, there is yet another cascade of emotional stress to muscular tension, eventually pulling bones out of alignment.
Floats and trailers and traveling is yet another issue. I see horses getting on floats and trailers that are stressed about that – another start of another cascade that takes away our horses mental emotional and physical well being.
I see horses out of their comfort zone when a rider gets on and because of that, NOT lifting their back up to carry their rider with strength and ease. 99 point something percent of horses I see are not carrying their rider with strength and ease. 99 point something percent of horses are carrying their riders with an arched back that will be causing the horses physical damage.
I can go on and on and on and bore the crap out of you – slight claustrophobia waking through gates, rugs, when we pull on the reins to stop because so many of us were taught to pull on the reins to stop.
Then there’s the way we train them. OMG how we “train” them – that is the biggest cause of the cascade of emotional stress to muscular tension to eventually pulling bones out of alignment.
Some of these causes of emotional stress are big – like the training issue. Some of them are little – like a horse who is a bit worried about the rug on a windy day – but every single one of these causes adds on to the next until we have a big fat muscular skeletal problem and a horse with a bad back.
Sooo… here’s the BIG but simple answer folks – you can PREVENT a horse from having problems with tight tense backs and bones out of place by systematically eliminating all the causes of emotional stress in their lives – by step by step, practically and systematically addressing each and every cause of tension and getting all of these activities into your horse’s comfort zone.
That sounds like a big job.
Well yeeesss it could be… but it’s not really once you have a pathway like we have to achieve that, here. It’s an enjoyable job and an incredibly awesomely rewarding job that will bring both you and your horse enormous happiness.
AND the more we do, the faster and faster and easier it gets to do.
And of course… you don’t have to go there – you can always keep on doing things the same way and achieving the same result…
The best blogs are a conversation. So please… PLEASE… join in the conversation in the comments below. Even if it’s just to tell me that you think I’m full of it! 🙂
In the next blog, we’re going to talk about how you can clear up OLD CAUSES of that cascade of ill health that has resulted in a horse’s emotional stresses and muscular tension and bones being out of alignment.
Very exciting….
Whoops, I meant to direct my thanks to Oriana. Hope this makes sense now?
Are you thinking of The Ranger Piece Corey? It’s on Dr Deb’s website under the Knowledge Base heading. Hope this helps. Also thanks for your clue about the back flexibility video – all I have to do is find time to study it?
Oriana, there’s a wonderful article by Dr. Deb Bennett about the timing of equine skeletal maturity and the consequences of riding them too young that was “recently” published in some magazine that I believe is entitled Cowboy Dressage. Perhaps you can google it. If you can’t find it, I’ll try to see if I can resurrect it for you.
I find it depressing that there are so many horses out there with this sort of damage.There are also so many horses that are croup high, and start off with a dipped back.Breeders take note….I also think that a lot of people do not realize how important back shape is when buying a horse. Vets are so used to seeing the damaged article, that it is considered “normal” in the same way they see a horse’s foot all out of shape and think that is normal.I believe the Lusitano breed standard is a straight back, with withers higher than croup.How much of this damage is done because we sit on the horse before the age of 5?
It starts to look like stuck energy flow lodges in the neck and back, and then radiates outwards into other body areas.April Battles shows a very good video of how flexible a horse’s back should REALLY be.
Hmmm I see where you’re coming from Oriana… I think that you might be right that vets are sometimes looking at the horse’s damaged back and thinking it normal. And we certainly know that they do that with feet! However, like the feet, the horse’s back is sooo… fixable that it would be a shame to miss out on the perfect horse because of something fixable. Oliver is a great example. I cannot imagine him not being a part of our lives – fancy missing out on that! And I wonder – is it so much about the age we sit on them? Or is it about their back being lifted up to carry us properly and keeping it short enough for that individual horse’s back strength to be built up rather than knocked down?
Oriana – feel free to put that link for that video here.
Couldn’t agree more with this Blog. I spent several hundred dollars having bodywork done on Cash. He improved immensley with the bodywork and the new trim but something still “wasn’t quite right”. I did the meditation from the Zen Connection audio and Cash had what I gauged as an “extreme” reaction. His whole body trembled, his mouth foamed, he head tossed, stomped his feet, chewed, yawned etc etc. This went on for a long time, more than ten minutes. As I already knew he had some emotional trauma that he was working through I wasn’t frightened but I was in tears watching him release all this emotional crap. It really made me wonder what had been “done” to him in the past. Everyone who knew Cash in his “past life” with his previous owner did not recognise him when I took him to a clinic 6 months after I had purchased him. Apparently he used to be “aloof”, always “on is toes” and “on adrenalin” at clinics. My instructor and others at the clinic commented that he was happy and had found HIS human.
Since the first meditation Cash’s whole body shape continues to improve. His emotional connection with me has heightened. I can read him much much better. He “releases” more quickly when we come across a “not quite right” moment.
Thanks Jenny for sharing your wisdom with us and making us better humans for our horses and helping us help our horses to be the best that they can be emotionally and physically. xx
Ooops… *wasn’t* frightened.
I fixed that for you! 🙂
Congratulations Dawn, Cash really HAS found his human hey? I want to draw your attention (and everyone else’s) to at least one of your keys to success. You deliberately connected with him. You deliberately created the opportunity for him to be heard. And in making it possible for HIM to be heard, he can hear you too. Very well done. What kind of reactions did he have to the haltering lessons?
Well this will come as an ENORMOUS surprise to you, Jenny, but I think this is THE most stupendous, important post I’ve probably seen on any horsey-type blog site. There is nothing I could possibly add since Caroline’s post above says it all. Except to perhaps underline in big bold caps with a 72 font size that one shouldn’t even THINK of getting on their horse’s back until they’ve discovered and worked through every itty bitty “not quite right” that causes any level of tension or discomfort to their horse. But then that’s why your original course didn’t plop us on our horses until about Lesson 74…………… You’re my hero sweetheart.
Yeah well… it took a long time to run through all those possible causes of that tension! 🙂 As you know, nowadays we have the lessons about improving riding seat at the beginning of the course, so that people can run the horse’s side and the rider’s side parallel to each other. I love that you are such a strong advocate for the horse Corey.
There are two more reasons for people discover and work through every little bitty bit of that early warning signal that I call Not Quite Right. The first is because every single bit of Not Quite Right is reflected in tension in a rider’s body somewhere and THAT gets in the road of us being the best rider that we can be.
AND, even more importantly, because that early warning signal is often just that – a warning – that what we are doing is not safe – not safe yet anyway – that it needs some more work to make it safe. Horse riding is considered right up there as one of the most dangerous sports on the planet and THIS IS WHY. When people ignore their early warning signal that something is Not Quite Right, when people ignore their horse’s signals that they are not completely OK yet, then they are just about begging for something to go wrong. Hmmm I feel another blog coming on….
THANKYOU jenny for standing up and saying this. everyone told me to force my mare to accept things before she was ready and all she did was brace, freeze and occasionally fight. It took all her natural beauty and grace away and that felt like a crime. luckily i didn’t believe they were right and with liberty groundwork and now with your Fast Track programme we are going to ride together like a dream, in collection, with no bracing and a willing happy horse/human team, with any luck until she is quite old. Keep shouting this please, until more people wake up!
A lot of those horses who brace and freeze are Caretaker horses Joanna and the Caretaker can get knocked out of them by adding pressure to their fear and confusion – i.e. driving them forwards with stick or spurs. I wonder if your horse might be one? And you are right about riding like this until quite old. Bobby was 22 years old last week. He had a poor start in life with me putting a LOT of pressure on him with not so good riding (in hindsight) and a lot of stick and phase 4 to get him to go forward “freely”. How ridiculous it was to use the word freely in that context – there was nothing free about it. I did a big appreciation of his courage in standing up to me last week and the grace that he showed after all that ill treatment (there’s no other word for it I’m afraid) to so deliberately bring this wonderful work to me. Bless him…
Another fabulous blog 🙂
And I reckon there are people reading this that already understand this to their bones and are already walking their own journey with us or with other brilliant people. And there are probably people reading this who already know this makes sense, and are searching for a start point, ready and willing to discover how wonderful and easy life with horses can be.
And there’s probably people reading this who already know this makes sense and want to learn easier, happier, safer ways to enjoy time with their horse, but might have peer pressure blocking their way. If this is you, then take one deep breath, take the first step, and join us here where you will find phenomenal support and encouragement.
I know we already have people here who have experienced the pressure of their peers as they change to doing things differently with their horses, and how their peers started to take note as they saw the wonderful difference this work made. I wont mention names, but you know who you are, and it would be great if you’d share your experience here for others to see 🙂
And then you might be like Di who commented above, who discovered that taking the first step was the hardest part to changing life long habits, training and daily thoughts, but knew deep down that “it’s how I am with my horse” that makes the biggest difference in everything she does with her horse.
You will discover the biggest and best part of you, that will change your life with your horse forever, and if any part of the above blog lands in some way, then take that as a sign…
With love from Portugal xx
Lovely comment Caroline… Peer pressure – can be such a big deal hey? I think it comes from not being aware of our own unique feel, because that brings us such a sense of personal power, because there is SUCH rightness in the guidance that comes from using our own unique feel. It’s the difference between “They might know more than me” and I KNOW all the way to my bones that this is the right next thing to do (or not do) for me and my horse.
And I remember feeling a bit weird all those years ago, doing things so differently. And now, with technology so excellent, we can find our community and support all over the world. And all over the world magnificent people are popping up with such beautiful validation of what we do too.
Hmmm… life is good…
When you said “the cascade of emotional stress to muscular tension to bones out of alignment” it made me think of my horse who has a slightly club foot and a sort of “hitched up” shoulder. He has had it since he was born so I am wondering if he absorbed some sort of emotional stress his mother went through and this led to muscular tension and his leg out of alignment. Do you think this could be the case? Thanks,
“I don’t know” is the short answer Anna. One thing I DO know from my healing work about genetic inheritance, is that just because we have a genetic predisposition – that doesn’t mean that we have to go there and just because we were born a certain way, doesn’t mean that we have to stay that way either. And horses and humans are alike in that respect. I once treated a horse who was born with a weird spinal curve 5 or 6 years earlier and the spine fell into place in the third visit.
A contracted foot even from very young, can be balanced both within the foot and in terms of the whole body, if we use our “feel” that I keep talking about, to determine what the trim for that foot should best be. Kristina, my working student, has been learning how to trim by feel and within a few trims she is doing outstanding work – balancing hooves and hooves to bodies better than most feet trimmers I have come across. I am very proud of her! Sunny has one contracted foot and the balancing of that foot for best whole body outcome, was a bit different than the other foot – it needed a deeper quarter scoop than the other front foot. Whether that is always the case with a contracted foot or whether that was a solution unique to Sunny, I don’t know – but it’s worth sitting with your horse with a quiet mind, looking at the foot and allowing the best path forwards to float up – whether that’s a slight change of feet shape like Kristina got for Sunny or using your unique feel to help her to use her body in a different way. I look forward to hearing what comes up Anna. Please come back and share that with us. 🙂
Very timely for us Jenny. Thanks for putting your thoughts down for all of us.
Over many many years I have tried many things with my horses along many pathways and I keep coming back to ‘it’s how I am with my horse’ making the biggest difference in everything we do. It actually took me a few years to act upon a that very question asked of me by a herbal therapist (yes, I was looking for answers there too) – yet, that thought stayed and stayed and then I found and joined Fast Track and put your teachings into action.
It is not always easy to change one’s lifelong habits, training and daily thoughts but hey! it’s a work in progress and the first step is the biggest one? I’ve made a lot of steps but this one was a biggie and hopefully many others will find that the ravine is deep but it isn’t wide!!!
Now ‘How I am with my horse’ is always on lurking in my thoughts even when I momentarily wander back to old habits. At least thanks to you I have more tools to work with.
Best wishes, Di
I agree with you that “how I am with my horse” is a big deal. The trouble is, that the practicalities of that so often escape us. You know, the things that we can actually DO to be everything that we want to be for our horses. And for me, working from my own unique feel and getting comfortable with that and effective with it has been a much easier pathway to “how I am with my horse”. Does that make sense?