09/08/2026
FIXING THE UNBROKEN HORSE
Around 8 out of 10 horses that come to me are already struggling in some way.
Theyāre uncomfortable, compensating, restricted, struggling with performance, or carrying movement patterns that have often been developing for years.
Theyāve developed behavioural problems.
Their body has become tight, guarded and compensatory.
Something, somewhere, has started to hurt enough that theyāve finally found a way to tell you.
And usually, by the point they find this line of work, their owners have already exhausted every option.
Vet investigations. Injections. Physio. Chiropractic treatment. Different saddles. Different shoes. Time off. Rehab. More investigations.
Then, eventually, they find this work as a last resort. A last chance at helping their horse.
A different way of looking at the horse.
Instead of only asking, āWhere does it hurt?ā, we start asking:
āWhy is the horseās body struggling in the first place?ā
We start looking beyond where the problem presents itself and ask:
āWhy has the body had to compensate here?ā
Thatās where everything changed for me.
Bodywork can help free restriction and mobilise the body, but thatās only part of the picture. If we donāt then change how the horse moves, the same dysfunctional patterns are likely to keep being reinforced.
We must learn to recognise:
Where theyāre holding tension.
Where theyāre bracing.
Where theyāre compensating.
What theyāre protecting.
And whether the way weāre training them is helping their body ā or having a detrimental effect on it.
We must help the horse find better movement. Reduce unnecessary tension and bracing. Improve mobility. Teach the body to distribute load more appropriately, rather than continually overloading certain structures through compensation.
Once you start seeing horses through that lens, you canāt unsee it.
But hereās what has really been playing on my mindā¦
Thereās something incredibly sad about the fact that so many of us only discover this side of the horse world after a horse has started struggling.
Because what about the unbroken horse?
What if we didnāt wait for something to go wrong?
Iām lucky enough to work with some amazing clients whose horses donāt have a major problem.
They come because they want to learn.
They come because they want to understand their horse better.
They want to understand their horseās body. They want to create better movement from the beginning, improve function, build strength without unnecessary tension and give their horse the best possible chance of staying comfortable and capable for as long as possible.
They want longevity.
And THAT is where I want this work to go.
Fixing the unbroken horse.
Creating the best possible foundations for our horses before there is something that needs fixing.
Because functional movement principles shouldnāt only belong to rehabilitation.
They should belong to equine education.
Imagine if recognising tension, bracing, restriction and compensation was considered just as fundamental to horsemanship as learning to tack up or ride when we were children.
Imagine if we taught horses how to use their bodies well from the beginning, rather than unknowingly creating dysfunction and trying to correct it years later.
Before the compensation.
Before the protective tension.
Before the repeated strain.
Before the horseās body eventually says, āI canāt keep doing this.ā
Unfortunately, many of us werenāt taught that way.
We were taught traditions.
We were taught positions.
We were taught what a horse should look like.
Very few of us were taught to ask what was actually happening underneath us.
And I include myself in that.
The horse world is full of people who absolutely adore their horses and want nothing more than to do right by them.
This isnāt about blaming owners.
Many people buy horses with these patterns already established. Others are simply doing exactly what they were taught to do ā often by people who were taught the same thing by the generation before them.
The problem is that so many of us have inherited generations of traditional training methods without ever being taught to question what those methods are actually doing to the horseās body.
I always say:
You never know until you know.
Sometimes I think the difficult horses come into our lives because theyāre the ones that force us to learn.
Theyāre the horses that make us question everything we thought we knew.
And maybe those horses are teaching us lessons that arenāt only meant for them.
Because once we know better, we have the opportunity to do better for the next horse.
I donāt want this way of thinking to be something people discover only when theyāve exhausted every other option.
I want it to become part of how we produce and train horses in the first place.
To help owners understand their horsesā bodies from day one.
To make functional movement part of training, rather than something we only discover through rehabilitation.
Because perhaps one of the greatest things we can do for the horses of the future is take everything the struggling horses have taught us todayā¦
and use it to do better from the beginning.
My hope for this work isnāt only to help more horses that are struggling.
Itās to reach more horses before they ever need rehabilitating.
Because maybe the future of rehabilitation isnāt simply getting better at fixing horses once something has gone wrong.
Itās using everything those horses have taught us to change the way we train the next generation ā using preventative training methods, creating functional movement, stronger foundations and longevityā¦ from the very beginning.
Horse trainer
