Three Counties Veterinary Chiropractic

05/06/2026

29/04/2026

A perfect explanation of how a combination of chiropractic and soft tissue work often gives the best treatment outcome 🙌

Why Some Horses Resist Chiropractic—And How Massage with Myofascial Release Helps

It’s not uncommon for horse owners to notice their horse resisting chiropractic work—pinning ears, bracing, stepping away, or simply seeming uncomfortable. This doesn’t mean chiropractic care is bad or ineffective. In fact, it can be incredibly beneficial when the horse is ready for it.

But when a horse resists, it’s important to understand why.

Listening to the Horse

Resistance is communication.

A horse may struggle with chiropractic adjustments for several reasons:
• Discomfort or sensitivity in the area being adjusted
• A tight or restricted soft tissue system that won’t easily allow change
• A nervous system that is overwhelmed or on edge
• Previous negative experiences that created anticipation or distrust
• A temporary feeling of instability or imbalance after adjustments

In many cases, the issue isn’t the adjustment itself—it’s that the horse’s body isn’t prepared to receive it.

Where Massage and Myofascial Release Come In

Massage therapy, especially when focused on the fascia, works with the horse’s body to create the conditions needed for comfort, relaxation, and lasting change.

1. Releasing the Body’s Tension Patterns

Fascia is a continuous web of connective tissue that surrounds and connects everything in the body. When it becomes tight or restricted, it can pull on multiple areas at once, limiting movement and creating compensation patterns.

Myofascial release uses slow, sustained pressure to soften these restrictions, allowing the body to move more freely and efficiently.

2. Supporting the Nervous System

A calm nervous system is the foundation for any kind of bodywork.

Massage helps shift the horse out of a stressed, reactive state and into a relaxed, regulated one. When the body feels safe, it stops guarding and becomes more open to change.

3. Improving Circulation and Healing

Massage increases blood flow and fluid movement throughout the body.

This helps deliver oxygen and nutrients to tissues while clearing out inflammation and waste products—supporting recovery, reducing soreness, and improving overall tissue health.

4. Restoring Balance and Posture

When one area of the body is tight, another area compensates.

By releasing restrictions, massage allows the horse to redistribute weight more evenly, improving posture and movement without force. Many horses will naturally begin to stand more square and move more fluidly.

5. Preparing the Body for Chiropractic Work

This is where massage and chiropractic care work beautifully together.

By addressing the soft tissue first:
• Joints are no longer being restricted by surrounding tension
• The horse is more relaxed and receptive
• Adjustments become gentler, more effective, and longer-lasting

Instead of working through resistance, we remove the resistance first.

6. Building Trust and Body Awareness

Massage is a slower, more interactive process that allows the horse to feel and respond.

This builds trust, increases body awareness, and often changes how a horse responds to all forms of handling and care.

A Whole-Body Approach

Rather than asking, “Why doesn’t my horse like chiropractic?”
A better question is:

“What is my horse’s body trying to tell me?”

By listening to those signals and supporting the soft tissues and nervous system first, we create a foundation where all therapies—including chiropractic—can be more comfortable, effective, and beneficial.

In Simple Terms
• Chiropractic adjusts the joint
• Massage and myofascial release prepare the body so the joint can function properly

Together, they support better movement, comfort, performance, and long-term soundness.

https://koperequine.com/if-your-horse-is-body-sore-it-needs-a-massage/

14/04/2026

This is why you should never work on friends horses. I am a Pwofessional Kerry Hendry! 😆

12/04/2026

The lovely Evron making sure I record his treatment notes accurately! 😆

Bit of treatment on his back and other areas for Evron from Sam Smith this week, he “helped” record the results too 😂
Then a few days later off to Larkhill for his final run before grassroots champs.
Rider went a bit nappy in the dressage warm up when the horizon vanished and icy, sleety, rain swept in sideways😱🥶, to avoid the icy ambush Rider and Evron hid behind an old brick army hut and almost missed their dressage time slot😂🤦🏽‍♀️scored a 32.
Double clear for 4th place.

11/04/2026

🦄 💣 ❤️

Becky Moody and Jagerbomb take the opening competition of the Zen Elite FEI Dressage World Cup™️ Final! 🇬🇧🥇

09/04/2026

Fun fact shared from another page……🤓

Fun fact time ⭐

Did you know....

Humans have 206bones in their body, horses have 205 bones, and dogs have 320 bones! 🦴These differences come from a few reasons below:

1) Horses only stand on the equivalent of 1 finger/toe on each leg, the rest of their toe/finger bones have evolved away, and the rest of their hand/foot bones have evolved away to have just 2 extra residual "splint" bones that stick to the 1 remaining main hand/foot bone 🐎
2)The canine dew claw is the equivalent to a human thumb, but they do not have them in their hindlimbs (except some breeds) 🐾
3) Humans, dogs and horses all have 7 cervical (neck bones), but humans only have 12 thoracic (rib ones), 5 lumbar (lower back), 5 sacral (between the pelvis), and 4 fused coccygeal (tail, aka coccyx in the human) vertebrae. Whereas dogs have 13T, 7L, 3S and 20-23 tail! Horses have 18T, 6L, 5S and 15-21 tail.
4) Horses and dogs do not have clavicles (collar bones), their forelimbs are attached solely by muscle! However some dogs have a small collar bone remaining in the muscle that doesn't attach to the skeleton.
5) Horses radius and ulna is fused so they cannot pronate and supinate (twist over) their forearm (aka front leg) the way we can twist our palm to face the ceiling or the floor without rotating our shoulder! Dogs are partially fused with a fibrous membrane so they have some twisting capabilities at the elbow.
6) Humans have 8 carpal (wrist bones), dogs only have 7 as their "thumb" is less active, and horses have 8
7) Humans have 7 tarsal (ankle bones), same as dogs, but horses have 6 as their hock and stifle (knee) are interlinked differently
8)Dogs have 42 teeth, human 32, and horses have 36-40 (dependent on if a girl or boy!)🦷
9) Horses are classed as only have one sternum bone (breastbone) as they are all fused, humans and dogs are classed as having 8 due to them having clear fibrous junctions

I think that is all the cool facts! If you have any questions be sure to ask! ⁉️

Image credit: Figuredrawing.info (note it shows a human, cat and horse, however cats and dogs are very similar in skeletal composition and I could not find a good dog human and horse image 😉)

01/04/2026

The major philosophy of McTimoney Chiropractic is to restore correct vertebral alignment to reduce any nerve impingement. By allowing the nervous system to work optimally the aim is to restore whole body health and comfort 🙌

Let’s talk nerves for a minute… because this is something people are starting to act like is “new.” It’s not.

When you’re doing bodywork on a horse
massage, myofascial release, craniosacral, red light, PEMF, BEMER… all of it…

👉 You are not just working on muscles.
👉 You are working on the nervous system too.

Every muscle, every piece of fascia, every joint is connected to nerves. So when something is tight, restricted, or not moving right…

👉 That nerve pathway is affected.

And when you start releasing the body?
You’re also helping those nerves calm down, reset, and communicate better.

That’s why you’ll see things like:
✔️ Licking and chewing (does not always = trama, anxious.or anything bad. Learn to read the horse to understand what its releasing.)
✔️ Blinking, yawning (does not always = trama, anxious.or anything bad. Learn to read the horse to understand what its releasing.)
✔️ Deep breaths
✔️ Full body releases

That’s the nervous system going, “okay… we can relax now.”

📍Now let’s talk about something a lot of people overlook… pinched nerves.

Yes—horses can absolutely have them.
A “pinched nerve” is when a nerve gets compressed or irritated by tight muscle, fascia, inflammation, or joint restriction.

👉 It doesn’t always mean something is “out”
👉 Most of the time it means something is tight and pulling on that area

What it can look like in a horse:
• Random sensitivity in one area
• Flinching when you touch a certain spot
• Shortened stride or uneven movement
• Not wanting to bend one direction
• Head tossing or resistance
• Muscle that just won’t relax no matter what you do
• “Behavior issues” that don’t add up

A lot of times people chase the symptom when really it’s a nerve being irritated along its pathway.

📍Here’s where bodywork actually matters…

Massage, myofascial, craniosacral, PEMF, red light…

👉 All of these help take pressure off the nerve by releasing the surrounding tissue.
You’re not “fixing” the nerve directly—
you’re removing what’s aggravating it.
When that pressure comes off?
👉 The nerve can start functioning normally again.
But let’s clear something else up…
Effleurage, compression, petrissage… all your basic warm-up techniques…
👉 They are GREAT to get blood flow going
👉 They help the horse relax
But…
👉 They do NOT fully release deeper restrictions
👉 They do NOT completely resolve nerve compression
And this is where people get stuck.
They think because the horse relaxed during the session… the issue is fixed.

It’s not.

This is why it matters who is working on your horse. You need to know how to go deeper. You need to understand the why behind what you’re feeling. You need to know how to actually treat the issue—not just make the horse feel good for the moment.

‼️And let’s be real… this is NOT a one-time fix‼️

If that nerve has been irritated for a while, the body has already created a pattern around it, and nerves take time to recover.

👉 Nerves regenerate slowly (about 1 mm a day)

So if it took time to create the issue…
it’s going to take time to unwind it.
This is why consistency matters.

You release the body → pressure comes off the nerve
You improve movement → better nerve communication
You keep the body soft → less chance of it getting compressed again

But if nothing else changes?
👉 Same movement
👉 Same tightness
👉 Same problem comes right back

This is also why I always say…
It’s not just about the session. It’s about what you do AFTER. Because if the movement doesn’t change. the pattern doesn’t change, and if the pattern doesn’t change body won’t either.

Bottom line:
This isn’t a trend.
This is how the body works.
You can’t separate muscles from nerves.
And you can’t expect long-term results from one session.

👉 You have to work the whole system… and you have to be consistent.

If you want to actually learn how to see this in your horse and understand what you’re feeling.

That’s exactly what I teach. 👀
Message me for class prices and dates. Spots are filling up.

26/03/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1At2k1W4aa/?mibextid=wwXIfr

25/03/2026

There is no scan/MRI/X-Ray machine that will detect fascial restriction, accurate palpation is the key 🙌

Fascia, Pain Memory, and Chronic Pain in Horses

Chronic pain in horses is often misunderstood as a purely structural problem. Increasingly, evidence and clinical observation suggest that fascia and the nervous system play a central role in how pain is stored, reinforced, and re-expressed over time—even after the original injury has healed.

Fascia as a Sensory Organ

Fascia is not inert connective tissue. It is richly innervated with sensory receptors that detect pressure, stretch, vibration, and threat. In fact, fascia contains a higher density of nociceptors (pain-sensing receptors) than muscle tissue.

When fascia is injured, overloaded, or chronically stressed, it can become a persistent source of sensory input to the nervous system. This ongoing input can maintain pain signaling even in the absence of active tissue damage.

How Pain Becomes “Remembered”

Pain itself is a nervous system output, not a direct measure of tissue damage. When a horse experiences repeated or intense pain, the nervous system learns to associate certain movements, postures, or contexts with threat.

Fascial restriction contributes to this process by:
• limiting tissue glide and normal movement variability
• increasing mechanical stress in localized areas
• maintaining abnormal sensory input to the nervous system

Over time, the nervous system may begin to anticipate pain and increase protective muscle tone and guarding preemptively. This is often described as a form of “pain memory,” though it is more accurately a learned protective response.

Fascia and Chronic Guarding

Chronic guarding alters fascial organization. Increased tone and reduced movement lead to dehydration and densification of fascial layers, which further impairs glide and circulation. This creates a feedback loop:
1. Pain or stress increases protective tension
2. Fascia becomes restricted and less adaptable
3. Sensory input remains elevated
4. The nervous system maintains a threat response

The result is ongoing discomfort, altered movement patterns, and pain behaviors that persist beyond the original cause.

Why Imaging Often Fails to Explain Chronic Pain

Because these changes are primarily neurological and fascial rather than structural, standard imaging may appear normal. This does not mean the pain is imagined or behavioral—it means the driver is functional rather than anatomical.

Horses may present with:
• diffuse soreness
• inconsistent or shifting lameness
• resistance to work or handling
• sensitivity to touch or saddle pressure

These signs reflect altered processing of sensory information rather than acute injury.

Implications for Rehabilitation and Bodywork

Addressing chronic pain requires more than strengthening or correcting isolated biomechanics. Effective intervention focuses on:
• restoring fascial glide and hydration
• reducing abnormal protective tone
• improving movement variability
• calming the nervous system’s threat response

Massage and myofascial therapy provide non-threatening sensory input that helps recalibrate how the nervous system interprets sensation. Over time, this can reduce guarding, improve comfort, and allow new, safer movement patterns to emerge.

The Bigger Picture

Fascia does not “store” pain in a literal sense, but it plays a powerful role in maintaining the sensory environment that allows pain memory to persist. Chronic pain in horses is often a learned protective strategy reinforced by restricted movement, altered sensation, and nervous system vigilance.

By addressing fascia, movement, and nervous system regulation together, rehabilitation can move beyond symptom management and toward lasting change in how the horse experiences its body.

https://koperequine.com/fascia-the-skeleton-of-the-nerves/

24/03/2026

Did you know canter is a brilliant way to tone your horse’s abdominal muscles?
Think of it as the equine equivalent of doing sit-ups.

But that’s not all… canter also helps to:
✅ Warm up the back
✅ Improve suppleness through the spine
✅ Condition the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems
✅ Strengthen and mobilise the thoracic sling
✅ Support better posture
✅ Build muscular strength and power

Not a bad list for one gait!

So next time you head out for a ride, enjoy that canter – just remember to keep the rhythm, balance, and work evenly on both reins.