Equine Health & Training

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Equine Health & Training

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Waar beweging, gezondheid en training samenkomen. Where movement, health, and training come together.

Equicare-Plus staat voor welzijn voor paard en ruiter met een multidisciplinaire aanpak. Met ons gespecialiseerde team onderzoeken en behandelen we paarden met vage kreupelheden, rijtechnische problemen en rugklachten. Voor de ruiter hebben we een adequaat programma opgesteld die je als ruiter op weg helpt een te worden met je paard. In de afgelopen jaren hebben wij bewezen dat deze methode bijzonder effectief blijkt te zijn.

01/11/2026

Does your horse have digestive problems, and have you tried everything to manage them, but nothing seems to work? Hypermobility may be the underlying cause.

Why? Because hypermobility affects connective tissue, and connective tissue is in the skin, the blood vessels, the tendons and the gut.

So when connective tissue is affected, the whole body can be affected. That includes the immune system and the nervous system.

The nervous system helps control how the gut moves. When that changes, it can show up as colic or diarrhea.

It's not always possible to fix the problem entirely, but understanding it is the first step to helping manage it.

Want to learn more? Our Hypermobility in Horses online course for owners and trainers covers everything from how to recognise the condition to how to train the hypermobile horse. Use the link to find out more

🔗 https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/en-gb/online-cursus-hypermobility-in-horses

Next up: hypermobility and ulcers.

Love, Karin and Lydia

28/10/2026

Hypermobility can't be diagnosed with an X-ray or scan. That is one reason it is so often misdiagnosed or overlooked.

More than 20 years ago, equine vet and trainer Karin saw a hypermobile horse about once a week. That number's since trebled.

Think about the horse with a lameness nobody can explain, that's constantly picking up injuries, or that seems to struggle with health issues. Human research on hypermobility has taken off in the past 5 to 10 years, and when we look closely, horses show the same patterns.

Hypermobility doesn't just affect the joints. It's a systemic condition that involves the whole body and nervous system and a hypermobile horse needs to be trained in a specific way to build both physical and mental stability.

Our online Hypermobility in Horses course shows owners and professionals how to recognise and manage it. Are you joining? Find out more:

🔗 https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/en-gb/online-cursus-hypermobility-in-horses

Next up: the horse with digestive problems you've tried everything to fix. Follow our page so you don't miss it.

Love, Karin and Lydia

27/10/2026

Our very first international 4D Biomechanics & Performance Trainer PRO 1 group took their exams this weekend in the Czech Republic, and they all passed with flying colours! 🇨🇿

Congratulations to every one of you. We’re proud of how far you’ve come, and we can't wait to see how far you'll go. ❤️

A huge thank you to Mirka Pokorná Cesta pana Marbla for all her work guiding and preparing this group all year, and to saddle maker Ninon Schutte for sharing her knowledge.

Want to learn what they learned? Our Pro course is the in-depth course for professionals and highly motivated riders and horse lovers with a basic knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics. Students learn to observe and analyse balance and movement on the lunge and under saddle, and to guide each horse towards greater strength, stability and load-bearing capacity.

If you're interested in finding out more, or joining our next cohort of students, follow the link below....

🔗 https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/opleiding-pro1

Love, Karin and Lydi

21/10/2026

How does nutrition affect collection? 🌾

We’ve all, at some point, suffered some sort of bloating or abdominal discomfort. And you’ll know that when you have, it affects everything from your posture to how you move.

The same can be true for horses.

If the horse has disturbed intestinal function due to incorrect nutrition, it’s easy for them to develop stomach and intestinal complaints. This can cause, among other things, too much gas, an irritated intestinal wall, inflammation, insufficient intake of nutrients and diarrhoea, and it can contribute to stomach ulcers.

So how does this relate to collection?

Gastrointestinal complaints often lead to abdominal pain, and a horse in discomfort wants to shift weight away from the trunk and onto the hind end. To do that, they tighten the abdominal muscles to close the underline. Tensing the abdominal muscles increases the pressure on the abdominal organs and can increase the pain.

So a horse that’s in discomfort and tensing the abdomen can’t use their body effectively.

A horse also needs to build muscle strength to be able to collect in training. For that, the muscle tissue has to increase, and that’s only possible if the horse can properly absorb nutrients.

This leads to the question: what is correct nutrition? In short, correct nutrition consists of unlimited feeding of good quality roughage.

What does a horse get from roughage? They can extract small amounts of sugar (carbohydrates), protein and fat. As soon as the food enters the caecum and large intestine, it starts to ferment. The microflora (bacteria) break down the cellulose and turn it into volatile fatty acids that the horse can absorb.

Muscles need protein and energy to become stronger, and a healthy gut is what lets the horse get the most out of their roughage. If there’s a disturbance in the intestinal flora, the fermentation process is less successful and the horse gets less out of their feed.

These days, concentrates still contain a lot of sugar (molasses) and grains. Grains consist of fast carbohydrates (sugars). Because of these sugars, the internal environment of the intestine is disturbed, so the bacteria that need to ferment can’t do this properly. On top of that, the physiology of the modern horse isn’t built for the intake of a lot of sugar. Horses are naturally animals that consume few fast carbohydrates or sugars, so why are we feeding concentrates that have so much in them?

Incorrect nutrition affects the gastrointestinal system, but there’s another important point. Horses are physiologically and psychologically geared to unlimited access to food, or at least the possibility to go looking for food if they feel hungry. If a horse doesn’t get enough roughage, the acidity in the stomach increases, which increases the risk of stomach ulcers. A hungry horse is stressed, and stress causes an increase in the hormone cortisol. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone, which means it breaks down the body to provide immediate energy in a panic situation. Muscles are broken down to supply glucose to run away quickly.

That’s a good system if it’s short-lived. It’s a system to survive an immediate attack from a mountain lion. But if a horse has chronic stress because of a lack of roughage and can’t go looking for it (or has stress from other environmental or training issues), they don’t build muscle very well and can’t recover well after a workout or injury.

Sugar and stress therefore have a negative effect on the stomach and intestines, and on muscle development and muscle metabolism too.

Knowing what’s good for your horse can be complicated, because many studies contradict each other. But sufficient good quality roughage, with sugar and fast carbohydrates (from grains, for example) kept low, is the base to start from. It’s also important to remember that each horse is an individual with individual needs. Feeding remains a matter of searching, experimenting and observing how your horse reacts.

Training does not stand on its own. It can only be successful and enjoyable for your horse if you consider a lot of factors, and good nutrition is one we can’t ignore.

Want to learn more? Use the link below to sign up for our newsletter for training tips, information on our courses, and details of our in-person events.

https://karinleibbrandtequinehealthandtraining.activehosted.com/f/3

Love, Karin and Lydia

19/10/2026

Why horses with low heels and long toes can’t use their backs correctly

The biomechanics of the spine play a big role in closing the underline, but hoof balance is often overlooked.

Before we start training a new horse, we look at hoof balance from the front and from the side.

From the front, we check if the medial and lateral parts of the hoof land equally and if the joints in the leg make a straight line in movement.

From the side, we evaluate:

➡ The hoof has a correct angle with the ground
➡ The length of the toe
➡ The angle of the heels
➡ The landing phase

Very often we see horses with low heels and long toes, or underrun heels, which leads to incorrect biomechanics in the hoof. The hoof can’t roll over properly, and these horses often land on the toe, which puts even more load on the structures in the hoof.

Restrictions in the fascial system can also cause toe landing, especially around the shoulder and the lower neck. In these cases, the front leg can’t move forward or fully stretch before it lands.

What does it mean for the horse?

On top of overloading the structures in the hoof and lower limb, underrun heels (low heel, long toe) also affect posture. The horse can’t stand with his front legs straight beneath him, so he often stands camped under. That makes it hard to lift the withers and trunk, and the shoulder sling can’t function optimally.

The first picture shows a horse with correct hoof balance. His front leg makes an angle close to 90 degrees with the ground, and the muscles of the shoulder sling lift the sternum (and with it the withers). These muscles can only work properly when the horse can stand on his front legs properly.

The second picture shows a horse with underrun heels and a toe that is too long. The middle of the fetlock joint sits behind the heel, which puts it behind the balance line of the front leg. This puts pressure and load on the tendons that carry the fetlock joint: the suspensory ligament and the deep and superficial digital flexor tendons. The angle of the fetlock joint changes too.

The red line shows how these horses prefer to stand. The green line shows how they should stand ideally. If a horse with long toes stands straight on his front legs (legs at 90 degrees to the ground), the middle of the fetlock joint ends up just behind the heels.

By standing camped under, the horse compensates. The middle of the fetlock joint is level with the heels again, which releases tension and overload on the tendons. The downside is that he pushes the sternum down and forward, the back hollows, and the withers drop.

If we ignore the feet and their influence, not only on posture but on training too, we’re missing part of the problem. And if we don’t address all the influencing factors at the same time, we get stuck in a negative spiral.

Healthy training and successful rehabilitation depend on an integrated approach. We improve every piece of the puzzle bit by bit, all at the same time. 🧩

📢 We’ll be announcing a webinar with Yogi Sharp from The Equine Documentalist soon, where we’ll cover this as well as hypermobility and why it increases the need for balance and stability from the ground up. Follow us for more information, or sign up to our mailing list and get the details delivered straight to your inbox.

Love, Karin and Lydia

🔗 https://karinleibbrandtequinehealthandtraining.activehosted.com/f/3

13/10/2026

Can you rehabilitate an older horse? 🐎

We talk a lot about the younger horses who we work with, but that’s not to say we don’t get older horses for rehabilitation, which leads us to the question: what does rehabilitation look like with an older horse?

A few years ago, we had a group of senior horses over the age of 20. Our first thought was that it would be better to leave them as they were, because they had ‘fixed’ their bodies to compensate for some sort of restriction, and that if we ‘undid’ that, they would become lame and worse off than when we hadn’t treated them.

And then we thought about this statement. Because a horse that compensates by fixing its body may not show clear lameness or restriction...but it’s still there. So, if we can loosen the body slowly, the horse will show us where the problem originates, and as with any horse, we can help release this.

With that in mind, we started a rehabilitation process with this older group of horses, where no clear problems had been identified. And it turned out that older horses can still change a lot.

Their bodies have often been compensating for a longer time, and the fascia is limiting their mobility due to all kinds of factors. And the longer fascia has been restricted, the longer it takes to release it. That means that we need to think in smaller steps and release things slowly. We take longer pauses, we watch for signs of fatigue, and we know when to stop.

But we found that, as soon as the body was functioning properly, these older horses could still build muscle and learn as quickly as their younger fellow horses, perhaps even faster because they were more mentally stable. And the wonderful thing about older horses is their wisdom. They have their own opinions and often make that clear. You have to come up with good "arguments" to teach them a new movement pattern or a different body position!

One important thing to remember when you’re working with older horses is the potential problem with sugar metabolism. Just as with humans, the effects of excessive use of sugar accumulate over time. And many older horses have to deal with peripheral insulin resistance or Cushings.

Horses with these conditions often have fascia that’s not as healthy, and this is directly related to problems with sugar metabolism. Horses with Cushings often have to deal with muscle breakdown. Rehabilitation can only succeed if these disorders are managed as well as possible. And of course we also have to be conscious of conditions like arthritis and manage our expectations accordingly, though movement is, in this instance, important for joint mobility.

Horses over 20 are incredibly fun to rehabilitate, and with a little more time and patience they can still go far. In the photo is a lovely 20-year-old mare called Good Luck, owned by Tessa Roos, who learned at a later age to lengthen her neck, stabilize her core, and raise the withers and back.

As she had Cushings, her training sessions were shorter – a few minutes of good-quality training and then a pause again. We need to listen to older horses carefully. The second picture is a year later, and then two years after that.

Do you want to learn more about how to train or rehabilitate an older horse? Visit our website for more information about our online and in-person courses.

🔗 https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/en-gb

And tell us about your senior horse in the comments!

07/10/2026

How does riding with a short neck affect fascia?

We're used to talking about fascia from a bodywork perspective, but there also needs to be a focus on it from a training and riding perspective. If we take the neck, for example, it becomes obvious that how we train can affect the whole myofascial chain. ⛓

If we consistently ride in an overly flexed position, or behind the vertical, not only does the neck shorten, but the back drops, the loins overflex, and the sternum sinks down and forward.

Photo 1: If we train a horse in this position for long enough, the poor posture shows even at rest. The neck looks compressed, and the front of the back is hollow. The loins continue to overflex, the pelvis tilts too far, and the muscles show tense, defined lines. Look closely at the neck, shoulder, and base of the neck. The musculature is poorly developed, so the horse hasn't been trained to use its body functionally.

Photo 2: Photo from a dissection conducted by Zefanja Vermeulen from Equinestudies shows fascia in the neck. Fascia is the connective tissue that wraps the outer layer of the neck muscles like a stocking. Normally, that stocking lies smooth over the muscle. In the white frame at the base of the neck, you'll see it's wrinkled. This is compressed fascia. The neck is effectively shortened because it is pressed together.

Photo 3: This horse is trained with length in the neck. The distance between chin and chest is longer. The neck arches up and forward from the withers, the back is straight, the withers are lifted, and the sternum is raised.

Photo 4: The same horse from photo 4 at rest. A healthy back with a slight curve and full, soft muscle.

Photo 5: The horse from the first picture a year and a half later after regular myofascial release and a new training programme that allows length through the neck. The neck now arches well and looks much longer, because it is longer! The muscles are softer and fuller.

If you want a healthy neck, your horse needs length in it. Constantly riding in a fixed position, using gadgets, and not allowing the horse to stretch has implications not just for the neck, but for the body and whole myofascial system.

📖 Read more about fascia and how we work with the myofascial system 👇🏻
https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/.../het-myofasciale-systeem

Love, Karin and Lydia

01/10/2026

Nora is finding her balance, and her confidence is growing 🐎

In the 4DimensionDressage method of training, horses learn a healthy body posture through 4 levels:

Vertical balance
Horizontal balance
Lateral flexion
Shifting the direction of the forehand and hindquarters

These 4 dimensions, combined with the ability to regulate energy - where we play between more forward and more upward energy - mean that the horse can learn both the basics and more challenging exercises easily, because they have a solid foundation to build on.

Nora is still finding her own balance. We always start on the lunge, so we can help the horse find balance equally on both reins. Once we're happy, and more importantly, the horse is happy, we move on to working off the lunge. Watch how Nora holds her rhythm and length while her neck and body stretch out.

Near the end of the video, we added some canter on the right rein. Notice how Nora has to rebalance herself on the transition back down to trot. A horse that hasn't learned to balance yet will often fall into that transition or rush it. Once Nora has regained her balance, she lengthens her neck again and softens.

Our favourite part of this video is the end. Nora turns in and walks straight to Karin. That's a connection that really builds on trust and communication - the most important part of what we teach.

➡ Follow us to see more of Nora and learn more about the 4DimensionDressage training method.

Love, Karin and Lydia 💛

30/09/2026

Last chance! 10% off our Hypermobility in Horses course ends tomorrow! ⏳

In the early 2000s, we saw roughly one hypermobile horse a week. Today, we see them all the time, and yet this is still a condition that isn't widely recognised in the equine world.

This is exactly why we created this course.

Hypermobility affects more than the joints. It's a systemic condition of the connective tissue, which runs through the whole body. It shapes how a horse moves, how they recover, and how they feel and behave.

If you're the owner of a hypermobile horse (or think you might be), then you'll recognise these signs:

- Difficulty with balance and coordination
- Recurring physical complaints
- Lack of muscular development
- Regularly stumbles and can't seem to organise his body
- Runs into the same problems over and over again in training

Once you understand it, you can do something about it, and for these horses, that means training for stability, not suppleness.

In our online course, Hypermobility in Horses, we cover:

✔️ What hypermobility is, and why it's systemic
✔️ How to recognise it, with practical tests
✔️ Training and managing the hypermobile horse
✔️ Behavioural challenges
✔️ The future of the hypermobile horse

The course includes 8 modules of video lessons and case studies you can study at your own pace, plus the opportunity to join live Q&As.

The course is for horse owners, trainers, instructors, bodyworkers and other equine professionals.

€229, or €206.10 with code HYPERMOBILITY10. The offer ends tomorrow!

Are you joining? Find out more and register now:
🔗 https://www.karinleibbrandt.com/en-gb/online-cursus-hypermobility-in-horses

Love
Karin and Lydia 💛

25/09/2026

Lameness that shifts from leg to leg. A horse that tires quickly, struggles to build muscle, or seems to fall from one injury into the next. Behaviour that is difficult to explain or seems random.

Sometimes, all these issues seem like separate pieces of a puzzle. Together, they can point to hypermobility.

Modern sport horses have been bred for suppleness and elasticity. For some horses, that elasticity comes at the cost of stability, and it affects far more than the joints. It shows up in how they move, how they recover and how they behave.

Once you recognise it, the pieces start to fit. And you can change how you train. For the hypermobile horse, that means stability first, not suppleness.

This is why we decided to explore hypermobility in depth and combine current knowledge with our many years of practical experience in biomechanics, training, behaviour and the myofascial system.

Our online course, Hypermobility in Horses, shows you how to recognise the condition, explains what's happening in the body, and shows you how to train and manage these horses. 8 modules, 17 lessons, for owners and professionals. 🧡

Register before Oct 1 and save 10% off the course cost. Use code HYPERMOBILITY10 at checkout.

www.karinleibbrandt.com/en-gb/online-cursus-hypermobility-in-horses

Love, Karin and Lydia

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