Longacre Stables & School of Horsemanship

06/04/2026

Think riding is the whole story? Not quite. Horses have a funny way of teaching you that the real lessons often happen before you even get in the saddle.

They need feeding, watering, grooming, clean stalls, picked hooves, checked tack, and plenty of attention. Rain or shine, tired or busy, the horse is still waiting like, “Lovely excuses. Now, where’s my hay?” 🥕

Horses teach patience when they spook at a bucket they saw yesterday. They teach humility when you clean a stall and they immediately “decorate” it again. 💩 They teach time management when they roll in mud five minutes before a lesson and suddenly you become a professional speed-groomer. 🧽

But they also reward responsibility in the best ways: a soft nuzzle, a calm ride, a trusting look, or simply not stepping on your foot that day. Small victories count. 😅

So yes, horses teach responsibility through mud, muck, early mornings, and endless chores. But they also teach dedication, kindness, confidence, and love.

Behind every good rider is someone who showed up, did the work, and remembered the treats. 🍎

05/12/2026

05/12/2026

The Roots of Dressage 🌳🌿

"When we watch dressage as spectators, we should be delighted with the beauty of harmony between horse and rider. The horse must enjoy his work for the rider to have joy. He is our heritage, and it is our privilege to let him carry us in our quest to preserve that which we have learned from the past as we journey into the future as partners."

In this original article, Kentucky-based dressage professional, historian, and US Equestrian ‘S’ dressage judge, Sue Kolstad, shares her presentation on the "History Tree of European Dressage," walking us through the eras of our sport that have landed us where we are today.

Check it out at the link below:
🔗 https://wp.me/padgUY-q4h

📸 Dressage judge and historian Sue Kolstad painted this History Tree of European Dressage, depicting the evolution of the sport. Artwork © Sue Kolstad. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

05/11/2026

The Bow, the String, and the Corset: How Equine Ligaments and Myofascial Systems Support Movement

Introduction

The horse’s ability to move with power, grace, and elasticity is not just a matter of strong muscles or efficient limbs—it begins with an integrated support system that balances the spine, lifts the trunk, and distributes force throughout the body. At the center of this system are the nuchal and supraspinous ligaments, which act as an elastic “bow” to suspend and stabilize the topline, and the abdominal muscles and thoracolumbar fascia, which form the “string” that lifts and supports the spine from below. Layered over this is the corset-like core system, a 360° network of muscles and fascia that maintains trunk stability, breathing efficiency, and posture.

When these systems work in harmony, the horse becomes a true “back mover”—elastic, efficient, and sound. When they don’t, the result is a “leg mover,” where the limbs overcompensate for a weak or hollow core, leading to stiffness, inefficiency, and strain. Understanding how the bow, string, and corset interact—along with the myofascial lines that tie them together—offers powerful insight into equine biomechanics, performance, and long-term soundness.

1. The Nuchal Ligament (Ligamentum nuchae)

Location: Runs along the top of the neck from the back of the skull (occiput) down to the withers, where it blends into the supraspinous ligament.

Structure: Made of two main parts in the horse:
Funicular part – a thick cord-like band from the skull to the withers.

Laminae – thin sheet-like extensions that run from the cervical vertebrae (C2–C7) up to the funicular part.

Function: Acts like a built-in elastic “sling” to help support the heavy head and neck without constant muscular effort.

Stores elastic energy during lowering of the head and releases it when the horse raises the head. Provides passive support to help stabilize the neck during movement.

2. The Supraspinous Ligament

Location: Continuation of the nuchal ligament — runs from the withers down along the tops (dorsal spinous processes) of the thoracic, lumbar, and sacral vertebrae, nearly to the sacrum.

Function: Connects and stabilizes the tops of the vertebrae. Works with the nuchal ligament to store and release elastic energy during movement.

Provides a tensioning system that helps resist excessive spinal flexion (sagging of the topline).

3. The “Bow and String” Theory (or Bow Theory)

This is a classic model used to describe how the equine topline works.

The Bow: Represents the horse’s topline — the supraspinous ligament, nuchal ligament, and vertebral column together form the “arched bow.”

Provides passive elastic support.

The String: Represents the abdominal muscles, thoracolumbar fascia, and related ventral structures that run beneath the spine. Just like the string of a bow, they create tension that lifts and stabilizes the spine when engaged.

How It Works Together:

If the “string” (abdominals, fascia) is engaged → the “bow” (dorsal ligaments and spine) is lifted and stabilized, creating a rounded topline.
If the string is slack → the bow collapses, and the topline sags (“hollow back”).

Movement efficiency comes from the dynamic interplay between these two systems.

In Practice

A horse with strong abdominal engagement and free, healthy fascia → carries the back lifted, topline supported, and movement elastic. A horse with weak core or fascial restriction → bow collapses, supraspinous ligament overstretched, and the back hollows, leading to stiffness or pain.

✅ So, the nuchal ligament + supraspinous ligament form the dorsal elastic support system (the bow), and the abdominals/fascia form the ventral tension system (the string). Together they explain why posture, core stability, and fascial health are essential for soundness and performance.

4. Bow-String Model (Topline vs. Core)

Bow = dorsal support Nuchal + supraspinous ligaments + vertebral column. Provides passive elastic suspension of the spine and head/neck.

String = ventral support Abdominal muscles + thoracolumbar fascia. Provides active lifting of the back and stabilization of the spine.

This explains the horse’s longitudinal support — head to tail, topline to underline.

5. Corset Theory (Circumferential Core)

Describes the horse’s cylindrical, 360° core stability system:

Front & sides: re**us abdominis, obliques, intercostals, sternum and ribs, pectorals.

Back: thoracolumbar fascia, paraspinal muscles spine and ribs.

Support: diaphragm.

Floor: pelvic floor and abdominal wall. When these work together, they form a corset-like pressure system that stabilizes the trunk and supports breathing, posture, and locomotion.

This explains the horse’s circumferential support — stabilizing the trunk in all directions.

6. How They Work Together

The corset theory gives us the why behind the string of the bow-string model:

Strong, coordinated abdominal and fascial tension (corset engaged) = the string is tight → lifts and supports the spine → bow is effective.
Weak or inhibited corset = the string is slack → spine collapses → bow overstretches.

The bow theory explains the mechanics of how the spine is supported front-to-back. The corset theory explains the systemic stabilization around the entire trunk.

👉 In other words: the corset makes the string strong, and the string makes the bow effective.

7. The Thoracic Sling

The Unlike humans, horses lack a bony clavicle. Instead, the ribcage is suspended between the shoulders by a fascial and muscular “sling,” primarily the serratus ventralis and pectorals. This sling integrates with the ventral lines, corset system, and front limb fascial connections.

Provides shock absorption for the forehand. Suspends and stabilizes the ribcage between the shoulders. Links the forelimbs into the spine and core system. This makes the thoracic sling a key junction where the bow, string, and corset systems meet.

8. Hindquarter Connection

The horse’s true engine lies in the hindquarters, but for that power to translate into effective forward motion, it must pass through a lifted, stable back.

If the bow-string-corset system is active → energy flows forward smoothly, lifting the withers and freeing the shoulders. If the system is collapsed → power from behind “leaks,” forcing the limbs to overwork, leading to shortened stride and uneven loading.

9. Elastic Energy Recycling

Fascia, tendons, and ligaments don’t just stabilize—they act like https://koperequine.com/the-bow-the-string-and-the-corset-how-equine-ligaments-and-myofascial-systems-support-movement/

04/27/2026

The barefoot is NOT always the answer!!

There’s a conversation that keeps going round in circles.

“Barefoot is natural.”
“Shoes are bad.”
“Just trim it correctly and the hoof will fix itself.”

It sounds logical.

It just doesn’t hold up when you actually follow the mechanics through.

Let’s start with what we agree on.

A healthy barefoot hoof, in the right environment, under the right loading, is the best-case scenario. No argument there.

But that sentence has three conditions built into it that most people ignore:

Right environment.
Right loading.
Right horse.

We don’t work with that horse most of the time.

We work with domestic horses.

And the domestic horse is not a wild horse.

In the wild, poor conformation, poor posture, and inefficient movement patterns get filtered out. That’s Darwin. If the limb cannot tolerate load efficiently, the horse doesn’t stay sound. If it doesn’t stay sound, it doesn’t stay alive.

That filter is gone.

We now breed horses with conformations that would never survive long-term in a natural environment. Then we place them in managed settings that further alter posture. Stables. Arenas. Repetitive work. Artificial surfaces. Restricted movement. Rider influence. Equipment. Feeding patterns.

And then we say:

“Nature.”

That’s the first disconnect.

The second is even more important.

The hoof does not respond to ideology. It responds to force.

Specifically, it responds to impulse.

Not just how much force is applied, but how that force is applied over time, and critically, in what direction.

If a horse has good conformation and neutral posture, the ground reaction force enters the limb in a relatively balanced way. The hoof deforms within its elastic range. Structures share load appropriately. Morphology trends toward stability.

That’s your ideal barefoot.

But what happens when that isn’t the case?

What happens when conformation or posture drives off-axis impulse into the hoof?

Now the force is not entering the system cleanly. It has directional bias. Medial. Lateral. Cranial. Caudal. Rotational.

And here is the key point:

That biased impulse is not a one-off event.

It is repeated thousands of times.

That repetition is what drives pathology.

Because the hoof adapts to loading.

So now the hoof begins to change shape, not because it is “self-correcting,” but because it is accommodating the load.

Distortion appears.

Capsule migration appears.

Mediolateral imbalance appears.

Dorsopalmar imbalance appears.

And here’s where the barefoot conversation goes wrong.

These changes are often interpreted as “natural adaptation.”

They’re not.

They are maladaptations.

They are the structure reorganising itself around a pathological input.

Now we have a loop.

The posture creates off-axis impulse.
The impulse creates morphological change.
The morphological change alters proprioception and loading.
That altered loading reinforces the posture.

And round it goes.

A bi-directional pathological cycle.

This is not theoretical. This is what you see clinically every day.

And this is where the “just trim it” argument falls apart.

Because trimming is primarily reductive.

It can removes distortion. It can improves geometry. It can sets a better starting point. When there is enough foot to do so.

But it does not, on its own, change the force entering the system if the horse continues to move and stand in the same way.

If the horse is still delivering off-axis impulse, the hoof will simply return to the same pattern.

This is why people get stuck.

The trim looks good.
The horse improves briefly.
Then the same morphology returns.

Because the input hasn’t changed.

Now bring bodywork into this.

The hoof is one of the main entry points of force into the entire system. That force travels through fascia, muscle, joints, and the nervous system.

If that input is biased, the body has to compensate.

So the bodyworker releases the compensation.

But the input is still there.

So the compensation comes back.

That is not a failure of bodywork.

That is a failure to change the mechanical driver.

This is where intervention at the hoof-ground interface becomes critical.

And this is where the conversation needs to mature.

Because the answer is not “always barefoot” or “always shoes.”

The answer is:

What does this horse need to reduce pathological impulse?

Sometimes, a correct trim and appropriate environment is enough.

Sometimes it isn’t.

Sometimes you need an additive solution, not just a reductive one.

Something that doesn’t just remove material, but changes how force is applied. Especially in a working barefoot that has nothing to trim!!

That might be a steel shoe.

That might be composite shoe.

That might be a different interface altogether as technology evolves.

Steel is not perfect. It carries mechanical cost. It alters deformation. It is not biologically identical to hoof horn.

But dismissing it entirely ignores what it can do when used correctly:

It can change load distribution.
It can reduce pathological lever arms.
It can redirect force.
It can bring structures back within a tolerable range.

In other words, it can interrupt the cycle.

And once the cycle is interrupted, the system has a chance to reorganise.

That is the goal.

Not tradition.

Not ideology.

Not barefoot versus shod.

The goal is breaking the pathological loop between hoof, force, and body.

So when someone says:

“Nature would fix this.”

The honest answer is:

Nature would have removed that horse from the system.

We don’t.

So we either accept the constraints of the domestic horse and work within them, or we keep arguing theory while the horse continues to compensate.

And if we’re serious about welfare, performance, and longevity, that’s not a position we can afford to stay in.

I’ve spent years teaching the consequences of shoeing and I advocate for barefoot in most cases, so this is not about being pro-shoe and anti-barefoot, quite the opposite, but I am pro sound horses and equine welfare, and when we change the horse’s world from a natural one, including preserving poor conformation and creating poor posture, we have to accept interventions that mitigate the domestic reality.

Image shows a deformed barefoot from poor conformation that was driving a poor posture.

04/26/2026

Well said!!

When riding, it’s easy to fixate on your horse’s head. After all, from the saddle, your horse's head and neck are right in front of you.

But instead of focusing on what you SEE, focus on what you FEEL through your seat, and shift your attention to your horse’s hind legs.

When the hind legs are working correctly, you’ll feel (through your seat) your horse lift his back and swing forward in a relaxed, regular rhythm. And when that happens, the front end will usually take care of itself.

❌ Focusing on your horse's head (what you SEE in front of you)
✅ Focusing on your horse's hind legs (what you FEEL through your seat)

Illustration created and copyrighted by HowToDressage

04/24/2026

🐴 SOLUTIONS: Improve your position alignment and seat 🐴

To improve your self-carriage and alignment and deepen the connection to your seat …

Imagine the fascial current as a continuous circle of energy that is both uplifting and grounding. Fascia is an elastic, tensional network that connects all parts of your body. Visualize the energy of the fascial current running up the front of your body lifting the p***c bone toward the breastbone, going over the head, circling down the back to the shoulder blades, the base of the ribcage, through the seat bones and flowing down to the heels. This visualization will improve the connection of the seat bones and uplift and align the trunk over the pelvis, beautifully supporting you in self-carriage.

— Helen Fletcher

🎨 Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

Thanks to Dechra US Equine for our coverage of the 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event. It includes lead-up events, rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more!⁣⁣

12/19/2025

The Equestrian Academy

12/03/2025