https://www.facebook.com/106696485173762/

My Wild Mane, Missoula, MT (2025)

04/19/2025

Oh my little neuro horse.. I met sweet JJ November 22, 2023.. he had been down for about 72 hours before I got there… he flipped head over tea kettle in the field after coming home from some intensive training and knocked his noggin pretty hard.. breaking some cartilage, possible concussion which caused swelling in his head compressing on his cranial nerves, basically he was getting little to no nerve flow to his body… and some pretty wild vertigo from the injury… the first time I saw him he was flat as a pancake, I actually thought he was dead for a moment.. When I continued to observe him I thought to myself there is nothing I can do for this horse. But I was willing to give it a shot, After about 20 mins of working on him I said “ok lets get him up” (to my shock and everyone elses.. 🤣) And sure enough he popped up.. now it wasn’t pretty but he was up… and there was lots still to do.. I worked on him for about another hour or so.. In the midst of this the vet came to put him down and was shocked he was up..he actually was like how did this happen?!? And everyone just pointed to me.. 🤣Now that he was up, new line of action for him… his vitals were good, he was eating and drinking, had gut sounds.. this boy had a will to live.. If it wasn’t for his owners believing in, fighting for him, advocating for him, and working so hard to keep him here, he wouldn’t be.. He’s had falls, he had to have support through the day as he would get tired, he had to be helped to get down for REM sleep and back up, he had huge sores from laying down for so long in the beginning, sores so big you could put your fists in them..which have amazingly healed, he had to wear a helmet for a while to protect his sweet head. Lots of bodywork, cold light therapy, KTTaping, lots of physical therapy, lots of homework excises for the owners…Its been a long road… but he’s trotting now, playing, using his body and this year he is gonna be able to breed… We still have things to accomplish with his body but he has come so so far! He is the sweetest stud I have ever met.. I’m a big fan of JJ and his amazing owners! They never gave up on eachother! And he will live a long beautiful life being the stud muffin he is! 🤍 Siina Swanson

04/10/2025

DOING NOTHING IS AN ACTION

Yesterday I published a post on something I termed "Inappropriate Touching" that went a little viral, being shared 3,000 times in 24 hours (you can read that post here https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1274647950690356&set=a.269604291194732).

It was about missing what the horse was offering, and instead trying to touch a part of the horse that they weren't offering. The picture I used was taken at the Horse World Expo in Pennsylvania recently.

Today I want to share a picture of a different demo horse from that expo.

This is a 10 year old Warmblood mare who was a broodmare, and has recently been started under saddle. The owner says she drags everyone around, has severe attention issues, and always has her head up looking around.

That's at home on familiar turf, so you can imagine what she was like at the horse expo. When the mare and her handler came in, the mare couldn't stand still, and her head was straight up in the air looking around. As I usually do at horse expos, if I have an hour session, I usually let the handler lead the horse around (or try and stand still) for the first half an hour, so the audience can really see that the horse is not settled , and isn't going to.

Then I take over.

With this mare, when I took a hold of the lead rope, she immediately greeted me with her nose, which I reciprocated with my hand (Action #1). She then walked off away from me and as she tightened the lead rope, I used my flag to draw her thoughts back to where her body was, so getting her to be present (Action #2). These 2 actions are part of a flow chart I have on my website, which is basically a flow chart for appropriate responses to things your horse does.

These 2 things happened twice more in the first 5 minutes of me handling her, so I did a total of 4 quite subtle things.

And then I waited.

The photo of the mare shows the result after about 20 minutes or so.

The next day I posted the photo on Facebook and said a little about it, and someone asked if I'd videod the session. I replied that I hadn't, and didn't really need to, as I didn't do anything I hadn't captured many times on video and put in my video library on my website.

They said they were in the audience, and that they didn't really see me do much, so must have missed something. I had to point out I only did 4 things (which was actually 2 little things, twice each).

It's more about what I didn't do, that the handler had been doing.

I didn't hold the lead rope short or try to control her (the handler had been doing quite a bit of this).

When she stood there and pawed the ground (which she did quite a bit) I didn't do anything (the handler had been trying to correct that).

When she stood with her head high looking around, I didn't do anything (the handler had been trying to get her attention). Actually I looked at what she was looking at, so I suppose there I did do something.

When she chewed on the lead rope, I didn't do anything (The handler had tried to get it out of her mouth).

When she sidepassed up really close to me, I didn't do anything (the handler had stepped away from her when she did this).

And in relation to yesterdays viral post, I didn't touch her, I didn't pet her, I didn't rub her, and I didn't console her (the handler had been doing quite a bit of this), except for the 2 brief times she touched me with he nose.

In the half an hour I was handling her, those 4 little things I did happened in the first 5 minutes.

The rest of the time I did nothing.

After a while she started having the big yawning releases one often sees with the Masterson Method work. She yawned. And yawned. And yawned.

Then her head started to drop into the posture you see in the picture.

And I said to the audience "Doing nothing IS an action", and it's a very powerful one at that. Then I sat down and crossed my legs, for no other reason than to prove to the audience that I wasn't doing anything to her to get her to stand there.

Many people struggle to be in the presence of their horse without doing something. If there's a problem, they want to fix it. if there's not one, they want to fiddle and groom and touch (remember yesterdays post). Many times these well meaning owners (and the handler of this horse was lovely and well meaning) are doing a lot of work to try to resolve their horses anxiety issues, and many times the incessant fiddling and grooming and touching is part of the problem.

Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is be a human being, instead of a human doing.

If you are interested in my work, everything I do is available on video and in courses at videos.warwickschiller.com

04/10/2025

INAPPROPRIATE TOUCHING

I'm reading an amazing book called Amphibious Soul by Craig Foster, the Academy award winning documentary film maker of "My Octopus Teacher".

If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it, it is simply profound.

In the book he says "As a rule, I never touch an animal unless they touch me first".

In my work building relationship with horses, I do this too. Most times a horse will touch you with their nose/muzzle first, and matching that greeting (versus labelling the horse as a biter) is a game changer.

But there's a phenomenon I have noticed going on with people trying to build relationship with their horses that I have labelled "inappropriate touching", and it looks a bit like the photo below.

This picture was taken at a horse expo in Pennsylvania recently, where I worked with a demo horse who has a "biting issue". He would reaching out in a way that his owner was termed as nipping, whereas I interpreted as him saying hello, similar to reaching out to shake hands with someone.

When he reached out I would greet him with a flat hand that he is able to to nuzzle, lick or even scrape his teeth on. After doing this a while his snappy acting motions got less so, and he was no longer needing to say "hey, pay attention" , but was more "hey, how's it going". I was explaining to the audience that I was meeting him in the way that he was meeting me (with his muzzle) and that it's not an invitation to touch other parts (yet).

I then said that it's many people's default to reach up and rub a horse between the eyes, whether that's what they are offering or not, and that if you do, it's inappropriate touching and it gets in the way of connection. It doesn't meet their needs, and is all about yours.

With the horse in the picture, he'd been engaging me with his muzzle, and I said to the audience "watch what happens when I try to rub him between the eyes". As you can see in the photo, he has raised his head up and is clearly indicating "No, not there, on my muzzle".

We had a Connection And Attunement retreat here at the Journey On Ranch a week ago, and I used my wife Robyn to illustrate this point to the participants. I said "imagine I'm at a gathering and meeting Robyn for the first time". We walked up to each other in that way people do when they see someone new and they can tell an introduction is shaping up, Robyn reached out with her hand to say hello and instead of me reaching out to shake her hand, I gently reached up and lightly brushed a wisp of hair from her cheekbone and tucked it behind her ear.

The participants all gasped and the ick factor was high.

Even though it was caring, and gentle, it was inappropriate at that moment.

Now Im not saying you can't rub your horse on the forehead. I'm saying if your horse has a disregulated nervous system around humans because they don't feel seen (and safe), try to meet their needs first, before trying get get yours met.

I recently saw an instagram post from a University in the UK, and the professor was explaining that they were doing studies on horses to determine levels of stress. In the background a horse was standing with his head out over a Dutch door. While he was explaining their investigations on stress, a female student (or maybe another professor, I don't know which) walked up to the horse. The horse reached out with his muzzle to greet her.

She ignored this and reached up to rub the horse between the eyes.

He turned his head 90 degrees to the left to communicate that wasn't what he was offering.

Her hand followed him and kept rubbing.

he then turned his head 180 degrees to the right, saying "No, not like that".

Smiled, gave him another pet between the eyes, and walked of camera.

While the professor was saying that they are doing experiments determining the amounts of stress horses are under, someone in the background was actually creating stress, without either of them even knowing it.

Once you understand how sentient horses are, and how subtle their communication, you can't unsee it.

04/08/2025

Multiple studies have shown that increased flexion of the neck during riding or lunging can have many negative effects on the horse’s body and is a welfare issue. Please read this comprehensive article: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-72766-5

Image:
Riding behind the vertical or lunging while restricted with side or draw reins can also damage the nuchal ligament. The nuchal ligament is the main ligament of the neck, running from the occipital bone to the thoracic spine with attachments to the cervical vertebrae. It plays a crucial role in supporting the neck during locomotion and allowing for energy-efficient movement.

During hyperflexed head and neck positions, there is increased tension on the cord portion of the nuchal ligament and its attachment to the occipital bone. In horses ridden behind the vertical, the nuchal ligament does not function as a unit, with both parts – the cord and lamina- complementing each other. The cord is under increased tension, which over time can lead to degenerative changes in the ligament and bone changes at its attachment site, resulting in new bone formation – exostoses.
Between the first cervical vertebrae and the nuchal ligament are often developed nuchal bursae, cranial that is above the atlas, and caudal nuchal bursa between the cord and axis. When the nuchal ligament is under extensive tension, that can also initiate inflammation of those thin-walled structures. Cranial and caudal nuchal bursitis can be confirmed by ultrasound.

https://vetmed.agriculturejournals.cz/pdfs/vet/2020/08/01.pdfhttps://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/237/7/javma.237.7.823.xml

Links to my work:
Patreon page that supports my work
https://www.patreon.com/equineanatomyinlayers

Whole Horse Dissection online (12 months access)
https://ivanaruddock.podia.com/the-equine-anatomy-in-layers

Atlas of the Equine Musculoskeletal system
https://ivanaruddock-lange.com/equine-atlas/

04/05/2025

My heart.. 🤍

03/31/2025

Fun fact I learned the other day: It takes 45 minutes for horses eyes to adjust from outside light to indoor lighting…

03/23/2025

Have an opening tomorrow morning if anyone wants to snag it, in the Bitterroot! 🤍 BOOKED

03/19/2025

I had a couple reschedules for Thursday the 20th in the BITTERROOT if anyone wants to snag them up.. midday… room for maybe up to 3 horses… message me! 🤍Have a beautiful day! BOOKED

03/18/2025

Gotta keep our farriers feeling good too with some KTTape!!!!

03/12/2025

I just wanted to do a shout out to my amazing clients! The overwhelming love and support you give me makes my heart swell! I so appreciate the flooding recommendations you give me! Love you all! Too many to tag but you know who you are! And Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for entrusting me with you precious animals! 🤍

03/11/2025

Bubblebutts, skislopes, wonky donky and big booties

I did a post on butt's a few years ago but since I was accosted by a horse insisting I work on his butt the other day I thought I would revisit it

Nowadays it's quite hard to tell a hind end is what I would class as "normal", normal for me is no visible muscle outlines, a nice peachy look, no protruding pelvic bones, no uneven muscle tone

Most of what happens to a horses hind end is usually done long before you get your horse and the biggest issue a horse will face is incorrect or backing to early, their bodies are just not designed to have the excess strain while their delicate structures are still forming, fusing and growing
Mostly what you do early on will have an affect for that horse years

Like everything horses come in all shapes and sizes, but whatever the shape, breed or conformation it must be capable of working correctly and by looking at the shape you may discover the areas what may need fine tuning for your horse.

If the hind end is weak then it means other areas are having to work harder to make it look like everything is ok, and that in turn means other structures are under more duress than needed so you then have numerous amounts of areas either working beyond their expected capability and in turn overloading which can lead to a breakdown.

Think of a chain on a bicycle while ever it is working it is in turn powering other cogs to keep the wheels turning and powering the rest of the bike (stay with me I promise no more puns), now think of a weak link in the chain you will have to either work harder to get past it or it will miss and your foot will slip either way eventually the chain will come off and things will grind to a halt

We need to see a nice round shape to the hind end, everything looking near as equal as possible we want to see a smooth shape no bulging muscles or no lack of muscles. watch your horse move they want to walk with a swing like a supermodel, count as your horse lands each foot you want a count of one, two as the hind feet fall if you count longer on one side then you know the horse is working harder on that side. Watch the tail does it have a nice swing from side to side or is it stuck out like a rudder or clamped or just swinging to one side.

The reason why I choose the hind end because it has huge muscles that are easy to spot if something is going wrong,

The four pics depict different variations of what I see when working everyday

Overweight is a huge issue, not only does it put excess stress on all the body including organs, but it's basically prematurely ageing the joints, the stifle (knee) will have to move wider to avoid a huge belly and the repercussions will be felt further down as the angle will change at all joints below
Over the last few years weight has been a big issue, and if you are struggling it's worth speaking to a nutritionist as they will not only advise on feed but also management throughout the year

Bubblebutts this is the easy term for if you see that telltale line across your horses butt, often it can be a sign that your horse is loading more onto the hamstring group (biceps femoris, semimembranosus, semitendinosus), are these offloading from the stifle?? Are the quads weak, is that stride pushing forward ?? Does your horse insist on the groin being scratched?? Do they want scratched or are they trying to relieve an overworked Gracillis often associated with holding the horse in a frame but can also be a breed/metabolic issue as gut issues will always reflect in the hind end

Ski slopes, it is really hard to build up a horse that has this, even the preference for breeding long legged extravagant movers often leaves these horses struggling to build an even muscle tone, often we noticed the tuber sacrale (top of the pelvis) poking up and usually its only visible through lack of muscle tone sometimes the angle of the pelvis can have an effect on the development often the tail can be stuck out or if the sacroiliac is affected off to one side, I often refer the tail as the rudder to a ship if the horse isn't balanced it will have to find a compensation pattern to counterbalance
Poor core strength goes hand in hand with this so you may see the belly hanging and back muscles not engaging as they should

Pointy pelvis, this can often be confused with the ski slope and the two are similar but often you will see a difference in height at the Tuber Sacrale (the bony part you can feel on top of the butt), often referred to as a hunters bump and usually due to a fall, slip or strain early on in the horses life, often not realised until ridden where lack of propulsion, bunny hopping can become an issue again tails are often a reflection of the sacrum orientation the sacrum orientation is a reflection of the health of the sacroiliac joints.

We have to think of whole horse when addressing any issues if you only think the hind end is the issue then you may be loading onto a front end problem, if you think its a front end issue and push back onto an already compromised hind end things will start to fall apart

And if your horse is a butt scratcher check they are not trying to relieve a hind end problem as often they want you to press on the tuber ischium (butt bones) rather than scratch their but 🫠

03/08/2025

Perfect time of year to get bodywork for your loves .. making sure the horses are in tip top shape before the season ahead.. and help with recovery from getting into shape.. 🤍 call or message me to get on my schedule

*Here is my horse Boudi with her adopted baby Floyd… Floyd lost his mama back in January.. when we put him in the field with my herd he tried to nurse Boudi.. she ever so kindly told him no but she does treat him like her baby…

03/08/2025

Really been soaking up these beautiful days lately! 🤍 Its been so great to work without layering up in clothes and feeling like a marshmallow woman.. 🤣

02/25/2025

Trying to talk this shy percheron into being my best friend.. hehe! 🤍 (not a horse I was working on, he was just observing.. it was adorable on how curious he was on what we were doing..)

02/17/2025

This mare is magnificent, Love Dove! And her owner is just the sweetest thing! 🤍

01/26/2025

The neighbor Mule Jenny loves to jump the field to come visit with my herd.. my herd welcomes her so kindly… she is super adorable.. and quite impressive she can jump that fence…

My Wild Mane

04/19/2025

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