Topline Animal Services and Rehab

05/31/2026

Don't mind me, I'm just over here adding images to my collection of healthy patterns....

Diaphragmatic Dysfunction: The horse that doesn't engage may not be resisting.

Post 2: Pelvic Floors. This topic has never been limited solely to humans, but somehow we rarely talk about it in rehab. I would like to add to this, and change the tone of rehab evaluations.

The pelvic floor works in conjunction with the diaphragm, core abdominal muscles, spinal stabilizers, the ribcage, and the thoracic sling. All of these systems constantly communicate and coordinate with many global effects.

In post one, we talked about the diaphragm being responsible for keeping the body's pressure system in correct balance. One of the first things that happens when pressure isn't properly maintained is obvious: their breathing becomes shallow or even guarded. This will cause the pelvic floor to lose coordination.

When the pelvic floor loses coordination, you will see:
Weak hind end-collapsing, not engaging
Inability to lift through the back
Chronic sacro-iliac stress
Lumbar (lower back) tightness
Struggling to collect, or maintain collection
Rear toe dragging
Unstable transitions
Decreased tail tone
Difficulty backing
Bracing/compensation

It's important for me to backtrack here and remind everyone that yes, these are common problems we see but they are not limited to diaphragm disfunction or weak pelvic floor.

Not every horse exhibiting these things has a weak pelvic floor. Some have a stabilization system that has decreased communication to the rest of their system.

Those are very different issues, and very different protocols to discuss.

Sometimes you can try to strengthen them forever, but the nervous system needs to feel stable in order to stop guarding and truly engage their whole body.

This is why the pressure system has to be properly investigated and maintained. Breathing mechanics, mobility/range of motion of the ribs posture, and relaxation are primary concerns in rehab.

The body does not seperate movement from oxygen intake, and neither should we.

Do you know that I can immediately identify a weak pelvic floor in any horse? I lift their tail and take a peek at their God Gave Me's. I've put three pictures here; one of them has some dysfunction. Can you tell the difference?

Feel free to comment on this post for healthy discussion anytime, or to ask any questions you see fit.

www.toplineanimalservices.com
404.877.8571

05/29/2026

This full moon has me catching up on all the things and dealing with some chaos! Kudos to all of you who have pushed through some tough cases and times with kindness, grace, and gratitude. I knew the full moon was on its way when I got kicked in the knee last week, and I'm grateful for all of you and your helpful ways of getting me back to what we lovingly call normal!

We've had lots of conversations about diaphragmatic health lately, but I'm not sure that a single one of them has been about the same connection to the rest of the body.

Let's embark on a series about the diaphragm, it's connection to the rest of the body, and the ways (and exercises) I can teach you in order to keep dysfunction at bay.

Post 1: The diaphragm does more than would ever occur to most people, and it does far more than help them breathe.

In most circles, the diaphragm is considered a breathing muscle but in reality its deeply connected to
Core stability
Pelvic floor function
Topline development
Ribs and their range of motion/mobility
Regulation of the nervous system
Quality control for striding out
Gut health
Circulation
Lymphatic drainage and movement
Posture
Emotional patterns within the body.

A horse with a perfect body and maintenance program can have excellent conditioning and still struggle because the diaphragm is dysfunctional. When the diaphragm is not utilized correctly, oxygen isn't being circulated correctly and the entire body will begin to guard or compensate.

I will generally see patterns of dysfunction, including: Tight lumbar spine (lower back), hind end weakness, hollowed out back and neck, poor engagement, girthy, anxiety, shorter than natural strides, Sacro-Iliac instability, shallow breathing, restricted ribcages, and a weak pelvic floor.

The body is a uniquely designed pressure system, and the diaphragm sits front and center.

When breathing changes, posture changes. Posture changes create different movement patterns. And when movement changes, compensation walks right through the open door.

Sometimes hocks, saddle fit, and even topline development are never the issue. Sometimes the body cannot stabilize because the regulation isn't coming proper from the diaphragm.

This is one of the reasons some horses improve temporarily with injections, chiropractic work, massage, or strengthening programs but really turn the corner back into balance of pressure.

You cannot build stable movement on top of unstable pressure mechanics. The diaphragm has to be functioning properly.

Sometimes it looks like I'm working on legs or some other part of the body. And while that's true, I'm also working on diaphragmatic connections on everything I touch.

Restore the oxygen flow, keep the pressure system maintained...Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?

It's not, but it's one of the things I love about my skillset: From full rehabs to simple maintenance programs, I got you covered. I'll explain more in the next several posts, and will also include some fun exercises and videos to help you in between visits.

Enjoy your weekend, hopefully it will stay dry

www.toplineanimalservices.com
404.87.8571

05/26/2026

!!!Hot Topic Tuesday!!!

Well, I must be doing something right 🙄🫣🤭
Yes, we will have this conversation again...and again.

This week's topic has become quite the conversation starter, ender, and the one that has really offended some really good people. As always, healthy and polite conversation is welcomed but please no negativity (I think we saw enough of that in my post about kindness last week).

Apparently I ruffled some feathers again. Absolutely unapologetically, accidentally, cluelessly offended someone. Offended with a capital O, and with the same words I often feel like I need to complete a Jane Fonda workout stretch in preparation for the same conversation I have with every new client looking for a solid explanation for their rehab protocol.

I am absolutely apologizing here, right now today because it will happen again and again. I'm not apologizing because I said it, I'm apologizing for the way it may have come across and offering an olive branch of explanation I didn't get the chance to give in person.

But What Did I say?
"What is this horse eating?"
Conversation about horse feed, hay, and all supplements.
"Soy is the first ingredient. Yes, get him off of soy."

I knew when I said it that it was said with the cadence of a well-seasoned overly confident and competent bodyworker who has said those exact words almost daily since I jumped down the rabbit hole of nutrition and soy about 5 years ago. It's why I certified to teach our Principles of Equine Nutrition Class, why I am co-writing more than one textbook on equine nutrition, and ultimately how I am able to get the results I get. In all honesty, my ability to look at the horse from the inside out, hoof to tooth, top to bottom and front to back is what has put and kept me at the top of our industry. (I'm probably saying that with the cadence of a well seasoned over confident bodyworker too, but that's a complete series coming up later in the year.)

I knew when it came out of my mouth that it probably sounded more aggressive than I meant it to. I had no clue how offensive it would be to someone who only heard me tell the owner to change the feed, and didn't hear the reasons why.

That being said, it's my job to pick them apart and put them back together in the right order.

In all honesty, and I truly mean this:
*You are not a bad person if you feed soy to your horse, or to every single horse in your barn. If it works for you, great!
*You are not incompetent if you feed soy
*You are not mismanaging any horse in your care if you feed soy
*Some horses tolerate soy just fine and some horses don't.

The lane that I have to be able to travel in for rehab is very wide; It must include everything from nutrition, hooves, teeth, bones, organs, you name it I have to be able to cover it in order to produce an effective and long-lasting rehab plan. I have 16 certifications that include all of the above plus my modalities of choice for any given horse. Continuing education is so very important when the research and education is constantly changing and so is the industry.

I'm not here to change the way your barns run. I'm not here to change your programs. I'm here to ADD to them and make them work for the individuals in our shared care. Some just need more support than others.

Why did I say that?
When I looked at the horse, I can see:
-flaky feet
-a coat with no bloom taking longer to shed
-globally dehydrated fascia
-a tight lower back
-shallow diaphragmatic activity
-constant shifting both rear legs and pawing at his belly
-biting the air when palpated
-a history of intermittent and undiagnosable right rear limb lameness
-global inflammation
-skin issues

All of these things together are the trifecta of gut imbalance and inflammation; It also indicates malabsorption of nutrients. Right around the corner from here, an impatient immune response lies in wait. It's the perfect set up for global disruption.

I do know that soy is known to increase inflammation, upset motility and absorption, increase stress hormones, and increase estrogen. What else have we recently learned about soy? Soybeans naturally leech heavy metals from the soil at exponential rates as compared to grass, causing the horse's system to be overloaded with heavy metals. This causes horses to struggle with a plethora of issues such as inflammation, neurological issues, metabolic problems, skin issues, weak hooves, poor recovery, and chronic health problems.

On a very basic level, no matter what causes the gut inflammation it needs to be addressed.

So yes, I did say remove the soy. I said that in order to effectively rehab this horse and handle the inflammation we need to remove the soy. This in no way is a reflection of anything other than the gut inflammation in this singular horse. Whatever happened to cause the stress on his gut I do not know, but I do know that continuing to feed him soy at this moment in time will only increase the global dysfunction.

How do I really feel about soy? I feel that it's a cheap protein, and for me that's the best thing I can come up with. I do not feed soy to my horses because I have metabolic horses in active rehab at home. I also feel that if you feed it and your horse looks and feels good and it eats soy then it's not a problem for you.

Feed what you want. Just don't feed the inflammation.

www.toplineanimalservices.com
404.877.8571

05/25/2026

"Our nation owes a debt to its fallen heroes that we can never fully repay, but we can honor their sacrifice." — Albert Einstein

05/22/2026

Ohio was very kind to us, and there was a good balance between work and fun.

My favorite cases and pictures from the trip are posted here, even though there were more on the dockett.

Saul (who I began seeing when he lived in Georgia 4 years ago) has some airway issues and diaphragm dysfunction due to out of control allergies. Dr Mullin approved a 6 week series of muscle stimulation and ozone therapies. This series began when I pulled in on Wednesday, and grace and I will coordinate the remainder. I requested the dual series in order to combat anything inflammatory and to encourage the cruras (the soft tissue connector to the diaphragm) to release their tension. This way we can increase diaphragmatic tone and overall health. So far, so good.

Point needed an overhaul to release compensation and referred lameness patterns. His overhaul included a new nutrition and exercise plan to help him resolve the inflammation and jump start his neuromuscular reeducation.

While Saul and Point are fairly involved, the rest of the trip consisted of handfuls of young growing horses that needed rebalancing through critical and exponential growth. I've attached some of their pictures here. No, I am not that small but 4 year old Hagrid makes me look like a little gnat 😂

As always, Grace's faithful sidekick Calvin was making the rounds dragging crops, boots, leg wraps, papers, and even a helmet to anyone who wanted to give him a pat on the head.

I actually sat down and ate schnitzel for the first time since I was a teenager, and there was a hilarious desert round last night with a poor server who didn't know what they had, what they were out of, or how to take any of us at the table. I did however get the very last of the peach cobbler, which was good.

Thank you Grace Ambrose for setting it all up, helping keep me in the right order, giving us a place to stash and crash, and for the amazing care you give to all of your animals. Your clients are jam up and your host barn is beautiful.

Thanks courtnie for riding with me like always.

05/22/2026

I'll be on my way back from Ohio in just a few short hours, but looking at the weather for here and home has me thinking about my anhidrosis cases.

Producing less sweat isn't normal and needs to be addressed quickly in this heat.

This is a good read about anhidrosis and its reversal in my memories today. There's another more in depth one further back in my memories.

Sara 14, anhidrosis 0. Love it

Many of you have seen my posts about Baloo; if not, please feel free to search my page for them. Baloo is one of my successful anhidrosis reversals. I talk about Baloo primarily when the seasons change as a great example of how to maintain the reversals and things to watch for.

The heat is creeping up fast this year, and that means it's time to talk about anhidrosis once again. I see these cases often enough, and would probably see more of them if people were led to learn that there is an actual reversal and not just putting an air conditioner in their stall window.

Anhidrosis, the lack of the ability to sweat, can be common in areas of extreme heat. It can come on suddenly or be a slow fade, be either way it is a dangerous sport for a horse to be in.

Over the last 3 years, I have seen 11 confirmed anhidrotic horses and all 11 are happily sweating again. No gimmicks, no drugs, no supplements. Just a skilled craniosacral therapy session. It's not magic. It's about restoring function to the central nervous system, and reeducating the neuromuscular system so that the body can regulate and function the way it's supposed to.

A lot of people assume anhidrosis is just a summer issue or something you have to manage forever. This is not always true. There are root causes: stress, inflammation, restrictions around the head/poll, and disrupted feedback loops between the body and brain. The horse has to recognize heat and be able to respond to it, and when those signals get blocked they lose their ability to produce sweat. For Baloo, his craniosacral blockage was in one of his right anterior ribs, near the sternum. He had a lung infection which was particularly long lasting and he was coughing for a long season. The following late spring, it was discovered that Baloo was no longer sweating. He was sweating again while I was working on him and was pouring sweat when I left.

Anhidrosis doesn't always look the same. Some horses stop sweating entirely. Others still sweat but will either only sweat in small spots or never break a full sweat. Some anhidrotic horses handle spring okay but hit a wall when the temperature spikes. If your horse is huffing and puffing after light work (or standing still) but staying dry, it's worth a closer look.

This is absolutely something we can support, and absolutely something that can be reversed, if we catch it early. Please don't wait until July.

Once the reversal is complete it is highly recommended you follow up with your chiropractor and then stay on a maintenance program to stay ahead of any other problems that can stem from anhidrosis.

Craniosacral therapy can fit into any horse's summer prep plan. Contact me anytime or respectfully discuss here in the comments.

www.toplineanimalservices.com

05/21/2026

I made it to Ohio. The drive was quiet and Chesapeake is a beautiful area. The barn here has massage chairs in the lounge, so you know where you'll find me between horses 😉

I didn't preplan any posts because FB has me scratching my head these days, however I have been meaning to share this particular post this spring.

If you are in the market for a performance horse, it would be wise to consider both the ppe and some bodywork on the horse in question.

I do these routinely, and often times the veterinarian and I will talk about the things we see and feel, discussing them with our shared client. This helps everyone to see the horse as a whole, potential issues moving forward, or a good plan to resolve any concerns with the ppe. This also helps us understand if the horse has a maintenance issue or just needs some small adjustments in routine.

Dr Thomas said it best about two weeks ago in a thankful email to me, "X-rays are black and white. Soft tissue is not. If the soft tissue moves, the x-rays can potentially change. Good to know that the soft tissue can be addressed and the X-rays look inherently different. It was a good experiment and experience. Thank you for changing my mind about your corner of our industry. Look forward to working together again."

I keep saying it, and maybe one day I'll be able to say it loud enough: be open minded, be willing to work together, share your ideas, and share your clients. There's absolutely no reason not to.

05/14/2026

Metabolic series Post 7
Owner Checklists & Monitoring Tools

One of the most important things we can do with metabolic horses is pay attention to patterns.

These horses often don’t show dramatic changes overnight. Instead, things shift gradually — energy changes, recovery time changes, muscle tone changes — and if we’re not tracking it, it’s easy to miss the early signs of imbalance.

A simple monitoring routine can make a big difference.

Things I encourage owners to watch:
• Energy levels from week to week
• Willingness to move forward under saddle
• Recovery time after workouts
• Changes in topline or muscle tone
• Sensitivity to grooming, tacking, or touch
• Any heat, swelling, or unusual tension
• Changes in appetite, water intake, or behavior
You don’t need anything complicated. A notebook, phone notes, or a basic tracking sheet works. What matters is consistency.
When we have baseline information, we can: • Spot flare-ups earlier
• Adjust workload before a setback becomes a problem
• Communicate clearly with trainers, veterinarians, or bodyworkers
• Make better decisions about rest vs. progression

Metabolic horses thrive with proactive management. The earlier we notice small shifts, the easier they are to correct.
Rehab isn’t just what happens in the session. It’s what happens between sessions — feeding, turnout, stress management, workload, and observation all matter.

When owners are involved in monitoring, outcomes improve. Not because they’re doing more, but because they’re responding sooner and more appropriately to what the horse is telling them.

One more post on this series and I'll be back to updating you like always!

www.toplineanimalservices.com
(404) 877-8571

Explore top-notch equestrian services at Topline Animal Services. Contact us today for expert care and support for your horses.

05/12/2026

PSA/HOT TAKE/HOT TOPIC TUESDAY:

It's that time of year and again and the crazies are out for blood. This is a longer post, but I feel its needed.

Message for today: be kind to service providers, even if they aren't there to service you personally.

This is deeply personal to me, and although I'm very transparent, I usually don't do this on my personal or professional page. Any negativity will be swiftly blocked without regrets.

I believe there is a disconnect between some service providers and some of their clients, or their clients barn owners, trainers etc. In my experience, it comes from our desire to always be available, our service calling, and our loyalty to our clients. For me, my life can be burning to the ground and when you call and need help, I will set the burning pile aside and come help only to return to my burning life after I've helped solve your problem. No regrets, it's just how I deal with things unless Im sick enough to just stay in bed. It actually helps me deal with life on my terms and from a different perspective.

Here's where the disconnect begins: some of us can't always put our lives or feelings aside on rough days, even though the quality of work is still the same.

All of my clients take me as I am because it's a rare moment I disconnect from them or their friendly chatter.

The best example of the reason behind this post happened this week. It's unique because it actually wasn't one of my clients that overstepped, it was her landlord watching me repeatedly on her security cameras. Names have been changed because even though drama is coming, I try to avoid it as much as possible.

So what happened was...
I've been seeing all of Becky's horses for almost 5 years now, regularly at 2 and 4 week intervals. I see them so often that it looks a little something like this

Horse D: gets full session at deep tissue level because she lllooovvveeess me and her bodywork, plus her body tells Becky that she's due to see me about 2 days before I show up.

Horse M: gentle nerve release, full body craniosacral therapy, and neuromyofascial on her lower front legs to support suspensory and knee health. She does not appreciate anything deep or long because she isn't a cuddly horse.

Horse B: honestly only needs work on her lower back, hindquarters, and rear legs. Her front end rarely needs anything, but when I palpate her it's addressed if I find anything.

Landlord does not believe in bodywork and for whatever reason has taken an instant dislike and chooses to walk past me without anything other than a side glance no matter how much I choose to say or not. Oh hey, it was an uncomfortable time.

As always, when there are cameras around, I prefer to move the horses to where anyone watching them can see what I'm doing. This way there is no question of my integrity or how I handle the horses.

Becky moved her horses, and when she did I was asking why landlord had taken such a stance towards me. Because I know Becky so well (and really she's become a good friend of mine), she knew I would see the humor in the numerous text messages from landlord about the quality of my work based off of her camera feeds.

They were a hilarious personal attack. There was one day in particular that was only funny because it was Becky's horse and the text was sent to Becky. It said something along the lines of, "I hope you don't pay full price because her hands were on her phone more than they were on horse B..." I laughed because originally I was thinking I must have been holding a loin release and answered a text or a call with the other hand.

According to the date the message was sent, I was on my phone more than usual. That was the day after my stepson of 13 years (we had full custody with Travis as sole legal anything since before he was a year old) had decided to move out and if we didn't allow it he said he would kill himself. Also on this day, I had a respiratory care horse need an immediate appointment for diaphragmatic care (because I am also skilled in this area) before he got on the trailer to get out of allergen filled Georgia. Also on this day, I was getting phone calls from the university about cases for my work and sending recommendations back and forth (I should have been able to be more excited about that).

So yes, I was on my phone more than usual. And yes, landlord watched me on her camera and proceeded to walk by me multiple times where she could have heard anything I said, or seen that I was obviously upset and obviously had been crying.

She didn't care to look any further.

She could have chosen to be kind. She could have chosen to ask Becky if I was ok because of what she observed.

She chose to run her mouth about what she thinks she observed.

Be kind. Be a good landlord. Be a respectful landlord. Be an observant landlord. Be an inquisitive landlord. Be a considerate and sincere landlord. Just don't be Becky's landlord. If it had been someone that just met me or a new client, things may not have been so comical.

You have no idea what other people are going through so allow them to be 100% imperfect humans.

04/28/2026

Well. I didn't get my unpublished posts worked out.

Life has been hardcore lifing and it feels like now we are beginning to normalize inside our home with no children and one less dog. I appreciate all of you who have reached out and thrown some support our way.

Before I revisit and wrap up on the metabolic series, here's a quick recap:

Over the last several posts, we’ve talked about how metabolic conditions affect more than just diagnostic labels: they affect movement, recovery, behavior, and the body’s ability to heal.

Horses with PSSM, PPID (Cushing’s), EPM, insulin resistance, ulcers, and other systemic conditions often deal with chronic inflammation, altered energy use, nervous system overload, and slower tissue repair. That shows up as soreness, tension, fatigue, inconsistency, and the “why does this keep coming back?” cycle so many owners know well.

We covered how inflammation affects fascia, why these horses often move protectively instead of freely, and why forcing bigger movement usually creates more resistance instead of progress.
We talked about supportive work—gentle movement, lymphatic support, compression, traction, and bodywork that helps the nervous system regulate instead of overwhelm.

We also covered how gut health and nutrition play a major role in tissue repair, inflammation, and recovery, because rehab doesn’t work well if the body can’t properly use its resources.

And finally, we talked about setbacks—how they aren’t failures, but information. Learning when to adjust, step back, and support the system is often what creates better long-term outcomes.

Metabolic horses require us to look at the whole picture, not just the symptom in front of us.

Up next: practical owner tools, monitoring, and how to catch issues before they become bigger problems.

Enjoy this great video of Kodiak realizing I forgot to tie him, forgot to pay the toll, left the bag of treats open, and then turned my back to him to put Taco Tuesday back in the pasture 😂😂

Www.toplineanimalservices.com
404.877.8571