Quantum Equine Bodyworks

12/08/2023

I often see people posting about their horse having muscle knots and being muscle sore, talking about having the chiropractor out, Pemf and red light, kt tape, vet’s been out and still the horse is not better, why?

My question is; why are you doing everything you can think of to help your horse feel better EXCEPT the one thing that actually addresses those sore, tight muscles directly?!

Other therapies are NOT stand-ins or substitutes for massage - they do different things for the horse.

Massage is the only one of these therapies that physically manipulates the muscles, fascia and skin to ease tight, sore muscles lengthen and supple myofascia, free painful nerves, improve circulation, increase range of motion and bring balance and biotensegrity back to the body to improve performance and soundness.

An equine massage therapist …

Learn more about how massage can benefit your horse -

https://koperequine.com/why-hands-on-massage-is-the-best-way-to-for-sore-care-muscles/

09/18/2023

08/30/2023

Our horses are wonderful athletes and also prone to injury.

Behavioral problems are often attributed to your horse letting you know there is pain or discomfort before the symptoms appear physically. So, by the time the rider feels stiffness, hesitation, or unbalance in their horse, they may be past due for body work.

Common signs that appear under the saddle that tell you your horse may need body work include:

•Toe dragging, tripping or consistently chipping poles
•Heavy on the front end or stiff in the bit
• Shortened/inconsistent strides
• Better on one lead than the other
• Difficulty rounding through the back or difficulty collecting

Equine body work is an investment in your horse’s health and will help them reach their full potential.

08/30/2023

BY NICOLE BRIAN If you look at professional human athletes, you will see that they have practices to stay in proper shape. They do certain therapies after each workout to help their body recover and prepare for the next practice or game.  Let’s talk about baseball players. They have planned out s...

08/26/2023

08/24/2023

Can you tell when your horse is tight in the hind end?

When palpating your horse’s hamstrings, they should have a “spring” to them. When they’re tight, they will feel hard and have minimal bounce.

When your horse’s hamstrings are tight, you may see signs such as shortened stride length, difficultly rounding through the back, low range of motion in the joints of the hind end and goose stepping.

Tight hamstrings can affect your horse’s posture, skeletal-muscluar alignment and performance.

Does your horse’s hamstrings look like this?

08/18/2023

Wondering how massage can benefit your horse?

Massage relieves muscle tightness while increasing range of motion and improving flexibility which can reduce the chance of injury!

07/21/2020

ENERGY
Finding your horse's natural rhythm is important if you want healthy gymnastic training. Often we hold our horses back aiming to make them 'round' instead of letting them go to express their natural movement and become 'round' through their own good balance and posture.

When there is a lot of energy - make use of it (ride forward)
When there is too much energy - shape it. (eg. circle to regain rhythm, or use counter bend or shoulder-in to slow the legs )
When there is too little energy - forward is the priority. (go straight ahead)
A good forward trot in a light seat, and with neck extension, (to lengthen stride and seek the contact) can cure many 'ailments'. From this posture you can raise the base of the neck to ask for balance and collection.

Horses were designed to go freely forward, and can become so frustrated when they are not allowed to express their natural paces. Forward Impulsion enables collection.
* You cannot collect what is not first energised.
* You cannot shorten what is not first long.
* As Philippe often says: "Let him do".
Notice in the illustration below that the horse’s nose is in front of the vertical in all positions. Collection is the result of a collection of whole body movements. It has nothing to do with tucking in, pulling in, holding in or restraining the horse’s head.
Inspiration : Phillipe Karl in my own lessons 🙂 and extract from the book Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage – Philippe Karl

07/08/2020

07/08/2020

Horses have to compensate any unevenness from the rider, having uneven stirrups may force the horse to develop postural deviations, after time this new posture they developed can show even when not being ridden as they have adopted it as their new stance even though there may be no rider on them...Go check your stirrup length!

Article in H & H featuring one of our rider based research projects. In this study we wanted to quantify the effect that rider aysmmertery has on equine locomotion.

Research titled “The Effect That Induced Rider Asymmetry Has on Equine Locomotion and the Range of Motion of the Thoracolumbar Spine When Ridden in Rising Trot” published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 😃

As always - a massive thank you to all of the riders+horses, the research team and co-authors. We have 5 new rider based papers on the go and then when things settle down - we will be back in the lab doing more rider based research.

Evaluating rider biomechanics + the rider’s interaction with the horse + saddle and then working on exercises to improve rider biomechanics is something we do exstensively in our rider biomechanics clinic 😃

Rider Biomechanics dates and info ⬇️

http://www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/rider-analysis/

Research: List of published papers ⬇️

list http://www.centaurbiomechanics.co.uk/research/






😃