03/27/2026
Great summary from this weekend!
Things we often say but took on new meaning this weekend at the
"Inside the Equine Body: Understanding the Structure and Function of the Pelvis" clinic.
✨️It's all connected✨️
Sure, we know that theoretically like 🎶"the leg bone's connected to the knee bone" 🎶. But I have found that I cannot truly grasp this concept unless I see it for myself. If you're a visual learner or even a sensory one - you'll understand.
Looking inside a horse's body during several distal limb dissections in the past and one whole body dissection has made this real for me. Watching Dr. Byles flex the lumbosacral joint and watching the pelvis and psoas move was wild. Watching the femur move and what went along with it. Imagining how my back would feel if anything in my lumbar area was fused/in the process of fusing. Seeing the interplay between muscle, fascia, and nerves. The strength and bounce of the spinal cord, the deep digital flexor tendon, the glutes, and the biceps femoris. The straight tidy lines of the ribs coated in overlapping muscle and fat. The gleaming white bone of the femur head and hip socket. The iridescent sheen of fascia in gold, blue, silver, purple. The sharp bone spurs and the crunch of adhesions where there should be none. The nuchal ligament flowing into the supraspinous ligament, suspension in motion.
It's all working in tandem inside the horse's body. The more you understand, the more you can see what's happening inside based on what you're seeing outside.
No issue exists in isolation. It's not "just" a suspensory tear or a hock that "needs" injecting or a "cold backed" horse. Leading right into my next point....
⚠️That's not normal⚠️
Common is not the same thing as normal.
"They've always been like that."
Okay, so this is historic and chronic dysfunction then?
Long term problems don't = normal.
"That's just their conformation."
Or is it chronic pain, bad posture, and the resulting body lameness and dysfunction?
Moving in a asymmetrical or unbalanced way? Not normal.
Able to lift 3 but not the 4th leg for the farrier? Not normal.
Able to lead change one direction but not the other? Not normal.
Bucking under saddle? Not normal.
Rearing on the lunge line? Not normal.
Biting at their girth? Not normal.
Constantly losing the gait? Not normal.
Tongue sticking out? Not normal.
Can't stand square? Not normal.
Repeated tail swishing? Not normal.
Stumbling or tripping? Not normal.
Dragging their toes? Not normal.
Not a bad horse - not normal.
Being "not lame" is not the same thing as sound.
⏰️"They're just being ______" (insert preferred description of unwanted behavior here).⏰️
Watching some of the videos shared this weekend was eye opening in a more gut punch kind of way. Through the lens of a movement analysis and lameness evaluation, you see things differently.
A horse looking good at the trot but worse at the walk isn't lazy.
A horse rearing on the lunge line and suddenly changing direction suddenly makes a lot more sense when you notice how she was moving in the moments just before.
A horse being asked to lift a hind leg but then leaning, flailing, and spasming isn't trying to kick you but is in pain.
Unable to perform the task asked of them.
Not unwilling necessarily but unable.
The gut punch moment for me was watching videos of horses showing their pain or inability to do something and then *bracing myself for the human to get violent.* It didn't happen because these horses were in front of a vet who was curious and wanting to see them at their worst to understand the issue.
But how many times have we watched people punish horses for communicating?
How often do we ignore their stress signals and push harder?
Every day I go to work and have very good horses trying their very best for me even despite physical pain, weakness, muscle tension, and imbalance in their body. Some horses are more willing and tolerant than others.
I remember a horse I trimmed who I could tell was in a lot of pain. She had a lot going on but especially in her right knee. When I would bend down to cue her to lift her front leg forward to the hoof stand, she would close her eyes, grimace, and then try her best. It was awful. She never got aggressive or angry, just went deep inside herself and tried for me.
Not normal. Not okay.
🐴
I chose this picture to share something uncommon but normal - horses running out to pasture with their friends..
