Dynamic Equine Therapy

29/08/2026

BETWEEN THE STRIDES | 01

IS YOUR NORMAL ACTUALLY NORMAL? 🐴

Before we watch a horse move, there is already a lot we can observe.

Look at your horse standing.

Are you seeing relatively even muscle development?
A reasonably straight and level pelvis?
Relaxed muscle tone at rest?
Balanced weight distribution?
A consistent, comfortable stance?

Because here’s the thing:

Something can be familiar without being functional.

A horse may have stood with a rotated pelvis for years. Uneven muscle development may have been there for as long as you can remember.

That doesn’t necessarily make it normal.

It may be a reflection of how that horse has adapted to its body, its environment, or something influencing the way it moves.

So rather than asking:

“Is this normal for my horse?”

Try asking:

“Is this functional for my horse?”

One observation doesn’t tell the whole story. But consistent asymmetries, postural changes and differences in muscle development are worth noticing.

This isn’t about diagnosing your horse from a photograph.

It’s about learning to look critically, so we can start asking the right questions and looking for meaningful answers.

Because sometimes the things we’ve become accustomed to seeing are the very things we need to question.

Familiar doesn’t always mean functional.

And once we start noticing those patterns, we can begin to ask the next question:

What is the rest of the body doing to adapt?

That’s where we’re going next.

Between the Strides
Little things worth noticing.

Dynamic Equine Therapy
Understand • Activate • Strengthen.

28/08/2026

BETWEEN THE STRIDES | Little things worth noticing. 🐴

We spend countless hours watching our horses move.

But how often do we stop and really look?

A horse’s posture, way of going, muscle development and little changes in movement can tell us a surprising amount about how they are using their body.

Not everything we notice means there is a problem. And not every change has a single explanation.

But learning to recognise what is normal for your horse can make subtle changes much easier to spot.

Over the coming weeks, we’re going to explore some of the details that often get overlooked:

👁️ LEARN TO LOOK
Learning to observe posture, movement and symmetry.

🔗 THE CONNECTED HORSE
Understanding how the different parts of the body work together.

⚖️ COMPENSATION
Exploring how horses adapt when something isn’t working as efficiently as it could.

💪 MOVEMENT BUILDS STRENGTH
Looking at how purposeful movement can build strength, coordination and better body awareness.

🏇 TRAIN THE HORSE YOU HAVE
Putting it all into the real world, where horses have to train, compete and get on with being horses.

No complicated jargon.

No “one exercise fixes everything.”

Just little pieces of information that might make you look at your horse differently.

And perhaps notice something you hadn’t noticed before.

Watch this space…

Dynamic Equine Therapy
Understand • Activate • Strengthen.

27/08/2026

17.5” Sommer Dressage up for grabs! Professionally Maintained, Machine adjustable, Flocked Panels, Wide Chanel with excellent spinal clearance.

What’s App Jen
082 301 4591

13/07/2026

❄️ JULY IS FOR RESTORE. REBALANCE. PERFORM. 🐴

Winter is the perfect time to invest in your horse’s comfort, movement and performance before the busy season begins.

Whether your horse is competing, hacking, breeding, or enjoying retirement, regular bodywork can help support mobility, reduce tension, and keep them moving at their best.

✨ JULY SPECIAL
Receive 10% OFF all appointments booked during July using promo code WW10.

Modalities Offered:
• Equine Myo-manipulative Functional Therapy
• Equine Trauma Fascia Release
• Kinesiology Taping
• Thermography
• Cranial-Sacral Therapy
• Trigger Point Release
• Student of Osteopathy

📍Servicing Gauteng

📲 Book via WhatsApp: 082 301 4591 (Jen)

Let’s keep your horse comfortable, balanced, and ready to perform.

03/06/2026

Today marked my 200th horse Evaluated.

2000 Horses measured. 2000 Saddles evaluated. 2000 Changes and recommendations. Some stuck, some went to another that told them what they wanted to hear.

This 2000 does not include the horses that I have seen and just could not do anything for.
This does not include the pro-bono cases where I have given up my fitting fee so that the owner can add that money into a budget to buy a better saddle, or rather do their feet with the farrier.
These 2000 horses do not make part of the school ponies that I have seen at a reduced rate that desperately need that gullet changed and that flock made softer and even.
They also do not include the online consultations I have done.

This is 2000 shoulders measured, 2000 backs measured, 2000 SSAs drawn and 2000 times that I have looked at a skeletal and muscle structure traced on paper - comparing it to the horse in front of me, to the rider and to the saddle beside us. And I mean measured, not lines thrown onto paper with no reference attached to it.

This has both broken me and elevated me.

What I have learned after seeing 2000 horses.

1. We are quick to ride for the next show but reluctant to give them the recovery time needed after or during a bad saddle fit
2. A bad saddle will never become better by keeping on riding in it even if the right one is not in your budget (yet)
3. Asymmetry matters. Because it tells a story and it's not a romantic tale
4. Fitters don't know the difference between asymmetry and laterality
5. If someone tells you their saddle fits every horse, run. It doesn't
6. Horses will carry us even when they are broken
7. Horses will carry us until they break
8. Most of us make it all about them, and that is special
9. Horses love us. Often, more than we love ourselves
10. A good saddle does not cost a fortune
11. A bad saddle is not necessarily a budget saddle
12. The saddle only makes up one element of a happy horse. If that one element is missing, you won't have a happy horse
13. The industry likes cookie-cutter opinions on saddle fit - horses don't
14. Uneven pressure causes pain. Pain causes compensation. Compensation causes physical damage
15. It's never the horse's fault
16. He's not just an
17. It's almost always pain
18. We want an expensive saddle but we accept contracted heels, negative angles, long toes and flat heels and we will not take a stand against a farrier that tells us that these anomolies are normal and acceptable
19. Bad front feet affect the shoulders and the back, bad hind feet affect the quarters and the back. The back struggles to carry a rider and a saddle. It's impossible to fit a crooked back successfully. Pay attention to feet
20. There are too many backs that do not have the muscle to carry a saddle but they do so, regardless.
21. There is hope because people are shifting. People are asking questions and people are beginning to resist the system. Those that don't, are still part of the system

I have often wondered how I can educate more. How I can contribute better.

But 2000 evaluations gives me the confidence to say that we can do so much more when we stop buying into the propaganda of the select leaders that tells us the most abnormal things in horses and saddles are normal.

We are being led wrong.

Lara

04/02/2026

Hands listening, heart healing—one gentle touch at a time.
Nothing feels more right. 🐴🤍

This image captures everything I love about the principles of equine osteopathy: deep listening through my hands, honoring the horse’s energy and anatomy, building trust in stillness. Grateful every day to be exactly where I’m meant to be, doing work that fills my soul.
If you’ve ever felt that quiet magic with a horse, you know. 💫

Jen

13/01/2026

I’ve had this conversation many times, and it still surprises me how common this misconception is, even among experienced riders.

People often assume that once they buy a saddle, it will last for their horse forever. And when that saddle no longer fits, the frustration and disappointment can be huge.

I want to start by saying: this is completely normal. It is something that isn’t often taught or spoken about properly.

But here’s the reality: most saddles are what we call “disposable saddles.” That doesn’t mean low quality materials, it means that horses change constantly and most saddle have a limit to how much they can change (be adjusted).

Horse’s bodies grow and develop, their posture shifts, and as a result, a saddle that fits perfectly today may not fit in a year or two. Even saddles with some adjustability like a gullet plate are very limited in what they can do. An adjustable gullet does help, but they don’t solve every problem in its entirety. In fact, it is such a minor adjustment and only valuable if all other aspects on the saddle fit is good. Having a saddle with an adjustable gullet is better than having a saddle that can not adjust at all, but it is not the be-all and end-all in saddle fit.

There are two simple, but hard ways to address this.

First: Fully adjustable saddles. Those saddles that can adapt not just in gullet angle, but in width, panel width, rider fit, billets, everything. These saddles are more advanced and come at a higher cost, because of the technology and research involved. Even then, there’s no guarantee it will fit your horse for its entire life as your horse may change substantially with age. Horses change, and so do their needs.

Second: Accept that multiple saddles over a horse’s lifetime are normal. Just like humans grow, change sizes, and need different clothes or shoes over time, horses grow and change too. Expecting one saddle to last forever is unrealistic. It’s like buying a good leather shoe when you reach physical maturity at age 20 and expecting to still be wearing those same shoes at the age of 30, 50 or 70.

Now to be clear, I ride in a saddle that is machine adjustable and it does fit really well. I love the brand and I am very happy with my saddle! But it also is my 5th saddle in 10 years and by no means do I imagine that this will be the saddle I will still be riding in in 10 years or even 5 years. This is not a post about adjustable saddles not being good enough, but it is a post about buying once and imagining that that saddle will be a ‘forever’ saddle.

Providing proper tack is an ongoing process. It’s not about spending recklessly or constantly chasing expensive gear. It’s about acknowledging your horse’s ever-changing needs and adapting to them. It’s about making changes to tack a part of the long-term commitment to your horse’s ever-changing shape, needs and well-being.

Saddles are not a one-time purchase. They are part of the journey, and while the thought of embracing the idea of buying and saddles often makes us all twitch, it is unfortunately one of the heavier realities to face in the journey of horse ownership and riding.

So, as you consciously choose a saddle for your horse, or make that next tack purchase, remember this: the saddle that fits perfectly today may not fit as well in the future.

Being mentally prepared and financially planning for when your wonderful saddle does not fit anymore, is likely the least traumatic way to navigate this scenario.

Much like planning the dentist and the farrier - not a once off.

05/11/2025

Days like this remind me why I love what I do.

05/07/2025

I was going to say something about this on here, but I think you should just watch this and the words will come to you on its own

Lara

The 24 Behaviors of the Ridden Horse in Pain is a film that dares to challenge the way we look at "badly behaving" horses, and promotes the notion that lamen...