Free Flow Equine Therapies - Susan Rousak

02/03/2026

The more I learnt the more I saw horses that, while tracking up, were not balanced or actually working well. But I was also taught tracking up was the goal so it's taken me a bit to unlearn that!

Food for thought 😃

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For years, many of us were taught that a horse was sound and working well if they were tracking up.

“Push him forward - he’s not tracking up.”

Sound familiar ?

But knowing what we know now, perhaps it’s time we stopped obsessing over that one measure.
For many horses - especially young horses, pony / cob types or those still building strength - early on, tracking up can only happen if they rush and lose their balance.

The moment we chase it, we often see the next instruction:

“Keep him between leg and hand.”

And suddenly it becomes a push-and-pull battle.

I can't tell you how awful i feel thinking back to the lessons where I was told to ride forward and make him rounder to achieve the tracking up in trot...

Now i know better, I prefer something different.
Leg without hand.
Hand without leg.

First, we build balance.
We develop functionality within the pace.

Only then do we refine the quality - in balance.

tracking up alone is not the goal.

Balance, harmony and functionality is.

If you have to have a quick " zoom zoom " round to awaken/influence him then so be it, nothing is productive if the horse is behind the aids so we must have that desire to go forward first but we must always come back to the goal of working in balance.

Whilst always remembering we can't run horses into balance.

📸 Fine Photography By Georgia-Emily

26/02/2026

Everything is connected!

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Did you know? The hoof and the horse are always connected!?

Sounds silly right but…

I still regularly see compartmentalised thinking in this industry. The hoof is treated as something created by the farrier, while the body is treated as something shaped by training, posture, management, or pathology somewhere else. As if these are separate problems that occasionally influence one another rather than parts of the same system.

Hoof balance is not a shape, a measurement, or a visual ideal. It is a moment condition. The distal limb must satisfy an equilibrium between external ground reaction forces and internal tissue moments. When that equilibrium is met, phalangeal alignment, hoof–pastern axis, palmar angle, and capsule morphology emerge as consequences rather than targets. When it is not met, the system does not immediately fail. It compensates.

That compensation is bi-directional. Forces do not only travel upward from the hoof. Posture, neuromuscular tone, limb orientation, and movement strategy all influence how the hoof is loaded in the first place. The hoof receives force from the ground, but it also feeds information back into the system through mechanical strain and sensory input. Hoof form and whole-horse organisation continuously shape one another.

However, the hoof is a persistent boundary condition. Posture and movement can vary from stride to stride, but hoof geometry influences every step the horse takes. If the hoof alters the timing or direction of force, the limb must change strategy, the trunk must stabilise differently, and the nervous system will preserve that solution. This is why compensation can appear functional for long periods of time, even as tissue cost accumulates elsewhere.

The point is not that the hoof is everything, or that the body is irrelevant. The point is that separating them is the mistake. Farriery alters boundary conditions at the ground. Those conditions either allow the horse to resolve forces within its elastic and biological reserve, or they force the system to organise around constraint. Hoof balance is therefore neither purely local nor purely global. It is the interface where mechanics, biology, and behaviour meet.

That is why the last webinar with Dr Haussler was so important, understanding the difference between compensation and maladaption!

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/compensations

23/02/2026

Good info here from The Bit Doctor about French Link bits. When I was younger we all thought these were the best, but now we know better we can do better 🙂

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22/02/2026

Looks like some rain this week! That means we might need to do some appointment shuffling so please keep an eye on your messages. Please remember I rely on you to let me know if it's raining in your area and if your horse is wet or not.

If you've got the Equigate app and have connected with me, don't forget you can message me directly through the app 😃

13/02/2026

Mandy from ErgoX2 is in the area this weekend for rider and saddle assessments. A spot has opened up Sunday morning! If anyone is interested, please get in touch with Mandy to organise. These assessments are quite interesting and have helped me a lot 😀

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11/02/2026

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Regular bodywork without any change in training is often symptom management, not rehabilitation.

And that doesn’t mean bodywork isn’t valuable — it absolutely is.
But it does mean we need to be honest about what it can and can’t do on its own.

If a horse’s poor muscle development, tension, or recurring discomfort is coming from:
- unbalanced movement
- restricted range of motion
- incorrect joint use
- compensatory muscle patterns
- or training that doesn’t allow the body to function well

then bodywork is, by nature, only ever addressing the surface.

It can release tissue.
It can reduce tension.
It can help the horse feel better in the short term.

But if the underlying movement patterns don’t change, the body will simply return to the same state again — because the cause is still there.

This isn’t a criticism of bodyworkers.

Good bodyworkers are doing their best within their scope. Many do flag concerns about saddles, training, workload, or exercise choices. Many encourage rest, changes, or further investigation. They are often the first people to notice that something deeper is going on.

But bodywork on its own can’t retrain movement.

True, lasting change only happens when bodywork is used alongside training that supports:
- correct balance
- proper alignment
- healthy joint range of motion
- appropriate muscle recruitment
- and correct function for that individual horse

Bodywork should support good training — not replace it.

When training is genuinely helping the horse move better, bodywork tends to become:
- maintenance
- occasional support
- part of a bigger picture

Not a constant cycle of “fixing” the same areas over and over again.

And that’s the key red flag.

If the same issues keep returning, or new compensations keep appearing, it’s worth asking why. Often, especially in the early stages, these aren’t signs of unavoidable unsoundness — they’re signs of dysfunction that hasn’t yet been addressed.

This is where teamwork matters.

Trainers, bodyworkers, saddlers, vets — none of these roles work in isolation if we truly want the best outcome for the horse. When everyone is pulling in the same direction, the horse benefits.

Because bodywork can only create real, lasting change when the way the horse is moving is also changing.

Otherwise, we’re just helping the horse cope — not helping the horse improve.

09/02/2026

EOI - Braidwood area - Bit fitting / Bitless bridle fitting

I've had a request to visit Braidwood so thought I'd put it out there to see if there is enough interest for a visit. I can offer bit fitting, bridle fittings or bitless bridle fittings. If so please send me a message here or SMS to 0426880955

😀

06/02/2026

04/02/2026

Beautiful Accession is an OTTB who found comfort with a Fager Emil bit 😍

Accession was showing signs of discomfort with his bit and not wanting his bridle on. After trying a few bits we found the Emil allowed Accession to relax, move with more freedom and listen better to rein aids. The smile on his rider's face says it all 😄

Bit and Bridle Fitting Canberra ACT and NSW
Horse Bit Emporium
Fager Australia

02/02/2026

I'm currently trialling a new software called Equigate.

Equigate will allow me to manage all my appointments, generate reports, create invoices and keep in touch via a built in message system.

So for you, your appointment notifications may look different. Equigate, at this time, does not do SMS reminders, it works on email reminders.

But the emails include a link so you can create an account and then you can access appointment information, horse/dog reports, add details about your animals, add videos/photos and send me messages in the app 😄

So please be patient while I get it all set up and get you added 😊

28/01/2026

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🔥🌡 Heat, hay and hydration 🌡🔥

Horses evolved in hot places.

But given most of us don’t own a Namib Desert horse, ours need a bit of extra care at the moment.

So unless you’ve brought your horse inside to share your A/C (if you have, please share pics), here’s some useful stuff to help you get your horses safely through this heat.

Right now in a lot of Australia we’ve got:

• bloody hot weather
• bone-dry paddocks with zero grass
• dust up the w***o
• horses living almost entirely on hay
• prolonged heat load

This combination quietly increases dehydration risk and electrolyte demand.

In hot or humid weather, a horse can lose up to 15 litres of sweat per hour.
That water has to be replaced, or dehydration creeps in fast.

Simple ways to support water intake:

• constant access to fresh, clean water
• placing water near feed and shade areas
• feeding soaked fibre feeds
• increasing salt intake

Cos let's face it, horses are idiots who don't know what's good for them. My two and three year old boys (of course), can routinely be seen playing their favourite games** in 40+ degree heat. They don't know they should stand in the shade, be quiet and drink more water, so we have to help them 🤦

Sweat doesn’t just remove water.
It removes sodium, potassium and chloride.

Horses lose proportionally more electrolytes in sweat than humans do, which means depletion can happen faster than people expect.

Signs of electrolyte imbalance can include:

• fatigue
• reduced recovery
• muscle tightness or cramping
• reduced sweating
• flat attitude / low energy
• weight loss during prolonged heat

During heatwaves, or when horses are exercised in hot conditions, electrolyte support is invaluable — even for horses that aren’t in work.

Which means more salt (and sometimes electrolytes).

At the moment my own horses are getting roughly double their usual salt intake.
Some of them are getting 80–90 g of salt per day depending on workload and size.

They’re also getting soaked fibre feeds (Speedibeet / Micrbeet, FibreSafe and soaked lucerne cubes) to help get that quantity of salt into them and increase total water intake at the same time.

A horse just can't lick enough of a salt lick at the moment to meet their electrolyte needs.

None of this is rocket science, but it can make a big difference! 🚀

If anyone wants help working out salt or hydration strategies for their individual horse, feel free to PM me. Every horse's needs are unique.

**BTW, their favourite games are; 'bitey-face', 'who can rear the highest' and, 'let's canter around the shelter while I try to trip you over and break your leg'.

27/01/2026

Thank you everyone for being flexible as I try to reschedule a bunch of appointments this week. Working in the heat isn't much fun, and it's not safe to do so in such hot conditions. Your patience is very much appreciated 😀💛