Aurora Equine - Emma Criniti

26/10/2025

This 🙌

26/10/2025

Great info 👍

How to Recognize and Restore Thoracic Balance

Signs and Solutions: Recognizing Thoracic Collapse and Rebuilding Lift in the Horse

The thorax is the horse’s central suspension bridge — connecting the power of the hindquarters to the precision of the forehand. When this system loses integrity, the effects ripple through posture, gait, and even breathing. Recognizing the early signs and knowing how to restore lift can transform a tense, downhill mover into a light, elastic athlete.

Key Signs of Thoracic Collapse or Sternum Drop

1. Visual and Postural Changes

• Chest appears narrow or sunken between the front legs.

• Horse looks “downhill” in front, with the withers lower than the croup.

• Sternum feels hard, tight, or asymmetric when palpated.

• Elbows drawn inward or back toward the girth.

• Ribcage appears rigid, with minimal lateral or vertical motion during breathing.

2. Movement and Performance Clues

• Shortened forelimb stride and reduced shoulder freedom.

• Heavy contact or weight on the forehand.

• Inconsistent or one-sided lead changes.

• Uneven girth pressure or girth resistance.

• Saddle bridging or sliding forward.

• Shallow or stiff breathing, especially during transitions or collection.

3. Behavioral Indicators

• Girthiness or defensiveness during grooming near the sternum or ribs.

• Reluctance to stretch forward and down.

• Resistance when mounting or moving off.

• Fatigue or lack of enthusiasm for familiar work.

Restoring Thoracic Lift and Function

1. Manual Therapy for Release

Massage and myofascial release are powerful tools for restoring thoracic mobility and balance.

Focus areas:

• Deep and ascending pectorals: Free the sternum’s pull on the ribcage.

• Intercostals and thoracic sling muscles: Encourage rib spring and scapular glide.

• Rectus abdominis and obliques: Support upward lift through the ventral line.

• Back, wither, and neck musculature: Release restrictions that limit extension and lift.

• Medial shoulder and axillary region: Mobilize the inner shoulder muscles (subclavius, subscapularis, deep pectorals, and surrounding fascia), which often become tightly bound when the thorax collapses. Restriction here locks the horse into a downhill or braced posture.

• Related fascial lines: Address any adhesion or tension running through the chest, shoulder, or ribcage fascia.

Gentle myofascial work along the sternum, intercostals, pectorals, back, and shoulder fascia helps restore symmetrical rib motion and balance between the two sides of the sling, allowing the sternum to lift naturally.

2. Movement Therapy for Retraining

Once tissue restrictions are released, targeted movement retrains postural tone and neural coordination.

• Long walk warm-ups: Begin every session with at least 15–20 minutes of purposeful walking to lubricate fascia, warm connective tissues, and prepare the thoracic sling for lift.

• Terrain variety: Incorporate gentle inclines, uneven ground, and even variations in grass height or footing texture. These subtle shifts stimulate proprioception, engage stabilizers, and wake up the sling muscles.

• In-hand lateral work (shoulder-in, leg yields, ribcage bends) promotes thoracic rotation and sling engagement.

• Shoulder mobility exercises: Controlled protraction/retraction and small, slow circles emphasizing medial shoulder glide maintain freedom and prevent re-tightening.

• Micro-movements such as rocking, weight shifts, and core “wake-up” transitions improve body awareness and control.

• Carrot stretches toward the outside of the knees and ankles activate the oblique and ventral sling lines.

• Cavaletti and raised poles encourage dynamic sternum lift.

• Hill work develops coordinated hindquarter engagement and forward lift through the thorax.

• Transitions:
Halt → walk → halt.
Halt → walk → turn left → halt → walk → turn right.
Walk forward → halt → step sideways → halt → walk forward → halt → step opposite direction → halt → back → halt → step sideways → halt → repeat.
These slow, deliberate transitions build thoracic stability and encourage balanced engagement.

• Controlled stability work (straight-line backing, small circles, slow transitions) strengthens postural integrity.

3. Management and Daily Habits

• Maintain proper saddle fit and even girth pressure.

• Encourage free movement turnout to keep fascial tissues hydrated and responsive.

• Support fascial health through balanced nutrition and hydration.

• Incorporate breathing and rib mobility checks during grooming — observe how evenly the chest expands and the ribs swing.

• Include frequent walking on different footing throughout the week — sand, grass, gravel, and gentle hills all nourish thoracic resilience through low-impact variability.

Key Takeaways

• The thorax is a living suspension system — when it collapses, posture, breathing, and limb loading all suffer.
• Consistency is key — small, regular sessions build lasting postural change more effectively than occasional intensity.

• Slow walk work matters — deliberate, mindful walking restores fascial glide, joint hydration, and nervous system balance.

• Watch for asymmetry, shortened stride, girth sensitivity, and loss of lift as early red flags.

• Mobilizing the medial shoulder is critical to freeing the thoracic sling and restoring true forehand elasticity.

• Long walks and terrain variation are the horse’s natural tools for rehydrating fascia and retraining postural control.

• Combine manual release, movement retraining, and thoughtful management to restore functional lift.

• A supple, elevated thorax allows the spine to decompress, the sternum to align, and the horse to move with effortless lightness.

• Technique Matters: HOW your horse walks over poles, reaches for a stretch, steps sideways - these things all matter if you want your work to be effective.

https://koperequine.com/the-bow-the-string-and-the-corset-how-equine-ligaments-and-myofascial-systems-support-movement/

22/10/2025

Feeding salt daily is important 👍

🧂 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

🐴💩 Just a quick, no horsesh*t reminder that a horse physiologically relies on the element of sodium to trigger their thirst reflex.

☀️ Horses are less likely to drink an adequate amount of water daily, regardless of how hot the weather is or how sweaty they are, if they don’t consume sodium.

🪣 The easiest way to provide your horse with sodium is to add plain salt (sodium chloride) to their meals 1-2x daily. Leaving free choice loose salt (not a block) out is also great for encouraging them to self-serve.

🗓️ Horses need salt 365 days of the year. How much depends on their body weight, workload, and climate but 10g per 100kg of body weight is a good starting point.

🐎 I can’t make it any more black and white than that. Feed your horses salt.

🤌🏼 Love, a salty Equine Nutritionist.

19/10/2025

Yep my favourite exercise for all horses, inhand or undersaddle, builds topline, strength and flexibility and improves balance.

17/10/2025

Good advice 👍

How to train yourself without judgement

It’s no secret that being the best horse person you can be means introspection. That process can be painful, and for many people, it’s easy to get caught into the web of self deprecating thoughts, denial, sadness, defeat and all kinds of other messy stuff. It’s safe to say that most of us either live in a world where we pretend we are already what we want to be, or beat ourselves up about every personal flaw.

I’m no stranger to this discomfort, or being on either side of those extremes. Time with horses and students has given me some insight into how best to train myself, however. Since not everyone has the experience of teaching others, but all of us here have had the experience of dealing with a horse, I’m going to draw parallels for training yourself to horse training.

1- Non Judgmental Awareness
This is very hard, but very important. When I work with a horse, I quickly become aware of what habits are not helping that horse live a happy life, or are creating patterns that prevent them from progressing. At no time do I think this horse is flawed or incapable of learning. The descriptions of their state are not personality flaws; they are descriptions of their current behavior, which is subject to change given time, better handling, and resources.

So is true for your ability. You need to notice what habits aren’t serving you, but don’t mistake that for who you ARE. Maybe you talk too much, have wobbly legs, get distracted. Those are habits totally within your control- they don’t make you a bad rider or bad person- it just is an observation, and given time and effort and attention, they can change.

2- Start Where You Are
When I work with a horse, I try to find what they’re good at or what strengths they have and build from there. Slow moving horse? We might get really good at rhythmic, slow walk steps and halt transitions. Forward horse? So much good energy to put to use!
The same goes for you- what are you good at? Are you energetic, a go getter, somewhat of a busy body? That’s great, pour that energy into things that require high energy, and work to bridge the gap as you develop confidence to learning how to lower your energy and be more calm and present. Are you a calm, slow, quiet sort of a person? Great- so much work with horses benefits from this. As you develop your skills, you can learn to think quickly on your feet, go with the flow more, and learn to bring energy to where it’s needed.

3- Remember that progress is not linear, it’s circular

Working with horses with unfavorable habits or foundations has taught me this lesson over and over again. A horse may look to be getting better, shedding all their old poor habits, and seem magically transformed, only to revert back to how they used to be. All of these phases, if guided by a correct theory of work, can be temporary, and can be a good sign of progress. Experience has taught me that it’s nothing to be alarmed about. Sometimes a horse might try old things as a sort of “last hurrah” before those habits completely kick the bucket. Sometimes when stressed or the addition of new and harder situations arise, the old coping mechanisms come up.
This is simply a time for more support, a return to more basic work and lots of patience.

As you advance in your horsemanship, you may find yourself suddenly back to square one, learning tasks you thought you had already mastered.
This is nothing to worry about-
It’s a great opportunity to refine your basics, to take some good breaths and settle in to the journey. You will continually come back to basics over and over until you underand them and have completely mastered them. After all, advanced work is only the layering of good basics with a fancy little hat on top.

These are just a few things to think about when going through your own learning. Treat yourself like a horse - chances are, you’d never treat a horse the way you treat yourself. You are completely capable of learning anything you want, if you have a productive approach to it.

16/10/2025

So true 🙏

When a horse doesn’t respond the way we expect, it isn’t disobedience, it’s simply feedback. 🐴

Every reaction is the horse showing us exactly what we’ve asked for (whether we realized it or not).

Maybe we asked for the canter but didn’t follow through with the seat aid. Maybe we thought we gave a clear aid, but the horse understood something different.

Instead of blaming the horse, take a pause and reflect: What did I actually communicate?

This perspective not only softens our response to “mistakes” but also sharpens our riding. The horse is our most honest mirror, we just have to be willing to listen. 💡

12/10/2025

The Interplay Between the Thoracic Sling and the Fascial Sleeve of the Forelimb

The horse’s forehand is a marvel of suspension and flow — a dynamic system that relies on the thoracic sling and the fascial sleeve of the forelimb working together as one continuous, responsive unit. The efficiency, elasticity, and comfort of the horse’s entire front end depend on how these two systems share load, tension, and sensory feedback.

🩻 The Thoracic Sling: The Horse’s “Living Suspension System”

Unlike humans, horses do not have a bony joint connecting their forelimbs to the trunk. Instead, the thoracic sling — a network of muscles and fascia — suspends the ribcage between the shoulder blades. Key players include:
• Serratus ventralis cervicis and thoracis
• Pectoralis profundus and subclavius
• Trapezius and rhomboideus
• Latissimus dorsi
• Related myofascia

These structures stabilize and lift the trunk during movement, absorb impact, and allow for fine adjustments in balance and posture. A supple, strong sling lets the horse “float” the ribcage between the shoulders rather than brace against the ground.

🩹 The Fascial Sleeve of the Forelimb: A Continuum of Force and Flow

Each forelimb is encased in a fascial sleeve — a continuous, multilayered sheath of connective tissue that envelops every muscle, tendon, ligament, and neurovascular pathway from the scapula to the hoof.

Rather than separating structures, fascia integrates them, distributing tension and transmitting force both vertically (hoof to trunk) and laterally (across the chest and back). The fascial sleeve is both a stabilizer and a sensory network, richly innervated with mechanoreceptors that inform the central nervous system about position, pressure, and movement.

🔄 A Two-Way Relationship

The thoracic sling and the fascial sleeve of the forelimb form a mutually dependent system.

When one is tight, weak, or imbalanced, the other compensates — often at a cost.

1. Force Transmission

Each stride begins with ground contact. The impact and rebound forces from the limb travel up through the fascial sleeve, into the shoulder girdle, and directly into the thoracic sling.
If the fascial sleeve is supple and well-hydrated, the sling can absorb and redistribute force smoothly.
If restricted — for instance, by myofascial adhesions or muscular guarding — the load transmits as sharp, jarring impact into the sling, leading to fatigue and microstrain.

2. Postural Support

The sling lifts and stabilizes the thorax between the shoulders. But that lift depends on the integrity of the fascial tension in the forelimb.
If the limb fascia loses tone or the deep pectorals shorten, the ribcage can “drop” between the shoulders, leading to a downhill posture, shortened stride, and overload of the forehand.

3. Neuromuscular Coordination

Fascia houses thousands of sensory receptors that communicate constantly with the nervous system.
The thoracic sling relies on this feedback to coordinate timing and symmetry of movement.
When fascial tension becomes uneven — say, due to unilateral limb restriction — proprioceptive input becomes distorted, and the horse may appear crooked, heavy on one rein, or unable to maintain even rhythm.

4. Reciprocal Influence
• A tight thoracic sling can compress the fascial pathways through the shoulder and upper limb, restricting glide and muscle contraction below.
• Conversely, a restricted fascial sleeve can inhibit normal scapular rotation and ribcage lift, forcing the sling muscles to overwork.

💆‍♀️ Myofascial Release and Massage: Restoring the Dialogue

Manual therapies that target both regions — not just the limb or the trunk in isolation — are key to restoring the horse’s natural balance.

Effective bodywork can:
• Release adhesions within the fascial sleeve to restore elastic recoil.
• Improve scapular glide and thoracic lift.
• Normalize sensory input through mechanoreceptors, refining coordination.
• Encourage symmetrical movement and postural awareness through gentle, integrated mobilization.

When the thoracic sling and limb fascia move as one continuous system, the horse’s stride lengthens, the topline softens, and forehand heaviness diminishes.

🧘‍♀️ Training and Conditioning Support

Beyond manual therapy, proper conditioning maintains this balance:
• Hill work and gentle pole exercises enhance thoracic sling engagement.
• Lateral work improves scapular mobility and fascial elasticity.
• Regular checks of saddle fit and rider symmetry prevent recurring restriction.

🐎 The Takeaway

The thoracic sling doesn’t work in isolation — it’s an extension of the fascial sleeve of the forelimb, and together they form the foundation of forehand function.
Healthy fascia enables the sling to lift, absorb, and respond.
A supple, responsive sling protects the fascia from overload.

When they operate in harmony, the horse moves with effortless balance — powerful yet soft, grounded yet elevated — the way nature intended.

17/09/2025

Try these 👍😁

15/09/2025

Only you trulyknow your horse, if you feel something isn’t right then listen to your gut.

11/09/2025

True 👍

There’s an old saying, often attributed to Zen philosophy, that goes:
”Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.”
At its core, this phrase reminds us that growth doesn’t come from grand, dramatic moments but through the quiet repetition of simple tasks. In horse training, this wisdom applies more than ever.

It’s easy to focus on the end goal—the polished movements, the seamless transitions, or the picture-perfect ride. But the path to that goal isn’t paved with sudden leaps forward. Instead, it’s built one small step at a time—teaching a nose target, refining a halt, or practicing a soft yield of the shoulders.

The Power of Small Tasks
When we work with horses, each moment spent practicing the basics—standing quietly at the mounting block, pausing to check balance, or resetting posture—lays another brick in the foundation. It may not feel like progress in the moment, but these actions accumulate into habits, trust, and skill.
Chopping wood and carrying water aren’t glamorous tasks, yet they sustain life. In the same way, walking your horse over poles, repeating a yield, or revisiting a simple flexion sustains the learning process. It creates rhythm and reliability, grounding both you and your horse.

No Magic, Just Practice
Training isn’t magic; it’s the art of showing up and doing the work consistently. It’s not about sudden transformations but about small, steady adjustments that eventually lead to something remarkable. Horses thrive on this kind of consistency, where each day builds upon the last.
So the next time progress feels slow, remember the saying. Chop wood, carry water. Keep showing up.
Do the small things well.

09/09/2025

👍💕

Stop riding endless circles – start riding with purpose! ✨

Trotting round and round the arena might feel like work, but it doesn’t truly develop your horse. When we just drift in endless circles, our horses often fall onto the forehand, switch off mentally, and never really learn to use their bodies properly.

True progress comes from riding with intention. That means guiding your horse—step by step—like holding their hand. Encourage them to stretch, bend, engage their core and carry themselves gymnasticly. Use transitions, figures, lateral work, and changes of direction to keep their body and mind engaged.

Riding isn’t about mileage—it’s about quality. Every stride is a chance to build strength, balance and trust. Ride thoughtfully, ride kindly and help your horse become not just obedient, but supple, confident and proud in their work and lastly, remember you can't run a horse into true balance 💫