Sound Strategy Equine Therapy

09/09/2025

Hills I will die on 100% of the time :
Downhill is most often a posture , and your " low withered" horse , indeed has a wither.

🔝 Picture June 2024
⬇️ Picture August 2025

👉 wither has come up
👉 Doesn't look like a compressed blob 😆
👉 Roach in the lumbar is almost gone
👉 thoracic sling is starting to do it's job

Now it's time to build some strength the right way 💪

08/10/2025

If you're like me , when you see a problem with your horse and have the tools .. you're gonna want to fix it !

Recently , Martha had some big hoof angle changes . In theory , they are a good thing and bring her alignment 👌. However.. I'm seeing a few things since the shoeing change up , that I don't like . Her body is sensitive , and even a degree or 2 change is A LOT for her and many other horses

This evening I quite literally threw the kitchen sink at her ..
✅BTMM
✅ Kinesio taping
✅ Surefoot pads
✅ Elevating her front end on a platform
✅ Shoulder in, in hand

I treated it like an Orange Theory inspired circuit . 2 minutes on the pads , 3 minutes on the platform , 2 minutes BTMM , etc .

About 15 minutes in , Martha flipped me the bird 🖕. She wanted to sit and process on the platform , allowing her lumbar and LS joint to decompress and her hind legs to find some space, and I gave her the " times up ! Onto the next element !" .

She wouldn't move, initially . I cued her to back off, and she did. Then promptly stepped her front feet back up on the platform, refusing a forward cue once again

Tonight's lesson? Pick one or 2 things. Follow a theme . Tonight , I was trying to work on stability and body awareness , but also some lateral , but also helping her integrate the hoof angle changes- it was just too much . She was trying to process what her body was feeling during each element , and I wasn't letting her .

I don't like to see her body go backwards, and perhaps this is a bit of me having to swallow my ego and evaluate if the shoeing change *I* think is right for her , is what *she* thinks is right for her .

We ended the session with ME on the surefoot pad ( creating this post 😆), letting her process for a solid 20 minutes .

08/09/2025

Limiting bookings for the rest of August ! Currently booking into the week of the 18th

07/10/2025

I'm halfway through my 12th season , and lately I've been reflecting on some of the learnings and perspective changes I've had over the years . They're not necessarily backed by "science " but working on several thousand horses should count for something 😁
PART 1
1)" Wiggly" horses are unstable horses . They don't need more strength, they need stability . In fact most horses I come across don't need to be stronger , they need to be more stable.
2) Foals should only be halter broke prior to weaning , out of absolute necessity . I cannot stress how fragile the structures in their neck are
3) Thoracic sling isn't a buzzword. We have to stop obsessing over the hind quarters and chasing horses into front ends that cannot lift or support a lowered croup
4) Cookie cutter physio plans don't work . And yes , I used to develop those for owners . Us owners need to learn how to read our horse and step outside of the " week 1 , trot 4 minutes , week 2, trot 6 minutes ", plans . Those never solve the root dysfunction that led to the injury in the first place !
5) Horses don't just step in gopher holes and end up with a catastrophic soft tissue injury . The soft tissue is not as fragile as we think .. but if the loading pattern has been compromised for weeks , months , years .. the trip into the gopher hole is just the straw that broke the camels back
6)Poles and hills are not a miracle worker and are over prescribed . Especially to horses that are already stuck in some degree of flexion . Most horses are being put into pole programs with no correct muscle activation = even stronger compensation patterns .
7) The poll " issue " your horse has .. is being driven by an issue into the hind quarters , more often than not
8)ALL equine professionals need to start acknowledging that nerve compression is a very real source of lameness and behavioural issues for many horses . The nerves and nervous system require a specific approach. The soft tissue and mental state must be addressed together.
9) it's not always pain . But it's ALWAYS something .

✨If you're not learning , you're not growing ✨

07/07/2025

Booking into the week of the 21st for local to Saskatoon ( a few spots earlier if I'm already in your area )

06/01/2025

Saskatoon area , I am currently booking into the week of June 23rd .

05/29/2025

Booking into the week of JUNE 23 ! I do have limited availability for areas I am already booked in June 1-22

05/26/2025

June is already 1/4 booked solid ! Message to get yourself on the books

05/15/2025

Melville and up to Yorkton, I still come your way ! Several times between June - October if I have numbers. If you're an old or new client and would like to book me ( and we haven't been In contact this spring ) send me a message ! Currently arranging trips in June

05/09/2025

I have very little availability left for MAY!

04/30/2025

💫No Body System Works Alone 💫

Martha has been violent with her left ear and left side of her AO joint the last 2 weeks . Yesterday, she missed her right lead several times and I could barely get near the maxillary branch of her trigeminal nerve . Swipe➡️ for a graphic from Online Pet Health . The green nerve is the maxillary, blue opthalmic, orange mandibular.

Initially , I blamed the fancy new anatomic cavesson I bought for her . Martha is a headshaker, and I have to be very careful with the gear she wears . But I haven't had that on her since she became unhappy with her ear 2 weeks ago .

Is it her teeth ? She is booked in for dental work next month , but maybe I've let her go too long ?

I felt like I was doing all the things ... Working on the nerves in her face and neck , back to the gear I know she tolerates well, pillar 1 /btmm and meaningful ground work to ensure her AO joint is functioning as designed.

I decided last night just to do a full session on her , starting at her scapula . My initial thought was simply because I knew she wouldn't tolerate her head being touched .

That's when I saw it ...

Her twisted sternum . Compressing her brachial plexus and all the connecting peripheral nerve branches . It wasn't an extreme twist , but it was there .

Her scapula and sternum released fairly easily . Martha immediately released and rubbed the left side of her face that has probably been burning the last 2 weeks . I reassessed , and no sensitivity to her face or ears .

Apparently even after 12 years in the Bodywork space , I needed a reminder that no body system works alone 😉. Horses are humbling...

04/28/2025