Louise Mauferon Vernet - Equine Osteopath

23/01/2026

Although the cold is gone, the rain has replaced it and we are still very much in winter. So let this be your yearly reminder that it’s ok to slow down during this season, and to let yourself and your horse take a little break 😉

22/01/2026

Fascia, the perfect mechanical culprit?

Many moons ago when I was writing my thesis I was reading a book in which the author described fascia as the "perfect mechanical culprit".

The author was arguing that, by it's continuity and omnipresence in the body, a restriction in fascia in one area of the body would impact several structures and, with more or less time, impact the whole body biomechanics.

And to be fair to her, it is an excellent point. Manual practitioners are very familiar with that satisfying moment where, after working on the tissue of an area, another suddenly softens.

But it is truly just mechanics or is there more?

Of course there's a mechanical component to this phenomenon, the same way that if I pull on a blanket attached to a fixed point, I create tension throughout.

But fascia is so much more than a perfect mechanical culprit.

It's an rich sensory organ with over 250 millions nerve endings. It's rich in proprioceptors and mechanoreceptors. It's constantly giving feedback to the central nervous system and is considered the largest sensory organ of the body.

So with this much interaction with the nervous system, is the fascial response truly only mechanical? Is it fair to only consider this tissue as the perfect mechanical culprit, or is it reducing this incredible tissue to its most basic property?

Join the amazing Rebeccah Baylis, Jo Rose and myself this April for our Integrated Fascia Therapy Diploma. And for those who can't make this year, our 2027 waitlist is open.

Can't wait to spend hours and hours talking about this incredible organ 🥰

08/01/2026

I wrote this a couple of years ago, and it's part of why I'm so happy to be working on this diploma for bodyworkers with my wonderful colleagues Jo and Becky 🥰

Fascia and its ability to adapt

Fascia is the most incredible tissue:
- it's everywhere in the body, literally.
- It's continuous, meaning it's one of the major tissue that creates unity in the body
- It carries all the blood vessels and nerves
- It has loads of different textures, some fascias being strong, dense and unidirectional while others are loose, supple and allow movement in all directions.
- It's incredibly smart.

It's the last part that I want to talk about. Fascia is smart. I'm sure there is another way to describe it, but that's the way I've always wanted to describe it because,in a way, I think it is.

Fascia has the ability to change its density in response to use.

This means that the more your horse uses an area of their body, the more collagen fascia cells lay and so the more dense fascia becomes. It's truly mind-blowing and one of my favorite thing about this tissue.

This ability to respond to use has various benefits such as making muscle contraction more effective and protecting muscles and tissues from tear, but it also has downfalls.

When fascia gets more dense, it also looses mobility and suppleness and in the end, restricts movement. This has a knock on effect throughout the body as all tissues are interconnected and each joint relies on the mobility of the others to perform their normal range of motion.

A horse will naturally rely on certain areas of the body more than others. You may have heard, for example, of a horse having a dominant front leg. This is very much like us being right handed or left handed, and it comes with all the implications of relying more on one limb than on another.

A horse will also naturally compensate and where necessary, adapt, to trauma and injuries that happen naturally through life. You may not think twice about that time your horse escaped the field, fell on its bum in the middle of the yard, slipped, slid, cantered off and was finally caught by the muck keep, because your horse wasn't lame after.
But not being lame and being fine are 2 separate things, and although your horse may not have hurt themselves enough to become lame, the body will still have gone through a lot, each muscle contracting and tensing up in order to protect joints and tissues from tear and damage.

This will also, if unattended, develop movements where an area is more relied upon because other areas have become stiff and immobile following this event. And through all of this, fascia adapts to facilitates the body's ability to keep moving forward and surviving, laying extra collagen to protect and support the current movement, no matter how bad that movement is.

And all of this is before we even take being ridden into consideration!

Of course there are other amazingly smart mechanisms in the body. But for me, fascia will always be one of the most incredible one.

30/12/2025

Postgraduate Diploma in Integrated Fascia Therapy

I've been incredibly lucky to be asked by Jo Rose and Rebeccah Baylis, two amazing therapists and colleagues of mine, to participate in this diploma, and I couldn't be more excited to share this project with everyone.

My passion for fascia started in 2014 when I chose my thesis subject. At the time, the research was in its first boom and getting to spend a whole 8 months buried in it was pure joy. My conclusion from those 8 months was simple: everything we do, as therapists, involves fascia. Everything we rely upon, is fascia. And almost everything that responds to our hand, is fascia.

Researchers have kept going for the past 11 years, bringing more and more depths and understanding to this incredible tissue. And our aim is to share everything we know on this subject to help support animal bodyworkers in their practice, in one extensive Postgraduate Diploma.

From feel to techniques, anatomy to metabolism, visceral to muscle, immune response to the relationship with the autonomic nervous system, we're going all in.

For more info, contact Jo Rose from Jo Rose Holistic Therapies and Training or check out her website at https://www.rose-therapy.co.uk/courses/postgraduate-diploma-in-integrative-fascia-therapy/

22/04/2025

Softer will get you further faster

Something I wish everyone who works or owns horses knew, is this. Softer will get you further faster with horses.

This doesn't mean not having safe and clear boundaries when being around horses. These keep us and them safe.

What this does mean, is that horses respond well softness. They relax more, they trust more, and so they open up and give more in return.

Recently I was teaching a CPD course on joint alignment. I love doing this CPD because my techniques are soft and look like nothing, but they work incredibly well, and it often surprises people to see it.

During the course I talk a lot about not fighting with our patients and working with them, I explain how I take my time and adjust what I do to what they tell me they're comfortable with.

As we were talking about these concepts and I was encouraging people to slow down on some techniques so that they could test joint mobility further while really listening to the horses feedback, we started talking about what people expect when they call a bodyworker.

Because I know that how I work isn't how people expect me to work. They expect movement, elbow grease, leg lifting and joints popping. And instead I give them stillness, slow movements, and the odd manipulation if needed.

But the reason I still get work is because this approach works incredibly well.

Wanting to make sure I always gave my best to horses, I have tried a lot of ways of working. And what I've seen again and again is that they respond best to slow, soft, kind techniques.

Their bodies relax, their mind start to trust and we take it further and further into their fascia, their emotions and their energies. Deeper and deeper we go.

Most therapists know this. But a lot are worried about looking like they're doing nothing in front of owners. And I get it.

But here's the thing.

By not showing owners that softer is better, we perpetuate the idea that horses need to be "man handled". That the way to interact with them is through fast, big and impressive movements. And I think that's a disservice to people, and most important, it can be a disservice to horses.

Because truly, when it comes to bodywork at least, I can tell you that slow, soft and "looks like nothing", usually is where the deep changes occur.

25/03/2025

On Sunday I came back from co-leading 3 days of equine anatomy deep dive for a group of French osteopaths.

These weekends are always wonderful, and I’m so grateful I get to do them with the best people.

💜🐎Equine Anatomy Weekend🐎💜
🙌A fabulous 3 days of learning & exploring with awesome therapists 🇫🇷

🙏Massive thank you to my amazing team 🙏

🙏Louise Mauferon-Vernet 🫶
🙏Anais Delanoy 🫶
🙏Alix Tidmarsh 🫶
🙏Louise Molcher 🫶

12/03/2025

There's something so incredibly beautiful in seeing the changes in a patient that had so much discomfort.

From the way they move to the texture of their muscles that go from rock solid and tender to soft, open and comfortable, it's a really special feeling.

But I would say the best feeling is noticing how different they feel within themselves and how that changes their behaviors.

Usually horses that have quite a lot going on tend to be more agitated during their first sessions. Some don't understand what they're feeling, some are so uncomfortable that they're just not used to standing still and coming into their bodies, some have intense emotions that they don't know how to handle, and so on.

And so they move around, they distract themselves with leadropes and pockets, they "anxious eat", you know, when they almost look angry with their haynets or just eat as quickly as they can.

But usually after a few sessions, you start to notice the difference.

They're able to come into their bodies and process for longer periods of time. We go from 10 seconds to 10 minutes of being able to stay with the feelings and process.

They interact more with us and with more purpose. From horses who just want to be close while they process, to others who want full blown cuddles (extremely rare but always a heart melting moment), to others who know that taking just one step away from me is enough, that they will get their space with that cue and that they will have the space to come back when ready...

It's absolutely incredible.

It's an unspoken agreement and understanding that they are not only safe, no matter how big their feeling and pains are, but also seen and acknowledged in how they need to deal with their feelings.

This trust and understanding builds over small interactions during each sessions, until they finally feel it with certainty.

Honestly, for me, it's the moment where they look like they come to peace with themselves and come to life with a new sense of calm available to them.

And I will never tire of being present for those moments ❤

03/03/2025

Earlier this week I did a photoshoot with Toni from .co.uk.

We borrowed a few horses and Toni took pictures as I treated them.

And the result is just so beautiful!

Thank you Jaime Stephens for letting me use your horses as models.

And thank you Toni for taking such beautiful pictures and for editing them at the speed of light.

I can't wait to use them all for future posts❤

09/01/2025

I've been trying to find what I wanted to say for the first post of 2025.

Happy new year?

Talk about resolutions?

But the truth is, even though we've entered a new numerical year, we're still deep in winter.

And so rather than setting new goals or "get going", this time of year feels more like an invitation to slow down and reflect, to enjoy the warmth of our home with the people we love and to plan ahead for spring when we can wake up with the rest of nature.

And I don't mean we should do nothing, this ins't how our world currently works.

But I think finding small ways of embracing the colder/darker months can really make a difference in our energy levels and how we feel through winter.

So if you've been struggling to get the energy for the new year, remember that we are still in the middle of winter, and that it's ok to slow down with your horse, to enjoy shorter or less active rides, to opt for groundwork, or to not ride for a few days and just put your horse in the field.

Take the pressure off and embrace winter for what it can be: a slow season ❤

Pic of my window view on the first few days of January in central France.

30/12/2024

This year has been such a wonderful and beautiful year.

I got to marry the most amazing person, twice.

I saw the people close to my heart more than I have in years and it really shifted my priorities.

I met so many amazing horse owners.

I shared my approach to the body with amazing and caring bodyworkers of all horizons.

I learned and I grew and I'm so grateful.

But it was also an incredibly sad year.

I lost patients who had reached the end of their time here, and even if this happens every year, this year was particularly tough.

Horses than I met when I was still a young practitioner, horses than I knew well, horses that I saw regularly, horses that taught me so much, horses that I loved being around, horses that I cared for deeply.

There are no words to express the very strange feeling that is to grieve animals that were never your own. But my god it's real.

I'll be forever grateful to the owners who trusted me for years and who introduced me to their horses. I feel this loss with you and I know how special each of those horses were.

So here's to those horses. May you always be as awesome as you were, wherever you are now. You were loved by many ❤

26/12/2024

Merry Christmas from Paris 🎄🥰

24/12/2024

This post has been going round again recently, and I still stand by it very much.

Long reining is an incredible tool for both rehab and training, and I can't recommend having lessons with a skilled "long reiner" enough 🥰

I love longreining. SO MUCH. Whenever I meet a horse that has been diagnosed with kissing spine, I always recommend it, alongside pole work.

But if your horse was recently diagnosed, I'm guessing that this is not what your vet suggested. I bet that what your vet recommended was weeks of pessoa lunging, gradually going from walk only to walk trot and canter.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not a fan of this gadget. Nope, not enough. I really REALLY don't like this gadget. I don't want to say hate, but I'm not far.

It's often used too short and so almost always restricts the lenght and movement of the neck. So instead of having a long relaxed neck with a long and relaxed back, leaving room for core and back muscle to developp, we have restriction of movement, tension and compensation.

And even if you try to use it in a way that allows for neck movement, the actual ropes aren't long enough for a normal sized horse to move freely in it!

Bad stuff, especially on a body that's trying to recover from pain, and potential surgery 🙄

On the other hand with long reining, the neck can be as long and relaxed as you let it be, you have a lot more power as the handler, and I can tell you that every horse that I've worked with turned a corner the day their owner learned how to long rein.

The truth is that to this day, I still haven't found a gadget that works better.

So you want to know what my best advice is for your rehab?

Ditch the gadget and learn longreining from a good trainer instead.

You're welcome 😂