Corinne Metcalfe McTimoney Animal Therapy

15/08/2023

Absolutely love this. Horses are individuals, riders are individuals and the symbiotic partnership between the two is integral to a happy horse. There are no quick fixes, ever!! None of us ever stop learning, but sadly not everyone is open to this continual journey.

The juxtaposition between having a happy horse and having a fixed horse:

At the start of my equine physio career I sat firmly in the camp of basically everything could be 'fixed' by doing the right exercise.

By this I mean quietly micromanaging the horse to make sure they moved in perfect posture. Always.

And when they fell out of that "perfect" posture, I had many tools adorning my toolkit to shoe-horn them back in.

I knew about head and neck positions.
I knew about the position of the spine.
I knew about vertical balance.
I knew about relaxation.

But I hadn't learned that you could adjust the orientation of all of the above, but the bracing could still be there.

Because I was taught to steamroll through fascia like it didn't exist. In bodywork, training and management.

And I also hadn't learned that in many situations you can take problems away quite simply by making your horse happy.

No need to over train, counter condition or expose.

And that actually, it's reasonable to recognise that some things DO in fact need rectifying - but it's not appropriate to rectify them YET.

And I think this is my most favourite rabbit hole to be dragged down yet - because with learning to truly unwind the brace, instead of focusing on the absolute biomechanics of everything:

I've been invited into that space where I'm presented with a mirror.

Where the natural inclination is to 'do' is overwritten by 'being-.

Probably my most profound learning experience to date is learning that, despite having a great deal of tools in the metaphorical tool kit, sometimes the skill comes from sitting quietly and minding your own rhythm.

Is the problem you see really the problem you have?

And is the plan you've made going to solve the problem or serve as a sticking plaster? ♥️

20/11/2022

Great news!
registered

Another busy day promoting RAMP at London Vet Show 2022. We are delight that the British Equine Veterinary Association have issued this statement for RAMP to launch at the show.
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10/11/2022

This ⬇️💯

WHY ARE DRAW REINS A BAD IDEA?

I could write a very long, technical explanation, but it’s really quite simple. Draw reins place the horse’s mouth at the fulcrum of a lever, one end of which is fixed (the girth), the other end is totally reliant on the feel, or lack of, in the rider’s hands. It is very, VERY easy to over-shorten them.

• They shorten and compress the neck
• They force the horse to close the angle in his gullet, crushing the larynx, parotid and restricting the hyoid apparatus. This also creates hyperflexion in the upper neck, damaging joints and ligaments.
• Compression at the base of the neck will cause most horse to drop through their chest and withers to try to fit the vertebrae into the smaller area they have been given. Rather than a regular, smooth curve at the base of the neck, you then have an ’S’ bend. This drives more weight through the horse’s front legs, making them ‘on the forehand’. Ironic, given that one of the supposed benefits of draw reins is to create lightness in the forehand (actually, they just encourage the horse to sit behind the contact).
• Dropping through the base of the neck will create hollowness under the saddle.
• With all that compression going on in front, any energy created by the hind limbs simply cannot be transmitted forward. There will be a ‘log jam’ somewhere in the middle, probably right under the rider.
• Often, because of this, horses will simply trail their hind limbs.
• A study by Bystrom, et al showed that head and neck angles were significantly decreased, and limb kinematics were affected by the use of draw reins. Roepstorff, et al, found that the use of draw reins influenced ground reaction forces at trot.

We are all familiar with the concept that the horse’s hind end is his ‘engine’. Pulling the front end in and forcing an outline effectively stalls that engine, and creates a chain of damaging load patterns, which will ultimately lead to injury.

Some would argue that only skilled riders should use draw reins. I would argue that really skilled riders have no use for them. If the horse is putting his head up, strong or leaning (already on the forehand, fyi), it is the rider’s responsibility to work out why. This could be due to discomfort, lack of training, or a combination of the two. The horse needs to be shown how to better carry himself through improved hindlimb engagement and posture, which will, in turn, lighten the forehand and allow a soft, lengthened neck to a light, elastic contact.

There are no short cuts to helping the horse find balance under the rider.

The picture illustrates how the horse will sit behind the contact, is compressed through the gullet and over flexed in the upper neck. You can clearly see that the horse’s face is behind the vertical and there is tension in the neck muscles. There is not even any contact on either sets of reins – it is common for horses to do this to avoid uncomfortable mouth pressure, and too often gets confused for being ‘light in the contact’.

You might think it would be a physiotherapist's dream, fixing problems caused by improper use of gadgets - but I'd much rather identify why the horse is having difficulty balancing himself, correct any musculoskeletal imbalances, and help the rider help the horse in a sustainable way.

Byström, A., L. Roepstorff, and C. Johnston. "Effects of draw reins on limb kinematics." Equine Veterinary Journal 38.S36 (2006): 452-456.
Roepstorff, L., et al. "Influence of draw reins on ground reaction forces at the trot." Equine Veterinary Journal 34.S34 (2002): 349-352.

31/10/2022

Looking to arrange a day in Ulverston and surrounding areas.…please PM me if you would like a visit 🐎

05/08/2022

Support evidence that manual chiropractic treatment reduces sensitivity to pain along the thoracic and lumbar musculature with independent laterality effects at different sites. Further research is warranted with larger cohorts, repeatability and over a longer period

13/07/2022

13/06/2022

I will be in the Ulverston/Barrow area on Monday 20th June. Please PM me if you would like an appointment 🐎

11/06/2022

This is a great article and sadly very true. IMO too many modern sport horses are bred for unnatural movement rather than correct conformation and soundness 😞

SOUNDNESS is such an important topic from a breeding point of view. Many dressage horses seem to require specialist treatments during their careers nowadays, and I wonder whether this is because we are now breeding horses to have such huge, elastic paces that their bones and joints can’t quite kee...

06/03/2022

Do you know what qualifications your animal physiotherapist, chiropractor or osteopath has???

By using a RAMP registered practitioner, you can relax in the knowledge that not only do their qualifications meet RAMP’s gold standards but they also carry out yearly training to maintain that standard.

www.rampregister.org

04/03/2022

⬇️⬇️⬇️

Qualified vs Non-Qualified Saddle Fitters.
Do YOU know the difference?

Did you know that ANYONE can call themselves a Saddle Fitter? My mum, who writes books, has never seen inside a saddle, and wouldn’t know the difference between a dressage or a jump saddle… she could set up as a ‘Saddle Fitter’ tomorrow with NO training. None. Nothing. Niente. Zilch.

‘WHAT?!?’