Zephyn Equine Therapy

04/02/2026

Apologies for the lack of posts lately.
I've been crazy busy in my day job (NHS) and then busy studying my ongoing ortho and craniosacral coursework of an evening.

However today was a day off, and as my client postponed I had all day to faff with my boys. Luckily the rain stopped eventually and they enjoyed the hazel I foraged on Monday.

I'd love to delve deeper into Zoopharmacognosy at some point, but I've got enough on my plate just now 😅

26/01/2026

Places are available where I keep my boys.
A lovely environment with beach access for walking or riding.

Suitable for old, young, retired or ridden, there's a lovely mix of horses. Plus an equine massage therapist on site a lot of the time 😁

24/01/2026

Zephyr certainly knows how to banish my January blues 😋🤣🖤

21/01/2026

I've been meaning to get some linseed licks from Natural Horse Supplies for a while now and finally sorted it at the weekend.

I tried out the beetroot flavour today with mixed reviews from the horses at Broom track livery

Zeph said his palate wasn't grown up enough for that stuff, but Enfys and Finn gave it a big seal of approval 😁

I wonder what they'll make of the next one. I'm really wanting to try some of the water buffet selections too so watch this space....

17/01/2026

Very pleased to share this achievement with you all 😁
EQ Therapeutics provide very thorough indepth assessment courses, and I'm now on my way to completing my Hindlimb assessment which is due in March 😮
I promise I'll do some educational posts soon, I've lost the ability to pretype and schedule posts for some reason, so I have to get it all done in one go now.
I'll start soon with explaining a bit more about this certification and how it will contribute to my practice.

16/01/2026

This might be of interest, explains what craniosacral therapy is. I'm excited to be studying this with EQ Therapeutics this year.

16/01/2026

I had the pleasure of two new horses on Wednesday, both of whom won the 'horse I'd like to take home with me' award.
Jack is quite a busy little horse and doing his session in the turnout pen worked really well, allowing him to move around as he wished. Although being busy he still showed lovely responses to acupressure and diaphragm relaxation moves which was lovely to see.

Ollie was the opposite, a very quiet calm lad, but these horses can be misleading if you don't read them well. He's had a bit of soreness through his back recently, and was a little tense at first.
I used the diaphragm holds, gentle fascial release and compression to help him with this and the results were great.
I love how much influence gentle bodywork has ❤️

11/01/2026

The boys had a rude awakening this morning as I'd arranged for Emma (E.D Equine) to come and clean their manly bits.

Poor Finn had to put up with all his friends paying close attention 😅 Finn was fab while Zeph was a bit of a fidget, but Emma was so calm and gentle with them both.

Highly recommend her.

05/01/2026

I always see great benefits in horses after working around the thorax and diaphragm, even when I first started in my studies and didn't appreciate the finer details.

Now diaphragm work is one of my favourite areas to treat for pretty much every horse ❤️

I also recommend Integrated Veterinary Therapeutics podcasts and courses, and am looking forward to studying level 2 of postural rehabilitation very soon

Does your horse breathe?

It sounds like a simple question… but it’s one of the most powerful observations you can make!

Sign up to the FREE Posture & Behaviour Masterclass - Sunday January 18th
https://www.integratedvettherapeutics.com/registration-fb-jan26

Did you know that horses have active components of both inhalation and exhalation?

That means breathing requires muscular effort in both phases. (In contrast, humans only have an active inhalation.)

Some of the key players in breathing include:

- The abdominals (especially the re**us abdominis)
- Part of the thoracic sling (serratus ventralis)
- Back muscles (serratus dorsalis and iliocostalis)
- The intercostals (muscles between the ribs)
- The diaphragm

And here’s the important part:
These muscles are often restricted when posture is compromised.

🧐Observe how your horse breathes

- Take a quiet moment and simply watch:
- Is the breath expansive? Is the whole body involved?
- Can you see movement through the back and ribs?
- Or is the movement mainly in the flank, belly, or nostrils?
- Are the nostrils soft and open, or tight, flared, narrow, or tense?

❓Deeper questions to ask yourself - How long before your horse takes a deep breath?

-At the start of a groundwork session?
- After the saddle goes on?
- After you first get on?

And just as importantly… how do you breathe? Are you breathing in an expansive, connected way?

💫Why it matters - Your horse’s breathing gives you invaluable information about:

- Their physical, mental, and emotional state
- Rib freedom and motion
- Vertebral movement
- Diaphragm health and its connections (including the iliopsoas hip flexors that pass through the diaphragm)
- Core function

Consequences of poor breathing:

- Reduced ability to use the core effectively
- Mental and emotional bracing
- Physical bracing, decreasing biomechanical efficiency
- Reduced oxygen delivery to muscles, affecting energy production and recovery

💜 Breath is not just about oxygen.
It’s posture.
It’s movement.
It’s regulation.

Share if you found this post informative & listen to our podcast episode!

https://www.integratedvettherapeutics.com/podcasts/the-equine-functional-posture-podcast/episodes/2149131351

04/01/2026

It's been another beautiful dry winter's day up north, really good for the soul.

I've been pondering over how to develop this page over the coming year and would like some feedback please 🙏

Q) What kind of posts would you like to see more of?

I wasn't able to set up a poll, but for example..

*Same as usual- photos of my boys hanging out/updates on training etc

*More client photos

*More videos of me showing what I 'do' with the horses I see

*Educational posts - could be anatomy/pathology/training/bodywork or exercises I recommend

*Summat else 😁

Thanks for your input ❤️

03/01/2026

Today has been a bitter sweet day.
Took myself off for a walk to think about life, the universe and everything, it's 19yrs since my mum died, and she's the reason I got into horses in the first place. I'm pretty sure she sent me Finn, knowing how much I'd wanted a dun horse since falling in love with one at the riding school!

I went up above Haweswater, which is across the valley from where I used to keep the boys. Beautiful but very chilly blue sky day, which brought back some lovely memories, but also made me a little sad. I'll bring Zephyr back over sometime though and enjoy the views with him again.