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ALD Equine Solutions, Perth (2025)

03/11/2025

As a professional try not to be a gollum😄 your clients never want you to utter the words "my precious".

Let's face it when we step out into the world of therapy we think we are the best thing since sliced bread, and there is nothing wrong with that we have to be confident in what we do because we dont work in an enviroment where a boss will give us a pay rise or a gold star if we do good we work in a world of we have to believe we are doing our best because we often are.

Coming into a world of what therapy should look like and offering something different taught me to be less offended if I was the second choice, heck I didnt even mind being last choice I was after all that wierd therapist who just placed hands on the horse 😃

I got used to the ooh the horse likes what you do so its a treat, and we will still get the "proper" therapist in for the crank and crack 😅

In the beginning I would stand back admire my work and think jeez that horse looks amazing, the report back would be the horse has gone the best it ever went and then my smile would fade as I was put on the shelf for the next visit as the regular therapist would make a return, I would take it personal "didnt they like me", worse thoughts would happen "did i hurt the horse", and my enthusiasm dimmed a little as I became the other therapist, I kid you not i used to work on a horse and watch the thanks post and I was always omitted because I was the unknown therapist like humph!!

But then I came back down to earth and realised it doesn't matter😃

I am not gollum and my clients are not something that i have the exclusive right to, in fact nothing makes you do a good job then someone coming in after you and checking your work.

Who cares as long as a good therapist is seeing the horse if they have me then another therapist every 3 months then that is good as the traditional timeline was 6 months which is way to long as things can occur and be dealt with alot easier if caught earlier.

Each therapist is aiming for the same goal we just do things differently, if your training has been to focus on an area of dysfunction then having someone else who looks for the aftermath of dysfunction means you are covering every weakness that may arise, if someone only exclusively uses machines then its good to have someone who only uses their hands

We may find different things, it doesn't mean the other didnt find it (unless its an old issue), it simply means it may have arisen between the visits from your therapist.

I work alongside many other different types of therapists there is a world of choice out there for the owner and being part of the horses care team should be enough we dont need to dominate we need to co exist and even if we dont believe in one way it doesn't mean we have to be offensive to the owner who is trying their hardest to make their horses life a little bit more easier.

I have been the outsider peering through the therapy window, tapping (with a soft touch 😀) to be let in and faced loads of backlash from others who were afraid of change, i dont want to be that therapist who slams the window shut on other new ways of doing things

So dont feel disheartened if the phone doesn't ring off the hook because the world doesn't know how amazing you are 😉, you have to get out there and show the world and even if that means you dont have exclusivity it doesn't mean the horse loses out for regular therapy is still in its infancy, and owners have a huge choice and that can only be a good thing.

Ps dont badmouth other therapists its not the way to get business,.promote yourself by the standard of your work just because a therpist didnt do a good job it doesn't mean all in that modality are bad it just means like in every walk of life some are better than others, our job is to work on the horse not to police the whole therapy industry.

22/10/2025

🤔 Not one professional is the same 🤔

Here's what I mean by this. Lets take my lovely bunch of vet physio girls. We met 12 years ago. Some of us had background in working with top class competition horses, some just owned horses and some very little horse experience at all.

We then all went through the same lectures, but some of us took more information in in the classroom, others took more information in in the practicals.

We then went off and did placements with different physios and learnt different skills.

So even on the day we all passed our exams and got the same title of Veterinary physiotherapist presented to us- our experiences through life would mean we would all treat a horse differently and see things from slightly different perspectives from day one. We were not carbon copies of each other.

10 years on, this divergence has continued. We have followed our own paths, gathered experience through our work and learnt off different people. We continue to learn off each other.

Does that make me better than my fellow professionals? No.

Does that mean that sometimes I can't quite figure something out but somebody else can straight away? Often.

I know how I treat now is VERY different to what I was taught 10 years ago, but thats it, we all bring a unique gift to the table.

So when somebody says to me 'the last therapist didn't tell me that or pick up on that'. That is ok! We all see life through a different lens.

That therapist is no less than me, there's probably things they picked up on that I haven't. I've read reports off other physios before and thought 'bloody hell I don't know anything! ' but I can guarantee they'd read my report and think the same!

So I'm not saying you must frantically use every professional in the area, but it's ok to get a second opinion.

As professionals we should be able to allow that to happen, for the good of the horse and not try bring that other professional down. (I know it's awful for the old imposter syndrome when people go elsewhere!).

We don't have all the answers and by working together, listening and learning, we can collectively improve the lives of horses. Instead of creating a world of ego and divide.

This doesn't just apply to therapists. This applies to vets, hoof care professionals, saddle fitters, behaviourists, trainers, dentists (everyone!).

I also feel it crosses in to different professions. This is holistic. I cannot treat a horse without understanding feet, saddle fit, dentistry, behaviour, nutrition etc. Just because that isn't my area of expertise doesn't mean I don't have valuable knowledge in those areas, so why are we shot down for suggesting there may be an issue in one of these areas? Who is that helping?

The owners who we work for also bring ideas and knowledge to the table through their experiences which is also invaluable. I often feel owners are quickly silenced when faced by professionals. They are often the experts on their own horses. I love nothing more than listening and learning off my clients.

So lets stop trying to bring each other down with ego or getting on the defensive when somebody suggests a different view point. Instead lets open our minds, bring forward our own unique gift and work together to help horses. After all, thats why we entered this profession in the first place, is it not?

21/10/2025

DOES YOUR HORSE WANT TO WEAR A RUG? ASK THEM!

Owners and riders often worry about whether to rug their horses, and over-rugging is increasingly flagged as a welfare concern. Constant or heavy rug use can compromise natural behaviour and thermoregulation: horses rely on piloerection — the process where tiny muscles in the skin contract and raise the hair, trapping air within the coat, which is then warmed by the horse’s body and acts as an insulator. Rugs also make mutual grooming less likely.

In 2016 researchers in Norway decided to investigate whether horses prefer to be rugged or not — by asking the horses themselves.

Twenty-three horses — warmbloods and coldbloods — were taught to touch symbols representing ‘blanket on’, ‘blanket off’ or ‘no change’ to indicate their preference. Using positive reinforcement, they learned to tap the corresponding symbol with their muzzle if they wanted their rug removed or to have one put on.

Within about two weeks, every horse learned the task. Choices were recorded in sunshine, wind, rain, snow, and temperatures from −15 to +20°C.

What happened when they could choose? On warm, sunny days (≈20–23°C), horses wearing rugs asked for rugs off, while those already bare chose ‘no change’. On wet, windy, chilly days (≈5–9°C with rain), most bare horses asked for rugs on and those already rugged stayed rugged. Trainers controlled for human cueing and even used ‘sham’ handling so a horse who chose ‘no change’ still received the same fuss, reducing bias. Some horses became notably eager to speak up — and a few who asked to remove rugs were found to be sweaty underneath.

Generally, the coldblooded horses preferred to stay rug-less compared to the warmbloods.

Why this matters: giving a horse a say in whether they wear a rug respects their agency and helps prevent over-rugging, improving welfare.

Practical takeaways: match decisions to weather, coat, and comfort; check fit and freedom of movement; and build choice into daily care — present the rug, pause, read approach/avoidance, and be ready to change your plan.

This is an older study, but it’s especially pertinent at this time of year.

Study details: Mejdell et al., (2016) Horses can learn to use symbols to communicate their preferences for wearing a blanket. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 184, 66–73.

20/10/2025

Let’s talk about the sometimes confusing pyramid!! 30 years ago. I thought this thing was stupid. 20 years ago I thought it needed a few tweaks, and was generally confusing, and not really helpful. 10 years ago I realized it is absolutely genius.

Then over the last 10 years, I’ve incorporated more classical French flavor into my training and realize it’s possible to stand this thing on its head, but I don’t claim to be an expert at that. So for right now, let’s just focus on the genius that is the training pyramid.

The train pyramid comes from classical German - not modern German, and not classical French. Think Steinbrecht through Reiner Klimke, or the Spanish Riding School in Austria.

RHYTHM….When you first start a young horse, they don’t know that leg means forward. They don’t know how to steer. So we do some groundwork to teach them what we can. If we are looking at the classical German system, this probably means work on the lunge line, maybe in some loose side reins, where the goal is just to get them out on a basic circle traveling at a consistent acceptable speed. When we first climb on, we are going to repeat that goal… don’t get stuck, and don’t run away. At this stage, we are also going to learn basic steering, but in the German school, we are going to focus a little more on advancing the tempo control. We want to be able to speed the horse up and slow them down with the seat pretty early in the training. (French classical would work on bending and steering first)

RELAXATION…. This one doesn’t translate great. Read the subheading instead. Let’s start over….
ELASTICITY AND SUPPLENESS… bendy bendy bendy bendy. If a horse won’t trot past the scary corner, your best friend is circle circles and a rudimentary shoulder in. So when we say relaxation, think about how tight a horse gets when they are thinking about losing their brain, and then how do you relax them? You bend them. It might be some rudimentary bending initially. Obviously you need contact in order to bend. The pyramid is NOT saying that you’ll ride on a loose rein until the next step. Ride with the best connection that you and the horse are able, but at this stage, you’ll probably have to pull the horse’s nose where you want it. 🫣 yes I know that sounds horrible, but that’s why this stage is called relaxation and not “ perfect proper bend”!!! We want it to be that every time you pick up a rein, the horse responds and softens. That’s what this stage is about.

CONNECTION…. Yay! Finally! Lol I say that sarcastically- you should be dabbling with connection and getting decent at it by the time the horse has 30 to 60 rides under saddle. (assuming that the Rider knows what they’re doing which is a pretty huge assumption!) These stages are not supposed to take a year each!!! You start your ride, making sure that you can get some steady forward tempo. Then you supple your horse up and make sure that you can separate steering and bending a little. And by the end of the ride, you should have some connection!! Have you ever ridden a horse that is heavy as hell in one rein?? I guarantee the horse was way too light in the other hand! If your horse is leaning constantly on the right, it’s most likely because they have zero acceptance of the hand on the left. This is the stage to fix that. This is when we build inside leg to outside rein connection!!

IMPULSION…. Energy, hmmm, didn’t we do this already? Not really because before our horse was a sack of potatoes and we were just trying to get him to speed up or slow down, but he wasn’t connected yet. Now that we have some connection we should be able to ask for the type of energy that gets the horse to lift the thoracic sling!!! This is thoracic sling stage!! if you felt it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, there’s nothing that anyone is going to write that’s going to explain it fully. But now when you play with the energy, it’s way different!

STRAIGHTNESS…. annnnnnnd, enter the confusion!!! This is the part where everyone gets dumbfounded. Isn’t straightness like the first thing we should be teaching???? Yes!!!! That is if you think getting a horse to go in a straight line without completely bulging either shoulder, counter bending, we’re trying to gravitate to the middle of the arena is what we mean by working on straightness! That part is so Elementary they didn’t even include it on the pyramid. Think of that as in the basement.
The straightness we are talking about now is so much more!!! This is also the part that when ignored, causes lameness!! In this stage we are making sure that in every single lateral movement, the horse is using all four legs evenly, offering correct pole flexion, not over bending at the base of the neck, flexing correctly through the rib cage, staying between our hands and legs, etc. If you have to hold your half pass together with your inside rein, your horse isn’t straight!!! Can us English speakers just rename this “ COMPLETE LATERAL BALANCE”????? Also, when you start trying to collect, the horse will use crookedness as evasion. Imagine you are holding a dress Dressage with at each end and pushing the two ends towards each other. We want the middle part to bow up, but it could potentially bow in any direction! Maintaining straightness is what allows us to prevent it from bowing sideways so that we can achieve a convex arch upwards

COLLECTION… I don’t know, man. I still suck at this part. I can get a horse to lift through the thoracic slang, amazingly well!!!! But I’m not great at getting them to REALLY sit behind. And that seems pretty common amongst those who practice the German system . (I think the French school gets better sitting behind, but doesn’t always get the lifted thoracic sling, which is why I’m all about learning both! As much as I love French, classical German has been more accessible.) but anyways, this stage is ultimately about piaffe and pirouettes, however, that doesn’t mean that you don’t work on it until you are at FEI level!!!!! if you have a horse that is dreadfully on the forehand, you are going to work on achieving a 50-50 balance as early in the process as you can! That horse may not be collectED, because we typically save that term for horses that are shifting more weight behind than 50%. But the horse might be collected for him at that stage. I’m tempted to make a graphic where I take the top half of the triangle and scale it way down and place it on top of the full size foundation to show what it looks like if you have, let’s say, a really well trained five-year-old horse! The foundation is pretty much completed (obviously every horse will need reminders) and then you are working on all three upper steps, but you have a lot of work to do with all three!

Then there is the French classical school, where we first get the horse to balance and then “add forward with an eyedropper” or whatever the quote is. Unfortunately, you almost have to learn both schools in their entirety and pure form before you can be be really good at picking back-and-forth and layering. And sadly i think most humans need more than one lifetime to really master both methods and then create something uniquely their own. Apparently, Nuño Olivia got it done, but it’s pretty well accepted that he wasn’t really able to pass that one to his students so much.

Anyways, you guys can add your own thoughts or argue as much as you want in the comments because I’m really not emotionally tied to the German train pyramid. Even if I have been thinking about the damn thing for three decades!!!

05/08/2025

Made an infographic for all of the people in the comments of the last post trying to deny the physics of how draw reins work.

No matter how “experienced” the rider is, draw reins are still a pulley system.

When a rider applies ANY pressure to the draw rein, it will pull the horse’s head to the direction of the other fixed point of the draw rein, which no matter whether they’re connected to the breastplate, saddle billets or Center of the girth results in the head being pulled down and inward.

Regardless of how you use draw reins, this is how the mechanics of pressure applied works.

If you’re going to use equipment, it’s important to actually understand HOW it works because being in denial of physics doesn’t change the experience for the horse.

If you don’t want your horse to have pressure pulling their nose in towards the chest, don’t use draw reins.

When you pull back or apply pressure to the draw rein, it pulls downward because you’re tightening the rein and thereby shortening the distance to the other fixed point of the draw rein, which pulls the head down and in.

21/07/2025

After the 1970s, horse trainers in some sports—particularly dressage, eventing and jumping, but now also in reining—placed increasing emphasis on head position under-saddle.

This steady march toward a very arched neck has led to the controversial and detrimental welfare concern of hyperflexing the horse's head and neck position, known as 'röllkur' in German.

The rewarding of roundness in horse sports resulted in judges penalising mouth opening as a ‘resistance’ or ‘evasion’.

This led to riders opting for nosebands in order to mask the horse’s signs of discomfort.

As time went on, increasing hyperflexion was accompanied by increasing tightness of nosebands, culminating in ‘crank’ nosebands which can deploy forces of up to 1400 mmHg, far higher than humans can withstand by a tourniquet and sufficient to cause permanent damage to the horse’s nasal bones.

Dr Andrew Mclean - Modern Horse Training: Equitation Science Principles & Practice, Volume 2

ALD Equine Solutions

03/11/2025

22/10/2025

21/10/2025

20/10/2025

05/08/2025

21/07/2025

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