Rose Kimberley BSc - Equine Sports Therapist

03/03/2026

Moving on a few weeks after attending the fantastic Soundness and Symmetry Conference it has got me thinking… (the speakers at the conference said that this issue perhaps highlighted more questions than answers and I think I agree!)

We are always striving for symmetry in our horses - BUT is this our horse’s detriment? Are asymmetries necessarily bad? Should we be changing them and in what cases should we not be?
Are these compensational? Are they adaptational?
For example a tennis player will have a higher level of bone density in their dominant arm. They wouldn’t need their other arm to be the same in this case… and this wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.

Are we as riders so obsessed with horses asymmetries we are ignoring rider crookedness? Do horses have a preferential leg - as in are they right or left handed like we are? What does this mean for them?

What about hoof asymmetry?
What about…
Genetics
Conformation
Trauma
Training or incorrect training
Saddle fit
Rider imbalance
Posture

🤯🤯🤯

23/02/2026

Decompartmentalising from a fantastic weekend away with hosted by Gillian Higgins all about soundness and symmetry. My brain is brimming with new ideas and a bit of a refresh. The speakers were truly inspirational and included Dr Sue Dyson, Dr Gillian Tabour, Dr Kevin Haussler, Dr Chris Pearce and a seriously interesting interview with Ros Canter on promoting Soundness and Symmetry in the elite event horse. Huge thank you to for being great company.

13/02/2026

The Canter
Canter is the only gait where the horse rocks from back to front
🟢 If you vary the speed of canter it encourages more movement and greater symmetry at the lumbosacral junction giving your horse a complete abdominal workout
🔵 Great for strengthening the thoracic
Sling muscles
🟡 Diagonal pairs in canter - they should land together. If they aren’t or if your horse is regularly disunited there could be a reason for this

05/02/2026

⭐️THE WALK⭐️
The walk as a gait is often overlooked. Working in walk has huge benefits…
🔵 Great way to develop muscles and stamina
🟢 The horse in walk can be safely worked for longer periods of time as it inflicts much less strain on the body
🟠 No suspension phase meaning that it’s a great way to mobilise a stiff back due to the spine being able to move more
🟡 In a good meaningful walk, the horse’s muscles are working much harder than you realise. Because there is much less elastic energy in walk than trot for example the muscles are actually working harder. Making it a great way to develop core strength - especially when poles/raised poles are introduced

Anna Beran “what does not work in a walk won’t work in trot or canter”

03/01/2026

To all my clients… whether you use me regularly or whether you have used me once I am forever grateful for your support. Wishing you all a happy new year ❤️

28/12/2025

The power of ‘backing up’

This simple, low impact exercise is beneficial for strengthening many key areas of the horse, including the flexor chain of muscles - particularly the hip and lumbosacral junction, thoracic sling and the iliopsoas muscles.

At the same time the horse is encouraged to mobilise lift and flex its back and increase rotation. Other benefits include the back and hamstring muscles are gently stretched. The horses weight is shifted back onto the hindquarters thus simulating collection.

This horse (my horse) has had his sacroiliac medicated and is on low intensity slow walk work (boring I know). This exercise is beneficial in getting him mobilised again - although care must be taken and not introduced too early in his rehabilitation.

Attention must be on straightness, head position and meaningful steps.

18/12/2025

Homework 📚 For most of my clients I will give them some ideas of some exercises or stretches they can do with their horses in between my visits. This is an example of what to look out for… in the first video I am doing some lateral tail pulls on this pony. The whole idea of this exercise is to stimulate the muscles associated with hindlimb lateral stability weakness, to mobilise the thoracolumbar region of the spine and to stimulate the abdominal muscles.

Here you can see that the targeted hindlimb muscles are being recruited by the abs are not. This could be for a number of reasons but important to check in with your bodyworker of choice to see if there may be a reason for this or to check your technique.

In the second video you can see that after a session with me and homework being correctly applied over the course of a month the targeted muscles are being recruited. A video of tail pulls to the back of the horse shows how the glutes are switching on and how the horse lowers its head to make the most of the stretch. 💪

13/11/2025

With the rise in popularity of the ex- racer here is a throwback to a little thoroughbred I had many years ago ‘Bobby’. He certainly didn’t have any trouble in the weigh department 😂

29/10/2025

Just wanted to give a shoutout to , a company I've been working with for a while now. My horses have never looked healthier and the savings on supplements are huge. If you've got any feeding queries, give Jonathan a call. Love the science-backed approach and the Dutch way of feeding makes complete sense.

10/09/2025

Such a useful low intensity tool 🔨

Backwards walking isn’t just reverse action 👇

The ‘back-up’ is a key exercise used in rehabilitation and now we have new evidence to support its effectiveness!

Eldridge et al. (2025) found unique hip extensor muscle activation and increased stifle and hock flexion with backwards walking.

This results of this study support the clinical use of this exercise to improve hind limb strength, stability, coordination and range of movement 👏👏

09/04/2025

After having Rupert a few weeks ago I am now back doing a bit of treating. Let me know if you would like an appointment 👶

05/03/2025

With spring just round the corner and hopefully the worst of the weather behind us these sunny days certainly do plenty for boosting the mood! So pleased with how Hugo is looking at the moment. So lucky to have the best nutrition advice from 🙏