Skelton Equine

15/08/2025

15/08/2025

❤️💯 "Horsemanship isn’t about giving orders, it’s about creating a conversation. It’s about leadership through honesty and trust, not force or fear. Every moment with your horse is a chance to build that connection, to listen and to lead with respect. Are you ready to move from dictatorship to true partnership? Watch now and discover the power of leading by example, not command."

15/08/2025

15/08/2025

Yes I know i am supposed to be doing the course but the doom phase is real 😃😃

We often hear the words "pain is in the brain" and while it is correct the brain does not feel pain because of the lack of nociceptors (specialised nerve endings), it is responsible for sending the signal of pain to the body in order to warn that area to down tools and limit activity, yet i find now we are so focused on the "nervous system" that we are beginning to lose sight that the areas of all the horse still need addressed and correct movement can only occur when the body is no longer on red alert

Muscles often lose out and are somewhat thought of as puppets besides structures like fascia but they are important in whole horse health and a severe muscle injury can takes months to heal
We must not forget every muscle will tell us a story what lies deeper so it is important that the health of these are

So if you horse has say done the spilts in the field we have to think, how much out of range did the muscles and joints go and how long would it take to heal and how quick we bring them back into work because there is no "lameness"

Has your horse scrambled over a gate?? Gone over a stable door with those hinds legs trailing mid air?? What about the illiopsoas or the groin muscles.

Often running your hands on the pectorals or hamstrings it may feel stringy like guitar strings and that can tell you a story of maybe the horses past incidents.

Rehab and recovery ? As I sit nursing a torn gastrocnemius i can tell you the pain is not there all the time but one wrong step and I dont know where to place my foot to alleviate the pain, my achilles tendon is affected, so what about the horse that stops dead, explodes we often miss muscle issues because we jump straight to a bone issue, yet the spasm from a sore muscle can be sporadic and intense.
Has your horse had surgery?? What about the muscle that was cut through ?? Is the area now weaker as scar tissue has taken over from healthy muscle tissue are we bringing the horse back to work to soon once the surgery sight has healed.

Rapid muscle loss or an injury must always be seen by a vet it is so important that the underlying issue is first diagnosed, recovery time can vary from a few days to months

Hope this helps xx

15/08/2025

🚩Horse with Sacroiliac SI joint pain? What if the real problem is in the HEAD? 🐴🧠

So my last post about horses and headaches went viral.
That brought about some great conversations and questions.
This post will hopefully start to answer some of those ❓️:

“Could my horse’s headache actually becoming from the hind end? Does he have a headache?, he's only ever been diagnosed with back pain and sacroiliac dysfunction. I am told his behaviour is just him."

Could this involve the sacroiliac joints?⁉️
Could it all be interlinked 🤔

⤵️ The Craniosacral Reciprocal System:

From an osteopathic perspective, your horse’s skull and sacrum work together in a finely tuned rhythm — known as the Primary Respiratory Mechanism (PRM).

This is a rhythmic, involuntary motion that is present throughout the entire body, but most noticeable in the skull and sacrum.
It moves in alternating phases of flexion and extension, with the skull and sacrum shifting in a coordinated way.
When that rhythm is disrupted, it can create tension, restriction, and compensation patterns far from the original problem.

📖 The dura mater — a strong connective tissue sheath — surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It’s not just a protective layer; it’s part of this living, moving system anchored at both ends of the body. When one end is restricted, the other end feels it.

Key Structures and Attachments:

Sacrum: The dura has a solid anchor at the second sacral segment S2, linking pelvic stability to the spinal system.

The filum terminale anchors the spinal cord and meninges to the coccyx (tailbone), providing stability. the filum terminale is a continuation of the pia mater, with contributions from the dura mater.

Foramen Magnum: At the opposite end, the dura grips firmly inside the skull at the foramen magnum — the gateway where the spinal cord exits the cranium.
Remember those headaches?!

Cervical Attachments: Just below, there’s a lighter connection at the second cervical vertebra (C2), before the dura “free-floats” along most of the spine.

Vertebral Periosteum: At each vertebral exit point, the dura merges with the vertebral periosteum.

The dura mater of the skull, does attach to the inner lining of the temporal, frontal, occipital, and sphenoid bones. The dura mater is a tough, fibrous membrane that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and it has several layers, one of which is firmly attached to the bones of the skull.

Think those hind end joints are the whole problem?

Sometimes, those sore SI joints are just the symptom, not the cause. Here are a few tell-tale signs the real trouble could be coming from further away in the body and of course one end affects the other, in both directions:

🚩 Ongoing headshyness or poll sensitivity
🚩 Back pain that keeps coming back, even after local treatment
🚩 Uneven muscle development along the topline or hindquarters
🚩 Pelvic restrictions that simply won’t release or keep returning after bodywork
🚩 Unexplained changes in ridden behaviour — especially during transitions or when engaging the hind end

The message :

🐎🐎🐎 WHOLE horse assessment!🐎🐎🐎

Let's not segregate areas of the body.

📌 Would you like me to follow this up with a post showing you exactly how to spot craniosacral imbalance in your horse — from the ground, before you even touch them? Comment below.

And… if you’d like to be first in the queue for practical ways you can help your own horse, drop your email using the contact form in the comments or DM it to me — you’ll be the very first to know when my new short video courses are released. 🐴✨

14/08/2025

It's never about a modality its how the individual applies it!!

Sniping comments, misunderstandings about how a modality changes from showing an owner to the path a qualified practitioner takes, bringing others down in order to build your modality up is not how things should be done.

Two people could qualify in one modality yet be so different in their approach you would not recognise they both have a similar training background, one may qualify yet never go out and work so only bring the tools of the modality of the time they qualified, another may encounter many horses every day changing their techniques adapting to each horse and eventually the two people can look very different.

Bringing a whole modality down because it didn't resonate with your experience is limiting the potential to explore, grow, and move beyond your one experience of an individuals application of the things they learned

What did they bring when beginning the modality ?? Did they have to unlearn previous applications so maybe found it harder than someone who came in with no prior experience, how is their application does one struggle to feel while another flows through the body like water.

It's not about modalities its always about the individual application behind it that makes every therapist unique and individual, its not just about techniques its how we live and breathe our life with horses, its bringing a little bit of who we are into our work, that is what makes us not a modality but a therapist.

I was always told never leave a door slammed shut on your way out, leave the door ajar because you never know when you may need to knock on it and ask to be let back in.

I remember one client who said we book you because we like you, we like the way you work, we like how you respect our horses, that is not taught in a classroom its who we are.

So if you like me are looking around thinking where are we at, why in a world of preaching kindness we see so much animosity. If you feel that how can we move forward I simply say if you cannot treat humans with kindness and kindness does not mean not holding people accountable for their actions or words, then how would you treat my horse if it disagreed with your opinion when working on it.

Choose a therapist because they are good at what they do regardless of the modality they chose to train with.

The horse always tells you the truth listen to them.

13/07/2025

Collaboration Over Competition: Why Quality Care Demands We Stay in Our Lane—Together

At MDR Equine Therapy Services, one phrase shows up in nearly every session we do:

Put the horse first.

It’s more than a tagline. It’s the foundation of everything we stand for. But in an industry that sometimes rewards speed over strategy and competition over community, this commitment gets tested—often.

Let’s talk about something that doesn’t get enough attention:
Why the best equine care happens when professionals know their scope, refer out freely, and choose collaboration over ego.

⸻

The Myth of the “One-Stop Shop” Practitioner

No one practitioner can be everything for every horse—and that’s a good thing.
The equine body is complex. Behavior, environment, tack, movement patterns, nutrition, past trauma—it all matters. And no single modality or background can cover it all.

As equine bodyworkers, our scope is clear: we assess soft tissue, we support functional movement, we listen to the horse, and we communicate what we find. What we don’t do? Diagnose injuries, replace veterinary care, or promise unrealistic results.

Staying within scope isn’t limiting—it’s responsible. It’s how we ensure the horse receives well-rounded, ethical support, not care based on guesswork or overstretching credentials.

⸻

Specialization Is a Strength—Not a Weakness

There’s power in knowing what you’re good at—and what someone else is better at.
Whether it’s a skilled chiropractor, an experienced behaviorist, a master saddle fitter, or another massage therapist with a different modality—we’re stronger as a team.

We often refer out to professionals we trust because we know that no horse benefits from tunnel vision. If your horse needs something outside of what we provide, we don’t hesitate to loop in others. In fact, we welcome it.

Working together doesn’t dilute our impact—it amplifies it.

⸻

The Danger of Competition-First Thinking

When equine professionals compete for clients instead of sharing knowledge or referring cases, horses fall through the cracks. Care becomes fragmented. Important signs get missed. And sometimes, horses are asked to tolerate techniques or approaches that aren’t a good fit simply because someone didn’t want to “lose a client.”

This mindset undermines progress. It erodes trust between professionals.
Worst of all—it puts the horse’s well-being second to someone else’s need to “prove” their value.

Let’s be real: The horse doesn’t care who gets the credit.
They care about clear, consistent care that respects their body and their voice.

⸻

Putting the Horse First Means Checking Our Ego at the Gate

Ethical care doesn’t always look flashy. It’s not always about big releases, perfect posture, or the fastest timeline. It’s about knowing when to pause. When to ask for another perspective. When to pass the reins to someone else.

At MDR, we believe in quality over hype. We build trusted referral networks. We communicate with your full care team. And we always—always—listen to the horse first.

That means we won’t overstep our scope to “prove” anything.
We won’t compete with your vet, your trainer, or another bodyworker who’s a better fit for a specific case.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about us.
It’s about the horse.

⸻

Let’s Redefine What Success Looks Like

Success in equine care isn’t about holding on to every client.
It’s not about who has the flashiest techniques, the most dramatic before-and-afters, or the longest waitlist.

Success is about showing up with integrity, collaborating with intention, and keeping the horse at the center of every decision.

When we each stay in our lane—but drive in the same direction—we create something powerful.
A network of support that truly serves the horse.

And that’s the kind of success MDR will stand behind—every single time.

13/07/2025

13/07/2025

Let them Fail

Yes, you read that right. Failing is part of learning. Are you a rider? Trainer? Student?
If you want to do justice to the horse you sit on, there is so much to learn, so much to know, so much knowledge , understanding, and feel,to acquire. Especially if fair to the horse horsemanship, is your goal . Believe me it takes a lifetime. Even if you are really trying.
These next words are for you. You will fail as you learn. That is a fact. Your horse will fail in either understanding or interpreting your signals as you embark on your journey together. All of that failing is normal and fine…part of the process.

Think of it this way. You are developing an interpretive language with another being. That is hard just by definition. Work at the speed and gait you feel most physically and mentally comfortable learning how to communicate in, and one which your horse can relax and focus on your signals. Step by step, interaction by interaction, build your language. I often start in walk…and then on to small doses of trot and canter as you progress, to check your skillset. Here are some truths.
You CANNOT let a horse lean on you. Balance on you, or get behind you. So… what is the option?
Let them fail…
Yes…….
LET THEM FAIL!!!!! Don’t hold them together. Even at walk you and your horses cannot balance on each other. Your horse needs to balance himself over his own feet and under your seat and you… need to balance yourself on his back as he moves. No gripping or holding yourself on by any sort of rein, seat,or leg pressure.
You need to be able to relax and neutralize anything that your horse might interpret as an aid, or a signal, easily and fluidly.
Then you need to hone the ability to isolate your parts so you speak to the horse with only the part of you that he needs to listen to. Yup… super hard. But certainly possible.

I like to think of all my pieces and parts having individual volume control. Until it becomes easy and automatic for you to be aware of all of the parts you could communicate with you will have to relax and learn to control the volume or dosage of any individual aid or part and make sure that the volume is turned down, “neutralized” on any part you do not want to speak with.

Then choose the aid you want to speak with. Use it the way you would if your horse was the best he could be and gauge your horses specific response closely.
Was there a reaction? Was it the correct reaction? If so relax the aid, which will then become the reward. Was there no response?
Then you must repeat the aid a bit quicker or louder with increasing dosage until you get your response… or close to it. Then relax the part that asked immediately.
From these small actions and reactions, you build your language, the vocabulary between you and your horse that both of you can rely on.

Be consistent. Be fair. Be happy with small progress. The basics truly are the most important thing. All of that starts with conversations with your horse where you are willing to let them fail as part of learning.
Cheers folks,
Yvonne

13/07/2025

Great explanation about the boundaries we need to set for ourselves and our horses or the ones we work with. Some Great comments in the comment section.

I never do this, but I am going to do this.

I am going to talk about safety.

And I am not going to mention hats once.

I’ve seen one too many sad stories about people tumbling off their horses, one too many melancholy pictures from A&E, one too many shy, shamed admissions that the nerve has gone.

People feel ashamed that they are afraid to get back on their horses after a nasty fall. But there are two kinds of fear: the useful, sensible fear that keeps us humans alive, and the paranoid amygdala fear that says everything is going to hell and we will never amount to anything. The first one is the one I listen to. I don’t, eccentric as it may seem, want to die.

That fear tells me a lot of good stuff. It tells me that if the red mare and I are out of practice, we will need to go and do a bit of preparatory work before we ride out into the hills again. It tells me that preparation and practice and patience are everything. It tells me not to rely on luck or what the hell; it tells me to do the work, day after day.

So, in our field, we do the work. We do it on the ground, for days and weeks and months, until the fear nods its head sagely and tells us we are ready. We do stuff which looks boring or nuts to a lot of people. And that’s because I don’t want to be the person who has to sit up all night in a chair because of seven broken ribs, or who can hardly speak and is the colour of putty because of a smashed up pelvis, or who is hobbling about on a broken ankle. I live alone. I have to do my work and look after dogs and horses. I can’t break my ankle.

I have a whole boatload of rules that many people will scoff at. I don’t care. For instance, I won’t get on a horse who can’t stand still at the mounting block. Won’t do it. It’s not only dangerous in and of itself, but that inability to stand is what my friend Warwick Schiller calls ‘bolting at the standstill’. That horse cannot control itself, and so we’re in trouble, right off the bat.

I spend years teaching my horses to control themselves. I learnt an entire new horsemanship from scratch to do this. It is never complete, because horses are prey animals and flight animals, but it goes a hell of a long way.

You literally can teach horses to think their way through problems, rather than react.

You can teach them to move easily between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, so they can bring themselves down after a fright.

I’ll give you a specific example: when Clova first came to us, it took her as long as forty-seven minutes to bring herself down. I once timed it on my telephone. And that was not after a fright, that was after the tiniest bit of pressure - just me asking her to trot round me on the rope. Forty-seven minutes. I stood and breathed and waited and broke my heart, a little, thinking of the things she must have been through in her life.

Now, it takes between three to seven seconds.

I watched her do it the other day, out on the trail. An unexpected duck flew up off the burn. It gave her a tiny fright. Four seconds later, she dropped her head, relaxed into her loose rein, and licked and chewed. We taught her that, because it’s a lifesaver, for her rider. It also makes her own life so much easier and happier.

We do a ton of other stuff that helps safety. We teach all our horses to stand still, we teach them all personal space, we teach them focus and connection. This means they won’t trample over us in fear. When horses get scared, they go blind. They’ll knock you over because they don’t know you are there. They are in full survival mode. I won’t work with horses like that. It’s not their fault, but they scare the jeepers out of me.

Actually, that’s not true. Our Freya was like that, and I did work with her, because I wanted her to relax and be happy and find herself, and so I had to work through a lot of very sensible fear. It was a balance between keeping myself safe and giving that horse what she needed, all the time. Thank goodness those days are behind us. Kayleigh was sometimes scared and I was sometimes scared and we were absolutely right to be afraid. There was danger, and we reacted to it rationally.

The focus work is not just so the horses won’t send us flying when they are in survival mode, it’s also for things like feeding time and putting them back into the field.

I have a ridiculously strict rule in the field. All our children obey it to the letter. I owe it to their mothers to keep them safe. It is: we lead the horses in, find a good space, turn them to face the gate, check whether they are relaxed, check whether they are focused on us (rather than on the bears in the woods), check whether they are connected to us, and only then let them go.

I do all this because I love being with horses and I don’t want to be scared of them. A horse who can regulate her own nervous system is so much easier to be around. She’s easy with herself and that makes the humans happy and confident. A horse who knows about personal space is a pleasure, in every interaction. A horse who has control over himself is a joy, not a terror.

Horses will always be intrinsically risky. We’ve all tumbled off, at one time or another, the posse and I. But I like to reduce the risk to the lowest possible point. Every time one of us tumbles, we learn a boatload of lessons from that. It’s almost always that I’ve let something slide, got a bit cocky, ignored a warning sign.

I’m not very brave, and I’m glad I’m not. I used to be deadly ashamed of this. Everything in my childhood was geared to kicking on and riding through it. That was what my dad did, with his steeplechasers; that’s what he famously did when the docs told him he could never ride again and he was back the next year in the Grand National. That was how it was done, in our house.

But I don’t have that kind of physical courage; not any more. I am afraid of breaking things and hurting things. So I train my horses in the ways of slowness and peace. I train them to know me and know themselves, so that fear does not swamp them when it comes. I train them to trust their humans, so they don’t have to go into that hard, terrified survival mode. They always have someone, in their corner, on their side, who will stand on the ramparts and not let the mountain lions pass.

I think a lot about what horses want. Sometimes, I think they want someone who will stand between them and a hungry lion. I am not physically brave, but I would do that for my red mare. I can’t tell you that she knows that, not for sure (I will never entirely know what she knows), but my guess is she has a sense of it. And that is why we are a team. We will protect each other until the last lion is down.

08/07/2025

We have a choice

We can choose to focus on the negativity, we can choose to enter into fruitless engagements with those who can never see our side of the debate and neither we can see theirs, we can choose to buckle with the weight of the world weighing heavy on our shoulders or we can choose to spread positivity to balance out what we can bring to the table, or we can simply not choose to make it our task to police everyone's post looking for a fight where one never existed.

We don't have to agree, work together or try and persuade someone to take our side to validate what we believe in, the horseworld is full of many different approaches and someone will seek you out if your belief resonates with theirs if they stay then so be it but throughout our lives we will mingle with different approaches as we learn and grow, we don't hold anyone prisoner to the way we work, everyone is free to choose, you can choose to work alone and not be chastised for having a mind that thinks independently.

I see enough issues with horses that by the end of the day my focus is always bringing some positivity to someone else's day, it's to tiring to begin fighting with people who can't see your point of view and you can't see theirs

I don't believe in some things yet I have friends that do, does that mean we argue ?? Usually not we find the humour in some of our own statements but we also respect each other enough not to cross the line and ridicule each other

I am really easy going with my own horses, if I make mistakes who cares for I don't look to a person to judge me I look to my horses to be my gauge on wether I get validation or not

We spend alot of our lives worrying what others think of us, it can fill us with anxiety, worry, self doubt and maybe even stop us from fulfilling our true potential yet we probably make no impact on theirs, do we care about the realness in our work or do we care how many likes we get on a platform that has no impact on the horse you are about to work ask the opinion of the horse and their opinion is not what you say but what you do, people pleasing will only ever hold you back from having a positive impact on the horse.

Sometimes I get sucked into the drama, my frustration can spill over yet 24 hrs later my initial outrage at statements made often disperse and I again realise that to engage in such drama feeds the drama and gives credibility to the very thing you disagree with for the old adage any publicity is good publicity often holds true, and its the very reason why the drama is sought in the first place, so if you feel your frustration rise as you furiously type save that post or response for 24 hrs before pressing the send button as you may just realise it isnt worth your precious time once you have slept on it.

Don't look over your shoulder at what others are doing, you can only go forward if you take those steps you have a choice to make a difference, you worked hard to get where you are wether a professional or owner and the great thing is tomorrow does not have to bring today with it ###