Your Horse In Connected Balance

10/02/2025

Love this!👍👍👍
Except, let's find if there is a root cause to that weak leg, toe drag, etc while we're at it.

08/31/2025

Why Every Horse Owner Should Include Regular Bodywork in Their Horse’s Care

Horses are incredible athletes. Whether they’re pleasure companions, performance partners, or working animals, their bodies endure daily physical demands. Just like human athletes, they benefit from routine maintenance beyond basic feeding, shoeing, and veterinary care. One often-overlooked but highly effective part of equine wellness is regular bodywork.

1. Prevents Injury Before It Happens
Muscle tension, stiffness, and compensatory movement patterns often develop long before lameness or obvious pain shows up. Regular bodywork helps identify tightness, asymmetry, or restricted range of motion early, reducing the risk of bigger problems like strained tendons, sore backs, or compensatory hoof issues.

2. Supports Performance and Training
A horse moving freely is a horse that can learn, perform, and enjoy their work. Bodywork improves flexibility, stride length, and balance. By releasing restrictions in the muscles and fascia, horses can carry themselves more comfortably, making collected work, jumping, or even trail riding more fluid and less fatiguing.

3. Aids Recovery After Work or Injury
Hard workouts, long rides, and minor injuries all leave residual tension. Bodywork increases circulation, encourages lymphatic drainage, and speeds the removal of metabolic waste from muscles. For horses in rehab, gentle bodywork supports healing and helps prevent secondary issues caused by compensating for pain.

4. Improves Saddle Fit and Comfort
Even the best saddle fitter can’t overcome uneven muscle development or tight fascia. Regular bodywork keeps the back muscles supple and balanced, which not only improves saddle fit but also reduces the risk of pressure points and behavioral problems under saddle.

5. Enhances Mental and Emotional Well-Being
Bodywork isn’t only physical—it’s deeply calming. Horses often release stress and tension during sessions through licking, chewing, yawning, and deep breathing. Over time, regular sessions can help nervous or tense horses become more relaxed and focused, improving their partnership with their rider.

6. Builds a Stronger Horse-Owner Connection
Hands-on bodywork sessions build trust. Owners who learn even basic techniques (like gentle stretches or massage strokes) gain insight into how their horse’s body feels from week to week. This strengthens the bond and helps the owner spot subtle changes in their horse’s condition much earlier.

7. Complements Veterinary and Farrier Care
Bodyworkers don’t replace veterinarians or farriers—they support them. A horse with supple, balanced muscles responds better to medical treatments, holds chiropractic adjustments longer, and stands more comfortably for the farrier.
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Final Thoughts:
Cost:
Consider the following costs (average nationwide so may vary on your location):
• The average total cost for managing a suspensory injury in the western United States is reported at approximately $12,224. This figure includes diagnostics, treatments, medications, rehab, and associated vet fees.
• Surgery for the suspensory ligament (such as fasciotomy with neurectomy or desmoplasty) typically ranges from $800 to $2,500 Some sources estimate broader surgical costs between $1,500 and $5,000.
Non-Surgical Treatments
Shockwave therapy: Estimates range from $300 to $800 per
PRP (platelet-rich plasma): Approximately $800+ with Stem cell therapy higher in cost than PRP and shockwave, often significantly more expensive
Average cost of Bodywork:
Typical one-time session: $90 to $120, depending on location and therapist.
PEMF or Magnawave added: Expect $50 to $80 extra for electromagnetic therapy sessions. Discount per session (packages): Multi-session deals generally bring the cost down to $83–$100 per session.

Bottom Line: If regular maintenance bodywork can help prevent a suspensory ligament injury? Regular bodywork isn’t a luxury—it’s an essential part of equine health care. By keeping muscles, fascia, and circulation in optimal condition, horse owners give their partners the best chance to stay sound, happy, and willing for years to come. Whether you ride for competition or pleasure, investing in bodywork is one of the most effective ways to honor your horse’s well-being.

08/21/2025

Snoring puppies. ❤️

08/14/2025

So happy to announce that the work we did on thermography following equine leg wound healing and LLLT was published today. A hopeful step forward in the field.
Reach out if you'd like the full article.

07/14/2025

See alot of hind end/SI issues lately. THIS!

06/29/2025

Happy to announce that I am now certified as a veterinary thermographer through AAT. It has been quite a year of learning. I want to thank many that contributed to the over 2,000 images taken over this past year to get me to this level. The clinical trials, the findings and updates have all been extremely helpful in my journey.
I look forward to working with my equine and veterinary community to serve the good of the horse!

06/14/2025

Non stop baby making at my front door this year. Third round 💕

06/05/2025

Another practitioner got me thinking (dangerous sometimes ha!). She expounded that the horses were not licking and chewing due to relaxation but stress. I found that so off putting because it is such a marker of my work when I am looking for relaxation responses from the work in the horse.
My own research led me to this article linked below (which basically concurs with her statement). Licking and chewing (non nutritive) is a response to stress (which restricts saliva).
So, in theory our presence alone can create stress in a horse. In theory the horse relaxes once it sees we are not a threat but actually there as a help. Therefore, the release of stress (chewing to generate release of the previously restricted saliva due to stress) happens as a sign of stress release.

So, I will continue to look for these signs of letting go of stress in my work (along with Masterson and Warwick...)

Kerry Mack continues her exploration of what we might learn from science, this time looking at chewing and licking behaviour and what it can tell us.

04/05/2025

At horse show offering saddle thermal imaging (demo free of charge for riders)

03/25/2025

So as I celebrate 10 years in business, I am reflecting on my business model and purpose. My purpose hasn't changed. I started with the name The Connected Balance because working with a horse with pain, we have no brain, with no brain we have no relaxation, with no relaxation, we have no learning. Everything is off balance and disconnected. It is a conundrum.

Often a horse in too much pain, I can not work with. They just can't gain benefit and need more care than I can provide. However, most horses live in subclinical pain and discomfort. They are masters at hiding pain! In order to survive, they can not look weak. It's just who they are.
So, connecting all of that, if I can get relaxation, I get their brain, if I get their brain, I get learning and listening. That is the sweet spot that horses tune in and listen to their body. My calling attention to the areas of their discomfort is uncomfortable for awhile and then there is the release. They let go of their pain. As they release, there is less pain, as there is less pain, there is more relaxation. As they get more relaxation and less pain, they trust me more and look for more releasing.

It takes a bit to gain horses trust. Especially where pain and vulnerability is involved. It is why I love what I do. It's like a dance. They trust me and they feel better and ask for more. The energy work sets in at the soul level and we fly together.

I say it's like unpeeling an onion, one layer at a time. Give it time, they are sensitive and guarded. Let them learn their body and how they can help themselves.

It's not a sprint, it's a marathon!

I tell my clients that watching me work is sometimes like watching paint dry! It looks like I am not doing anything. Trust that there is alot going on in the conversation between me and your horse.

Thank you to all the horses and owners who trust me with their pain and vulnerability. I cherish and protect every moment.🥰

03/18/2025

New article on thermal imaging and equipment variances on my website: http://www.yourhorseinconnectedbalance.com/articles-of-interest.html

03/12/2025

Celebrating 10 years as an equine bodyworker this year. I look back and thank all the owners trainers and especially the horses who contributed to my growth and learning. All my current clients benefit from you all ❤️❤️❤️❤️