Bristol Equine Therapy LLC

01/04/2026

Just another update on my personal journey with my mare, Winnie.

Back in July, I started questioning her saddle fit due to changes in how she was moving and a noticeable loss of topline. Especially behind the shoulders along with pec and shoulder discomfort.
After having the saddle evaluated, it was confirmed to be ill-fitting. I replaced it with one that fit her correctly. At the same time, we took a step back from riding and focused on rehabbing her topline through purposeful, targeted exercises designed to rebuild her shoulders and overall topline, along with regular bodywork.

This is her five-month progression in muscle development. There’s still more improvement to be made, but we’re absolutely heading in the right direction.

One of the biggest takeaways from this experience is that a saddle cannot be properly fitted to a dysfunctional or compromised back. You must first address muscle health and overall comfort. Doing so saves money in the long run..fewer vet bills, fewer “quick fix” gadgets, and far fewer saddles over the course of a horse’s lifetime.

01/01/2026

Happy New Year!

I’m incredibly grateful for the growth that has happened in 2025. So greatful for the wonderful horses and clients I’ve had the privilege to work with. Here’s to continued education, stronger partnerships, and exciting opportunities ahead in 2026. 🐎✨

12/31/2025

Lunging:
I am sure everyone has lunged there horse. The question is are you lunging with a purpose? There are pros and cons to lunging. You will hear some say lunging is horrible for your horse dont do it. Others say the opposite...but let's break it down shall we?

Pros:
💥A means to connect to your horse and improve overall communication.
💥If done correctly, can give the horse a chance to build muscle and balance without the worry of a rider on there back.
💥Assesement of horses movement.

Cons:
💥Letting your horse run around like a looney tune on the lunge to "get energy out". This increases the chance of injury. We all know horses can be fresh, but it is so important to make sure movement is always productive.
💥To small of a circle. Always work in a 20 mm circle or bigger. Yes there is a time and place for small circles. Consistent lunging needs to be in big circles to insure correct loading of the system.
💥The most important in my book a horse staying "striaght" on the circle. A horse that is leaning to far in or out is incorrectly loading. They are at risk for injury or compensation. Slowly build intensity in the gaits until they are able to hold themselves up.

Take Home:
💥Lunging is a great tool for building muscle and balance.
💥Helps improve communication with your horse.
💥Stay consistent and slow is the game.
💥 Always have purpose in what you are asking

Happy Lunging! 🐎

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Sending our warmest wishes from the Bristol Equine family to yours. 🎄🤍

12/13/2025

Do you stretch your horse enough?

By now we recognize that riders are athletes. For example: Studies show that riders often develop significantly tighter adductor fascia than non-riders. This reduced hip mobility leads to compensation patterns, which commonly show up as lower back and hip pain, and the list goes on.The same concept applies to our horses.

Unfortunately, many horses develop a shortened musculoskeletal system, especially when you consider how much time some spend stalled. Less movement leads to tighter, shortened fascia lines, which creates resistance and compensatory movement. While regular riding provides some active mobilization, it’s often not enough for what we ask of our equine athletes.

Mobilization and stretching help improve or maintain optimal muscle and fascial length. Longer muscle fibers mean greater suppleness, relaxation, and efficiency.

So when should you stretch your horse?

💥 Always stretch after a workout, when the body is warm.
❌ Never stretch cold muscles, especially with static stretching.
💥 If stretching before riding, start with in-hand walking before tacking up to properly warm the muscles.

Bottom line: Stretch your ponies. They’ll thank you!! 😊 Supple, relaxed fascia and muscles significantly reduce the risk of injury and improve overall performance.

12/04/2025

Yes love this. When a horse shows reactive behavior, we need to look for the why, while also understanding that their “bad” behavior is simply a biological reaction. Most reactive or unpredictable horses are actually carrying some form of dysfunction that needs to be identified and addressed.

🤷‍♀️ I probably shouldn't tell this story, but it's me... So you know I love having an educational moment at the expense of one of my mistakes. Let me make them so you don't have to. 🤦‍♀️

So I was ground working my mare yesterday with corrective exercise and incline work. I knew she was a bit lethargic from the long ride the day before, but she was moving really well. Slightly short in her surgery leg so opted not to ride. She was working great over the cavaletties and I reached a point where I kind knew we needed to be done.

But sometimes as therapists we have a tendency to challenge our personal horses more than we would a client horse. Why? Because I guess I try to reserve my own dumba$$ery for my own animals...

So I ask her for one more lope before I cool her down. She started out fine, then I saw her back grab right as she dropped her lead and broke into a stabby dual-legged bunny hop behind and then into a chaotic sprint in this circle. I hold her a few circles and try to calm her down but it's not happening and I knew she was going to pull away.

➡️ Now, getting stuck in flight and running the eff off on a lunge line has happened with her before. (It's super common with stifle horses. That's why in rehab facilities, we make sure client horses are contained where we do corrective exercises.)
But it's been a long, long time since she's had her back catch. The one thing I don't have where I'm at is an ideal fenced area to do ground work. So she ran all over the open pasture, yard, road... And we finally got her captured.

🤦‍♀️ How is it owning horses can have you cussing and praying literally at the same time? The moral of this story is... If you think "I'll do just a bit more" ...Don't.

It is what is and she always has a reason for explosive behavior. It was definitely my fault. But the worst part of it was trying to get her to come down out of flight. She just couldn't get herself grounded so she could let out a breath because all the running left her back CRAZY tight. With her Psoas fired off like that she couldn't catch her air.

In the end all was well, she's fine today and I didn't have to ask myself... "What should I teach the people today?"

➡️➡️➡️ The sad thing is... I work on horses that have this degree of back tension constantly and their owners can't understand why these horses are dangerous, unpredictable or unwilling to perform. It's because they're living in a chronic state of flight and they're miserable. 😢😢😢

💁‍♀️ Let's break down the science behind my $h!t show...

👉 When a horse suddenly grabs, cramps, or shoots forward, it's usually a neuromuscular reflex, not bad behavior. A sharp spasm in key back or hind-end muscles sends a fast “danger” signal through the nervous system, and the body reacts before the brain can think.

Think of it as the horse’s body hitting a “panic button” because something in the chain from lumbar → sacrum → pelvis → hind end fires incorrectly or gets over-stimulated.

🔶 Main Muscles Involved

▪️Longissimus dorsi (major back muscle - a sudden cramp feels like an electric or painful)

▪️Psoas & lumbar stabilizers (deep core muscles that trigger hump up or buckling motion)

▪️Biceps femoris & hamstrings (hind-end power muscles that can “snap” into propulsion)

▪️Gluteus medius (creates that launch-forward feeling)

These muscles work together, so one spasm can lock up the whole chain.

🔸 Nerves Most Affected

▪️Lumbar dorsal nerves (L1–L6) – control the back and trigger strong reflexes

▪️Sciatic nerve – when irritated, sends a jolt down the hind limb and forces the horse to leap

▪️Sacral nerves – sharp pain here equals immediate flight

👉 Why Does It Make Them Run Off?

Because the pain signal doesn’t just hurt...
It activates survival mentality.

▪️Sudden sharp pain = predator attack

▪️Pain in the back or hind end = “something grabbed me”

▪️Stay alive = get away fast

A back spasm triggers the same neural pathway as:
➡️ “A mountain lion is on me! Move now.”

Their feet start moving faster than their brain. They aren't being dramatic... their flight response has taken over.

👉 Misadventures happen, but any excess tension in the back is going to cause issues throughout the whole body. If you see elevated, raised, tense muscles on either side of the spine... You need to address this dysfunction.

11/30/2025

Meet Mrs. Cuite and Kelly Matissek

She had her first bodywork session today! She definitely lets me know where she wants it. Who doesnt love a good mare that communicates. She started off a bit unsure, but soon relaxed and really leaned into the experience. 🐎✨

Excited to help this sweet girl feel her best!

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving! 🦃

May your horses enjoy extra scratches, your barn chores be quick, and your holiday be filled with joy, rest, and maybe a little pumpkin spice. 😉🐴

11/24/2025

Did you know that there is a direct link between gastric disease, hoof balance and posture?

Posture has been shown to be reflective of autonomic nervous state. A sympathetic posture, high head and neck carriage and camped under, you will also recognise as an abnormal compensatory posture, and a parasympathetic nervous posture, head and neck relaxed and a normal neutral posture. See the postures in the image.

In a sympathetic state the body is in flight or fight mode, increased cortisol levels and the body is focusing blood supply and nutrients to the musculoskeletal system.
In the parasympathetic state, the body is in the rest and digest mode.

Hoof balance has been shown to directly impact static posture, and can put the horse into either of these states! In fact anything that creates a stress response can move a horse into the sympathetic state. Feed, confinement, psychosocial deficit, Domestication itself!

See the ethological series of webinars for a dive into what creates each state..

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/collections?category=courses&page=4

What's important to understand, in that light, is that in the sympathetic state, visceral function rapidly declines, leading to disease such as gastric ones, that lead to further sympathetic activation. The cycle ensues!!

This is why gastric disease is ubiquitous in the equine world, often blamed for behavioural issues. Sometimes it is the start of the cycle, sometimes its the symptomatic scapegoat for the rest of the horses world, including hoof balance.

Join myself and world-renowned Dr Ben Skyes for an upcoming webinar where we delve into these relationships!
Live Nov 26th 8am GMT. Recorded for anyone who cant make it live!!

Link below👇

https://equineeducationhub.thinkific.com/courses/egus

11/21/2025

I’ve been on my own journey with my mare, and as a therapist she has taught me so much. I’m incredibly grateful for her and for the lessons she’s given me along the way—and she’s still teaching me.

Recently, she started having discomfort in her girth area. It had been slowly getting worse, and the discomfort began spreading into her neck and pectorals. We went from thinking ulcers to tack issues. I knew she was uncomfortable; the “why” was driving me nuts.
It was time for her annual chiropractic and vet visit, so I told my vet everything I’d been noticing from a therapist’s perspective.

I finally got some answers: her sternum was very out of alignment, along with a dropped right shoulder and a couple other issues. I also had to hear that she is still lacking topline. That part was discouraging—realizing she was lacking something I’ve been working on for so long, and that I didn’t recognize or think to check the shoulder sooner.

I’ve been working on building up her right shoulder since an ill-fitting saddle had affected her muscle development. I just hate feeling like I “missed” something that was such a big piece of the puzzle. But she has had small improvements, and I hold onto those small wins. Especially as a therapist, I know how to build a topline, but my usual “protocol” hasn’t been working—and this is exactly why treating each individual matters so much. In true Winnie fashion, she is never textbook in anything she does.

With that said, I’m making some changes: adjusting her diet per my vet and completely re-evaluating how I’m helping her. As a therapist, these are the times I value most. They remind me that every horse is an individual, and that we must always keep seeking knowledge to improve our modalities.

The major takeaway is this: always listen. Horses are not “naughty” for no reason—they are communicating. In Hawaiian culture, kahu means caretaker, guardian, or protector. That is what we are. We are more than just owners to our horses.