Flourish Equine Bodywork

Flourish Equine Bodywork Performance • Wellness • Recovery
Equine & Canine
Massage • PEMF • Thermal Imaging • In Hand Polework
Serving the Northwest GA & Atlanta Areas

04/06/2026

If you guessed activating the thoracic sling, you are correct!

As an equine bodyworker, I’m often tasked with assessing horses through “static” or non-moving assessments. During this time I look for many things such as:

➡️ Posture
➡️ Over/underdeveloped muscles
➡️ Body symmetry
➡️ Tight lines between muscles
➡️ Ribcage alignment

The list is endless!

This sweet hardworking therapy horse at Bearfoot Ranch was an easy assessment. Right off the bat, I could tell she struggles with activating her thoracic sling (core muscles) and this could have caused a cascading effect on her body.

Did you guess the same?

04/01/2026

It’s what’s on the inside that matters most y’all. 🫶

03/31/2026

Artie sure loves Pulse PEMF! But, he definitely tries to hide it. 🤪

I’ve been working on him for over a year and a half now and this is the first big release he’s given. But wow, what a release! Check out that sideways jaw! ❤️

Good boy, Artie. Now it’s time to get back to work!

Isn’t there a saying, “The mechanic’s car is always the last one to get fixed?” 🫣Well… apparently the equine bodyworker’...
03/12/2026

Isn’t there a saying, “The mechanic’s car is always the last one to get fixed?” 🫣

Well… apparently the equine bodyworker’s horse can fall into that category too.

Poor Artie has been pretty off lately. With an abscess track in his hind hoof and some clear compensation patterns showing up, it was time for a ribcage rebalance session today.

The photo on the left shows just how asymmetrical he had become. While the “after” photo on the right shows improvement, it’s also a great reminder of why consistent bodywork matters. Artie tends to fall into the same asymmetry patterns whether he’s being ridden or not—and honestly, this is something I see in a lot of horses.

Horses are masters of compensation. Left unaddressed, those patterns can build over time and start affecting comfort, movement, and performance.

Let this be your friendly spring reminder: don’t wait until your horse looks like mine did today. 😅

If your horse hasn’t had a bodywork session in a while, now is a great time to get on the schedule. Send me a message or comment below and I’ll help you find an opening! 🐴

02/27/2026

Most horse owners think about training, conditioning, and performance, but very few think about how their horse stands when doing nothing. And, that matters more than you might realize.

Your horse’s posture directly affects how their muscles function and how they move. When they can’t properly engage their core and thoracic sling, other muscles are forced to compensate. Over time, this leads to tightness, imbalance, and breakdown.

Think about people who stop using their core and glutes as they age: Posture collapses. Backs round. Pain shows up. Movement becomes harder.

The same thing happens in horses.

A healthy horse needs BOTH:

✨ An active, functional posture for movement
✨ A relaxed, neutral posture for recovery

If your horse can’t stand quietly in a soft, balanced, tension-free position after work, their muscles never fully reset.

And that’s a red flag. 🚩

02/25/2026

As an equine bodyworker, I’m often asked why I do tail lifts & tail circles.

I include tail lifts & tail circles during sessions mostly for assessment purposes. When doing them, I look for muscle asymmetry, balance issues, hindend tension, or directional stiffness.

All of these things clue me into the overall muscular and spinal health of your horse because the tail impacts more than most equestrians realize!

If you give tail lifts or circles a try, let me know!

02/18/2026

If you want to be able to ride for extended periods of time without your horse being fatigued (such as a long trail ride), then this ground pole progression will help build MUSCLE ENDURANCE:

1️⃣ Start with 1-3 poles on the ground at a walk for 3 reps each direction
2️⃣ Increase the number of poles
3️⃣ Increase the number reps in each direction to 4-6
4️⃣ Repeat 1 at a trot
5️⃣ Repeat 2 at a trot
6️⃣ Repeat 3 at a trot
7️⃣ Repeat 1 at a canter
8️⃣ Repeat 2 at a canter
9️⃣ Repeat 3 at a canter

Hit the follow button for more ground pole exercises tailored to your specific goals! 🐴

02/14/2026

Let’s show some hardworking rescue horses LOVE this Valentine’s Day! ❤️❤️❤️

02/13/2026

✨FRONT LIMB MOBILITY STRETCH ✨

➡️ WHO: Horses with short strides or tight shoulders.

➡️ WHEN: After warmup, ground work or riding

➡️ WHY: Improves stride length, releases constricted shoulder muscles, supports movements like jumping/dressage

➡️ HOW:
1. Lift the front leg gently and place one hand behind the knee joint and one behind the fetlock.
2. Slowly & gently extend the leg forward until you feel restriction or resistance from your horse. Keep the leg low and never pull or force.
3. Hold for 3-5 seconds.

02/12/2026

I am back with another post on whether trot poles actually **lengthen** a horse’s stride. 🤔

In case you missed it, there’s been significant discussion & debate on my social media about the use of trot poles. Do they actually lengthen a horse’s stride or are they used for other goals? My horse Artie was a perfect experiment.

Here’s my take, I feel these photos show a bit more reach with the hind end, but not the front. In the front, Artie’s hooves actually land in the exact same spot, despite the pole spacing increasing. He does, however, increase his range of motion in his front joints.

From a bodywork perspective, what do you think this tell us? 👇

02/11/2026

There has been significant conversation about the purpose of trot poles recently and people seem to fall into two groups:

1️⃣ The only goal of trot poles is to lengthen a horse’s stride.
2️⃣ Trot poles don’t lengthen a horse’s stride and the point in using them is a multitude of other reasons.

Without sharing which camp I fall into (although if you’ve been around long enough, you can easily guess), I set out to test the theory that trot poles lengthen a horse’s stride.

But first, here’s what the Google-ator says about this: “ground poles encourage a horse to reach farther forward, cover more ground per step, and push more from behind without speeding up or rushing.”

The poles in my test were spaced accordingly:

➡️ 1st pass: spaced exactly to Artie’s hoof prints at a working trot (32”, 37”, 33”, 31”).
➡️ 2nd pass: Equally spaced at 38” apart (just shy of the industry standard for his size).
➡️ 3rd pass: Equally spaced at 42” apart (lowest end of the industry standard for his size).

I purposely stayed on the lower end of the range because he is so short strided and these were PVC poles and I didn’t want to risk him stepping on one wrong. However, 42” is still a stretch for him at about 6” further than his natural stride.

Now tell me what YOU see! Did he reach further forward, cover more ground, or push more from behind? Or did his hooves hit the exact same spot each time? 🤔

02/09/2026

If this is anything like my reel on “perfectly spaced ground poles at a walk”, I might need a drink before I tackle the comment section each day.

Cheers! 🍷

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Rome, GA
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