Vandlen Equine Massage and Bodywork

10/28/2025

Another week, another book report for you!

Riding through the Chakras By Christina Stinchcomb is an alternative look into how we can cultivate a connection with our horses. Through the lense of the chakra system, it discusses ways to find centeredness and groundedness and contextualize your horsemanship into the rest of the world. The book goes through each chakra, provides some history and context for them, and connects them back to horsemanship. There are also practical ways to implement this knowledge into your riding and interactions.

I chose to read this book because it came up a lot in a recent course I took with Jillian Kreinbring. In addition to massage, I also teach a small number of lessons each week. Teaching doesn’t always come naturally to me, but it is very helpful to find new ways to explain and say the same things. This is another way to look at the things I am often talking about with students.

One thing that I know to be true about horses, is that they can tell when your insides don’t match up to your outsides. You can appear on the surface to be calm, but if that’s not congruent with how you feel inside, they know. This has been shown to me over and over again both in my personal horsemanship as well as in my practice. My favorite line in the book was “Being authentic means being clear, honest, and true with our feelings, even if they aren’t always pleasant. Horses simply prefer us to be real.They are experts in knowing when we are in our truth and when we are not.”

This is a book is definitely more on the woo side, however it says a lot of the same things you might find in a classic horse training book, simply reframing it with wholeness and connection to everything in mind. I particularly like that there are real exercises that can be implemented, provided for each chakra.
If this is your flavor, and/ or you’re searching for ways to add more connection into your relationship with your horses, I highly recommend this book.

10/27/2025

You knew I had to include the over- tightened cinch!

10/25/2025

If you want more tips and techniques like this, let’s set up an Anatomical Grooming Workshop! I use functional anatomy to help boost your grooming routine and find ways to keep your horse super comfortable between sessions!

10/24/2025

As the days get darker, I am still trying to use that time to be productive, so I have been reading a lot more in the mornings. I’ve decided to add a new type of post into my rotation occasionally. Hopefully I can inspire your winter reading list, and please leave anything I should read in the comments!

Equine Fitness: A Program of Exercises and Routines for Your Horse

by Jec Aristotle Ballou
This book provides a simple, straight forward but comprehensive approach to strength and conditioning for the average horse owner. It showcases why, if we are searching for willing and able partners, we should be prioritizing our horses’ baseline fitness and condition as much as their specialized training.

From structuring your horses daily life to prioritize their movement and fitness to specific routines and how to implement them, this book covers a lot of ground.

A point that stood out to me is that many riding horses (and sport horses) are not being given adequate conditioning routines to support the goals of their riders. Even to just carry a rider at a walk, trot and canter for an hour can take a year of strength and conditioning work. Additionally, for optimal results, we should be splitting our time intentionally between “schooling” and “conditioning.” Schooling is skill based, and conditioning is related to general fitness.

A personal takeaway from this book is how important varied stimuli is for a horse's proprioception. In order to access their full athletic potential horses must have a strong “mind/body” connection. This can be built up by varying surfaces and intervals, as well as adding in ground poles and other obstacles. As for bodywork, when a joint has had reduced range of motion, the brain begins to count on that, which is what causes compensatory movement patterns elsewhere in the body. I use some of the tools in this book to help horses reconnect to their range of motion post session. I have also been prioritizing variety more with the horses that I ride.

Overall, I think this book makes a great argument for why we should be intentional with our horse’s mobility and fitness, no matter what our goals are with them, as well as presenting lots of ways to add these exercises into your daily life with your horses. If you own a horse, and you ride it, I would recommend this book!

10/20/2025

Thank you everyone for all your patience. I am slowly getting through my messages today! The last two weeks were a whirlwind! November still has a few openings if we haven’t gotten anything on the calendar yet!

** additionally, I will be looking to get a few workshops on the books for the fall/ winter. I have in the past hosted an “Anatomical Grooming” workshop where we go over how functional anatomy can pack an extra punch in your grooming sessions and how you can support your horse in between bodywork appointments. Please let me know if that is something you would be interested in hosting!

09/26/2025

** announcement **

I will be out of town from Oct. 7- 17th. That said, my October is basically full. I am booking into November now! With finals happening all over, my schedule is pretty full, so if you haven’t gotten on the schedule yet, please don’t hesitate to reach out. I am excited to be spending time with some friends and my husband this fall, and cannot wait to get back to helping all of my client’s horses as soon as I get home.

09/25/2025

I received this feedback last night from a client, and I am just so honored that you all trust me with your equine partners. 🐼

09/25/2025

This right here. With so much information and misinformation out there, it’s easy to become lost rather than self- reflective. Stay grounded in the question of improvement. Is your horse better off now than this time last year? If yes, you’re on a good path. Stay consistent.

I did a little experiment a while ago -

I didn’t tell anyone at this barn I was riding at anything about me. They didn’t know I was a teacher or trainer or anything I do- and so minding my own business riding my horses, I was plagued with advice. A few women at the barn gave me advice while I rode, told me what trainer to follow and what perceived mistakes I was making - how to fix it, what methods they like, gear to use and supplements to solve my problems.

They were not being mean. However annoying unsolicited advice is, most people’s intentions are probably half helpfulness, half proving themselves to others out of insecurity. Comment sections on videos are full of people like this - you need to follow so and so, take that nose band off, put this thing on, this horse probably has such and such physical ailment —

This experience made me think of my students - trying their best to learn, clinging desperately to new information and patterns they don’t quite have a grasp on yet or understand, and being bombarded by conflicting advice: the barn busy bodies, the internet, sales pitches in your inbox. It’s got to be completely overwhelming! It’s no wonder people’s anxieties are higher and leadership is far lower-
How is one supposed to know which way to go?

It’s important to be open to advice - but consider the source.

Are they trying to help you, or prove themsleves?
Are they trying to help you, or make you afraid of something?
Are they trying to help you, or sell to you? (Obviously all pros have to sell but is it a sale or your long term betterment as well on the table?)

You have to stay sharp out there. Trust what is working and stick to it - sometimes you don’t know if it’ll work til you stick to it for a while. But look at the evidence around you -
Are the horses in the program you’re using getting sounder over time? Or are you just seeing curated snippets decorated in slow motion with music ? Who is it marketed for?

If they can get you afraid or emotional, they can sway you.
Think about it. Stay sharp. Trust yourself and trust the process.

It’s a messy, confusing and chaotic world out there - but if you find someone you trust, hang on to them with both hands.

09/17/2025

Good luck to all the Vandlen Equine clients traveling to finals in the next few weeks! I cannot wait to hear about your adventures at our next appointment!