Magic Hands Equine

08/18/2025

My teacher and schools founder speaks on Equine Osteopathy! 🦴🫁💪

In this episode of Echoes & Embers, we sit down with internationally recognized osteopath Janek Vluggen to explore the deep science, philosophy, and practice...

08/16/2025

🚩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. 🐴✨

08/11/2025

A tough pill to swallow:

Many horses do not have their needs adequately met even when under the care of humans.

No amount of custom saddles, massage and other therapy treatments or “best of the best care” will make up for a lifestyle where the horse, a social herd animal, lives in isolation and extreme confinement.

“These horses are treated like royalty” is a common term thrown around to dismiss discussions about what a species appropriate environment looks like for horses.

But, horses don’t want to be treated like royalty.

They want to be treated like horses.

Not a high end vehicle to be shined up and then put back into the garage alone, never to get scratched up.

They want to be able to develop bonds with other horses, have constant access to forage (hay or grass), the space to move and stretch their legs and exercise.

This is a hard truth.

Riding horses and having them as companions is fun.

But no amount of riding will make up for the mental and physical toll it takes on the horse to spend the other 23 hours of the day in confinement.

Horses are social herd animals.

When getting them as companions, we should be signing up for the responsibility that is adequately meeting those needs.

08/10/2025

There has been so much going on around the topic of ECVM, this congenital malformation is one we are diagnosing, managing and studying at Denali Equine in partnership with Rexos Inc, under the guidance of the legendary Dr. Sharon May-Davis. We wanted to give you the top ten points on ECVM facts. (Sorry this is long- Well worth the full read!)

1. ECVM is a congenital condition, meaning they are born with it. We suspect it is a recessive genetic disorder because two unaffected adults can produce offspring with it. There are several groups racing to find the genetics behind this condition. More information on the horizon.

2. ECVM is not a fatal diagnosis. However, it can be. It depends on the severity of the malformation and how well the horse can functionally compensate.

3. Radiographs of the lower neck are necessary to diagnose the condition. These radiographs must be clear lateral and obliques of C6, C7 and ideally T1. These can be done in the field for most horses. However larger generators do get better images.

4. Variability: Horses can be either a bilateral or unilateral malformation of C6, which in 52% of C6 cases can transpose either bilaterally or unilaterally. To C7; T1 and the first ribs are variably affected.

5. Studies show horses with transposition of the ventral lamina to C7 are more likely to suffer from clinical neck pain than horses with normal anatomy. In our experience horses with rib malformations have more severe clinical signs than those with normal ribs (no clear studies yet).

6. The bones absolutely do not tell the whole story. However, bones do not lie. They often indicate the level of soft tissue malformations present. The more severe the boney changes- the more severe the soft tissue is altered around them.

7. Clinical picture: all horses are not lame, but they do all have subtle clinical signs. Most often the clinical signs are not limb related lameness (but can be). These horses can show signs of the pain ethogram, rearing, sporadic behavior, abnormal front limb flight patterns (especially with equipment), girthiness, resistance to go forward, doesn’t like physical touch (brushing, blanketing ex). The signs are so variable for every horse!

8. The common things heard from owners/trainers:
* The horse was always bad from the start (this is concerning for the more severe cases)
* The horse was fine until it wasn’t. We find this is from something changed in the program. i.e., was imported, switched barns, changed jobs.
* They don’t understand why the horse is failing quicker than usual as it gets older. As the horse ages the clinical signs become more apparent. The body can only manage for so long. Think of it this way- the foundation was built wrong from the beginning. Therefore, it takes time for the cracks in your walls or floors to show, it then takes those cracks a while before they become a structural problem in your house.
* A minor incident happened and now they’re not ok. Suspect an injury can cause the horse to spiral out of stabilization or have the ability to compensate. An example could be getting cast or trailering event then the horse was never the same. Example, you do not know your house wasn’t built well until the storm blows it over.

9. These horses have significant soft tissue pathology on necropsies. Therefore, no matter what the data is showing us: If the horse has ECVM, is clinical, and other differentials have been ruled out these horses are clinically affected by the ECVM.

10. On necropsies we have found:
* Missing, malformed and fractured ribs
* Abnormal nerve patterns, these nerves can be totally entrapped and compressed by abnormal muscle patterns. The dorsal scalene can trap the large nerves of the brachial plexus within its abnormal paths. The phrenic nerve can get pulled inappropriately and leave impressions within the ventral scalene.
* Abnormal muscles: dorsal scalene, ventral scalene, iliocostalis, longus coli, re**us abdominal, intercostal muscles, serratus ventails cervicis. All these muscles have critical roles in stability, proprioception, and biomechanics.
* Abnormal vascular patterns
* Trachea abnormalities
* Fascial changes

ECVM is currently a controversial and sensitive topic so we thought we would share a few known quick facts to help you understand this issue better. Please go to our website (www.DenaliEquine.com) to find more information and links to the current studies on this disease. We are researching and studying these horses! We are working on several angles of research right now throughout Non-Profit Rexos Inc. If you would like more information on how you can help, please reach out!

DeClue Equine saddlefitting.us

07/30/2025

🙋🏼‍♀️ I speak out a lot about aids and gadgets, and I used to use them not so long ago! Draw reins, harsh bits, etc etc.

The change came when I sought out information that challenged everything I was taught through the traditional lens. Going back to my childhood.
I swallowed my ego and started seeing behavior and biomechanics through a different lens even though it meant coming to terms with the fact that I was the cause for my horses stress, pain, discomfort, etc.

It sucks.
It makes you feel like a failure.

I felt the same when I started opening my eyes to how poorly we manage them. How species inappropriate but normalized our husbandry is.

Even now I'm not perfect and will never claim to be. I still make a lot of mistakes with my own horses.
But in order to do better for our animals we need to pursue knowledge, accept uncomfortable truths and be open to challenging tradition.

07/15/2025

He wasn’t naughty
He wasn’t an a**hole
He wasn’t “just being difficult”

He was however so skeletally compromised that a comfortable ridden life was never going to happen and time was against him. Not every horse is suitable to be ridden just the same as not every human is compatible with being an athlete. We need to normalise that behaviour is communication. We need to accept that there are many things in a horses body that make riding super hard for them.

This horse went through two breakers before his owner very diligently persisted with positive reinforcement training. He did make excellent progress, that is to be commended! But here’s my issue, positive reinforcement sometimes still masks these issues. It became obvious to his owner that he was becoming more internalised and less happy even in the paddock. Horses will try harder if you ask them nicely and there’s rewards for good behaviour. I’m not saying positive reinforcement is bad, it’s a great tool….im just saying it can mask serious issues. The biggest give away was how seriously assymetric he was. This is something I have felt many times while ridng these types. Asymmetry is normal but riding a horse that has wildly different left and right reins is not normal.

This is so complex on so many levels, so many.

Ever met a horse that was odd from birth? I believe inherited trauma is also a real factor, if you haven’t read the study on mice and how it took many generations to stop passing along, I suggest you do. It’s now well documented in humans too. Link below.

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fearful-memories-passed-down/

This guys story is available on patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/collection/1606429in

06/30/2025

06/22/2025

Happy 151st Birthday Osteopathy! Today is the anniversary of when Dr. Still started practicing what would become Osteopathy. As A.T. Still declared, “On June 22, 1874, I flung to the breeze the banner of Osteopathy.”
Photo: Still Doctor's Shop; ca. 1928. [2008.58.1538]