Connected Bodywork

11/02/2025

🌍🐴 Join the 10th Annual Equine Industry Symposium!
📅 November 18–19, 2025 | 🕕 6:00–7:30 p.m. EST
💻 Free & Virtual Event

This year’s theme — “Patching the Holes in Our Bucket: Building a Stronger Equestrian Culture” — explores how compassion, connection, and sustainability can shape a more positive future for the equine community.

✨ Hear from inspiring speakers including:

Lisa Ashton – Creating ethical and welfare-driven equestrian culture

Crispin Parelius – Rethinking equine practices through art and ethics

Dr. Inga Wolframm – Promoting a responsible and sustainable industry

Eurico Rosa da Silva – Transforming athlete mindset and culture

Gary Yaghdjian – Building positive change in riding lesson programs
🎙️ Moderated by Akaash Maharaj

Whether you're a rider, trainer, veterinarian, or equine enthusiast, this symposium is your chance to be part of the conversation and help “patch the bucket” for a stronger, more connected equine community.

🔗 Register now: https://bit.ly/48Bqjq9
📧 For more info: EQevents@uoguelph.ca

11/01/2025

Is Babesia a bacteria or a parasite?

10/31/2025

Why Scientific Terms Matter in Animal Welfare

If you care about horses, dogs, or any animal, you’ve probably heard people use words like “pressure,” “correction,” “respect,” or “motivation” to talk about training. But what do these words actually mean? And why does it matter if we use the right scientific language?

Here’s the truth:

Scientific terms are not there to confuse you or show off expertise. They exist to make RESEARCH, not just opinion, accessible to anyone with curiosity and an internet connection. When we use real scientific vocabulary—terms like “positive reinforcement,” “negative punishment,” “learned helplessness,” or “habituation”—we are handing you the keys to open doors of real, peer-reviewed knowledge.

Why does this matter?

Because when people rely on made-up jargon or vague euphemisms, it becomes nearly impossible to fact-check what’s being said. “Pressure,” for example, can mean anything from a gentle prompt to outright pain. “Correction” can hide punishment. But “negative reinforcement”—that’s a specific, research-backed process, and you can find hundreds of studies explaining exactly what it does to animal behavior and wellbeing.

Jargon can be a smokescreen.

Sometimes, those teaching or selling a method avoid the correct scientific terms on purpose—because they don’t want you to look up what those terms actually mean. If they said “this is flooding, this is escape learning, this is aversive conditioning,” you could type those words into a search engine, find studies, real cases, ethical debates...and maybe discover why some methods risk far more harm than people claim.

You have the right to know.

Science doesn’t belong to experts—it belongs to everyone. When trainers, veterinarians, or animal behaviorists use the vocabulary of science, they’re not hiding behind it. They’re inviting you in. With the right terms, you’ll find books, articles, and even university lectures that explain exactly why some methods are safe and others aren’t. It means you don’t have to take anyone’s word for it—you can see the evidence for yourself.

So the next time you see a training video, clinic ad, or book about animal behavior, check the words.

Are you hearing the language of science—or are you hearing words chosen precisely because they can’t be traced back to actual research? Every animal deserves the protection that comes from science-based care. And every human deserves the knowledge to advocate for them.

Let’s lift the fog. Let’s use the words that lead to truth—so the animals we love are never left in the dark.

10/31/2025

The Science Behind Short Training Sessions

When it comes to gentling wild horses, less is often more.

Horses learn best through short, focused sessions — usually about 10–20 minutes — especially when they’re being introduced to something new like human approach, haltering, or picking up their feet.

That’s because a horse’s brain, like ours, can only process new information for so long before stress hormones start to rise. When sessions drag on, cortisol levels increase, the “thinking” part of the brain slows down, and the horse shifts into survival mode — making true learning almost impossible (Christensen et al., Physiology & Behavior, 2006).

Short, calm sessions help the nervous system stay regulated and give the horse time to process what they’ve learned during rest. Research shows that horses consolidate short-term learning during downtime, just like humans do (Sankey et al., Animal Cognition, 2010).

Prolonged or confusing sessions, on the other hand, can lead to what scientists call learned helplessness — when a horse appears quiet but has emotionally shut down because it no longer believes its actions make a difference (McGreevy & McLean, Equitation Science, 2010; Seligman, Journal of Experimental Psychology, 1967). That’s not gentling — that’s defeat.

Riding or working with a trained horse for longer periods is different. Once a horse understands what’s being asked and feels safe, longer rides build strength, endurance, and partnership without overloading the brain.

Every approach, every touch, every “first time” should be built on trust, timing, and release — not exhaustion.

Gentle doesn’t mean slow. It means smart.

Sources:

Christensen, J. W., et al. (2006). Horses’ learning performance in relation to stress level measured by heart rate and plasma cortisol. Physiology & Behavior, 87(3), 496–505.

Sankey, C., et al. (2010). Reinforcement as a mediator of the perception of humans by horses. Animal Cognition, 13(5), 753–764.

McGreevy, P., & McLean, A. (2010). Equitation Science. Wiley-Blackwell.

Seligman, M. E. P. (1967). Depression and learned helplessness. Journal of Experimental Psychology.

10/31/2025

🔗: https://myseniorhorse.com/fun-stuff/research-reports/research-on-small-area-group-turnout-for-stalled-horses/

Researchers aimed to determine an appropriate paddock size for group turnouts.

They found that in larger pens, horses had lower plasma cortisol concentrations by 15 minutes after turnout and at 1 hour after being returned to their stalls. Additionally, horses in the smallest pens had greater agonistic and low-level threat behaviors than horses in larger pens.

10/31/2025

Vocal aids and no nosebands: British Riding Clubs introduce new rules to promote horse welfare.

Riders are now permitted to use their voices during tests, provided they are discreet do not distract others, and nosebands are no longer compulsory for competitors.

Many have praised the change and really welcomed it. Read the full story via the link in comments.

10/30/2025

Interoception is a modern term to describe how we sense and feel the space inside our own bodies. Vs proprioception - sense of how we are moving in our physical environment. We can develop very precise palpation skills to correlate with organ swelling in the liver and abdomen, which are essential to healthy muscle function! Our organs are vital to our physical health, and noting abnormalities is vital for whole body care.

🧠✨ Neural Sensing of Organ Volume

This study from Harvard Medical School explores how the stomach, bladder, and airways sense stretch and communicate with the brain to regulate breathing, digestion, and elimination.

For Manual Therapists and CranioSacral Therapists, it deepens the science behind what we palpate—the body’s subtle, continuous dialogue between the viscera and the nervous system.

📖 Read Full Article → https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30143276/

🔎 Explore more at Upledger.com Searchable Article Database

10/30/2025

Professional manual therapists of many backgrounds have been able to assess and effectively treat nerve compression - the vets are clear that injections provide only limited relief- yet what is their treatment without changing fascial tone across multiple structures and engaging correct postural muscle use? Because that's the long term solution: change the resting tone and improve the postural tone.

Jean luc cornille and the science of motion courses teach one how to do this primarily through movement. Fascial therapies create great short term changes in local and global tone, allowing strength work to be more effective more quickly.

Vets can take the same continuing education courses and I have been side by side with many vets in fascial science and manual therapy classes. Personally, what I'd love to see is expanding use of this kind of technology in training both vets and complementary care providers in using accurate assessments and evaluations! Having ultrasound imaging as I learned the visceral vascular neurobalancing work to literally correct an individual's cardiac contractions to normalize as a result of whole body fascial balancing was life-changing: to see the heart valves go from dysfunction to normal as a result of manual therapy addresding the diaphragm and related structures is undeniable change. Imaging is a vital piece of therapy education!

10/29/2025

The Mesentery: The Hidden Web of Core Balance and Comfort

Illustration of a horse's anatomy showing the positioning of the small and large intestines within the abdomen.

Hidden deep within the abdomen lies a structure few horse owners have ever heard of — yet it influences everything from digestion to posture.
The mesentery is a fascinating and often overlooked tissue — especially relevant in horses because of its sheer size and influence on gut mobility, core stability, and comfort.
What the Mesentery Is

The mesentery is a continuous fold of connective tissue — a double layer of the peritoneum — that attaches the intestines to the dorsal wall of the abdomen.

Far from being a passive membrane, it functions as a dynamic fascial organ that suspends, supports, and nourishes the digestive tract through its vascular, neural, and lymphatic networks.

Structure and Function
Attachment & Support

The mesentery connects the intestines to the dorsal body wall, organizing and stabilizing the loops of bowel while still allowing them to move and glide.

Vascular Highway

It carries the blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves that feed and regulate the intestines — like a life-support harness for the digestive system.

Fascial Continuity

The mesentery is part of the deep fascial network, meaning restrictions here can influence movement, tension, and comfort throughout the trunk, diaphragm, and even into the back.

Mobility & Motion

In a healthy horse, the intestines should slide and shift slightly with each breath and stride. This subtle motion contributes to gut motility, assists lymphatic drainage, and helps dissipate internal tension.

The Mesentery: A Fascial Bridge Between Breath, Spine, and Gut

The mesentery is far more than a support for the intestines — it’s a continuous fascial bridge that connects the motion of the gut to the motion of the spine and diaphragm.

Each pulse of breath and shift of posture is transmitted through this living sheet, linking the digestive organs to the body’s core suspension system.

From the jejunum and ileum of the small intestine to the transverse and sigmoid sections of the colon, the mesentery carries a seamless web of vessels, lymphatics, and nerves that both anchor and animate.

It’s part of the same fascial continuum that blends with the retroperitoneum, pelvic fascia, and even the crura of the diaphragm, creating a unified field of tension and support.

When that field glides freely, digestion, posture, and breath harmonize.

When it stiffens or twists, restriction in one region — whether spine, viscera, or diaphragm — can echo through them all.

Why It Matters in Horses

The equine digestive tract is enormous — up to 30 meters (100 feet) of intestine — and the mesentery must support, suspend, and stabilize all of it.

Because it connects the viscera to the lumbar region through the dorsal fascia, its health has far-reaching effects:

Visceral restrictions (from colic, dehydration, adhesions, or chronic postural compression) can limit mesenteric glide, altering core tension and contributing to back or girth sensitivity.
Fascial tension here can mimic or worsen issues such as a “tight back,” short hind-limb reach, or reluctance to lift through the core.

A well-functioning mesentery supports gut motility, core balance, and a calm nervous system — since visceral comfort directly influences vagal tone and emotional state.

In Bodywork and Movement

Although the mesentery lies deep within the abdominal cavity and cannot be accessed directly by hand, bodywork can influence it indirectly in several important ways:

The outer fascial layers of the abdomen, diaphragm, and lumbar region are continuous with the mesenteric network, so releasing surface tension can improve internal glide and circulation.

Gentle touch, rhythmic rocking, or slow abdominal strokes can enhance parasympathetic tone, promoting peristalsis and visceral mobility through the horse’s own nervous system.

Breathing and posture are the main drivers of mesenteric motion; any work that frees the diaphragm or encourages relaxed, rhythmic breathing helps maintain internal suppleness.
In essence, manual therapy doesn’t move the mesentery — it creates the conditions for it to move itself through breath, circulation, and natural motion.

Please click here for the 2nd 1/2 of this article - https://koperequine.com/the-mesentery-the-hidden-web-of-core-balance-and-comfort/

10/29/2025

Horse and human - the cranial base is a vital connection space, not to be abused or torqued with aggressive or harmful force.

10/28/2025

Here is what I personally shared via public comment to the FEI regarding the proposed change in allowing visible bleeding on horses in competitions:

I am an FEI registered Permitted Equine Therapist and I am writing to object to changing article 241 of the FEI Jumping Rules. The current rules are absolutely appropriate, and even to a fair comparable standard with human athletes. Blood inherently means tissue injury has occurred, and the athlete must be removed from the field of play and have the injury addressed. Our equine athletes deserve no less! Please do NOT adopt proposed Article 259 reclassifying blood on an equine athlete as a recorded warning.
Shared as a lover of equine competition, supporter of the FEI as a governing body of the highest class of equine competitions, and from a desire to maintain social license to operate equestrian competitions.

Madalaine Baer. BA (Psychology), LMT, CFFT, FEI PET

You can submit your comment online at
FEI.ORG/CONTACT

Let’s draw attention to a proposed FEI rule change that would reclassify visible bleeding from a horse’s mouth or nose during competition from an elimination offence to an administrative warning.

This change raises significant welfare and ethical concerns, as visible blood indicates tissue trauma and may suggest underlying bit- or equipment-related injury. Reclassifying such cases risks undermining public confidence in equestrian sport’s commitment to welfare and social licence to operate.

Engage with this important discussion and consider the potential implications for horse welfare and governance in sport.

📄 Read the full article by Cristina Wilkins: https://horsesandpeople.com.au/fei-blood-rule-change-show-jumping/?fbclid=IwZnRzaANkgxRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtlr6VewbVzHbR5sgdJqMBgSME18DSgd59Rlq9ib7zD3Xh8PrlU8hxspfRml_aem_ZvCY3po7Kxhu6H0ZhaEQ3g