Bodywork at home, on your own horse

The horse is an athlete like none other and we strive to be a team with our horse.  Bodywork and chiropractic care can be very beneficial for both members of your endurance team; horse and rider need to be moving at their best to achieve top performance.  However, there are easy bodywork techniques that can be done daily at home to improve performance as well.   

Who hasn't felt the muscle ache from over-used, tight muscles after resuming a workout schedule?  Well our horses can feel this tightness too but they can’t help themselves through it like we can.  Many times the rider many not even realize the horse has back tightness, or a joint problem, until it has become advanced.   A simple way to prevent problems is to perform massage and stretching techniques on your own horse, in addition to getting regular chiropractic care.  Maintenance chiropractic care can help prevent many problems, and can bring out the very best performance in both horse and rider.   

Another reason to do simple massage techniques on your own horse is to learn what normal feels like.  If they become uncomfortable with a massage move that they had previously loved, this may indicate the beginnings of a problem.   A bodywork session can also be a nice way to reward your horse for a job well done.  Some words of caution before we begin.  Never tie your horse while doing bodywork, he may panic if you hit a sore muscle and pull back.   You want these sessions to be calming and safe so chose a quite location and watch reactions closely.  Always use light pressure, if you are in doubt watch your horse!  Finally never work on an acutely injured area, and always keep an eye out for hot and swollen areas. 

I will post easy moves that you can do at home later this week, so stay tuned!

Winter can go away...

I find myself having trouble focusing today.  I spend most of my time day dreaming about warm summer days.  I went out to check my horses this morning before work.  They are all four still unblanketed, I had pulled blankets off when it warmed up last (feels like weeks ago) and they were all warm today.  A nice layer of snow and ice over their backs helps to insulate, and of course no one is hurting for weight...

They are demolishing a round bale, but at least everyone seems to be warm.  

Back to dreaming of spring time :)

Bodywork in Winter

For me, winter time means quickly throwing hay to cold horses with a quick pet and then back into the house!  I'm always surprised when people actually still ride in winter, as for me the risk of falling on the ice isn't worth the little bit of fitness gained.  However, those of you lucky enough to have an indoor arena probably ride all winter with ease.  Exercise is just as important in winter, but hard exercise should be approached with caution as this will lead to sweat.  A wet horse is a cold horse, and no one wants to spend three hours cooling out from an hour ride!

This brings me to blanketing.  It used, blankets MUST fit correctly, and be the correct fill weight for the weather conditions.  A too thin blanket does worse than not blanketing at all, and can cause severe frostbite. I choose to blanket for several reasons: a thin horse who can't seem to stop shivering, an elderly horse or a sick horse, and for a horse who is continuing in hard work.  I did blanket for a few weeks this winter so far, as I've been trying to stay ahead of any freezing rain.  My horses are without a blanket today, but we will see how everyone is tonight when I get home.  I feed a lot more hay with unblanketed horses, so it becomes more cost effective for me to throw blankets on.

I do see many bodywork muscle problems from blankets, so they must fit properly.  A heavyweight blanket will add a fair amount of physical weight, especially to the horse's upper back and neck.  Unless it fits really well, many horses will become very sore in these regions then.  Also, a blanket that is causing restriction and/or rubs anywhere will be causing the horse to change how he moves.  This can lead to soreness throughout their body, especially if this is compounded by walking through deep snow and across ice.

I am frequently asked about continuing with a horse's bodywork and chiropractic treatment plan in winter.  If the horse is blanketed and still in relatively normal work, they should continue with bodywork care. If they are being mostly rested and they seem comfortable, it often is fine to take several months off from care.  This depends on the horse, but many seem to do well with a nice winter rest.  Spring training is often the perfect time for a tune-up!