“Time has flown by and before you know weeks have gone past. I’m finally catching up with my blog! Since my last post, I’ve returned back to the UK, but first with a quick stop to Australia to teach and New Zealand to attend HOY –Horse of the Year - where the Kiwis exhibit some of the finest hospitality at an equestrian event!

While attending HOY, many people visiting had many questions regarding their horses. It is always a pleasure to be able to offer assistance. What I found most interesting is that many young riders showed interest in the therapy and enquired for assistance for their horse. This is a very positive sign for equestrianism’s future!  The enthusiasm of the young riders’ interest is a sign that doors for many possibilities to aid horse welfare and health lie in the next generation!

Before heading off to the UK, the last three weeks were spent in the editing room to work on the new DVD “Conformation vs Posture Myths Unveiled.” The editing process brings many challenges and moments of excitement as the DVD comes together in its final stages. The first full cut is finished and we hope to have the DVD ready by June 20. Watch for our release date! After talking with a lot of people at Horse Of The Year it reassures me how important this DVD project really is.

Arriving in the UK

It’s always a pleasure to return back to the green pastures of England!  Coming to the UK at this time of year can only mean Badminton is upon us, one of my favorite events to attend while visiting the UK. What’s great about Badminton is the level and the athletic ability of the horses and riders who participate.  These equine athletes need to be in such great shape for the event. However, there is a difference between in “shape” or in “condition” and in “balance” are two different things! This year there were so many accidents that occurred. This gives us an opportunity to look at what may attribute to this. If, more riders were aware of when there horse was out of balance we would definitely see less accidents. When the horse is in balance performance is more effortless and done with comfort.

With this knowledge, better actions can be taken to keep our horses in balance, so we see less injury at such a great event.

Workshops and teaching

After a great weekend at Badminton, it was back to teaching  with students in this class from all over the globe. The students’ eyes were opened!  In total, 14 horses were treated in the class and out of the14 horses, five horses were headshakers, six horses out of these 14 horses exhibited signs of spookiness and two horses showed signs of aggressive behaviour. In total 14 out of 14 horses showed signs of previous head injury and trauma, which would have attributed to each of the conditions. Each case was successfully treated in class.

Looking at things with new eyes

Many times behavioural issues are thought to be the horse misbehaving or it gets discounted that training methods would help. However, this workshop only confirms that head compression plays a big roll in all of these situations and can be corrected with craniosacral.  The severity of head trauma varied from horse to horse in class. These pressures that are applied must be looked at by the industry more to see how that affect various conditions in our equine friends.

Also, improvements in the biomechanics were seen with all horses treated in the workshop. This confirms all horses can come into balance and do what we ask of them from a balanced state. However, being able to identify when our horses are out of balance is the first important part of action to correct it!

Back to the US

After a great trip to the UK, filled with teaching, Badminton, trips to pubs and Royal Weddings, it ‘s time to go back to the US. Time to get back into the editing room and finish the upcoming DVD!”