Horse Physiotherapy - The Horse Physio - Sue Palmer

Tag: Horse Physiotherapy

Brain, Pain or Training?’ Practical Exercises: Introduction

By Sue Palmer on May 11, 2023

This may be the most important chapter of this book.Here you’ll find a set of ten practical exercises that you can do with your horse to help assess whether he could be suffering some discomfort that might affect his behaviour or performance. The aim of these exercises is to assess balance, comfort, ease and freedom of movement, muscle tone, reaction to touch, soundness, symmetry of the musculoskeletal system, and symmetry of movement. Unexpected responses could flag up weakness, discomfort, stiffness, restriction in range of movement, muscle spasm, unsoundness, and asymmetry in either the horse’s musculoskeletal system or his movement.

Get your hands on our hands-on massage course!

By Sue Palmer on May 9, 2023

We all love a massage, and our horses are no different. Massage is an excellent skill to learn and a great gift to give our horses. If you love learning from a book, buy Sue Palmer’s book [Horse Massage for Horse Owners]. However, learning from a book is complex and problematic for many people. More and more people have been asking for Sue to run a hands-on massage course to give them a chance to learn some valuable techniques to help with their horses.

Core stability and strength exercises for the non-ridden horse: Chapters 2-4

By Sue Palmer on April 27, 2023

A lot of core stability exercises are about moving the horse slightly off balance so that he needs to engage his muscles to maintain that balance. The tail pull works by using the tail as a lever to create the imbalance. As with the other exercises, it is subtle, using gentle pressure. There should be no discomfort involved, and you should find that your horse relaxes into the exercise after a minute or two. If he doesn't, perhaps this isn't the right exercise for him. A horse who is uptight will not be engaging his muscles effectively. He will be tensing those movement muscles getting ready to run, rather than using the stability muscles.

"Please listen to me"

By Sue Palmer on April 23, 2023

I don’t want to buck you off. There’s a sharp pain every time I go into canter when you’re riding me, and I can’t help but react to it. I don’t understand it, it doesn’t happen if I canter in the field. Please listen to me. I know you love me and want the best for me. I don’t know how else to tell you I’m hurting.

16.12.2022 Excerpt from ‘Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training?’

By Sue Palmer on December 16, 2022

From Chapter 12: Does your horse score 10/10 for comfort?... Since none of us can possibly know everything (and if someone claims that they do, perhaps they are not the right person to be working with), one priority is to point people in the direction of the right help. The trick is to know when and how to do that, and where to point them. I sincerely hope this book will help, for the sake of ridden horses throughout the world.

‘Horse Massage For Horse Owners’ - Compression

By Sue Palmer on January 7, 2022

You can buy 'Horse Massage for Horse Owners' on Amazon (affiliate link), or from The Horse Physio. Join my mailing list today for FREE bonus content at www.thehorsephysio.co.uk. Compression Practising on yourself Rest your hand lightly on your forearm, just above your wrist, and slowly slide it towards your elbow. As you reach the end […]

7.12 An Excerpt From The Book ‘Horse Massage For Horse Owners’ by Sue Palmer

By Sue Palmer on December 7, 2021

Effleurage Practising on yourself Place your hand, palm down, onto your forearm just above your wrist. Apply a little pressure, mostly through the heel of your hand but keeping the whole of the palm of your hand, including the pads of your fingers and thumb, relaxed and in contact with your forearm. Keeping the pressure […]

27.11.2021 Excerpt from ‘Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training?’

By Sue Palmer on November 27, 2021

From Chapter 12: Does your horse score 10/10 for comfort? 1. Picking up feet What to do: Pick up each of your horse’s feet in turn, as though you were going to pick out his foot. The ideal: A balanced horse who is willing to have all four feet picked up, where left feels the […]

29.10.2021 Finding the right help

By Sue Palmer on October 29, 2021

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” Ralph Waldo Emerson It can be a minefield trying to find the right help for you and your horse, and I’ve written […]

27.10.2021 Excerpt from ‘Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training?’

By Sue Palmer on October 27, 2021

Chapter 12: Does your horse score 10/10 for comfort? “For centuries, humans have said to horses ‘You do what I tell you or I’ll hurt you.’ Humans still say that to each other – still threaten, force and intimidate… At heart, I’m saying that no one else has the right to say ‘you must’ to […]

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