Horse welfare - The Horse Physio - Sue Palmer

Tag: Horse welfare

Don’t wait until your horse is in pain to check their comfort levels!

By Sue Palmer on April 28, 2024

I’m frustrated at horses being labelled as naughty when they’re actually lame or in pain. How else is a horse supposed to tell you that he’s hurting other than through his behaviour? Since you’re reading this, I know you share my frustration. We know that just about everyone loves their horse and wants the best for him. You’d be devastated if he was in pain and you didn’t know about it. So, to help owners and riders be more confident that their horse is comfortable, I’ve put together this short video and blog, which I’d appreciate it if you would share widely on your favourite social media channel. Here are three simple exercises you can do on a daily basis to check that your horse is comfortable.

The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram: A Tool for Equine Wellness and Performance

By Sue Palmer on April 14, 2024

Join me on a journey as we delve into the significance of 'Harmonious Horsemanship' and the transformative Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram! Let’s uncover insights shared during a recent webinar I presented with Dr. Sue Dyson hosted by Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out.

How Pain Affects Your Horse

By Sue Palmer on April 7, 2024

In any subject, there are key areas to consider. In this lesson, ‘How Pain Affects Your Horse’, I’ll discuss the ‘5W’s’ of pain, the what, why, when, where, and who. I’ll also include the ‘H’ of ‘how’. What is ‘pain’? The International Association for the Study of Pain (ISAP) defines pain as "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.” Short-term pain is called ‘acute pain’, and long-term pain is called ‘persistent’ or ‘chronic’ pain. Pain that comes and goes is called ‘recurrent’ or ‘intermittent’. Pain is a complex phenomenon involving our whole body, and the experience of pain can change from one day to the next.

Finding the Right Time: A Guide to Stretching Your Horse

By Sue Palmer on April 4, 2024

Determining when to stretch your horse depends on your goals. Stretching may improve flexibility, reduce injury risk, help monitor neuromusculoskeletal health (meaning relating to nerve, muscle and bone), and enhance your horse's overall comfort. There are no hard and fast rules, and here are some examples of when to stretch, based on the stretches that I share in my online course, “Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy.”

Which horses would benefit from stretching?

By Sue Palmer on March 16, 2024

Stretching can be helpful whether your horse is old or young, a happy hacker or a competition horse. Be it hacking, dressage, show jumping, eventing, TREC, horse agility, endurance, working equitation, a growing youngster or a retired elderly companion, stretching could be beneficial. I recommend a stretching programme to almost all my clients at The Horse Physio. Your horse’s physical therapist can advise you if specific stretches would be most beneficial for your horse. The stretches in the online course “Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy” have been chosen for their suitability for all.

Why does my horse buck?

By Sue Palmer on March 16, 2024

“There can’t be much wrong with him if he can keep bucking people off the way he does”, is how I was greeted at a yard recently. I know I’m preaching to the converted here, so it’s safe to vent my frustration. I’ve put years into writing ‘Brain, Pain, or Training’ and then more into writing ‘Harmonious Horsemanship’ in partnership with Dr Sue Dyson. Dr Dyson has spent years developing the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (also known as the Ridden Horse Performance Checklist - you can download a FREE PDF here) and ensuring that multiple robust scientific studies back up the list of 24 behaviours. That’s on top of the hundreds of scientific papers she’s been involved in around horse health. And that’s just me and Dr Dyson. There’s a worldwide conversation around social license for equestrianism. Discussions around horse welfare are at the top of the Paris Olympics agenda.

Which stretches should I do with my horse?

By Sue Palmer on March 13, 2024

In terms of which body parts to stretch, you might be guided by where you feel your horse is stiff, tight, sore or restricted. It might be that your physical therapist has suggested that you stretch a particular muscle group or that your horse has a specific movement restriction that could be eased with stretching. Your instructor may have told you that your horse needs to be looser or more flexible in his ridden work, or they may have pinpointed a specific area for you to work on. In these cases, you may focus more on some of the exercises in my online course "Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy" than others. There is no right or wrong. Every horse is an individual. Trust your instinct; you know your horse.

How do I do fascial stretches with my horse?

By Sue Palmer on March 6, 2024

To stretch the fascia, we need to be slow and gentle. That’s one reason I’ve chosen to share fascial stretches in the course "Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy". I think that slow and gentle works well with horses. A blog by Amanda Oswald on the Pain Care Clinic website states, “We know that trying to force fascia to stretch is not going to get us anywhere. However, the viscoelastic properties of fascia also mean that it responds well to heat and gentle sustained pressure. This combination creates a physical change in the tissue, making it more fluid, in the same way that the combination of heating and stirring treacle makes it more runny.”. Allow the soft tissues of the body time to release tension. Think of how your body feels when doing a stretch (for example, a calf stretch or a hamstring stretch), and imagine that perhaps your horse is feeling similar sensations. With these stretches, slow and steady wins the race.

Why should I do stretches with my horse?

By Sue Palmer on February 25, 2024

As a horse owner, you understand the importance of keeping your equine friend comfortable and happy. Tight muscles can often lead to soreness. A 15-minute stretching session can make a significant improvement in easing tension and alleviating discomfort in your horse. The stretching routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Just getting your horse moving can make all the difference. Similar to how you feel after a 15-minute yoga session, your horse can feel looser and more comfortable after he has stretched. With regular stretching, you can help ensure your horse stays happy and healthy.

What is a stretch?

By Sue Palmer on February 21, 2024

The word "stretch" can function as both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it refers to something soft or elastic that is capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking. For example, "my sweater stretched in the wash." It can also mean straightening or extending one's body or a part of one's body to its full length, typically to tighten one's muscles or reach something. For instance, "the cat yawned and stretched." As a noun, it can refer to an act of stretching one's limbs or body, such as "I got up and had a stretch," or a continuous area or expanse of land or water, like "a treacherous stretch of road."

1 2 Next »