Denoix and Pailloux gave this statement regarding physiotherapy for dysfunction in the stifle - “Go out for walks, interspersed with trotting: limit on two tracks as well as figures, which involve raising the legs. Jumps regulated by caveletties, preferable at the trot.” Common general rehabilitation examples are - "Work them in straight lines" "Go up hills" "Back up hills" “Walk 5 minutes a day, then move up to 10, 15, 30….” "Lunge for 15 minutes a day" “Use a Pessoa rig” “Use pro 6” Etc.. These examples are non-specific with multiple variables in terms of conditioning or contraindications. What do I mean by non-specific? They are not telling you what posture the horse is supposed to be in WHILE doing the exercises nor what to watch out for in case it is causing the horse more discomfort from an underlying lameness you aren’t aware of. You can lift weights correctly, or you can blow your back out. You can work your horse over poles correctly, or you can instill even more compensatory patterns. Something that for some reason needs to be said is - Horses will not naturally find themselves in the correct biomechanical state just because you put them on a pattern or put straps on them, anymore than humans would. One more time - Horses will not naturally find themselves in the correct biomechanical state just because you put them on a pattern or put straps on them, anymore than humans would. They will however, find new ways of compensating. This might look like improvement for the short term, but in the long term it is not. So how do we shift education around this? When you are given an exercise, or find yourself wanting to try some on your own, here are some things I would recommend: 1. Ask to be shown what areas of the body you are trying to loosen and strengthen. 2. Ask to be shown how to palpate those areas for confirmation after the exercise has been done. 3. Ask for what you should be visually seeing as improvement as time goes on. 4. Ask for what you would see if it was going in the wrong direction. 5. Ask how the horses stride should change for the positive or the negative so you can clearly watch for them. 6. Take videos and before and after photos regularly and have someone experienced in development give you unbiased opinions to make sure you’re on the right track. Once you learn these, they become incredibly easy to spot and impossible to ignore. For reference - A before and after from one session from my BTMM student, Kaylie Hanson where she made sure the horse was in the correct posture to release compensatory patterns and strengthen weaknesses #balancethroughmovementmethod #pillar1allthetime #mindfulhorsemanship
