Pics & vids

Have a look at this video on my you tube channel.  This is my horse Floss I painted her up with the skeleton to get some pics of her and popped her on the lunge to take a quick vid.  The video isn’t the best quality (and neither are my artistic skills!!), but it does give you a quite a good insight into what is going on under the surface in a walk, trot and canter, and even a few bucks as she was getting very excited in the wind.

Here are some pictures of a painted horse I did a little while ago showing the deep muscles of the horses body.  I am no Picasso so some of them may not be quite 100% pin point accurate due to lack of artistic skill but they are not far off!!  Some of these pictures can be seen in my December article of Everything Horse UK magazine on muscle injury

How many can you label?

This picture shows how the saddle should sit in relation to the scapula

A typical hind limb stretch that you can do after exercise to stretch out the hamstrings.  Hold the stretch for about 30 seconds allow the horse to relax into it, take it a little further and hold for another 30 then release.  Never push your horse too far, and if they are uncomfortable release immediately.  Always keep the limb in the natural line of motion unless you are advised other wise by your physical therapist.

This picture is showing a typical forelimb stretch you can do after exercise to stretch out the shoulder and triceps area in particular, be careful not to let the horse lock at the carpus (knee), keep a slight bend in the knee, hold for about a minute.

Neck stretch, do both sides equally, you will find that one side is easier for them than the other but this will become more even the more you do.

This is video is aimed at every horse owner, it gives you some basic stretches that I would recommend carrying out after ever exercise session to improve your horses over all musculoskeletal health.  Stretching helps to mobilise the joints, release tension, loosen tight tissues, improve circulation, and ease adhesions, as well as improving the overall strength tone and flexibility of the muscles and tendons.  There are a few important points to consider first:

• Never stretch a cold horse, warm the muscles up first through exercise, solarium, massage etc.
• Don’t put yourself at risk both with lifting (think of your posture – knees bent back straight) but also ensure the horse knows where you are
• Don’t push the horse to far to fast  – take it slowly, wait until they relax, never push them out of their comfortable range.  When you first start they may not be able to reach very far but every day they will stretch a little further
• If you are unsure of anything please ask me – in person, phone or email