Articles: Body Talk for Thoughtful Owners

Achieving good saddle fit with Arabian horses can be challenging on account of some breed-typical features that make their backs somewhat complicated. You can correct ...

In this guest post, Tanja Kraus introduces variable feeding positions, which bring musculoskeletal benefits while also enriching your horse's day. As an equine educator from ...

As a bodyworker, I’ve been using hands-on therapies to help horses for nearly 20 years. Only recently, I came across BEMER and decided to add ...

Bodyworkers love before and after photos. Done correctly, they can show great results of our work, making them powerful promotional tools. Equally, if done incorrectly, ...

White lacing patterns on either side of the horse’s spine: it’s amazing how many different explanations there are for this interesting coat change. Even in ...

Although hugely popular, the Half Breed saddle is harder to fit to horses than its simple appearance seems to suggest. As the love child of ...

‘Knocked down hip’ is a common name for a fracture of the tuber coxae (point of hip). This is usually the result of a horse ...

In an equine bodywork session, having a feel for the horse’s mental and emotional state is important. It helps us to understand where they're at, ...

Did laminitis, trauma, nutrition, disease, or something else cause these hind hoof rings? Recently I came across hoof rehab specialist Daisy Bicking's view as to ...

Wait - you didn't know there could be risks to your horse when using an equine massage gun? Then you'd best read on. First, there ...

Are certain saddle fit problems related to conformation in Quarter Horses? My goal with this article is to help you look at your Quarter Horse's ...

This Diploma is open to experienced equine therapists, physiotherapists and chiropractors and animal care professionals such as trainers, vet techs, breeders, trainers, and farriers. The past ...

It's a problem of a pressing nature. In some horses with upright, contracted and sheared heels, I’ve seen first hand how the lateral cartilage can ...

Here are abstracts, downloads and links for my research into the ongoing effects or premature or dysmature birth in horses. These are the publicly available ...

It’s been a question of mine for a while. Can diagnostic imaging show the presence of transitional vertebrae? We're seeing many bone samples from dissections, ...

Sorting out that high-low hooves situation. It's the farrier's job, isn't it? Well yes, they're clearly the primary professional. But there are plenty of things ...

Were you around when your horse was born? If so, you’ll know about their neonatal health. If you weren’t, then understandably you don’t. Your horse ...

Angular Limb Deformities: it's the technical term for crooked leg problems. The term sounds alarming, but how bad are they and exactly how common?    ...

Have you come across the small rug sensors that can be attached to your horse’s rug? They collect and send weather data to your mobile, ...

There seem to be quite a few social media posts about the equine brain of late - and that's no bad thing.  In some ways, ...

"DUH!!! Scientists are SOOOOO behind the rest of us!" I read this today and for once, couldn't just scroll past and forget. Perhaps it's because ...

There's a basic premise of saddle fitting that hasn't occurred to a lot of people. It can't have done, not if the tack they're riding ...

Thinking as a bodyworker, if there were one thing I could change in the training of ridden horses, it would be the way that many ...

In this guest post, Dr. Sonja Dominik describes equine dwarfism and what the latest tests mean for horse breeders. Sonja is a Research Scientist in Quantitative ...

Australia has declared a new war on worms – and this time it’s biological. You may already have read about this wonder from Down Under, ...

They can lead to scoliosis, spinal arthritis, flexion and straightness problems, saddle fit issues, secondary lameness, hoof problems and soft tissue trauma. So, what on ...

"I went through three years of horror..." So speaks a Warmblood owner, reflecting upon a truly dreadful period in her life. Like many other owners, ...

News about the malformation of the C6 and C7 vertebrae has understandably raised a lot of concern. There are major implications for both buyers and ...

What if you were to learn that your horse is living with a hidden malformation? A skeletal abnormality that could be affecting it every day, ...

How curious are you as a horse owner? Do you want to know how things work, what they look on the inside, and if they're ...

In this Guest Post, the UK's 'Classical Seat' trainer Heather Moffett looks at how the rider's seat can make movement harder for the horse. It's something ...

It's barely mentioned in saddle fit or anatomy books, yet the muscle Spinalis cervicis can hugely impact on the spinal health and movement of the ...

Look at the horses around you. Do you believe that they’re thriving? Are their lives the healthiest, richest and most fulfilling they could be – ...

Most of us have a good idea of what animal welfare means and why it’s important. But in developing nations, cultural and economic concerns can ...

When foals are born prematurely, many people tend to think it's just one of those things. Causes such as placentitis (inflammation of the uterus) are ...

I’ve been thinking about horses and abandonment recently. By abandonment, I mean a situation where a treasured or most favored horse has suffered an irreparable  injury ...

In this guest post, Kerry Warren Couch responds to the article on this site about ex-racehorses by stating, clearly and simply, how she has helped ...

The nuchal ligament is a soft tissue structure that is widely discussed in dressage circles. Unsurprisingly, given its deep location, relatively few of us get ...

One of the best innovations in the world of saddle making has been the interchangeable gullet plate in the synthetic saddle tree. I mean, there’s ...

Less than 12 months ago, I wrote about neck threadworms and how they might be behind many horses’ frantic itching. The uptake on that article ...

The ex-racehorse: a huge heart, a strong work ethic, great athleticism, wonderful sensitivity... and, potentially, a host of physical issues. Are you able to identify ...

Sometimes, a person from outside a profession successfully identifies something that has been unnoticed, overlooked or wrongly assessed for a long, long time. Coming from ...

Not long ago, I was having a think about the reasons that people buy saddles that so obviously don’t fit their horses. This is a ...

This follow-up to 'The Disturbing Truth About Neck Threadworms and your Itchy Horse' discusses how to manage the parasites, once you know your horse has ...

Look on any ivermectin or moxidectin-based wormer packet and you’ll see a long list of parasites. Tucked in neatly at the end – it’s nearly ...