It’s Also About You

It is absolutely fascinating to see how much care, attention and effort so many people put into their horses. They are careful with their training/ riding schedules, meticulous with their feed quality & routines, and looking for ways to take care of their equine athlete in the best way possible. Yet, they don’t do the same for themselves.

You stopped for a moment, didn’t you? I did when this thought crossed my mind this morning, as I am also guilty. I put my horses and their needs first, which often leads me to the excuse of being too busy, too broke, too whatever my excuse is that day, to look after myself.

Awhile ago, we published an article comparing the riders symmetry with that of their horse. While we only showcased 3 riders, we have worked with hundreds and it is always the same. Our issues in our own body will carry over and have an effect on our horse. It doesn’t really matter whether we are skinny & fit or completely the opposite in terms of symmetry. It has the same effects on our horse.

Our sincere hope as therapists, is that you eventually work us out of a job! Not that we don’t love spending time with you all and your horses, but we really only want to have to see you for acute injury purposes and maybe twice a year tune ups. Sometimes it will take awhile to get to that point depending on where we are starting with horse & rider, but it is possible! Want to know how you can begin to make that happen?

Education:

There is so much information out there for horse owners. How do you determine what is right? We have a saying around here: anatomy is anatomy. Be aware of where the information is coming from. A lot of the equine therapists have only taken weekend – two month long courses to become “qualified”. Compare this with a modality, eg. massage therapy, in humans which is a two year program. The short courses just cannot provide enough information, hands on practice and guidance to really set their therapists up for success.
The anatomy cannot lie. There are a couple of really good equine anatomy books. We also occasionally do dissections as clinics where people can join us to learn, or you could attend our intro to anatomy class.
The other system we would really love our clients to understand is the digestive processes of the horse and why we should avoid, at all costs, processed feeds for these animals.
The more you know, the more likely you are to be able to help your horse perform at its best!

Self care:

Get into a daily habit of stretching and exercise. It is not fair to our horses to sit our crooked, unfit bottoms on them and expect them to perform. If I asked you to go through the same routine on the ground for the same amount of time with the proportionate weights added to you, could you do it? Probably not. Does this mean you should stop riding? No, but lets work to get better to make our horses job easier! Stretching is one of the simplest ways, if done correctly, to bring our bodies back to straight. And guess what, it’s free! Keep it simple. 10-20 minutes a day is plenty to get the job done. Personally, I stretch in front of one of my favorite TV shows. Two birds, with one stone!

Find a good therapist who can help you look after your body. Massage & Chiropractic work hand in hand to support our bodies. The key operative here is support. You need to be stretching and exercising appropriately for the work your therapist is doing to hold and make a difference for you. We have some good recommendations if you don’t already have someone in mind! Be wary of someone who wants you there every week, multiple times for multiple months. Our biggest joy as therapists is when you don’t need us as much anymore! It means you are feeling better!

Be aware of your food! We care so much about what we are putting into our horses bodies, yet we readily stuff processed food into ourselves. No one diet is appropriate for every person, but we do need to be looking at eating a little cleaner to allow our body to operate at it’s prime.

Improve or ask for help with your riding or horsemanship skills. Your horse needs a strong, supple, topline. Make sure you are working towards this. If you have been trying to build a topline for months and it’s still not happening, time to change the formula! Things that could be negatively influencing your progress could be: saddle fit, your horse is really out of alignment, your horse doesn’t understand how to use itself properly, or you don’t understand how to get him there. Any answer out of this category is okay as long as you’re working towards rectifying the situation. Again, be aware of where your “help” is coming from. A good rule of thumb is to check out a bunch of the coach or trainers horses. If the majority have decent looking backs, supple looking muscles, hear what they have to say. If the trainer is spouting about collection and the horses have hollows behind the shoulders, a hunters bump or hind end is smaller then the forehand…. RUN!

Never be afraid to say, “I don’t know!” or to ask for help! Your horse will be thankful for your humble, open attitude in your journey to wellness.

Hopefully you begin to see how important you really are in the partnership between you and your horse. You both require care & attention to function at your best! You’re worth it. Now get on it!

If you need help, have questions or are looking for some direction, let us know! We’re happy to help.

Categories: General Health
 
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