A good warm up and cool down are crucial parts of your horse’s work and will help to reduce the risk of injury. Gillian Higgins explains the importance of these two phases to your schooling session and suggests how to structure the warm up and cool down to avoid injury. The aim of the warm up is to: Increase blood flow to the muscles and vital organs. Improve pulse and respiration rate. Awaken the core. Stretch the muscles, ligaments and tendons. Take the joints through a ful

As the saying goes variety is the spice of life – and the same applies to the work you do with your horses. As his personal trainer it’s important to expose him to a wide variety of surfaces and experiences. As more and more of us have access to artificial surfaces to ride on some horses aren’t being ridden over more natural terrains such as grass, hills, tracks, or different road surfaces. If your horse is worked only on one type of surface he will be less resilient and more

Clear blue skies, warm sunshine - as the temperature rises it's necessary to consider the effect it may have on your horse. Here's some tips

Freddie Fox has given so much to the equine world. He has helped to educate thousands of people across the world through Horses Inside Out

Last week I was very lucky to be invited back by Horses Inside Out to help out with preparation for the filming for Part 4 of the upcoming ‘ Webinar Wednesdays ’ series which will be aired in September. Today’s focus was ‘Jumping from an Anatomical Approach’ . Now available to buy as a recorded demonstration HERE The day was held at a private yard in Leicestershire with an absolutely fabulous indoor arena. The perfect setting for the demonstration. Gillian had 2 horses that

This week I was super excited to be heading to Horses Inside Out HQ in Leicestershire as a student, participating in the 2-Day CPD Course for Equine Therapists: Developing Palpation. I was so looking forward to being able to immerse myself in learning for 2 whole days with a bunch of other therapists, and there was a real mixture of people in the group including Massage Therapists like me as well as Physiotherapists and Equine Touch therapists. Some were newly qualified and

There's nothing like the excitement of getting a new horse. It is an exciting and fun opportunity to get to know your new equine companion. However... what do we truly know of their history? It's important to get everything right from the start, health checks and settling them in with as little stress as possible. Despite our enthusiasm it's important not to rush...especially when it's going to be a life-long home. This blog article is full of top tips and ideas to help you.

This week I spent the day at Horses Inside Out HQ assisting with filming for part 2 of Gillian’s ‘LIVE’ painted horse lecture demonstrations. Which are due to be released in the Autumn as part of the new series of Webinar Wednesdays. The day’s focus was ‘Riding from an Anatomical Perspective’ The weather was absolutely beautiful, warm and sunny, so when I arrived at Horses Inside Out HQ I was pleased to see 3 horses out on the yard already partially painted ready for the da

Having travelled around the world performing lecture demonstrations and courses, I have seen many incredible equestrian facilities. These have all been an inspiration. However, during the pandemic we have had the time and opportunity to make one of my own dreams come true...to create a dedicated teaching space for Horses Inside Out at home. The new teaching barn enables us to run courses in comfort, with horse skeletons and other anatomical models right to hand. As well as a

This month’s webinar Wednesday with Gillian Higgins, Horses Inside Out was the final in the current series and was entitled Polework and Gymnastic Jumping. It is now available to view as a recorded webinar in the Horses Inside Out Academy. This was one that a lots of followers of Horses Inside Out have been looking forward to as including Polework and Jumping into your horse’s routine can be so fun but it’s also great to know about all the benefits of the exercises to your h

A couple of weeks’ ago I spent the day at Horses Inside Out HQ assisting Gillian Higgins with the Pilates for Horses Course. This is a live course Gillian runs several times per year offering horse owners a chance to learn ways to help their own horses develop flexibility and strength using Pilates style excises. The course is held at Gillian’s home, official headquarters of Horses Inside Out in Leicestershire. The Pilates course was held the day following the Horse Owners Ma

Last week I joined Gillian Higgins at Horses Inside Out HQ to help out for the day with the Massage For Horse Owners Course. This is a live course that Gillian runs several times per year and is designed for horse owners to work on their own horses. The day began with welcoming participants to the venue, directing parking and making sure everyone was aware of where the facilities were and more importantly where they could get a cup of tea or coffee! The group was smaller than

This week I was invited back to Horses Inside Out HQ to assist in a filming day all about the Digestive System of the horse. As I arrived at Wavendon Grange I instantly spotted a big bay horse trotting around the outdoor turnout area. I couldn’t remember Gillian mentioning any horses other than her grey sports horse Arty being involved in today’s filming……so I couldn’t wait to get up the drive and find out who this tall, dark and handsome guy was! As I reached the indoor cla

This month’s webinar from Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out was the penultimate in the ‘Webinar Wednesdays’ series. I have been really looking forward to this webinar as I think it is so important for people to be aware of how young horses grow and develop and how they can help prepare their young horses for ridden work at the appropriate time in their lives and in the most appropriate way. This webinar is now available as a recording in the Horses Inside Out Academy The

Some of you may remember that last year I was lucky enough to be selected as Brand Ambassador for the Horses Inside Out Annual Conference in February 2020 after entering a competition on Facebook. This meant I got to attend the conference and post about it on social media. It was at the conference that I first saw Vibeke Elbrond and heard her talk about the Myofascial Lines in the horse. This concept was all new to me, so to find myself in a lecture with Vibeke, discussing t

Every month I look forward to Gillian Higgins’ webinars. ‘Webinar Wednesdays’ have been running monthly throughout lockdown, and each webinar has been jammed packed with information and learning opportunities. This month I have been especially looking forward to as it’s one of my favourite subjects, and something I am often discussing with clients – Understanding and assessing your horse’s posture. This webinar is now available to watch anytime, anywhere as a recording in the

This week I was very fortunate to be invited to spend the day with Gillian Higgins from Horses Inside Out to help out with some filming for an up coming project. I was given the date, time and address of where to be but I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, I was however very excited! When I arrived Wavendon Grange I started to recognise the arena and stables instantly from some of Gillian’s videos. Wavendon Grange is Gillian’s own home, as well as home to her horses Freddi

This evening I was lucky to get a space on the SOLD OUT webinar with Gillian Higgins from Horses Inside Out discussing The Horse’s Neck. (The recorded version is now available in the Horses Inside Out Academy HERE ) The webinar was split into 4 sections: · Anatomy of the neck · Biomechanics of the neck · How the head and neck position affects the rest of the body · Q & A session (where Gillian will answer questions asked my live webinar attendees -

What is the best outline for the horse? What is the best way to achieve good neck outlines? How long they should be held for?

This month’s webinar was on the subject of ‘Understanding Muscles and Fascia’. Being a Massage Therapist these are of course 2 of my favouri