With summer almost upon us, the competition season in full swing, and more daylight hours many of us will be planning to spend more time in the saddle and get out and about more with our horses. However, it’s vital to remember that an unfit horse, particularly, if he’s carrying an unfit rider, is more predisposed to injury. Whatever you are planning to do with you horse over the coming months your horse must be fit for the level of work he will be doing to help minimise the r

There’s no getting away from it – horses are truly amazing and as owners, riders, trainers, therapists and other equestrian professionals our aim is to ensure the horses in our care are happy and healthy. As their carers we must learn to ride sensitively, manage them effectively, learn to read their emotions and behaviour to ensure all their needs are met so they can thrive and perform at their best. Having a thorough understanding of how the horse’s body works will go a long

Massage is a powerful tool and has so many benefits, and now horse owners can learn how to massage their own horse with the Horses Inside Out Online Massage Course . Learning these skills will help owners to build a better bond with their horse and help keep him comfortable and happy between visits from their professional therapist. Pre orders for this exciting new course are now being taken. It will officially launch on Friday 5 May 2023. As riders and owners, it’s important

In this article I suggest four top tips that will help you ensure that your horse is comfortable, and his muscular skeletal system is prepar

In this blog article we will explore the importance of regular saddle fit, include some back assessment techniques and show you some simple

It was a year in the making but all the blood, sweat and tears was worth it as the Horses Inside Out Conference made a welcome return. Our last conference was in February 2020 just before the pandemic and the HIO team wasn’t sure whether, after a few years away, the conference would still be popular. We needn’t have worried, the two-day conference held at the Holywell Conference Centre, Loughborough was a huge success. The atmosphere was buzzing and everyone who attended in p

With good back posture being key to a good performance as well as a happy healthy horse, understanding more about how the horse's back works should be high on the list for every rider, trainer and therapist as this information can help us to keep the horse's back healthy, strong and mobile. Knowing the names of the bones of course help us to communicate with our vet and other team members that help to look after our horses. But in my mind it is having an understanding of the

Caring for tendons, or managing a horse with a tendon injury is probably every horse owner’s nightmare. A horse with a tendon injury used to mean months of box rest, which is stressful for all concerned, and with no real guarantee of a full return to fitness at the end of it. Thankfully, vets are now learning better tendon healing strategies from human sports medicine that don't include ice, bute and box rest. You may be surprised to learn that experts now recommend preventio

This is a blog I have been wanting to write for a while, and yet for some reason, every time I sit in front of my laptop with the intention of doing it, I seem to get a mental block. Not because I don’t have anything to say on the subject, but quite the contrary, I don’t even know where to start. But I know that this is a story I want to tell, as I am hoping it might inspire others…. When I first qualified as an Equine Massage Practitioner I had completed my studies over the

With life being such fast paced it can be so easy to overlook things that may be staring us in the face. This is also true for our horses – as we rush round trying to juggle family, work and horses we can be guilty of not listening to them and this is when the early signs of a health issue may be overlooked and not dealt with until the symptoms are really shouting at us. The topic of biosecurity is now in the forefront of our minds and there is a lot we can do on a daily basi

In the first part of this series of blogs about the paces we will look at the biomechanical effects and benefits of walk and also share tips on how to assess different qualities in the walk and how to improve them. You can learn so much more about this topic in the horse movement video course Anatomy in Action. Walk is a regular four-beat gait and compared to trot and canter, walk uses the most thoracolumbar rotation and lateral flexion - this is why it's great for mobilisin

Struggling with finishing off your shopping for your horsey friends? We're here to help you with some cracking gift ideas that provide education direct to your computer - and you don't need to rely on the post! There's a whole host of fascinating online courses and packages available from the Horses Inside Out Academy. Collections of Recorded Webinars - Series 1, 2, 3 or 4 These recorded webinars give the perfect opportunity to learn about how the horse works, anatomy and bi

Hind gut health is a phrase we hear a lot about at the moment, and it is an important issue. A healthy hind gut has so many positive effects on the horse, so it’s well worth understanding a bit about it. In this blog vet Liam Gamble gives a basic overview of the importance of good hind gut health and the microbiome. Liam was one of our guest presenters at the Horses Inside Out Conference where he discussed this topic in lots more detail. An introduction to the gastrointestina

Whatever discipline you do, adopting a correct, progressive and methodical training system that instils confidence in both horse and rider will bring you the most success and pleasure. This ethos is something that event coach Caroline Moore FBHS firmly believes in. Over years of coaching many event riders, Caroline has developed a unique training system. The best testimonial to her training is the career of the horse she co-owned with Ros Canter, Allstar B. We were excited to

Straightness is the fifth scale of training and is an important pillar of training. The ultimate aim is to have your horse as symmetrical and straight as possible. However, the reality is that no horse is completely symmetrical. It’s also easy to think that straightness is all about going in a straight line. However, straightness is as important through turns, circles and lateral work. There’s lots you can do to improve your horse’s straightness. Using the right exercises to

A compelling documentary has been released based on Dr Sue Dyson’s groundbreaking work on signs of pain in the ridden horse. The 35-minute film features world-renowned expert in equine orthopaedics, Dr. Sue Dyson, and her research on how ‘bad’ horse behaviour can actually be an early indicator of pain. This video is a superb precursor to watch ahead of the recorded seminar: Recognising Pain Related Poor Performance About Sue Dyson: Dr. Sue Dyson specialises in equine orthop

When your horse is not performing at his best taking a holistic view is the way to find the cause and suitable treatment. Discussing the issues you are having with your core support team that includes your vet, farrier and therapist can all help you find the best solution for your horse’s comfort and well-being. One of the most common issues that affects horses is lameness, this describes anything that causes an irregularity or unevenness of the gait. Often, it’s linked to pa

Earlier this year I received a phone call from Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out . Always nice to have a catch up with Gillian, we spent quite a lot of time together in 2021, as I attended many Horses Inside Out courses and was a helping hand during filming of the Autumn Webinar Series . What I wasn’t expecting during this call was for Gillian to ask if I would travel with her to Dublin to help with Horses Inside Out at the Dublin International Horse Show! How could I poss

Transitions, transitions, transitions. Yes, your trainer is right – you can never ride too many transitions and they form the basis of all training. However, nailing perfect transitions isn’t easy and takes time, patience, repetition and careful preparation to master. Transition means change. Whether upward, downward, direct, progressive, between or within the pace. An ideal smooth transition requires balance, suppleness and a willing response to your aids and this needs to h

Is it best to feed your horse from the floor? PART 2 In our last blog we looked at how feeding positions can help or hinder the horse's musculoskeletal health - in particular feeding from the ground. Now we'll take a look at other feeding positions and when they might be beneficial to the horse's health . Feeding High Feeding in this position is bad for the back and causes uneven wear patterns in the teeth Learn more about this in Posture and Performance and How Your Horse