The recorded webinar Understanding and Improving Engagement and Collection focuses on the anatomy of the hindlimb. The main driving forces of your horse is provided by the muscles of the hindquarters and the upper hind limb. Impulsion is pushing power – the thrust that’s produced when energy created in the hindlimb is converted to forward movement. Impulsion and collection are needed in varying degrees in all disciplines not just dressage. For example, when your horse jumps it’s the...

Tired and achy muscles make you feel miserable let alone feeling stiff, uncomfortable and generally lacking energy. Your horse will feel the same if his muscles are sore, but he doesn’t always have the option to take it easy for a few days. He’ll have to put up with it or communicate his discomfort to you in other ways as it impacts his ability to do the work you ask of him. Massage therapy has been used for thousands of years to help promote good muscle health in humans and horses. Massage...

I was lucky enough to have a taster of what this seminar would be like when I attended the Horses Inside Out Conference in 2020.

Good horsemanship and correct training are two key parts of the puzzle when it comes to your horse being able to perform at his best.

This weekend I was really excited to attend the Horses Inside Out online seminar ‘Digestive Anatomy, Feeding & Nutrition’ There were 4 prese

Myofascial lines – sometimes referred to as the therapist’s map are chains of interconnected anatomical structures that direct the basic motion pattern in your horse. In this blog we’re going to look beyond your horse’s conformation and movement and delve beneath the skin and discover all about myofascial kinetic lines in your horse’s body. Myofascial kinetic lines provide an anatomical framework that provides you with an improved understanding of movement. It allows you to see the whole body...

The importance of a correctly fitting saddle is widely understood but it’s only recently that the same principle is being applied to bridle fit. Just like a poorly fitting saddle, a badly fitting bridle can have huge implications on your horse. Thankfully, there is a lot more focus being placed on bridle design and fit. So much so that the market is flooded with anatomical bridles with padded headpieces and other design features that claim to make the bridle more comfortable for your horse....

Lateral bend refers to the curvature of the horse’s spine around the rider’s inside leg on circles and corners. Theoretically, this should b

This month was the welcome return of ‘Webinar Wednesdays’ with Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out . This month’s topic was ‘Muscular Misconceptions’ - all about the muscles in the horse’s body on which we place the saddle and sit. If you missed it don't worry you can read all about it in this blog and you can now purchase the recorded version HERE. It is a common misconception that the muscle in the horse’s body that supports the weight of the rider is the long back muscle ‘Longissimus...

You can’t beat hacking out on a crisp winter’s day and there are so many benefits to escaping the arena a couple of times a week - it's good for you and your horse both mentally and physically. It is important though to make sure your hacking is valuable to your horse’s training and not just a wander in the countryside on a loose rein. In this blog Gillian Higgins suggests five things that you can easily incorporate into a hack so you’re still training your horse just in a different...