The clinics are fun and informative. After an introduction of myself and riders, I will give a brief explanation of the principles of equine muscle therapy.
The clinic is designed to give the participant a basic working knowledge of:
Basic biomechanics of movement in horses. You get to draw on your own horse! The major muscle groups, what they do and how they work.
How riders influence horses movement. This will be a ridden segment. I will ask the riders to deliberately ride badly, which will hopefully, show how we can block our horses from been able to use their bodies properly. You most certainly don't have to be a good rider to participate. Everyone can ride in this clinic. I encourage beginners.
Recognising the pain signals that your horse is showing and what to do about them. I will demonstrate with the horses in a round yard or on the lunge, depending on what is available. We will see as a group, if we can spot pain signals...I will be assessing the horses on the day and helping with their pain issues, which, in turn, will help us to understand how a horse shows us he is in pain.
Discussing the differences' between Emotional behaviour responses to the memory of pain and pain that is present. How can we tell the difference between present pain behaviour and memory of previous pain? This is a big topic and must be studied carefully. The aim is to show the difference by understanding the way of horse behaviour, communication and body language. We will learn to ask the right questions to our horses, in order to find the right answers.
If time permits we will look at what to look for in a saddle, some handy hints when buying a saddle. Assessing different parts of a saddle.
In the afternoon
I will spend the afternoon demonstrating, and teaching the riders on their own horses, the use of my full body muscle therapy techniques. I have put together a combination of body moves which are some trusty favorites of mine and have proven over time to work very well on common problems like, saddle soreness, poll issues/ headaches, rump and hip problems and girth sensitivity.
The riders will follow what I do so they can have the hands on experience with their own horses. The fence sitters will be able to draw the moves on a handout provided if they want to.
There will be a file for the riders to take home on everything they have learnt at the clinic .The fence sitters will get hand outs so they too can remember what was going on.
There is nothing more frustrating than forgetting what we have learnt at clinics when we go home; I did it all the time.
Like I said we will have fun and learn lots. All questions are welcome, if we are running out of time, we will have questions afterwards.
The clinic will provide you with a great set of tools to keep your best friend happy and relaxed. The goal is for you both to have a safe and harmonious partnership.
