Free Flow Equine Therapies - Susan Rousak

14/11/2025

A nice little video explaining the horse's pelvis

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12/11/2025

Yes! I often tell owners they need to get their horse moving, and get it straight. Often if something is a little sore or tight, this actually helps and we can make a better plan. It also helps the horse mentally.

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Posture is very important. Reading into and discovering pain signals is important too

But I’m finding the current climate is so unsure, so tentative, backing off for every potential signal of discomfort either physical or emotional, that horses are actually worse off for it.
If you never put the horse straight, they will BECOME painful. If you back off EVERY time the horse has a question, often interpreted as resistance, the horse WILL break down.

Why? Because without some guidance, some straightening, some questions and answers, horses and people will never get anywhere.

Imagine going to a fitness coach. Imagine he backs off every single time you’re remotely uncomfortable, a little sore, a little unsure, not perfectly comfortable. Imagine you need this for PT to recover from an injury.

Not only will you never get fit, you’ll actually become more anxious and more lame. Why? Because you have no guidance through and forward. Your coach will be feeding into, and building anxiety and weakness.

This is what I see in the world at large now- a well meaning attempt to create comfort in horses is actually building more lameness, more body pain, more anxiety.
Of course we need to address and solve sources of pain and discomfort.

Get good fitting tack, learn to sit WELL, and learn to ride straight. I’m not saying don’t listen to the horse - but don’t become so tentative you’re no help.

A lot of people are capitalizing on people’s good intentions to create confusion, dependence, and mystique. This stuff isn’t new - it’s been around for ages. We’ve known how to straighten horses and keep them sound for a long, long time, but suddenly it’s like the Tower of Babel out there and nobody knows what to do.

Calm; forward, and straight. Soundness is actually quite simple. Get your seat right, your tack right, and then ride them forward and put them straight.
—obviously there are some horses with lameness or congenital issues that this will not apply to. But a qualified vet or other professional will be the best help, not every Facebook post or forum you can find

Almost all of my horses came to me unsound. At a certain point I decided they were either going to be ridden to soundness or retired. And wouldn't you know it, they are all sound now. Sometimes you just gotta go for it.

08/11/2025

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Sucked Back: About the Scariest Horse Problem I Can Think Of

In an attempt to. make horses safe to ride, much desensitizing focuses on stillness. Stand still while you see/feel/experience this stimulus. I hear often that people absolutely require stillness from their horses for certain situations, and I agree that being still is an important part of safety for mounting, tying and such.

But the thoughtful horse person must very carefully distinguish between still and "stuck."

Stuck is when forward is removed from the horse's vocabulary - blocked, shut down, repeatedly denied. A horse learning will squirm away, squiggle around, and naturally want to move away from a fearful stimulus or something they don't understand. An intelligent horse person knows how to channel that energy into something constructive, as opposed to shutting the energy down.

In time, the horse learns that CONSTRUCTIVE movement leads to calm - not evasive movement being allowed to continue. Constructive movement allows the horse to process through movement (the very thing they were designed for) what scares them, until they settle into stillness.

This preserves their forward nature - allowing us to build on it in their training. For things like trailer loading of course, we need some forward movement. Shutting down a horse's forward movement will come back to haunt you a million fold in trailer loading by producing a horse that balks, sucks back, pulls back, or flat out plants.

Shutting down forward movement creates more rearing, bucking, and planting - none of these desirable.

And of course, it is impossible to create contact, connection, bend, and any other desirable way of going without forward movement. You can't shape lack of movement.

Don't confuse "stuck" for calm. Don't remove the forward out of a horse just for the illusion of safety - a horse that does not go is in no way safe - it is not a matter of if, but when, this horse will react dangerously - and it is a travesty created entirely by human fear of the forward nature of a horse.

As always, the solution is learning to ride, learning to love going forward - constructively, not uncontrollably.
Human fear of forward is one of the greatest causes of flattening out and repressing the most beautiful parts of a horse: their love of movement.

03/11/2025

Today is Melbourne Cup day. I won't be watching the race. I struggle with the idea of racing, any type of racing. I know there are some people out there who really do look after their horses well, really take care of their physical and mental health. But there are plenty that do not. I also don't like the age these horses are started. - but it's not just racing that this is an issue in.

I see many ex-racehorses. As a bodyworker I'm usually called out when something is wrong. Most ex-racehorses have ongoing physical things, and often mental struggles. Let's be honest as well, ex-racehorses are cheap. So often people buy them for this reason but then don't have the means to do the rehab work. At the end of the day, it's the horse that loses out.

I'm not completely anti-racing but I do think we need to do better. We are starting to get more data and research into the physical issues racing causes. We can help educate those taking on an ex-racehorse that just because the horse is cheap to buy, doesn't mean it's cheap to run. There are great trainers out there helping these horses transition to another riding career, but we need to be having more honest conversations about what's involved, and more vetting done on these horses to identify where they are physically struggling.

The photo is my ex-racehorse, he was a beautiful horse and a fantastic teacher in our rehab journey. One day I'll do a post about his issues but I haven't got there yet ❤️🧡

30/10/2025

Recently at a clinic there was four bodyworkers looking at a horse. Each bodyworker saw different things.

None of them were wrong.

Everyone comes with different knowledge, it's important to be open to hearing other ideas and being able to respect each other's experience ❤️

28/10/2025

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A horse's full intestines can weigh over 100 pounds (45 kg), with the large intestine alone potentially accounting for that entire weight when full of feed.

The total weight depends on the horse's size and what it has recently consumed.
Key components of the equine digestive tract include:
Total capacity: The entire gastrointestinal (GI) tract of a fed, mature horse can hold nearly 50 gallons (190 liters) of fluid and feed.
Hindgut weight: The hindgut (cecum and colon) accounts for approximately 64% of the empty weight of the GI tract. This is the area where fiber fermentation occurs.
Large intestine capacity: The large intestine is a significant contributor to the total weight of the full intestines.
It can hold 80 liters (21 gallons) or more of food and water.
When filled with feed, it can weigh up to 100 pounds (45 kg).
Cecum capacity: The cecum, a comma-shaped organ on the right side of the abdomen, can hold up to 30 liters (about 8 gallons) of food and water.

Another thing to consider in our horses is that the small intestines is suspended via the mesentry to the vertebral column of the lumbar. The lumbar is one of the last places to mature in horses and is susceptible to problems. Lumbar pain is a common site of dysfunction in horses I see for several reasons…..that is another post!

Below is just the intestinal tract from a 15hh horse, in a dissection it takes 4 people to comfortably carry this all out on a tarpaulin.

Below is a link to whole collection of videos on the intestinal tract.

https://www.patreon.com/collection/1804697t

22/10/2025

Still spaces in our bit fitting workshop!

If you'd like to book, please use this link: https://app.acuityscheduling.com/schedule.php?owner=36500052&appointmentType=84788104

The day will comprise of individual bit fit sessions. These sessions include trying different bits or bitless bridles to find the most comfortable match for your horse :)

21/10/2025

I've just finished 4 days of being immersed in learning more about TTouch. These clinics are supportive, enjoyable and create a lot of discussion and thought on different ways of doing things. I like TTouch as it has elements of bodywork, groundwork and ridden work, making it a very versatile modality to know.

It's been a lot to process, and along with the clinic I attended before this one, I've learnt a lot and will need some time for it to all settle in. But continuation of learning, and being open to new ideas, is so important.

I didn't get any good photos so I've recycled this one from a clinic I attended a few years ago, especially as the models here are such fantastic teachers 😁

17/10/2025

"No" is communication and we need to be open to hearing no, and asking what we can do to help 🙂

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Sometimes I Say No.

And I need you to hear me.

My no might not be loud.
It might look like turning my head, stepping away, or standing still.
But it’s still a no. And it matters.

When I say no, I might be saying:

- “My body hurts, even if you can’t see it.”
- “Something feels off, and I need more time.”
- “Your energy is too much right now.”
- “The environment is overstimulating or unsafe.”
- “I’m confused, and I don’t understand what you want.”
- “I have memories in my body that haven’t healed yet.”
- “I don’t feel connected to you in this moment.”
- “I have a headache.”
- “I trust you enough to be honest.”

No doesn’t mean I’m disobedient.
No doesn’t mean I’m difficult.
No doesn’t mean I don’t love you.

It means I’m communicating the only way I know how.
And when you listen—without force, without frustration—
You become the kind of partner I can trust.

Because trust isn’t built through pressure.
It’s built through presence, patience, and choice.

✨ Every no you honor brings us closer to a true yes.

14/10/2025

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Updated tongue picture xx

The Equine Tongue

So, I am slightly obsessed about the equine tongue, how it functions the relationship between the mind and how the position of the tongue is dictated by the emotional side of the horse and the mechanics of the relationship of the tongue and the rest of the body

Now we have many generic posts about connections throughout the body, but I am going to cover in a slightly unique way, we know of the connection through the body right through to the hind end, I personally tried to move the hindlimb and could feel the restriction and wether bitted or bitless they all have their own unique restriction

The tongue is made up of 12 muscles and that can conjure an image of one tongue made up of 12 parts and while the tongue does have specific muscles within it when we look at the 12 pairs this is the tongue and its connecting muscles, I will be honest I am the type of person that is not satisfied by just saying there are 12 I want to know what are they and what they do in relationship to the tongue, for we need to know right especially when thinking of how much we influence the tongue

So first of all I apologise to all the people I have messaged and bugged asking do they know every muscle because I knew of 8 but and only four of them originate and insert within the tongue the rest do not have both origin and insertion within it so (and I may be wrong) for me saying it's made up of 12 muscles could be misleading the layman to thinking they are 12 parts to the tongue, and I am not saying I am right and if anyone knows more then please educate me so I cannot wake up at 2am thinking about it lol, I want to thank Sharon May Davies for taking the time to answer my message and it prompted me to share this post again

So, with that I will tell you what I know about the tongue's anatomy

Although it is a muscle it is not like say a biceps think it more of a muscle that continually works but does not grow in size the more it is worked (for we know to build muscle we cause micro tears and movement does not do this in the tongue) its job is to aid in digestion, taste perception, respiratory function, the intrinsic muscles are within the tongue and the extrinsic muscles are connected via muscles to the hyoid, mandible, soft palate, pharynx, it has a healthy blood supply and is innervated by nerves such as the Hypoglossal, Vagus, Facial and Trigeminal

INTRINSIC MUSCLES

There are four pairs of intrinsic muscles which originate and insert back into the tongue, intrinsic means closer to the body and these muscles help with the shape of the tongue and positioning the tip of the tongue and work together with the extrinsic muscles for things like eating, swallowing etc

These four pairs are named the same just the directional term changes, so we have the SUPERIOR (shortens, widens, and curls the tongue upwards), INFERIOR (shortens, widens, and curls it downwards), TRANSVERSE (elongates) and VERITCAL (flattens) longitudinal muscles, they originate and insert into the structures within the tongue

EXTRINSIC MUSCLES

Extrinsic means further away from the main body and often the origin will be from outside the tongue, and they will insert into the tongue they are associated with more of the mechanical movement of the tongue (protruding, elevating, depressing, retracting), just a side note both intrinsic and extrinsic act together for correct function

STYLOGLOSSUS origin stylohyoid bone of the hyoid, action retracts and elevates the tongue

GENIOGLOSSUS origin incisive part of the mandible, action protrudes and depresses the tongue

HYOGLOSSUS origin basihyoid of the hyoid, action retracts and depresses the tongue

PALATOGLOSSAL, (GLOSSOPHARYNGEAL) This is a muscle of the soft palate and pharynx it assists in elevating the back portion of the tongue



MUSLCES AFFECTING THE FUNCTION OF THE TONGUE

THYROIDHYODEUS, this muscle will draw the tongue caudally by the attachments from the basihyoid

MYLOHYOID, this is a muscle which forms part of the floor of the mouth and the tongue sits in it like a cradle, with its links to the hyoid it affects movement with the tongue

GENIOHYOIDEUS, origin incisive part of the mandible, now even though this does not insert into the tongue it lies below it and inserts into the hyoid so when the hyoid comes forward it also affects the tongue and brings the tongue forward

OMOHYOIDEUS, origin subscapular fascia and even though it inserts onto the basihyoid bone that has a direct action on the tongue

STYLOHYOID the action of this results in the elevation of the base of the tongue

STERNOHYOID like the omohyoid it links the shoulder to the hyoid but also, we have the link between the hyoid and tongue

So, as you can see these are only a handful of muscles either in or surrounding or connecting the tongue to other structures

So why bother to know is not just easier to say there are 12 muscles of the tongue well like any muscle to know the action and how we may help or even how we may hinder we need to know the anatomy, for we may wiggle jiggle and do all sorts without knowing what we are influencing

We often talk about the connection of the tongue to the hind end or front end through lines, chains or any of the other connectins but it’s the freedom of choice for the horse as we know the tongue has a relationship with posture but it’s the brain which dictates the position of the tongue due to how the horse is feeling, we all know in humans we will place our tongue for helping maybe TMJ dysfunction but for anyone like me who suffers with TMJ pain or dysfunction trying to make it better with tongue exercises can actually cause us short term discomfort for the long term gain as dysfunction is our comfort zone, we often use the tongue as an avenue to effect something else without considering how important the tongue is in its own right

For me personally a happy horse has a still tongue, take a look at when we are working on horses the horses that are curling, fidgeting, or gurning with their tongue often tells us that there is pain or discomfort somewhere else yet we are often encouraged to see horses do all this with a bit in their mouth shouldn't an accepting mouth be a quiet mouth, we shut their mouths up to put a plaster over the issue and I cannot think of anything worse than when the horse is trying to find comfort in movement we then address the issue by shutting it up rather than asking why, when we think of respiration the tongue plays a crucial role, and where the tongue sits is so important so we have to be careful that we do not have an action that may affect this

In summary the mental well being of the horse affects the tongue which affects posture so as always we have to think of brain and body when approaching whole horse health

And if you are one of those people who want to know why and not just because it is then please if you know more muscles that I may of missed out I have no issue with being educated lol and you can join the long list of people I bug with weird questions about the horses body

We must always remember not just to manipulate a tongue or head position to get a "release" we need to ask was the horse simply avoiding pressure and because then the horse was simply releasing stress that our hands caused

I also apologise it for being so long this is the shortened version

09/10/2025

I've just spent the last few days at a dissection. These are always emotional, they bring up difficult questions and visuals. But it's an amazing learning opportunity, and to get an appreciation for how connected everything is. It's always good to be reminded how much we can help our horses, even if they have a lot going on. The key is helping them within their limits.

Thank you so much to Dr Heidi McGrath (and Mark) from for the venue, it was amazing!! It was great having Heidi there to help answer questions and discuss findings. Also to Nicole Umback for helping with organising and smooth running of the event!

Huge thank you to Dr Raquel Butler from Integrated Veterinary Therapeutics for her time and sharing of knowledge. It's always fun and educational hanging out with you!

Biggest thank you to the main teacher -, the horse, and to the owner, who allowed us the privilege. It's never an easy decision to say goodbye but we are honoured to have learnt from your equine friend.

A few days back home processing this event, then off to another (different) course next week!