Free Flow Equine Therapies - Susan Rousak

05/12/2025

Slowing ourselves down is so important for our horses. Take the moments, watch your horse reactions, wait until you both take a deep breath

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𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Spend an hour watching a herd and something uncomfortable becomes obvious.

They are not slow.
We are frantic.

We have normalised a pace of life that is biologically unsustainable.
Instant replies. Same-day delivery. Tescos 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘩. The obsession with immediacey.

The constant low-level vibration of what’s next?

Our nervous systems are stuck in a permanent high-frequency buzz.

Then you walk into the stable.

A horse does not live in “Clock Time” (Chronos).
They live in “Deep Time” (Kairos).

They do not know it is Tuesday.
They do not know you are late.
They only know Now.

When you enter their space, you hit a wall of stillness.

And if we are honest, at first it’s annoying.
You want to rush the process. Hurry up and catch. Hurry up and groom. Hurry up and get the job done.

You arrive carrying the momentum of your entire workday.

But the horse refuses to hurry.

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗿.
𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗺 🌧

This is where the science of entrainment kicks in.

Physics tells us that when two oscillating systems meet, they eventually sync.
The stronger rhythm pulls the weaker one into line.

A horse’s heart rate is slower.
Their breathing is deeper.
Their electromagnetic field is larger.

They are the stronger rhythm.

They drag you out of the speed of wifi and drop you back into the speed of blood.
The speed of breath.
The speed of the earth turning 🌎

You think you are waiting for them to react.
But really, they are waiting for you to arrive.

Because until you slow down, you are not truly there.
You are just a body vibrating with tomorrow’s to-do list.

By the time you leave the yard, you haven’t completed a task.
You have stepped out of the rat race and remembered you are a mammal. 🐴

Slow down.
The email will still be there tomorrow.
This breath won’t. 🫁

03/12/2025

I've been collaborating with the amazing Lagoballo and written an article on what to look for in a bridle 😄

Enjoy!!

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Why Bridle Brands Matter for Ultimate Bridle FitWhen it comes to horse riding, the bridle isn’t just a piece of tack—it’s your main line of communication with your horse. A well-designed bridle can make the difference between a responsive, comfortable ride and a frustrating one. So, with the t...

01/12/2025

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Fascia hears before the brain does.

Fascia is one of the most sensory-rich tissues in the body — packed with far more nerve endings than muscle.

It contains:
• Mechanoreceptors that sense movement, pressure, and loading
• Nociceptors that detect discomfort or pain
• Interoceptors that track the horse’s internal state and safety

Equine fascia is constantly reading the environment. It detects tension, stretch, compression, shear, vibration, temperature, and internal shifts with incredible speed and precision.

These receptors fire faster than conscious processing.

Because of this massive sensory input, fascia acts as the horse’s predictive and corrective system, adjusting posture, balance, muscle tone, and protective responses before the thinking brain ever engages.
It’s why horses react instantly, fluidly, and sometimes explosively — their fascia responds first.

The fluid layers within the fascial network also behave like a biological antenna, transmitting and receiving subtle mechanical and energetic information through wave-like patterns that travel across the whole body.

Your horse’s fascia is always listening — and responding —
long before the conscious mind catches up.



https://koperequine.com/where-horses-feel-it-most-common-soreness-zones-in-muscles-and-fascia/

29/11/2025

This is why I'm passionate about your horse leading well, it feeds into everything else, especially float loading!

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LOADING AND LEADING

If you owned a horse that was about 25 years old, had been in a trailer only 3 times in her life, and the last time was about 14 years ago, how would you expect her to load today?

Michèle and I are relocating and have a 2-day trip ahead of us with our 5 horses, 4 dogs, and a cat. We decided to leave behind the emus, kangaroos, brown snakes, and grass ticks.

I figured it would be a good idea to practice loading the trailer since it's been a long time since our horses were last trailered. It didn’t seem like a good idea to leave it to the last minute to see if they are okay to load into our trailer.

All 5 of our horses loaded and unloaded quietly, calmly, and without hesitation several times. There was not a moment of resistance or concern. No rushing, no hesitation, and only a hint of puzzlement on their faces as if to ask, “Where are we going?”

Considering how little experience all of our horses have with trailering, why did they load as if it were a normal daily occurrence?

The answer is because they are visited and handled every day, and more importantly, they lead brilliantly. I cannot exaggerate the importance of teaching a horse to be brilliant to handle and have amazing leading skills. Most of us spend far more time being around our horses on the ground than we do riding them, and the skills they learn from that impact everything else. Teaching a horse to lead brilliantly has a major influence on everything else, including picking up feet, clearing a jump, or performing lead changes. Leading brilliantly is not ‘a thing’ and separate from other things. How a horse leads influences how it does other things to the best of its ability. It is a continuum.

When your horse feels “going with you” and “following a feel” is the best idea it has had all day, things that can be hard to other horses are easy to your horse.

It is not just luck that we have easy-going horses that have no problem loading into trailers or trimming their hooves or ground tying, or leading without a halter and rope.

I do not have to practice trailer loading so that our horses load exceptionally well when we hit the road to their new home. I just had to make sure we went together and follow each other's feel in everything we have done since we came into each other's lives.

Photo: Our happy band. Little do they know how their life is about to change.

28/11/2025

Fascia is just so important! This is why I have you doing the grooming techniques you do!

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⭐ 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟑 - 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐚 + 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞’𝐬 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

Let’s talk about the two things that influence your horse’s body more than anything else:
𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐚 and 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬.
If Part 3 was about what compensation looks like, Part 4 is about why it develops in the first place and how we fix it.

And spoiler alert:
It’s not magic.
It’s not “just how they’re built.”
It’s science, structure, and the body’s survival system.

⭐ 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐚: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲’𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐲

Fascia is NOT “just connective tissue.”
It’s the body’s most dynamic, intelligent system one giant 3D web that wraps through, around, and between 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞, 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞.

When fascia tightens, sticks, or becomes restricted, it can:

• Pull joints out of alignment
• Change hoof loading patterns
• Limit stride length
• Create bracing through the topline
• Shift weight unevenly through the diagonal pairs
• Cause that “won’t bend left” or “feels stuck on the right” feeling
• Make the horse move differently to avoid tension or pain

This is why you can’t isolate one muscle or one body part in rehab.
𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.
If fascia is stuck, movement is stuck.
And when movement is stuck, compensation begins.

⭐ 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞

Biomechanics is simply:
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲.

A balanced horse moves like this:

• Hind end drives → core stabilizes → ribcage lifts → front end frees up
• Forces travel diagonally through the body
• Joints load evenly
• Fascia glides
• Steps match left-to-right
• The spine flexes and absorbs shock
• The body stays symmetrical under the rider or on the ground

This is the blueprint the body wants to follow.

But when something interferes ; pain, weakness, stiffness, poor posture, old injuries, or even training mistakes, the biomechanics shift.
And then the fascia adapts.
And then the entire movement pattern rewrites itself.

That’s how compensation becomes “normal.”

⭐ 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐞𝐲: 𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲

You can’t fix biomechanics without addressing fascia.
And you can’t fix fascia without retraining biomechanics.

This is where people get stuck.

They:
• Stretch the horse
• Work the horse harder
• Put special shoes on
• Do injections
• Do one chiro session
• Or just hope conditioning rides will fix it

But if the fascia chain is still restricted? → the horse reverts.
If the biomechanics aren’t retrained? → the pattern returns.
If the compensation isn’t addressed at its source? → the problem persists.

This is EXACTLY why your “whole horse” approach works because you treat causes, not symptoms.

⭐ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐈𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐞” 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡

Let’s say a horse has:

• A short right front stride
• A dropped right shoulder
• A tighter right ribcage
• A weaker left hind
• An underrun left front heel

To an untrained eye, this looks like conformation.

But to someone who understands fascia + biomechanics?
This screams diagonal compensation pattern caused by a hind-end weakness or restriction.

Once the fascia is released…
Once the strength is rebuilt…
Once you restore proper loading and balance…
Once the horse can move correctly again…

Suddenly the “conformation issue” disappears.

Because it was never conformation.
It was adaptation.

⭐ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟒

Your horse’s body is not betraying them.
It’s protecting them.

And when you combine:
✨ Fascia release
✨ Correct biomechanics
✨ Functional strength rebuilding
✨ Consistency in rehab

You’re not just fixing a movement problem
you’re undoing YEARS of compensation and giving your horse the chance to move the way they were designed to.

This is how we break the patterns.
This is how we rebuild balance.
This is how we change the whole horse.

24/11/2025

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/17RsUD8omC/

23/11/2025

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22/11/2025

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Horses don’t wake up with a diary full of performance goals. They’re not standing at the gate thinking, “I hope she schools me in a perfect 20-metre circle today.”

Their world is simpler and more honest. Safety. Predictability. Comfort. Herd. Food. Space. Rhythm. That’s the entire ecosystem of their wellbeing.

When we choose not to ride, we are not depriving them of something vital.
We are actually honouring their natural priorities.

Most days, what your horse wants is for you to show up with steady energy and a soft nervous system. They read the tension in your jaw, the rush in your footsteps, the way you hold your breath when you’re stressed. They know. And they respond.

A horse would rather stand with you quietly than carry you while you’re wound tight.

A horse would rather have a peaceful grooming session than be pushed through 45 minutes of schooling with winter wind rattling the arena boards.

A horse would rather feel you regulate beside them than feel you compensate on their back.

We often forget that riding is a human invention, not a horse requirement. What horses seek is harmony. A safe companion. Someone predictable enough that their bodies can settle next to ours.

When you decide not to ride because you’re tired, or the ground is frozen, or your brain is doing that loud static thing, you’re not failing. You’re speaking the horse’s language.

A regulated human is more valuable to them than a mounted one.

They don’t judge you for walking them to the field instead of tacking up. They don’t measure your worth by hours ridden. They care that you’re safe company. That you don’t bring storms into their space. That when you do ask something of them, it comes from clarity rather than pressure.

Some horses genuinely thrive when riding takes a step back for a little while. Their bodies get a breather. Their minds get space. Their relationship with you gets to be about connection rather than task.

If you’re showing up kindly, you’re doing enough.
If your horse is eating well, moving freely, living in a routine that makes sense to them, you’re doing enough.

And in the quiet seasons, the bond often grows deeper. Because horses remember who sits with them in the stillness.

20/11/2025

😆😁

19/11/2025

Great advice with the holiday season coming!

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We recently had a great chat with Kahlua the puppy and her owner as they prepare for an exciting trip! ☀️ It was a vital reminder that travelling to a different region with your pet requires special preparation, especially regarding parasites and potential regional diseases.

Every location has its own specific health risks for pets, which is why it’s crucial to consult your veterinarian before any long-distance travel.

Parasite Risk: Different areas have different pests (fleas, ticks, mosquitoes) and varying levels of risk for tick-borne diseases like Ehrlichiosis. Your usual preventative may not be enough for a new environment.

Disease Prevalence: Ensure your pet is fully protected against common diseases like Parvovirus with up-to-date vaccinations, as travel can expose them to new environments.

Before you pack the bags and load the car:

Consult Your Vet: Discuss your destination and get advice on the specific parasite and disease risks there.

Review Preventatives: Ask if your current flea, tick, and worming treatments are adequate for your destination.

Check Vaccinations: Ensure all core vaccinations are current.

Know the Signs: Be aware of the symptoms of diseases prevalent in that region.

Safe travels!

18/11/2025

Christmas is coming, along with the end of 2025 😳

With the longer days and the lead up to the holiday period, I've been feeling the pressure to accommodate more appointments than I can handle. It's my own doing by not being strict with myself on my hours. But unfortunately it's not sustainable.

Therefore, until 2026, I will only take on new bodywork clients if they can do week day appointments during the hours of 9am to 4pm.

For existing clients, I will try to make things work where I can, but please remember certain times are very popular, so there may be a wait for the appointment time you want.

Thank you everyone for your ongoing support and understanding. I'm extremely lucky to have an awesome client base and I enjoy helping each of you and your horses!

17/11/2025

Some of you have seen I've been testing the Lami-Tag on your ponies. This explains how it works much better than I can 😄

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