Synergy and Freedom

Synergy and Freedom Facilitating equine well-being and performance. I've ridden and produced horses to the elite levels, being named on squads, placing at Adelaide 5*****.

Horses are not simply a collection of moving parts, they are living beings with individual traits and minds of their own. It is for this reason that addressing each horse holistically - physically, mentally and emotionally is often necessary for true healing to occur or for them to reach their true potential, whatever that may be! This doesn't always mean endless bodywork sessions, nor does it necessarily mean a complete overhaul of your lifestyle and training. Sometimes (often!) it is the small, targeted changes that lead to transformational results; improved performance, a more balanced mindset, improved training, improved quality of life, more joy... whatever the desired result may be. Offerings:

Done-For-You equine rehabilitation, prehabilitation and conditioning

Done-With-You equine rehabilitation, prehabilitation and conditioning

Private sessions including equine bodywork, human-horse relationship work (on the ground or under saddle), equine or human biomechanics, equine or human mindset/emotional regulation.

3 and 6 month tailored rider mentorship programmes

Online courses for riders


About Me:

My journey with horses has been a varied and exciting one. To get there, I learned as much as I could by working in top yards ; performance, racing, polo, etc. I wanted to learn how to look after my own horses' injuries, rather than being reliant on someone else, so became a human chiropractor with the goal of becoming an equine chiropractor. I have also learned a range of other equine modalities including evidence based equine rehabilitation, CST, equine acupuncture and acupressure, massage, hoof rehabilitation and others. My aim is to prove that competition/racing and equine wellbeing can and do complement each other and to change the way we approach equine health and performance.

13/03/2026

When one of the world leaders shares the same information and training that you are… it’s kind of exciting!

So… I guess I’m just saving you hundreds by hearing it from me?! 😂 you’re welcome 😇

12/03/2026

Did you know that mutual grooming actually has a physiological effect?

It increases parasympathetic input, which essentially sends calming signals through the horse’s body. These signals lower heart rate, cortisol, etc.

And here’s the great thing; knowing that means that we have a way of activating the parasympathetics too. By mimicking this behaviour (ie scratching the wither) we can “trick” the nervous system into calming.

One of the many things we’ll discuss on Monday in How To Teach Your Horse to Self-Regulate!

* edit to add… I shared this just before walking into a talk with with the world’s leading behavioural vet, and to be specific, their heart rate can be lowered by 10 bpm by doing this 🤩

11/03/2026

Years ago my psychologist said this to me, and over a decade later, it’s something I still live by.

With every decision we are either making our circle bigger, or we are making it smaller. And by circle, I kind of mean comfort zone.

Every time you shy away from that thing outside your comfort zone, you reinforce that line around yourself. But soon it gets scary to even approach that edge, the edge itself starts feeling like the original scary “thing” on the other side.

Think of agoraphobia- it never starts with being trapped in your own house, it starts with fear of crowds, public places, main roads etc etc until the front door becomes the limit.

So every time we choose to stay in the round yard, or arena, because we worry what might happen in a big open space, we make it harder to venture out. Do that long enough, and we start to make our horse’s comfort zone match ours. Now we have a horse that is also worried about leaving the arena. We no longer go on trails, go out to ride with friends, ride in that nice paddock that we once set up for ourselves.

This goes for anything (go back to the video of the horse in the stable).

Now I’m not saying this will happen if just for a few rides you go back to something that makes you feel braver. I’m also not saying you have failed if this is making you a bit uncomfortable (god it shone a light on my choices when I first heard it!!!). But I’m sharing this to give you an opportunity. To make a tiny, bite-sized choice that will make your circle just a tiny bit bigger.

And maybe to do that you need some support, great, go get it! Make that your first step!

But you’ve got this. You and your horse can begin those baby steps to a bigger circle together, and if you stick at it, it’ll be so freeing that I can almost promise you won’t want to go back!

10/03/2026

Just uploaded a new podcast episode, all about the various states a horse’s nervous system might me through, or to, as a result of stress.

Enjoy!

Guys!!! I think I’ve made it 😁 I feel like it’s proof you are really getting the message out there when someone feels th...
08/03/2026

Guys!!!

I think I’ve made it 😁

I feel like it’s proof you are really getting the message out there when someone feels the need to tell you that it’s clear you’ve never had anything to do with horses 🤩

This comment made my week, honestly! I’ve been trying to be better at putting out honest, sometimes more triggering videos… and, I think I’ve done it!

I’ve escaped my own echo chamber and managed to infiltrate someone else’s ideological bunker 🐎 💨 💃

… And no, I’m not looking to annoy or depress people with what I talk about - hopefully anyone who has met me or seen more than one post knows that! I’m just not unhappy if I do… and this is just one of a few just this week who think I’m delusional. This one just used the magic phrase.

07/03/2026

This has become a bit of a popular topic, for good and bad reasons 😅 but let’s hone in on the good.

The more you understand how your horse’s nervous system works, and how you can help them regulate, and then self-regulate, the more pleasant both your lives will be.

Less physical issues, easier training, happier horse and human… even lower feed bills in some cases ☺️

So strap in for a few nuggets on this in the lead up to the programme we have running soon!

🐎 💨

07/03/2026

Some days I am too stressed/hot/cold/tired etc to really appreciate how amazing it is that I get to do the work that I love.

Today was not one of those days!

What could make an afternoon of horse+human bodywork even better? A lovely view, a doggy play date and a cute turtle dis...
07/03/2026

What could make an afternoon of horse+human bodywork even better? A lovely view, a doggy play date and a cute turtle discovery 😍🥰

Some days I may be too hot, cold, tired, stressed etc to be in my gratitude (need to keep working on that!!) … and some days I really am in total disbelief how awesome it is to do work I love so much!

06/03/2026

The new FEI whip rule and what it means!
Here is a not-so-quick (oops 😅) explanation!
There are far more in-depth explanations of operant conditioning elsewhere, but this is a summary of how it relates to the new rule.
Hope it helps! Questions are welcome!

06/03/2026

Explain this to me like I’m a 5 year old.

Cause I don’t think I will ever understand how we can laugh at the first, and cry for the second.

How?!

How is this first video training and yet the second video is a rescue mission?

How?!

And yes, these are extreme cases, but this happens in microdoses every single day, by people who believe they are doing the best by the horse. By people who are trying to help their horse be calm, or learn, and are actually stressing them to the point of shut down (and yep, there’s going to be a few posts coming up on that topic cause my new programme starts this month about teaching your horse to self-regulate).

Because this doesn’t come out of nowhere. It starts small and grows as we ourselves become, ironically, desensitised to it.

So help me out. Why do we want to free one at any cost, but the other is supposedly learning from this experience?

03/03/2026

I’ll confess this is one of the areas I struggle. When the horse is telling me very clearly that they have pain around their teeth, and their human says “they can’t, their teeth were only just done”… now yes, of course I can be wrong, and maybe the horse is telling me something else entirely, but the truth is that unless you do something like endoscopy, it’s not really possible to assume the teeth are fine, even if you did just have the dentist.

(I’ll also add that imaging does not detect pain… but that’s a separate thing 😅).

Horses don’t lie, and behaviour is the only language they have.

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Laidley, QLD
4341

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Our Story

Synergy and Freedom was born out of a love of inspiring connection to bring together a whole which is capable of continuous expansion, reflection and growth. This whole, by nature is greater than the sum of its parts and is therefore more resilient in the face of stress, more courageous in new discovery and able to experience more bliss. Synergy and Freedom is thus a holistic approach to life. It is mentoring and coaching that improves the cohesiveness of body, mind and spirit, for humans, horses, and human-horse relationships. Pulling from a range of modalities and life experiences, all sessions are tailored to individual needs and goals on any given day. This is not a fixed formula, but a fluid approach to creating a more synergistic and free experience of life. If you want to know more about me, or what I do, I would invite you to text me on 0421313863, drop me an email at keira.byrnes88@gmail.com, or take a look at my website www.synergyandfreedom.net . I would love to find out what I can do for you!

“Tell me your story, show me your wounds I’ll show you what Love sees when Love looks at you. Hand me your pieces, broken and bruised I’ll show you what Love sees when Love sees you.”