Synergy and Freedom

01/12/2025

I’m going to take the month of December to practice what I preach, and design, implement and evaluate a back-strengthening programme for Junior.

You can follow along in short form here, and I’ll also be posting longer form on YouTube and emailing that out 😁

28/11/2025

We all know that planning and consistency wins over reactivity every time… it’s true for your horse’s wellbeing too.

Monthly bodywork assessments and treatments are far more productive than waiting until something feels off and then chasing those symptoms.

So why not get a head start on 2026, and have your horse’s wellness plan devised in advance.

Plans include monthly sessions - including body, hoof, overall health and fitness assessments, plus treatment session and exercise plans for the month ahead.

We can work towards your goals, be they competition, soundness (if we’re talking rehab) or particular posture or movement outcomes.. OR maybe just having a happy, healthy horse!

These plans are now just $1200 ($300 off) between now and December 25th. Comment, DM or text 0421313863.

26/11/2025

It’s that time of year…

The one where I start looking back over 2025 and looking forward into 2026.

I look back to see where I showed up in the way I wanted, where I let things slide, and where life just really outdid itself!

Then I look forward, to this time next year. I think of what I would want to improve on from this year, what new things might be coming up, and ultimately, who do I want to be in 12 months?

That is where I spend the last 4-6 weeks of every year, so that I can start the new one, not with empty resolutions, but with a clear mind and enthusiasm that comes from mindfully reviewing and dreaming.

So for me, 2025 has been really exciting in that I got into vet school, and am loving it, whilst also working really hard!

It’s been great to meet new clients in a new location and start to build those relationships.

I’ve had some wonderful success stories with rehab, bodywork, trimming and OTTB rehoming.

I’ve had some great guests, and awesome teaching calls with the Holistic Horse AU community, something I’ve had in mind for a number of years is finally in existence!

What hasn’t gone the way I would have liked is that I still haven’t gotten out competing. The property I hoped would be home for my time at uni hasn’t been. And I haven’t put as much of my energy into building the Holistic Horse community as much as I would have liked.

So, I’m taking this time to build out these ideas, reflections and goals… and as part of that comes decisions about what I can offer to the wonderful humans and horses I have the pleasure of working with… so here’s a brief clue of what’s coming:

-10th of December: free 2026 goal setting class, if you’d like to go through the same process as I am!

- Annual horse wellness and performance plans: I really want to encourage people to be proactive and intentional about their horse’s wellbeing, and so making it more affordable to maintain a monthly schedule and a more high-level approach to your horse’s wellbeing.

- In person trainings and workshops: family/systemic constellations, equine reiki trainings (including my inaugural equine reiki master training in July!)

And more…

20/11/2025

How vet school is already changing what I do:

It’s fun to think that I’m not even (quite!) done with first year and it’s already influencing my work and way of thinking. Monday night’s call in the Holistic Horse Membership was all about the distal (lower) limb, inspired by my locomotion unit at uni, and the latest podcast was about two big similarities and differences between my current work and my study. So I thought I’d write some thoughts here too!

One thing I really am loving is the depth of anatomy we are going into, and in particular the dissections. While it’s confronting to walk into that lab (and to think how many cats and dogs bodies are easily accessed from pounds etc… but that’s another story), being able to start from the outside and explore your way into those internal structures is amazing. I am a very tactile person, so this has been far more valuable to me than any book, video, course, or even observation. I love now having an even deeper understanding and feeling of what’s going on beneath the surface, and bringing that into my assessment during bodywork sessions.

(It’s worth noting here, that “assessment” is not just at the beginning and end of a session - manual therapy is a two-way communication. My hands put suggestions in, and simultaneously assess the response happening beneath them)

The other thing I am loving is getting back into the linear, black and white, logic of it. Most of you know that my inner sceptic has had a pretty rough decade, so it’s awesome to be back in this space of evidence and research and “proveability”… but also lovely to be back there with the other understanding sitting in my awareness now too.

I enjoy the feeling of being in both worlds. Knowing that as vets we are trained to look at the clinical, logical, linear… but still holding an understanding of those things veterinary science doesn’t yet recognise or acknowledge. It’s not a cognitive dissonance to me, and it’s exciting to consider how I may be able to continue relieving that tension in those around me in the future. To have an industry that truly embraces “holistic” in its biggest scope.

So as I am becoming more available again (my last exam, aside from a couple in mid December is tomorrow), I am looking forward to really integrating this year into all my other studies and experience and be of even greater service to the horses, and their humans, that I am so lucky to have in my life!

19/11/2025

Thanks for describing what I think about on a daily basis! This is why, as much as I may use acupuncture and/or red light… manual therapy really is my love.

And honestly *unpopular opinion coming* why I wince a little when I see massage guns and (don’t lynch me, I know people out there are devotees!! And YES there are good practitioners out there, I’m sure) PEMF.

Touch Over Tools: Fascia Knows the Difference

In bodywork, tools can assist — but they cannot replace the intelligence, sensitivity, or neurological impact of human touch.
Hands-on work communicates with the body in ways no device or instrument can.

1. Hands Provide Real-Time Feedback Tools Cannot Match

Your hands sense:
• tissue temperature
• hydration and viscosity
• fascial glide
• subtle resistance
• breath changes
• micro-guarding
• nervous-system shifts

This information shapes your pressure, angle, and pace.
Tools apply pressure — hands interpret and respond.

2. The Nervous System Responds Uniquely to Human Touch

Skin and fascia contain mechanoreceptors that respond strongly to:
• sustained contact
• warmth
• contour
• slow, intentional pressure

Human touch activates pathways that:
• quiet the sympathetic system
• reduce pain signaling
• soften protective muscle tone
• improve movement organization

Tools stimulate tissue.
Hands regulate the nervous system.

3. The Effect of Physical Contact Itself

Physical contact changes physiology — even before technique begins.

Touch triggers:
• lowered cortisol
• increased oxytocin
• improved emotional regulation
• better proprioception
• reduced defensive tension

Horses and dogs — whose social systems rely on grooming, leaning, and affiliative touch — respond especially deeply.
Tools can compress tissue, but they cannot create that neurochemical shift.

4. Hands Follow Structure; Tools Push Through It

Fascia does not run in straight lines — it spirals, blends, suspends, and wraps.

Hands can:
• contour around curves
• follow the subtle direction of ease
• melt into tissue instead of forcing through it

Tools often pull or scrape in a linear path, bypassing the subtleties that create real, lasting change.

5. Tools Can Override the Body’s Natural Limits

Hands feel when:
• tissue meets its natural barrier
• the nervous system hesitates
• a micro-release initiates
• the body shifts direction or depth

Tools can overpower these boundaries, creating irritation, rebound tension, or compensation patterns.
Hands work with the body’s pacing — not against it.

6. Hands Support Whole-Body Integration

Bodywork isn’t about “fixing a spot.”
It’s about improving communication across the entire system.

Hands-on work:
• connects multiple lines at once
• enhances global proprioception
• improves coordination and balance
• supports the body’s natural movement strategies

Tools tend to treat locally.
Hands treat the whole conversation.

7. Physical Touch Builds Trust, Comfort, and Confidence

Comfort creates confidence.
Confidence nurtures optimism and willingness.

Hands-on work:
• reduces defensiveness
• supports emotional safety
• encourages softness
• creates a more receptive body
• builds trust and relationship

Tools cannot build rapport or communicate safety.
Hands do — instantly.

Additional Elements (Optional Enhancements)

A. Co-regulation: Nervous System to Nervous System

Humans, horses, and dogs all co-regulate through touch and proximity.
Your calm hands shift their physiology — and theirs shifts yours.
This shared state enables deeper, safer release.

B. Touch Enhances Sensory Clarity

Touch refines the brain’s map of the body (somatosensory resolution), improving:
• coordination
• balance
• movement efficiency
• reduced bracing

Tools cannot refine the sensory map with the same precision.

C. Hands Integrate Technique and Intuition

The brain blends tactile information with pattern recognition and subtle intuition.
Tools separate you from that information.
Hands plug you into it.

In Short

Hands-on wins because touch is biologically intelligent, neurologically profound, and relationship-building.
Tools press — but hands listen, interpret, regulate, and connect.

When the body feels safe and understood, it reorganizes more deeply, moves more freely, and heals more efficiently.

The Energy Connection Between Horse and Human: Science and Sensation - https://koperequine.com/the-energy-connection-between-horse-and-human-science-and-sensation/

17/11/2025

Don’t ask me why 🤷‍♀️ but yes, it’s still happening! And even more simple to do (for you anyway 😂😅). That’s at holistichorse.au btw!

16/11/2025

Monday only!

Code CYBERMON 🐎 💨

16/10/2025

“You gave me my horse back”…

I’m still just blown away after hearing this yesterday. What an amazing, humbling, incredible compliment.. It brings me to tears just thinking about it ❤️

Even being totally in love with my work, and studying my dream degree, there are days when it all feels hot, and tiring, and hard… and then someone reminds me exactly why I do what I do.

Why I learn as much as I can, and show up to the best of my ability, and do this beautiful work… because if I can give this one, amazing, inspiring woman her horse back, that really is all that matters.

What an honour. What a reminder.