Stride Performance Equine Therapy

01/11/2026

Which one allowed me to feel my hip flexor tension?

In this case the answer is static!

Many injuries are guarding injuries. And the fascial network does a really great job at keeping the body mobile while maintaining its protective posture

This is because the fascial web is designed to keep the body moving, to avoid potential death caused by the inability to move due to further injury

When we perform static stretching we are asking the body to feel the injury, the guarding, the compensation

During this the nervous system enters an acute state of sympathetic activation “OW! I was trying not to feel that!” — breath and heart rate changes, tension increases and the body fights the position being asked of it

When we intentionally slow down the breath, keep the stretch range minimal (working the stretch to stop before the tension happens) and hold for 30-90 seconds, we bring the body out of acute sympathetic activation and into parasympathetic regulation

By doing this we are actively communicating to the fascia that the tension and guarding can begin to soften as it finds safety in the stillness

Static stretching is how we help the body release deep seated tension, rewire neural connections to that pain area and reset the fascial web

Bodies are very good at moving through tension, they aren’t very good at sitting with it

01/11/2026

Intentional anything is key!

We go about so much of our days not thinking about how or why we are doing something

Then we arrive to the barn and we go through or regular routine without pausing to become more aware of our actions and our horses reactions

Intentional awareness creates growth — mentally, physically and emotionally — by brining attention to what we’re doing and allowing us to adjust more quickly

Are you being aware and intentional, or are you going through the routine?

01/09/2026

Bodywork session notes are great but they often leave a lot of questions

Most times we are seeing recurring body pattern themes over long periods of time — potentially the horses whole career

The problem is not the individual areas that are being highlighted, it is that this pattern is consistently reactived each time the horses body feels unsafe because this is its chosen reorganization pattern

Now, the points of the pattern are important as it helps us to see where the physical weaknesses and deficits are

But in order to lessen the tension in these areas and change the body’s organization pattern long term we need to lessen the time the body spends protecting itself

The process of doing this is very simple — become aware of what the horse is doing before and after a presented stimuli

In this video I use the example of brushing, but if we take this into riding it would look like this:

If I wanted to avoid my horses body feeling like it needed to guard itself (regardless of how I perceive what I’m doing as good or gentle) I would become aware of when tension first happens during contact

(Now there are steps to take before this but this a good starting point for awareness)

I would allow my horse to warm up on a loose rein at the walk and after 5-7 minutes I would pick up slight (start at the buckle) contact, as I picked up contact I would watch for any signs of resistance — head coming up, looking to the inside or outside, pace increasing or decreasing, ears going back, jaw tightening, neck becoming stiff — when I noticed any sign of resistance, I would stop my contact/ask there

And we don’t pause to say “okay cool I will never go past this point”, we stop to say “okay I see that this is where your body begins to feel unsafe, I honour that”

When we pause, we stop the neural pathways associated with this tension pattern from closing — meaning we are changing the neural connections to the stimuli. When this happens the body is not completing its regular circuit of sympathetic activation and will instead experience less sympathetic stress

Decreasing sympathetic stress is what allows for tension to release from the body — allowing for the body to repattern

As we continue we are able to find many areas where the horses body drops into protection, almost unknowingly

This becomes not just a process, but a principle, a way of being.

And through that the body experiences less need to protect itself which allows for a new (more functional) body pattern to form

01/09/2026

Intentional stillness is when the body reorganizes. It is where it processes, feels, integrates. Releases.

When a horses nervous system becomes heightened or flooded and moves further in a sympathetic (or dorsal-vagal) state the physical tone of the entire body changes.

Regardless of how gentle we interpret the task.

During these moments the body is experiencing a rush of chemicals that are releasing from the tissues. These chemicals send specific signals to the brain & body.

When we are working on releasing tension with bodywork, training under saddle or rehabbing an injury, we are inviting the body to experience chemical release from stored trauma.

When this happens, the body enters a state of stress.

If we do not pause and instead push past the communication of the horse entering a state of stress — raising of the head, biting, kicking, reluctance to move, spooking etc — then we are unknowingly communicating to the body that whatever is happening is not safe.

And when that happens, whatever good we had done, is quickly outweighed by the bodies protective mechanisms.

Here we are watching intentional stillness during bodywork.

During these moments we get to learn what the body’s go to moves are — is the horse holding its breath? When does it hold the breath in relation to release? (release not only being a yawn) where is the body shifting to and from? What areas are releasing? How hard or soft are the blinks and when do they change in relation to tension moving through the body? And so much more.

So, take a pause. And remember, stillness is not passive. It is neurological rewiring and body reorganization.

And it is the best place to learn from.

01/08/2026

Ways survival mode quietly shows up in the body (and what it teaches us about horses)

This started as a note to myself, but I realized it mirrors what I see in horses all the time.

One subtle way survival mode shows up for me is avoiding hydration — not because I don’t want water, but because my brain gets overwhelmed by the steps involved in getting it. The thinking alone feels costly.

So the body stays in a low-resource state, even when relief is close.

What’s interesting is what happens underneath that avoidance.

As the mind runs through the steps, it quietly reinforces beliefs like:

feeling better takes too much effort
taking care of myself is time-consuming
if I meet this need now, I’ll just have to meet it again later

At the root, it’s not about water.
It’s about scarcity and all-or-nothing thinking — hallmarks of a nervous system operating in survival.

I see this same pattern in horses.

Not dramatic stress.

Not obvious shutdown.

But small, quiet forms of conservation:
reluctance to move even though the body needs it
holding tension instead of releasing it
avoiding effort because effort has historically cost too much

The body learns to ration.

What helps — for me and for horses — isn’t forcing the full solution.

It’s reducing the perceived cost.

For me, it’s “just take one sip.”

For a horse, it might be:
one softer request
one moment of pause
one release before asking again

When the nervous system experiences that relief doesn’t require total depletion, capacity slowly returns.

This is why I care so much about learning to read subtle survival patterns, not just overt symptoms.

Because both human and equine bodies are always answering the same question:

Is it safe and sustainable to meet this need right now?

And the answer lives in the nervous system — not the behavior.

01/07/2026

Survival mode doesn’t always look dramatic — sometimes it’s very quiet.

One way I notice it in myself is avoiding hydration, not because I don’t want water, but because the steps feel like too much.

That’s not laziness.
It’s a nervous system conserving resources.

I see the same thing in horses:not refusal, not resistance — but subtle avoidance when effort has historically cost too much.

At the root is scarcity thinking:If I meet this need now, I’ll just have to meet it again later.

What helps isn’t forcing more.
It’s lowering the perceived cost.

One sip.
One softer request.
One moment of relief before asking again.

Bodies — human and equine — don’t need convincing.
They need safety and sustainability.

01/03/2026

Beautiful Alberta wildies 🤍❄️

Sterling and Rose
January 2, 2026

01/02/2026

Horses have always been my biggest blessing and the times where I feel most abundance and fulfillment

Nothing in this world touches the feeling of connecting so intimately with their energy

It is my greatest gift in life — to experience them so deeply 🙏❤️

01/02/2026

Also if you watch a different horse each time it just gets funnier 😆

{Uri in the back like 🤪}

Blessed to start the New Year’s Day with my favourite gang, even if Chip did only want me for treats after we got back from our winter walk 😅✌🏼

01/01/2026

I love when I get tagged in these types of posts!

A healthy back is something we all seek with our equine partners

And there is A LOT of varying information on how to get there and why back pain happens or reoccurs

The question I have been asking for the last 6 years is:
What is the one through line that affects the horses?

I have dissected every part of what we do with horses I’ve spent HOURS charting and connecting every aspect of a horses life

And the one thing that is always shown back to me is the nervous system

The ONE through line in every single horse, in every discipline, in every level is the nervous system

A healthy back requires a healthy nervous system.

No matter what we are doing, if we are activating or working against the bodies protection mechanisms (sympathetic activation) then we are creating tension and weakness

In 2026 let’s prioritize our horses nervous systems and watch the magic unfold 🪄

12/29/2025

Snowstorms are my favourite time to sit with deep feelings.
Not to analyze them.
Not to fix them.
Just to let them exist without needing movement.

Snow naturally turns everything inward. The world softens. Sound quiets. The nervous system settles without being asked.

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, winter is governed by the Water element and the Kidneys — the place of our deepest reserves, our sense of safety, and the fear we carry beneath the surface. Not dramatic fear, but the quiet kind that shapes how much we trust life and ourselves.

Snowstorms amplify this energy.

They create stillness and containment — the exact conditions the body needs to integrate what’s been stirred all year. This is why I often feel more emotionally present during snowstorms, and have the desire to feel into deeper emotions asking to be integrated (things I’ve been working through that are finally ready to land)

Things inside me reorganizing.

Winter doesn’t ask us to express more.
It asks us to listen deeper.

Snowstorms remind me that healing doesn’t always happen through effort or insight. Mostly it happens through allowing the system to slow down enough to feel what it’s been holding.

At the end of the calendar year, I don’t try to wrap things up anymore. I let them settle. I trust that what needs clarity will rise when the body feels ready.

Snow doesn’t rush the thaw.
It prepares the ground quietly.