Sound Strategy Equine Therapy

03/18/2026

My books are open for pre-booking for spring ! Below is the general area I cover , but always willing to expand if there is enough in an area .

New for the 2026 season :
* Limited appointments available 1-2 mornings / afternoons a week ( select Fridays and Mondays for non local to Saskatoon trips )
*Lazaris Nerve Release Technique s
* I will be doing my best to coordinate clients at the same barn , on the same day.

As always , pre booking May - November is strongly encouraged as I book 2-3 weeks in advance during that time

03/05/2026

" are there any other exercises I can do "... If I had a dime . Most horses are missing a couple very basic things : proper recruitment of stabilizers , and the ability to go in a long, relaxed frame ( gotta go long before strong ) .

If I've had any involvement in rehab with your horse , chances I prescribed some things that on the surface look like nothing . But what they really are , is the basis of what most horses need . If your horse can't do those things , that also serves as a metric as to where their body is actually at .

Doing less isn't sexy... but maybe it should be?

During my time in practice, something I have found quite confronting is how so many horses improve their posture, way of going and overall happiness when we do less with them.

Now, I didn't say do nothing.

What I mean by this is doing less, but doing it intentionally. Doing it really, really well.

Being mindful about how you interact with your horse outside of training, being considerate of their lived experience and giving the work you do with them the time to take root and grow.

To this end, I often leave clients with a couple of seemingly ambiguous exercises - usually enrichment, followed by something movement orientated and then some simple bodywork exercises.

Often they will say "are there any other exercises I can do?" Because doing less feels a little bit like whiplash - especially when you have a problem to solve.

There's a psychological concept called Additive Solution Bias - this discusses the human tendency to solve problems by adding something rather than considering whether removing something might be more effective.

Gratification for humans looks like building, improving, upgrading and expanding.

Removing things or doing less can feel like a monumental loss or failure - like our world is closing in on us.

But I have found that doing less, but doing it meaningfully strips out so much noise.

In doing less, I have learned to:

Read behaviour more accurately
Reduce the risk factor for fatigue
Give my horses time for their body to develop without sabbotaging their success with fatigue
Make better decisions for my horses
Slow my own mind down
Be present with the moment
Stop outsourcing my actions to instant gratification

(The list goes on)

And now I reflect on it, maybe doing less has been better for me too and maybe that, in and of itself, has also helped my horses to live a better life.

📸 Olivia Rose Photography
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If you want guidance with supporting your horse, I have some things that may help:

Join my mailing list - for free bodywork and training tutorials.

Enroll in the Modern Centaurian Academy - to redefine how you see and work with horses.

Book a consultation - work directly with me in person or online.

https://www.yasminstuartequinephysio.com/

03/05/2026

Barrel racer clients , have a read ! Remember we cannot " pick up " the shoulder ...

01/12/2026

Proud to say I can *officially * announce that I have completed the Lazaris Nerve Release Technique™️ Practitioner certificate

This journey started for me June of 2024, where I was a scholarship recipient of the self- study course; a required pre-requisite for the certification course. In March of 2025 I was accepted into the practitioner course.

This course was ....hard, and it tested me in ways I didn't expect . Not hard in a book learning sense , but hard in how it tested my feel , ability to ground and focus ( I did all 5 of my case studies during 2, 50+ horse months plus I work full time ), and honor the horse under my hands , rather than what I felt like the session should look like . I have completed multiple certifications , and this one was like nothing else I have ever ventured into .

I've quietly been practicing consent with horses for years, and the last few years placing a huge focus on the nervous system . Softening my touch and gravitating away from some of the invasive and rough techniques I had been taught over the years . Fasciculations were an invitation to dig harder , if the horse moves away you go with them , if they swing at you , you ignore it and continue with that area . I got REALLY good at working on the tough horses.

This course felt like permission to fully step away from the " let's just corner em in the stall so they don't kick me " , methods . I lost a few clients .. I know that for sure . Clients that snickered when I said their horse won't heal if we can't get their nervous system on track and encouraged me to back hand their horse for being vocal. I've always refused to do that , but now I reward the communication.. a shock to some owners .

Losing clients has always hurt my ego, if I'm being honest . This work means everything to me , and I do it because I want to help horses . But with every one of those clients that couldn't get on board with consent and supporting their horse's nervous system , I gained twice as many that were looking for that approach .

I'm still really good at getting around the tough horses . I just do it a lot differently.

11/12/2025

09/09/2025

Hills I will die on 100% of the time :
Downhill is most often a posture , and your " low withered" horse , indeed has a wither.

🔝 Picture June 2024
⬇️ Picture August 2025

👉 wither has come up
👉 Doesn't look like a compressed blob 😆
👉 Roach in the lumbar is almost gone
👉 thoracic sling is starting to do it's job

Now it's time to build some strength the right way 💪

08/10/2025

If you're like me , when you see a problem with your horse and have the tools .. you're gonna want to fix it !

Recently , Martha had some big hoof angle changes . In theory , they are a good thing and bring her alignment 👌. However.. I'm seeing a few things since the shoeing change up , that I don't like . Her body is sensitive , and even a degree or 2 change is A LOT for her and many other horses

This evening I quite literally threw the kitchen sink at her ..
✅BTMM
✅ Kinesio taping
✅ Surefoot pads
✅ Elevating her front end on a platform
✅ Shoulder in, in hand

I treated it like an Orange Theory inspired circuit . 2 minutes on the pads , 3 minutes on the platform , 2 minutes BTMM , etc .

About 15 minutes in , Martha flipped me the bird 🖕. She wanted to sit and process on the platform , allowing her lumbar and LS joint to decompress and her hind legs to find some space, and I gave her the " times up ! Onto the next element !" .

She wouldn't move, initially . I cued her to back off, and she did. Then promptly stepped her front feet back up on the platform, refusing a forward cue once again

Tonight's lesson? Pick one or 2 things. Follow a theme . Tonight , I was trying to work on stability and body awareness , but also some lateral , but also helping her integrate the hoof angle changes- it was just too much . She was trying to process what her body was feeling during each element , and I wasn't letting her .

I don't like to see her body go backwards, and perhaps this is a bit of me having to swallow my ego and evaluate if the shoeing change *I* think is right for her , is what *she* thinks is right for her .

We ended the session with ME on the surefoot pad ( creating this post 😆), letting her process for a solid 20 minutes .

08/09/2025

Limiting bookings for the rest of August ! Currently booking into the week of the 18th

07/10/2025

I'm halfway through my 12th season , and lately I've been reflecting on some of the learnings and perspective changes I've had over the years . They're not necessarily backed by "science " but working on several thousand horses should count for something 😁
PART 1
1)" Wiggly" horses are unstable horses . They don't need more strength, they need stability . In fact most horses I come across don't need to be stronger , they need to be more stable.
2) Foals should only be halter broke prior to weaning , out of absolute necessity . I cannot stress how fragile the structures in their neck are
3) Thoracic sling isn't a buzzword. We have to stop obsessing over the hind quarters and chasing horses into front ends that cannot lift or support a lowered croup
4) Cookie cutter physio plans don't work . And yes , I used to develop those for owners . Us owners need to learn how to read our horse and step outside of the " week 1 , trot 4 minutes , week 2, trot 6 minutes ", plans . Those never solve the root dysfunction that led to the injury in the first place !
5) Horses don't just step in gopher holes and end up with a catastrophic soft tissue injury . The soft tissue is not as fragile as we think .. but if the loading pattern has been compromised for weeks , months , years .. the trip into the gopher hole is just the straw that broke the camels back
6)Poles and hills are not a miracle worker and are over prescribed . Especially to horses that are already stuck in some degree of flexion . Most horses are being put into pole programs with no correct muscle activation = even stronger compensation patterns .
7) The poll " issue " your horse has .. is being driven by an issue into the hind quarters , more often than not
8)ALL equine professionals need to start acknowledging that nerve compression is a very real source of lameness and behavioural issues for many horses . The nerves and nervous system require a specific approach. The soft tissue and mental state must be addressed together.
9) it's not always pain . But it's ALWAYS something .

✨If you're not learning , you're not growing ✨

07/07/2025

Booking into the week of the 21st for local to Saskatoon ( a few spots earlier if I'm already in your area )

06/01/2025

Saskatoon area , I am currently booking into the week of June 23rd .

05/29/2025

Booking into the week of JUNE 23 ! I do have limited availability for areas I am already booked in June 1-22