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Oak & Auburn Equine Bodywork

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Canada
Whitby, ON
Oak & Auburn Equine Bodywork

Certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist
Offering Equine Bodywork and Kinesiology Taping

11/13/2025

The poll is more than just the spot behind your horse’s ears. It’s a key junction of bones, muscles, and nerves that affect how your horse moves, carries themselves, and even accepts the bit.

Here’s what makes up this small but mighty area:

Bones:
The poll is formed where the skull meets the atlas, the first cervical vertebra (C1). This joint, called the atlanto-occipital joint, allows your horse to flex, extend, and slightly tilt the head.

Muscles & Soft Tissue:
Several muscles attach here, including the re**us capitis, obliquus capitis, and parts of the splenius and brachiocephalicus. These muscles coordinate to move the head and neck. When they’re tight, it can restrict motion all the way through the topline.

Nerves & Sensitivity:
The poll houses important nerve pathways, including branches of the trigeminal nerve, making it a very sensitive area. This is why tension or ill-fitting tack near the poll can quickly cause discomfort or resistance.

When the poll is free and relaxed, your horse can move with ease, softness, and better connection through the body.
When it’s tight, you’ll often feel it everywhere else.

Gentle bodywork can make a world of difference in restoring balance and comfort at this crucial junction.

11/05/2025

Does Your Horse Have TMJ Tension? Here’s Why It Matters.

The TMJ (temporomandibular joint) is where your horse’s jaw meets the skull. It plays a bigger role than most people realize. When this joint becomes tense or restricted, it can impact the entire body, from the poll and neck all the way down the spine and shoulders.

Common signs of TMJ tension include:
• Difficulty flexing or bending at the poll
• Resistance to bridling or contact
• Head tossing or chewing unevenly
• Jaw clenching or tension through the face

Because the TMJ is so closely connected through muscles and fascia, even small imbalances here can affect posture, movement, and overall comfort.

That’s where equine bodywork comes in.
Through gentle, targeted techniques, bodywork helps relieve tension in the jaw, poll, and neck. Promoting better alignment, relaxation, and a more comfortable horse.

A balanced TMJ means a more supple neck, softer contact, and a happier, more willing partner under saddle or in the field.

11/03/2025

The Effects of Colder Weather on Your Horse’s Body

As temperatures drop, you may notice your horse moving a little differently — and there’s a good reason for that. Cold weather has a direct impact on muscle function, circulation, and joint mobility.

Here’s what happens when the weather becomes chilly:

Muscle Tightness: Cold temperatures cause muscles to contract, making them less elastic. This can lead to stiffness, shorter stride length, and an increased risk of straining.

Reduced Circulation: Cooler weather can slow blood flow, limiting oxygen delivery to muscles and slowing recovery after exercise.

Compensatory Tension: Horses often change how they move to stay warm or navigate slippery footing, which can create uneven muscle use and tension patterns.

How Equine Bodywork Helps:
- Encourages healthy blood flow and keeps tissues warm and pliable.
- Reduces muscle tension and supports balanced movement.
- Promotes comfort and flexibility, especially during periods of reduced movement or training changes.

Regular bodywork through the colder months helps your horse maintain optimal performance and comfort — from pasture pals to performance athletes.

10/22/2025

🌿 3 Benefits of Equine Massage 🌿
Your horse’s body works hard every day — whether in the arena, on the trails, or just at play. Regular massage helps keep them feeling and performing their best.

1. Improved Circulation
Massage increases blood flow, delivering oxygen and nutrients to muscles while helping remove toxins and metabolic waste.

2. Enhanced Mobility & Recovery
By releasing tension and restrictions, massage supports healthy movement, reduces stiffness, and helps prevent injuries.

3. Relaxation & Mental Calm
A calm body leads to a calm mind. Massage encourages relaxation, lowers stress, and helps your horse feel more balanced overall.

Because they deserve to feel as good as they make us feel🤎🧡

10/12/2025

Here is a kinesiology taping application to help with relieving tension in the poll💛

10/08/2025

After taking a step back to pursue further education, I’m back and ready to pick up where we left off!

Now booking equine bodywork sessions for October and November, in Durham Region, Kawartha Lakes and surrounding areas.

02/14/2023

Happy Love Day❣️
Don’t forget to give your ponies some extra lovin’ today!

Pictured is ’s adorable Skippy, can it get any cuter!?

Lovely photo by .photography🤍

01/31/2023

Why 24/7 access to forage is so important!

➡️Gastric Health
Horses are trickle feeders, meaning they need to constantly be eating in order for their digestive system to function properly. Not supplying adequate forage can result in increased risk of ulcers, both in the stomach and hind gut, as well as colic. The mouth is an accessory organ to the digestive system, consistent access to appropriate forage can aid in naturally wearing down the teeth. Additionally, for my friends in colder climates, horses digestion process actually warms them from the inside out! Because of this, it’s especially important for horses to have adequate forage through those colder temps.

➡️Enrichment
Mental health is just as important as physical health. Supplying forage through a slow feeder, such as a hay net, gives your horse a new form of enrichment. Slow feed hay nets mimic natural foraging, providing a great source of enrichment, while increasing the amount of time it takes to eat the same amount of hay. Decreasing the volumes of hay consumed quickly, while reducing the amount of wasted hay lost in shavings or mud! Providing enrichment helps reduce unwanted behaviours that stem from boredom or food scarcity among herd members. Behaviours such as food aggression, cribbing, chewing wood etc. can be greatly reduced or eliminated completely.

➡️Nutritional Requirements
While it is common practice to feed horses large amounts of grain, generally this is not what suits their needs best. Grain often has high amounts of sugar, fat and starch. While a lot of horses can tolerate these feeds, its often not what is best in order for them to thrive. As long as you are able to meet all mineral and vitamin requirements, a forage based diet is a wonderful way to support your horse.

Of course each horse is unique and has their individual needs, but 24/7 access to forage is absolutely necessary for all horses to thrive!

11/28/2022

Take time to just enjoy your horse’s company🤍

It’s so important to spend time with your horse outside of training. I think we underestimate what spending time in the paddock or loose in the arena can do for the relationship between you and your horse. No expectations, no time frame and no plans, just hanging out together
At the very least, it can be a refreshing reset for both of you

This is one easy activity you can do consistently, that costs very little in time and energy, to greatly improve your relationship!

10/21/2022

It can be lonely.

When you forgo the long-standing traditions and norms within the equestrian community for a more compassionate and educated approach to all facets of equine care, you may find yourself walking that path alone. The coaches and trainers you once looked upto and followed now trigger feelings of disgust and even anger. The other equine professionals you've trusted with the care of your horse, who refuse to budge from antiquated ways and methods, putting ego before the well-being of your horse have all been cut out of your life. Even the riding you used to do has come to a screeching halt, along with the casual rides and shows you'd attended with other equestrian friends are now a thing of the past.

It can be lonely when you make the conscious decision to do better for your horse, regardless of the discomfort you might cause yourself in the beginning, but I will tell you now that the discomfort is short lived. When you shift your mindset away from "how it's always been done" and towards why things are done and how can they be done better, you will begin to connect with others who share that mindset. It may be lonely now, but it will pass. Your journey to bettering yourself as a horseperson and helping your horse will guide you to people, groups and places that foster the same.

Not to mention the incredible bond you will develop with your horse, and the joy you will get seeing them blossom into a healthy, balanced, comfortable equine partner and friend.

This is the long road for those who have decided to put their horses, really and truly, before themselves and have abandoned ego, knowing it has no place in true .

10/11/2022

I think the horses are really enjoying this fall weather🍂

Friendly reminder to take extra time gently warming up during your rides, especially now that the colder weather is upon us!

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Ontario St, Whitby, ON L0B, Canada
Whitby, ON
L0B

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