Equine Release

31/01/2026

Coughing when going into a trot

It’s a video that iv been wanting to post for a while now. Along with my personal thoughts on it.

In the video I’m showing you a really important junction in the body.

From an osteopathic perspective
Could this restriction contribute to a cough especially when going into a trot?

It’s roughly where the diaphragm attaches to the lumbar vertebrae. These attachments are called the crura, which are strong fascial muscular bands that descend along the spine and blend with the psoas fascia and thoracolumbar fascia which are the fascia’s that links the spine, ribs, psoas and core muscles.

The crura helps the diaphragm to stabilise the spine, connect to the core, and transfer movement between the hindquarters and ribs.

So you’ve got breathing, core stability, and spinal support all meeting in one spot.

When I press into that area I’m not just touching muscle. I’m having contact with the crus of the diaphragm, muscles between the ribs and the surrounding tissues that connect to the psoas, the back fascia, and the nerves that help control breathing.

If that area is tight or restricted, there will be limited rib, spine, and pelvic movement, which then has a domino effect on the rest of the body.

But If the diaphragm, rib, psoas, and thoracolumbar area is tight, the tissues can’t move properly so could this trigger a cough 🤔

Could this be why some horses cough when first being ridden, when going into trot. When the rider rises & comes down to heavy on the back of the saddle near that junction 🤔

It’s a useful clue. It may tell me that the diaphragm, rib, psoas complex is stuck and needs freeing up.

My ‘Why, how, what if’ brain is looking at the relationship between structure and function, looking at how muscles, fascia, bones, and nerves interact to affect movement, breathing, and overall health.

🛑ALWAYS contact your vet at the first signs of a cough. No bodywork whether it’s Physio, Chiropractor or Osteo is a replacement for your vet 🛑

Treating the whole horse 🙌

29/01/2026

Wobblers / CVM

Iv not taken before & after pictures for a while now because I keep forgetting 🤦🏻‍♀️ but i remembered this time 🙌

This beautiful big Friesian with the loveliest demeanour. He was such a gentleman, and he had my heart the second he allowed me into his space.

Throughout the session I remained mindful of his neck due to a diagnosed cervical malformation at C4 (CVM , wobblers) adapting my approach to keep him safe and comfortable at all times.

Once I had got vet authorisation to work with Geart I worked through his kinetic lines as I could see and feel the fascial pull contributing to his asymmetry, which is being influenced by his neck.

By assessing and releasing these lines, my aim was to support his overall function without destabilising him.

I also left his owner with some gentle exercises to help support decompression and comfort through his neck.

Such a beautiful gentle horse.

26/01/2026

When you turn up at a yard near Bolton & your reunited with a pony you owned nearly 30 years ago!!!!

I had her as a yearling.

The lovely Dayhi Delilah 💕

24/01/2026

Rethinking spurs and tradition in the showing world

I’m an ex show judge.

Grab a brew, gin or wine .. as it’s a long ass post 🥴

Iv sent some emails to various showing organisations. To some of my local riding clubs. And to Horse & Hound magazine.

Iv had one reply saying they will put my suggestion to the committee 🤞

Something may not come from it
BUT I’m planting seeds

Anyway I’d like to know …

Why in 2026, are spurs still considered normal, acceptable, or even mandatory within some parts of the showing world?

Is it because they are genuinely necessary, or because they have simply become “the norm”? Because they are traditional? Because they have always been there?

Some organisations still state that spurs are mandatory, yet it is increasingly unclear what welfare-based purpose this serves. If the visual aspect of turnout is the priority, why cant we do away with functional spurs altogether and instead permit dummy spurs as a complete substitute?

We now know far more about equine biomechanics, neurophysiology, and sensory awareness than ever before. Horses are highly sensitive animals, they’re able to feel extremely light stimuli on their sides often compared to the sensation of a fly landing on the skin. With this understanding, it is difficult to reconcile the routine wearing of spurs with modern ideas of ethical, compassionate riding, particularly when many riders struggle with lower leg stability, leading to repeated, unintended pressure into the ribcage. We see the marks left by the spur on the horse's body.

It is also notable that ride judges are not permitted to wear spurs during there ride assessments, reflecting an acknowledgement that spurs are not necessary for effective riding or evaluation. Extending this principle consistently to competitors would be a logical and welfare aligned progression. If ride judges are expected to assess horses without the use of spurs, we must be asking why competitors are encouraged to ride with them. Would removing spurs not better replicate the conditions under which a horse is judged, and therefore set the horse up to succeed?

It is the 21st century. We have unprecedented access to research, education, and professional insight at our fingertips. Yet in the showing world horse welfare still appears constrained by customs rooted in a very different era. At what point do we stop and ask whether tradition is serving the horse or merely preserving appearances?

Perhaps it is time for the showing world to openly question whether practices such as spurs remain relevant or whether they belong to the past.

Dummy spurs offer a simple, practical compromise, preserving traditional turnout while removing physical pressure. More importantly, open discussion signals a willingness to evolve.

In addition, the public is now far more aware of equine welfare issues, and the concept of social license to operate is increasingly important. Equestrian
organisations are judged not only by their rules, but by how those rules reflect care and respect for the horse. I wonder which organisation is going to be brave enough to be the first to make that change ?

Practices that were once accepted
without question, such as mandatory spurs, are now being scrutinised by a more informed audience. Adapting rules to reflect modern welfare standards help maintain public trust and ensures the sport remains relevant and respected.

Let’s see who else replies to my emails
🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

24/01/2026

Exciting News 🥳

RON FIELDS CODE 🌟
Until the 31st Jan

You can now get your 20 per cent off on Ron’s products by using the following information

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USE ….. HNY26 at the checkout

23/01/2026

🙌 Here’s your DISCOUNT 🙌

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🌟 From 23-31st January 🌟

Give me a shout if you need help.

HNY26 is the code at checkout.

The link to use is

https://ronfieldsnutrition.co.uk/?ref=116&campaign=EquineRelease

22/01/2026

Overseas Appointment

My very first overseas appointment took me to the beautiful Czech Republic, treating some horses.

Where theres no diy only full livery, the beds are in the middle of the stable & grooms are called nurses !

It was such a memorable & enjoyable experience that I’ve decided to open my diary for more overseas visits, bringing an osteopathic approach to horses wherever it’s needed.

I even squeezed in some sightseeing, and my host made the whole trip completely unforgettable.

If you’d like me to visit your horses, I’d love to hear from you

21/01/2026

Freedom.
Forage.
Friends.
& Free from pain

These are my four prerequisites every horse or pony should have.

I wanted to share a video and a few pictures of my long term friend Dan from the Danash Stud in Wales. Dan only breeds true to type quality Section A ponies.

Dan and I met over 10 years ago when we were both judging at a show, and we’ve been friends ever since.

I also wanted to share how he keeps his ponies. He’s incredibly fortunate to have the rights to turn his stock out on the Welsh hills.

He has Royal Welsh double gold medal winners living in his herd, along with Silver & Bronze Medals. He brings them them down off the hills ready for the showing season, then turns them straight back out again once the season is over. He’s a firm believer in not over showing them & giving them a natural lifestyle as possible.

I’m really looking forward to my annual trip over to the beautiful Welsh valleys to give them a once over before the showing season starts.

But how lovely are these pictures of some of his ponies just living their best lives out on the hills.

18/01/2026

Mental Health

Is so debilitating.

And I can’t recommend these guys enough.

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16/01/2026

It’s a funny old thing …
Intuition 🌟

Going straight to the spot

Some decent rib & sternum work 🙌
Christy DiColla

She was so busy trying to be nosy with what was going on outside her stable door & at the same time trying to re arrange her body.

She could have quite easily gone to the door to look but she chose to stay.

I think we got there eventually 😊

Please don’t mistake her yawning as a stress response. The soft tissue & ribs were telling me a totally different story under my hands 🙌

I’m moving away from her because I think I was still suffering from a bit of ptsd from a horse I did in the morning that wanted to kill me😂

15/01/2026

High heels and short toes
Coupled with a slight bull nose.

Don’t just change the internal & external structure of the foot.

They reorganise the entire body around altered proprioception.

Proprioception is the body’s sense of where it is. It’s what tells the horse where it is in space and whether it feels safe to move

If proprioception is limited the pony does the only thing it can do so it can still function & that’s to brace & tighten up & become stiff.

Or it may have too much movement.
And they become a bit wobbly & unstable due to being disconnected.

Now add a gadget, owner was advised to lunge in an elastcated bungee to encourage the pony to ‘work over its back’ is just a disaster waiting to happen. You can’t force a relaxed way of going onto a body that already feels unstable. And you can’t isolate one body part without it impacting on others. All that happens is more tension, more resistance, and often more “behaviour issues”.

Or the pony will appear to be soft & relaxed but is really just going with the flow with limited awareness of where its feet & body are.

When the hoof is to upright, normal sensory input from the the foot is reduced. This degrades proprioceptive feedback to the central nervous system.

The horse compensates by increasing muscular tone or others do the opposite they become disconnected because they don’t know how to hold themselves

Over time, this places the nervous system in a chronic state of vigilance rather than regulation.
Or it just can’t regulate.

What is often labelled as a behaviour issue may be a neuromuscular compensation driven by a mechanical imbalance.

Correcting only the body while the feet remain unbalanced will not hold. Any improvement achieved through hands on therapy is temporary because the primary driver of the dysfunction remains unchanged. The nervous system will always revert the body back to the pattern that feels safest under the existing loading conditions.

Repeated bodywork without looking at the whole of the horse & addressing hoof balance may be financially beneficial for the therapist, but it is neither fair to the horse or to the owner.

Longevity does not come from treating one body part.
It comes from assessing and addressing the horse as a complete biomechanical and neurological system.

The picture is not very clear but hopefully will give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

I’m pleased to say the owner is now on a journey of rebalancing her pony’s feet.

Whole Horse therapist 🙌

13/01/2026

Gut feeling

I tell all my clients to listen to it.
Dont ignore it.
Even when other professionals tell you there’s nothing wrong with your horse.
Even when your yard buddies tell you there’s nothing wrong with your horse.

This isn’t just about horses.

It’s in every day life.

If you experience that niggling almost anxious like feeling in the pit of your stomach

Don’t ignore it.

I’m here for people like you 🙌

Iv got you 🙌