Kirsty Rawden Veterinary Physiotherapy

13/02/2026

If you do anything this weekend, please listen to this podcast!
Not horse related, but 95% of my followers are Women. Even if you're a man, i think hearing these truths may help you understand the women in your life more.

I'm not at the menopausal age, but it worries me that in a world where we have so much knowledge that women are still living in the silence, in pain, depression and suicidal thoughts just because we have hormones.

If this post can change just one person's life, its worth me sharing.

This needs to change and i fully believe the education of the patients (all women) forces that change

This week on Shut Up and Ride, we’re joined by the incredible Dr Louise Newson, one of the UK’s leading voices on women’s hormone health.From PMDD to perimen...

13/02/2026

🤔Can you navigate the exercise easily from the ground? 🤔

Before we even get on, it’s worth asking a really simple and often missed question:

Can I walk this exercise easily myself?

When setting pole work, many exercises look tidy and impressive from the fence line. But when you step into the arena and physically walk the lines, the truth shows up quickly.

Notice what your body has to do:
Are you shortening or stretching your stride unnaturally?
Are you twisting, bracing, or pulling yourself out of alignment?
Are your joints staying within a comfortable, natural range of motion — or do you feel a tug in a hip, knee, ankle, or lower back?

If walking the exercise already causes strain, that’s valuable information. It tells you the pattern may be more demanding than it appears.

And this is where I see a bigger issue far too often.

Too many sessions are built around complex grids or long, hour-plus pole sessions with little regard for the horse’s current fitness, soundness, or overall health.

Complexity gets mistaken for quality. Duration gets mistaken for effectiveness.

A grid can look clever and still be inappropriate.

A session can look productive and still be excessive.

When poles are tightly set, lines are crowded, or exercises are repeated for long periods, fatigue creeps in — mentally and physically. As fatigue increases, biomechanics deteriorate. The horse starts compensating. Joints move beyond their ideal range. Small pulls become strain. Strain becomes injury.

If the human body struggles to walk the exercise smoothly, imagine the demand on a horse who is:
Carrying a rider
Balancing through turns and transitions
Managing impact, coordination, and alignment

A few grounding questions help keep us honest:
Can I walk this exercise easily and fluidly?
Does it respect natural movement patterns?
Is this appropriate for my horse’s fitness today — not in theory?

Good training doesn’t need to be complicated, exhausting, or visually impressive. Often the most effective work is simple, well-spaced, and short enough to leave the horse feeling stronger — not drained.

Sometimes the kindest, most correct adjustment isn’t adding another pole or extending the session.
It’s doing less — with more thought for the body underneath the movement.

12/02/2026

The other half of my magical experience the other day 💜

11/02/2026

Nobody questions gravity.
We trust it every time we stand up.

Nobody argues whether phone calls are real.
We just expect voices to travel through thin air.

Nobody debates Wi-Fi.
We don’t see it, but we rearrange our lives around it.

But mention energy and suddenly it’s eye rolls, jokes, and dismissal.

Here’s the thing:
We don’t see gravity.
We don’t see radio waves.
We don’t see Wi-Fi.

We experience them.

Energy works the same way.

It shows up in how a room feels when you walk in.

In how certain people drain you and others light you up
In how your body reacts before your mind can explain it.

Just because something isn’t visible doesn’t make it unreal. It just means we haven’t learned how to pay attention yet.

Some truths aren’t meant to be proven.
They’re meant to be felt. ✨

10/02/2026

🍎 🥕 Treat searches: a simple enrichment activity with big mental and physical benefits 🍎🥕

Treat searches are a fun, low-impact alternative activity that supports your horse’s wellbeing from head to tail... not just their brain!

As your horse lowers the head and searches side-to-side, they’re doing more than finding treats.

Mental & emotional benefits:

☑️Encourages natural foraging behaviour
☑️Reduces stress and boredom
☑️Builds confidence, especially in young or anxious horses

Physical & biomechanical benefits:

☑️Freer shoulder movement – gentle weight shifts allow the scapula to move more freely
☑️Improved back mobility – head and neck lowering encourages thoracic lift and spinal flexion
☑️Subtle core activation – engagement of postural muscles without rider load
☑️ Better body awareness – slow, controlled movement pattern

This makes treat searches ideal for:

☑️ Rest days or light work days
☑️ Rehab or box-rest horses
☑️ Horses with back or shoulder restriction
☑️ Adding movement without intensity
☑️ Adding variety to a routine

Scatter treats in the stable, arena, field, or on a snuffle mat and let your horse move the way nature intended.

A happy brain + a freer body = a happier horse.

Have you tried treat searches yet? Drop a 🥕 below

(There are no filters on this video, this was the sky a few weeks ago!! Excuse the muddy pony, i was too excited to watch the sunset 🤣)

07/02/2026

Something magical happened today ✨

Most of the time when I’m working, I ask owners not to touch their horse too much. It can be distracting for them and can sometimes block the treatment.
But this morning was a little different.

As I was treating a client’s horse, she mentioned that her hands had suddenly become very hot. She has training in Reiki and felt really called to place her hands on her horse. She asked if it was okay, and I said, “Absolutely, put them where you feel he needs them.”

Having two streams of energy moving through one energetic being, working together to facilitate healing and release, was such a special moment. I could feel more under my hands, and we shared what we were both experiencing while her horse simply rode the wave of the energy.

It created such a beautiful connection, truly one of those moments that reminds you why you do this work.

If you ever feel called to do something like this during a treatment, please let me know. If I feel it’s too much for the horse, we can always stop but it’s so amazing to explore this kind of work, especially when the nudge comes from somewhere deep within you.

I love inspiring owners to become their own horse’s healer. And it all starts with curiosity… and listening to that quiet inner feeling 💫🐴

I am so blessed I get to call this my job 💜

Image courtesy of the internet as it was far too in the moment to catch on camera!

05/02/2026

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Anybody else feeling a bit back to front this week? 😆

02/02/2026

🧐 Lameness Doesn’t Always Come From the Legs 🧐

When a horse appears lame, the most common assumption is that the issue lies in a leg or hoof. While limb-related injuries and hoof problems are certainly frequent causes, they are not the only reasons a horse may show uneven movement or reduced performance.

Pain or dysfunction can also originate from areas such as the back, neck, pelvis, or shoulders. Poor saddle fit, dental discomfort, muscle soreness, or spinal restrictions can all change the way a horse moves. In some cases, neurological conditions or internal discomfort may create gait changes that closely resemble traditional lameness.

A horse’s emotional and mental state can also influence how they move. Stress, anxiety, tension, or changes in routine may alter posture, muscle use, and way of going, sometimes making movement appear restricted or uneven.

Horses are also experts at compensating. When one area is sore, they may alter their movement to protect it, which can place strain elsewhere in the body and make the original source of pain harder to identify. What looks like a leg issue may actually be the result of a problem higher up.

This is why a full, systematic evaluation is so important when lameness is suspected. Considering the horse as a whole, not just the legs, can lead to a more accurate diagnosis, more effective treatment, and better long-term comfort and soundness.

Movement tells a story — sometimes we just have to read more than one chapter.

01/02/2026

What is she up to? 🤔😝🦴