Skelton Equine

08/11/2025

How does bodywork help prepare a horse for this?
Bodywork helps by influencing the nervous system.

Conterrary to outdated beliefs we are not fixing, shifting, or breaking anything but influencing the nervous system.

When you apply pressure, stretch, or movement with your hands, you stimulate receptors embedded in the skin, fascia, joints, ligaments, and muscles. These mechanoreceptors respond to mechanical input (like touch, tension, and vibration) and send signals to the brain. The brain then adjusts the output ,reducing pain, calming overactive muscle tone and improving coordination.

The nervous system changes the output.

It’s not about “fixing” tissue — it’s about communicating with the brain to change how the body moves and feels.

Ruffini endings respond to slow stretch and sustained pressure. Calming. Found in fascia and joint capsules.

Pacinian corpuscles love vibration and quick pressure changes. Help boost joint awareness.
Merkel cells.

Meissner’s corpuscles live near the surface. They’re your light-touch, texture-sensing squad and your best way to affect deep change.

Golgi tendon-like receptors respond to deep, slow pressure and help lower muscle tone.

Manual therapy changes the input. The nervous system changes the output.

Quoted from
equine tensegrity balancing therapy

08/11/2025

Love seeing the horses I work on win, whatever your stance is on racing, the best trainers and owners are those who want to.make their horses feel their best, to be able to preform at their best.

07/11/2025

🐴 Safety Matters More Than Performance

Lately, I’ve been reminded how deeply our horses need to feel safe.
Before softness, before performance — safety must come first.

Every horse is born with an instinct to protect itself from danger. When that instinct is triggered, it’s not defiance — it’s fear. Our job isn’t to control that, but to understand it.

A good leader doesn’t demand obedience — they create safety.
A good teacher doesn’t push harder — they listen deeper.

When your horse truly trusts you, everything else — connection, confidence, and lightness — follows naturally.

It’s far more important that my horse feels safe and trusts me than it is that they perform for me.

✨ Light hands. Light mind. Light horse.
— Steve Halfpenny

07/11/2025

No Stirrup November: Let's Talk About Doing It RIGHT

It's that time of year again - No Stirrup November is upon us but before you drop those stirrups and suffer through entire lessons, let's have a real conversation about making this EFFECTIVE instead of just painful.

The goal of no-stirrup work isn't torture. It's building:
- Core strength and stability
- Independent seat
- Proper leg position
- Balance without relying on stirrups
- Muscle memory for correct position

But here's what I see go wrong EVERY November:
❌ Riders pushing through entire lessons without stirrups
❌ Gripping and tensing to compensate for fatigue
❌ Creating BAD habits from exhaustion
❌ Horses dealing with tense, bouncing riders

When you ride to exhaustion, you're not building strength - you're building TENSION and bad patterns.

A BETTER APPROACH: One Stirrup at a Time
Instead of dropping both stirrups and white-knuckling through your ride try this:

Start with ONE stirrup removed. Ride with just your left stirrup dropped for 5-10 minutes and then switch and ride with just your right stirrup dropped for 5-10 minutes. This isolates each side and helps you feel differences in strength/balance

Then progress to dropping both stirrups, briefly. Start with 5 minutes, not 45, and remember quality over quantity ALWAYS

WHEN TO STOP:
The MOMENT you feel yourself:
- Gripping with your knees
- Tensing through your hips or back
- Bouncing excessively
- Getting sore to the point of compensation

Stop. Put your stirrups back. Rest. Tired muscles build strength. EXHAUSTED muscles create bad habits and tension patterns that take weeks to undo.

GUIDELINES FOR SAFE NO-STIRRUP WORK:
✅ Warm up WITH stirrups first! Get your body and horse warmed up properly before removing stirrups.
✅ Start at walk, progress to trot. Master walk without stirrups before adding trot. Canter comes later (if at all, depending on level).
✅ Use shorter intervals. 5-10 minutes of quality work beats 30 minutes of gripping and bouncing.
✅ Listen to your body - pain is not ok. Shaking muscles mean STOP.
✅ Stretch after! Stretch your hip flexors, hamstrings, inner thighs - they all need stretching post-ride.
✅ Not every ride needs to be no-stirrup, 3x per week is plenty. Your body needs recovery time.
✅ Consider your horse... a tense, exhausted rider bouncing on their back isn't fair to them either.

FOR INSTRUCTORS:
Don't make No Stirrup November a punishment or endurance test.
Make it purposeful and:
- Assign specific time limits
- Check in frequently about tension/fatigue
- Have students put stirrups back when quality declines
- Focus on FEELING and body awareness, not just "surviving"
- Celebrate small improvements in balance and strength

Remember: We're building better riders, not tough riders who can suffer through discomfort.

No Stirrup November is a TOOL for building strength and balance - but only when done correctly. One stirrup at a time is often more effective than both. Short, quality intervals beat long, exhausting sessions. Tension creates problems - stop before you get there. Your goal: End November as a stronger, more balanced rider with GOOD habits, not someone who "survived" a month of suffering.

Instructors: How are you approaching No Stirrup November in your program?

07/11/2025

"YOU'RE WASTING THAT HORSE."
​That's a common, unkind saying when someone owns a talented or well-bred horse but isn't doing "enough" with them.
​But here’s the truth: Your horse doesn't know they have "talent."
​As long as they have the freedom to move, enough good food, and social interactions with other horses (play, mutual grooming), they are living their best life. Period.
​'Potential' is a purely human concept. It has nothing to do with living in the moment, which is exactly what a horse does. It's wonderful to have big dreams and aspirations for your partnership, but if you're not there yet, or if life has simply gotten busy, please don't think you are letting your horse down.
​Focus on providing their immediate wants and needs that are important to them. Meet the needs of the horse, not the expectations of the industry. You're doing great.

07/11/2025

Exploring Fascia in Equine Myofascial Pain: An Integrative View of Mechanisms and Healing

Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) is one of the most common — yet often misunderstood — sources of chronic musculoskeletal pain in horses. Traditionally, explanations have focused on muscle tension, trigger points, or neurological sensitization. But new research suggests a deeper story: fascia, the connective tissue that surrounds, supports, and integrates every structure in the body, may be a key player in both the cause and persistence of pain.

Recognizing fascia as a living, sensory, and emotionally responsive tissue shifts how we view equine pain. It’s not simply a matter of tight muscles or mechanical imbalance — it’s about communication, perception, and the body’s ongoing relationship with safety and movement.

Fascia as a Sensory and Signaling Tissue
Fascia is far from inert wrapping. It’s a dynamic, contractile, and highly innervated network that helps transmit force, tension, and sensory information throughout the horse’s body.
It houses a vast array of nociceptors (pain receptors) and mechanoreceptors, as well as interoceptors that feed information about internal states back to the nervous system.

When fascia becomes compromised — through injury, repetitive strain, imbalance, saddle pressure, or systemic inflammation — several changes may occur:

Densification: Thickening or dehydration of the ground substance that reduces glide between fascial layers.

Fibrosis: Excess collagen deposition that stiffens tissue and limits elasticity.

Myofibroblast activation: Contractile cells within fascia become overactive, tightening tissue even without muscle contraction.

Inflammatory signaling: Cytokines and neuropeptides released locally can sensitize nerve endings, amplifying pain perception.

In the horse, these changes have wide-reaching consequences. Because fascia connects every region — from hoof to poll — a small restriction in one area can alter movement and tension patterns throughout the entire body. What appears as behavioral resistance or unevenness may actually reflect deep fascial discomfort or altered proprioception.

The Pathophysiological Cascade: From Local to Global

1. Peripheral Mechanisms
Local fascial changes can stimulate nociceptors and chemical mediators, generating a constant stream of pain signals to the spinal cord.
Muscles respond reflexively with increased tone, forming tight bands or “knots.” Circulation and oxygenation decrease, further sensitizing the tissue — a self-perpetuating loop.

2. Central Sensitization
When this nociceptive input continues, the horse’s central nervous system can become hypersensitive.

Normal sensations begin to feel exaggerated or threatening.

This process, known as central sensitization, helps explain why some horses react to light touch or grooming long after the original tissue injury has healed.

3. Whole-Horse Manifestations
• Altered posture and asymmetrical movement.

• Hypervigilance or irritability under saddle.

• Shallow breathing, digestive changes, or reduced engagement.

• “Mystery” lameness or tension patterns that shift from one area to another.

These are not random — they reflect a body whose connective tissue and nervous system are caught in protective overdrive.

Somatic Memory: When Fascia Remembers -

Click here for the rest of the article - https://koperequine.com/exploring-fascia-in-equine-myofascial-pain-an-integrative-view-of-mechanisms-and-healing/

06/11/2025

06/11/2025

*** BOX REST; HOW LONG IS TOO LONG?

I’ve posted this before, but it’s as relevant today as it was when I last posted it, and something I was asked about again today.

My clients will all be very aware that I very rarely recommend complete box rest. If a horse is comfy in walk, then any box rest I recommend will involve in hand walking and grazing from day one. I also very quickly get them out into pens in the field.

When is strict box rest, with absolutely no leaving the stable, ever warranted? In my opinion, the only time that a horse or pony should be trapped in a stable 24/7, is if they are severely lame in walk. And if severely lame in walk, then a decision must be made quickly as to whether box rest is even an option. If the severe lameness in walk is due to something that will almost definitely resolve, then in my opinion, that is acceptable. Other than that, they should be in hand walked, or grazed in hand, at least twice a day. Horses aren’t designed to be shut in a tiny crate (yes, that’s what most stables equate to) 24/7. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for stabling horses for routine management (mine are in overnight all year round), or even them staying in for the odd 24hrs here and there, but not for any prolonged length of time.

I have heard of horses kept shut in a stable for months with tendon injuries. In my opinion, this is cruel, and will likely lead to poor healing of the tendon anyway. We don’t want tendons to heal with lots of scar tissue, and this is exactly what will happen if the injured leg isn’t being regularly loaded.

Laminitis is my exception to the rule, but after a couple of months, I start to question whether persevering with box rest with little or no improvement, is in the horse’s best interests. If a laminitic can walk reasonably comfortably, then I get them into a sand or wood chip pen a couple of times a day, as early on as possible. Of course, if it is painful for a pony with laminitis to walk, then I wouldn’t be asking them to leave their deep bed. But I have a time limit on this before we start talking about whether it’s fair to carry on.

If a pony has to be managed due to being a high laminitis risk, then we must also question as to whether shutting a pony in a stable 22 hours a day, 365 days a year, amounts to a welfare concern. In my opinion, it does, by removing one of the five freedoms (freedom to express normal behaviour).

This post is more aimed at tendon and ligament injures, and I never put these on complete box rest, unless they are very lame in walk.

Temperament wise, some horses are better suited to box rest than others, and this really has to be considered and discussed for each individual case. Some horses would cause themselves further injury if put on box rest, and some may become dangerous to handle if on box rest. These horses I try to get out in a small pen in their field as quickly as possible.

Putting a horse on box rest when all other horses around them are turned out at a set time every day, is extremely difficult, and this is when I’d get the horse on box rest out for some in hand grazing, or an in hand walk. I advise my clients to take that horse out first, so that he doesn’t see the others being turned out. DIY Livery yards can be extremely tricky places to have a horse on box rest, as horses are often turned out at various times.

My (late) own horse, Harry, was a prime example. 85% rupture of his SDFT (tendon) in his front leg whilst competing for GB at the 3* European Championships in 2011. One week of box rest and then had a cast put on for one week. In hand grazing for hours every day by week three. Completely turned away by two months to allow him to move constantly. Completely sound after six months in the field. Turned away for a further year in the field. Came back to qualify for and compete at, the National Dressage Championships at Advanced Medium. His recovery was a lot to do with his temperament, as he has always been a fighter, and never one to give up easily. If I had felt at any point that he was depressed, or if he hadn’t been able to in hand walk by 3-4 weeks, I would have made the very difficult decision. He actually burst out of his stable with his huge cast on, during week two, and made a run/limp for it to his field!!

Harry then ruptured his hind tendon (SDFT) back in March 2023. Thanks to the fabulous Duracorral pen from Farm and Stable, he was out of his stable from day three.

To summarise, I don’t believe complete box rest (ie with no in hand grazing or in hand walking) is ethical for any horse for any long period of time. They don’t know why they’re shut in a tiny space, and we can’t explain to them. If you have the time and situation to box rest a horse whilst being able to get him out several times a day to mooch about/graze in hand, then that is the only way, in MY OPINION, to box rest a horse. If the horse is too lame to be able to go out to in hand graze after a few weeks, then a decision must be made. Box rest with in hand grazing and in hand exercise, requires a lot of time and effort, and if the horse has a suitable tendon or ligament injury and is sound in walk, then turning away is not the wrong option, especially if your only aim is to have the horse paddock sound.

Photo of my beautiful Harold, who ruptured his tendon out on the XC course when we were pathfinders for the GB team at the 3* European Championships back in 2011. This was on his return to competition in 2015, when he won consistently, again, at Advanced Medium level dressage, including the Petplan Area Festival!

Feel free to share without asking, but not to copy and paste my words.

06/11/2025

🌿 From Science to Soul – Day 3: Doing Nothing Is an Action

“Doing nothing” sounds easy, doesn’t it? But in the horse world, it might be one of the hardest things we do.

At the clinic, Warwick’s idea of groundwork for connection stopped me in my tracks. He wasn’t sending the horse out to lunge, micromanaging every turn, or testing obedience with endless cues. There were no inside turns, outside turns, or drills for precision. He just… stood there.

If the horse wanted to touch him, he let it.
If it looked away, he let it.
If it stood still, he stood still.

And slowly — almost imperceptibly — those dysregulated, busy horses began to breathe. You could see them soften. The energy in their bodies shifted from tension to peace, and it all began with a human who simply stood in grounded awareness and did less.

I realised that “doing nothing” wasn’t passive. It was deeply active presence — the kind that allows another nervous system to co-regulate with yours.

In my own work, I’ve been trained to do — to teach the stop, the go, the turn, the yield. It’s the science of shaping behaviour. But Warwick reminded me that connection starts where the doing stops. Sometimes the best groundwork session is simply standing still together.

Now, when I go into the arena, I’m learning to ask myself:

“Am I doing this to connect, or to perform?”

Because when we release the need to make something happen, connection happens on its own.

Tomorrow: Day 4 – Rupture and Repair – Rebuilding Trust Without Control.

30/10/2025