Winner's Edge Equine & K-9 Sports Therapy

10/21/2023

“Ohhh this horse just has a little arthritis in his left hock, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much.”

Horses are prey animals and therefore great compensators; they will create alternative locomotive patterns to continue movement.

So, say this little bit of osteoarthritis causes a reduced range of motion of the tarsal joint. In an attempt to maintain stride length and hide this dysfunction to potential predators (because you never know when a lion could be waiting around the corner... or a flapping plastic bag!) the tarsal (hock) joint is rotated medially (inwards) during the swing phase of the stride. This results in asymmetrical & medial weight bearing through the digit (hoof). This places additional stress through medial hamstring muscles, resulting in muscle tension and trigger points. And this is all something that is potentially going on in the affected hindlimb.

A hip hike/drop can occur at corresponding phases of the stride, placing the sacroiliac joint under stress, resulting in paraspinal and asymmetrical gluteal tone/pain.

Decreased impulsion from the left hindlimb leads to increased weight bearing through the right forelimb diagonal. This can create tension and hypertrophy to the right pectoral muscles and related fascial planes.

The spiral of compensation could continue on further, affecting cervical muscles that become hypertonic as a result of weight shifting, digit shape and size, TMJ pain, head tiling, hyoid dysfunction, asymmetric tail holding...

Check ligaments may strain on the overloaded limb, saddles may slip, mouths may open, head shaking may happen. And that doesn’t mean we have to put on a flash noseband, non-slip saddle pads and wear spurs to get more impulsion from the left hind that is through and through p a t h o l o g i c a l.

Often it can be the case where I see a horse that is a chronic stage of compensation and it can be difficult to find the true cause especially when the horse may appear just overall “stiff”.

I liken the rehabilitation of chronic cases to peeling the layers off an onion; one layer at a time and piece by piece to unravel and rewind the compensation spiral. 🐴

If this sparks a thought in anyone’s mind that actually, their horse may be suffering with this kind of pain presentation — follow your gut, trust that you know what is best for your horse and have your vet, physio, farrier, nutritionist, saddler, trainer all work with you and your horse to improve their comfort 🥰

04/17/2023

Such a fun weekend working with the Carroll County 4-H Program! What a fun group to share Equine Massage Therapy with!

10/20/2022

Thank you University of Maryland Extension for featuring me in your Career Connection Series. I always enjoy talking about Equine and K-9 Massage Therapy.
It was shared with me today that this video was even featured at a National Conference last week! ✨

Find out what it's like to work as an equine & canine massage therapist. Megan Millison tells about her path to this career and what she enjoys most about he...

09/20/2022

Before & After of a sore rope horse we worked on last week, before they headed off for a weekend full of rodeos. ✨

09/12/2022

Thank you Tyler for having me out to work on these sweet boys! The best part of my job is seeing the instant relief in a horse after a session. We were excited to see the instant attitude change from a horse that was sore and suffered from tension headaches to when these pains were released. It was a night and day difference! Are you having unexplained behavior problems, or a horse that is off a few steps and doesn’t seem right, let’s check them out!

08/10/2022

Our horses tell us everything.. sometimes we just have to stop and listen.

Don’t give up on me…

Don’t give up on me, I gap my mouth because I have an abscess.

Don’t give up on me, I bow off my left turns because my hocks hurt.

Don’t give up on me, I refuse the gate because I have ulcers.

Don’t give up on me, I run by my first barrel because I’m a bleeder.

Don’t give up on me, I buck because I have kissing spine.

Don’t give up on me, I elevate in my turns because I have EPM.

Don’t give up on me, I can’t stop hard because I have sharp points on my teeth.

Don’t give up on me, I’m head shy because my TMJ hurts.

Don’t give up on me because I’m not exactly what you think I should be.

Don’t give up on your horse, he’s fighting a silent battle and he can’t tell you why he’s behaving a certain way until you care to pay attention.

Horses put out what you put in, put your all into listening to your horse and see what he gives in return.

06/14/2022

Poor Billy has torn a muscle and is taking some time to heal from the injury. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to help Billy out with his recovery! Due to the sore muscle, Billy is being forced to overcompensate amongst various regions of his body causing him to become unbalanced, leading to soreness all over. After a full session, we were able to alleviate the soreness and get him all balanced again which will help with his recovery! Thank you Tyler Lynn Donnelly for trusting me with your rockstar pony, he will be back to running in no time!

02/08/2022

Valentines Day is the day of love... soo why not show your ponies and favorite pups some love! ❤️Certificates must be purchased before 2/15 to get the discount .. and they will be valid all of 2022!!
Plus an added bonus.. I will be scheduling horses on April 2nd in Murray, KY. So get your sessions on discount today!! ❤️

02/06/2022

Have you ever wondered just how Equine Sports Therapy works? Here is a quick before and after of a specific area we found sore today that shows how invasive and corrective these techniques are. ✨

I will continue to try and video the horses we work on and show the almost instant improvements we are able to make on these horses! Have a sore horse? Let’s get them scheduled in!

01/30/2022

Thank you Tyler for having me out to work on your sweet boys! They responded so well and showed to benefit greatly immediately after the session!

01/11/2022

Thank you Izzy for having me out to come work on a few of your horses this evening. Good luck this weekend! 🔥🤩