Limitless Performance Equine Therapy

12/23/2025

So many horses struggle with their thoracic sling- being aware of this & working on correcting it in the proper way is so important!

🔅Body work to help clear the fascia -> corrective exercises to strengthen & correct

💪🏼 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐒𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠

✨ aka the reason your horse feels heavy, hollow, or just not right ✨

Hot take 🔥
If your horse feels heavy on the forehand, it’s not a training problem.
It’s not a bit problem.
It’s not a “they just lean” problem.

👉🏼 It’s a thoracic sling problem.

The thoracic sling 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞 it’s a muscular support system that suspends the ribcage between the front legs…
because horses do not have a collarbone.

So if this system can’t lift?
The horse literally has nowhere to go but down.

🧠 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫?

When it’s functioning correctly, it allows the horse to:

🔥 Lift the withers
🔥 Free up the shoulder for true reach
🔥 Absorb concussion through muscle instead of joints
🔥 Stay balanced without leaning on the rider’s hands

When it’s weak, restricted, or shut down… 👇🏼

🧬 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠:

• 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬 – the primary “sling” muscle that lifts the ribcage
• 𝐏𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐬 – stabilize the front end and assist in limb control
• 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐳𝐢𝐮𝐬 – supports wither lift and shoulder movement
• 𝐑𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐬 – help elevate and stabilize the scapula

🧠 Think of this system like a suspension bridge:
If the cables aren’t doing their job, the whole structure collapses forward.

🚩 𝐒𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐛:

• Heavy or dull in the bridle
• Short, stabby front limbs
• Tripping or toe-dragging “for no reason”
• Tight lower neck + sore, guarded pecs
• A hollow back that won’t stay round no matter what you do

And here’s the spicy truth 🌶️
You cannot fix this by pulling their head down.

No gadget.
No frame chasing.
No stronger hands.

❌ Posture does not create strength.
✔️ Strength creates posture.

🛠️ 𝐒𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐜 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠?

✔️ Slow, correct work (yes… boring before brilliant)
✔️ Walk work that actually develops posture and control
✔️ Cavalettis done with organization, not speed
✔️ Transitions that lift the ribcage instead of dumping it forward
✔️ Bodywork to clear fascial restrictions so muscles can fire, not just exist

⚠️ You cannot strengthen a muscle that’s stuck in protection.

🧠 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬:

Strength does not come from tension.
It comes from support, coordination, and capacity.

If the front end can’t lift, the rest of the body will compensate.
Every. Single. Time.

Fix the sling → change the horse.

Want another muscle group next week?
Drop a 💪🏼 in the comments!

12/20/2025

🚨 We are Booked for January and February is filling up fast!

❄️ Please make sure you get your reservations in sooner rather than later.

⛄️ We are so excited to get the ball rolling again after our brief EHV siesta! We are still being very mindful about intakes, but we are in full swing again!

12/09/2025

When you book with us, you’re getting all aspects of healthy conditioning & rehabilitation!

Why is conditioning so important for our equine athletes?

▪️Physical conditioning refers to the body’s long term adaptation to exercise. Our goal is to increase our horses ability to perform. With conditioning, the capacity to exercise is increased and the risks of injury are decreased.

▪️Exercise affects all of the body systems including, respiratory, cardiovascular, muscular and skeletal.

▪️The respiratory system, our lungs and airways, delivers oxygen to the blood and removes carbon dioxide from the body. During exercise the system responds by dilating airways, which reduces resistance and increases airflow. Conditioning increases the elasticity of airways and the integrity of lung and diaphragm tissue.

▪️The cardiovascular system is made up of the heart, veins, arteries and capillaries responsible for sending and removing substances from the bodies tissues. Conditioning increases the mass of the heart, the integrity of the blood vessels and the ability of the heart to pump blood. This means we get more efficient transport to the muscles which aids in increased performance. We also benefit from lower heart rates at a higher level of exercise.

▪️The muscle tissue is responsible for the mechanical process of movement, this means muscle tissue moves the body through a series of contractions and relaxations of muscle fibers. Conditioning increases the availability of substances needed for contraction and relaxation, contraction strength and the coordination of muscles fibers. Through conditioning the results are increased muscle mass, coordination, more blood flow through the muscular tissue and ability to download oxygen from the blood stream.

▪️Skeletal system, we’re talking bones, tendons and ligaments, these provide the framework for movement. Bone strength is associated with bone mass and density, movement naturally causes stress but stress is needed to improve the bone mass and density. Conditioning improves the ability for bone to prepare for and handle stress. Did you know tendon elasticity and strength can decrease with lack of exercise? Conditioning improves cartilage thickness, joint flexibility and lubrication.

⭐️ All of these play a key factor in how our horses perform, without proper exercise and conditioning we are putting our horses at risk of injury and will not achieve our competition goals.

⭐️Did you know 30 days of conditioning on the Aquapacer is equivalent to 60 days of riding?
After 30 days we have created a solid foundation of stabilizing muscles, increased range of motion and cardio.

⭐️Did you know muscles need to be engaged at least 4 days a week to maintain correct fitness?

⭐️Did you know exercising your horse less than 3 times a week causes a huge loss in fitness over the course of 4 weeks?

12/08/2025

❄️ We are booking for the middle of January for outdoor pens! We still currently have Box stall availability.

🚨 We continue to be very mindful about the EHV situation. As of now, if you have been in Vegas we will not be taking any Vegas horses in until after they have been Quarantined for a minimum of 21 days.

We ask that you continue to be mindful of your whereabouts. If you have been traveling we will require a 72 hour health certificate before drop off!

12/08/2025

Congratulations to our selected riders for the 2026 sponsorship year for Limitless Performance Equine Therapy & Hood Equine Fitness and Wellness !

•Savannah Roberts
•Rachel Palar- Huerkamp
•Annie Stegman
•Leslie Thomas

These riders will be joining our amazing current sponsored riders:

•Kylie Wells
•Christina Munster
•Mejrusa Rustemovic

We would like to sincerely thank everyone who applied- we had a lot of great applicants & it was very hard to choose! You all are so wonderful!

We look forward to working with you & your horses! ❤️

-Kayla & Cassidy

12/05/2025

Join the Limitless Performance Equine Therapy & Hood Equine Fitness and Wellness team!

Our deadline for sponsorship applications is today! December 5th!

⭐️ Send us a message!

12/03/2025

I often report back to owners that their horse had a lot of “releases” during their session:

🤔What is an equine massage release?

These are moments during bodywork when a horse lets go of built up tension, discomfort, or emotional stress stored in the muscles and soft tissues. As I apply gentle, targeted pressure to specific areas, the horse’s nervous system shifts from a guarded, protective state into a relaxed & healing state.

During a release, the horse may show subtle, or sometimes very expressive signs that the body is unwinding.

These can include:
•Licking and chewing
•Yawning
•Dropping the head and neck
•Shifting weight, softening through the topline
•Deep breaths
•Some horses even show big, full body stretches as tension finally lets go.

Releases are important because they indicate that the massage is helping the horse:
🔸Reduce muscle tightness and soreness
🔸Improve circulation & range of motion
🔸Calm the nervous system & relieve stress
🔸Restore balanced posture and movement

I have found that horses that are “newer” to body work sometimes appear to be more stoic and not as expressive throughout a session & will not have as many releases. However, the more sessions a horse has & feels more comfortable with body work, the more they learn to “release” and appreciate the session.

It’s amazing how expressive a horse can get when they are comfortable in the right hands- Hands that are listening to the map of their body & always being aware of their sensitive body language 🩶

12/01/2025

Very interesting!

Fascia hears before the brain does.

Fascia is one of the most sensory-rich tissues in the body — packed with far more nerve endings than muscle.

It contains:
• Mechanoreceptors that sense movement, pressure, and loading
• Nociceptors that detect discomfort or pain
• Interoceptors that track the horse’s internal state and safety

Equine fascia is constantly reading the environment. It detects tension, stretch, compression, shear, vibration, temperature, and internal shifts with incredible speed and precision.

These receptors fire faster than conscious processing.

Because of this massive sensory input, fascia acts as the horse’s predictive and corrective system, adjusting posture, balance, muscle tone, and protective responses before the thinking brain ever engages.
It’s why horses react instantly, fluidly, and sometimes explosively — their fascia responds first.

The fluid layers within the fascial network also behave like a biological antenna, transmitting and receiving subtle mechanical and energetic information through wave-like patterns that travel across the whole body.

Your horse’s fascia is always listening — and responding —
long before the conscious mind catches up.



https://koperequine.com/where-horses-feel-it-most-common-soreness-zones-in-muscles-and-fascia/

11/28/2025

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

🖤Now it’s time for a BLACK FRIDAY sale from Hood Equine Fitness and Wellness & I!

💥Buy one week silver package, get the second week 30% off!

This package includes water treading 4-5 days per week & one massage/acupressure session per week!

-When booking, you must pay in full today by midnight!
-This booking will be for anytime mid January 2026 through April 1, 2026 (This is due to precautions with the EHV-1 breakout & current reservations)

❄️Great opportunity to save money & keep your horses going over the winter!

11/19/2025

I am saying this with my whole chest. The EHV 1 outbreak is not something to shrug off just because it is happening “mostly in Texas.” The amount of traveling in the equine industry is insane. People haul across states like it is nothing, they haul back home, they stop at public arenas, they touch the same gates, water hoses, tie rails, and bathrooms as everyone else. To pretend that someone who was even one county or one state away from the mess could not be exposed or exposing others is wild.

This is not paranoia. This is reality. This strain has already proven to be aggressive and fatal, and I think as a whole the industry needs to take a breath and hit pause. Producers. Breeders. Competitors alike.
Yes this is people’s livelihood. Yes the season is important. But none of that means anything if your horse ends up fighting for their life because someone needed another jackpot check or one more weekend buckle.

As for us, we will not be allowing horses on property and we will not be hauling to local arenas until this is better understood and managed. We will be practicing biosecurity but the biggest thing I want people to hear is this. Our animals do not get a choice. They do not get to say no. They do not get to decide if stepping on or off that trailer is worth the risk. We do.

The races, the money, the titles, the points, the bragging rights, all that stuff? Not worth it. Not even close.

Please use your discernment. Please slow down. Please protect the ones who have no voice in this.

The risk is simply not worth their life. Please be smart!

Friendly PSA from C&C Ironspur Ranch

11/19/2025

🚨IMPORTANT!🚨

🚨Important Announcement🚨

We are heading into our busy season and with the recent EHV-1 outbreak and most of our clients being travelers, we ask that you please take this seriously and be transparent and understanding.

As of right now we will be getting a protocol from our Vet on how to move forward with clients who will be staying with us, God forbid this virus spreads our way.

With that being said, if you have ANY concerns about the safety of your horse we ask that you please just stay home! If your horses have traveled to Texas, or any other area of concern STAY HOME. It is not worth risking the safety of other horses.

We will also not be taking any last minute reservations for the next 10 days until we see what is to come over the next week.

🚨Temperature Monitoring at Home:
Please check temperatures twice daily, especially if your horse:
* Was at WPRA Finals
* Was at the 377 Arena
* Attended any show or large event within the past 14 days
A re**al temp of 101.5°F or higher is a concern.
Call your Vet if you see fever, nasal discharge, coughing, stumbling, or any neurologic signs.

11/14/2025