At the beginning of December, we were delighted to bring Klaus Schoneich from Germany, for our first “Straightening the Crooked Horse” clinic here in the South East. The 4-day clinic was hosted very efficiently by Sara Lyter at her beautiful “Hulinndalur Farm” situated at the southern border of North Carolina, near Columbus.

The first day started with a well attended lecture on the Equine Straightening System developed by Klaus and Gabrielle Schoneich at their Center for Anatomically Correct Horsemanship, in Germany. The theory presented by Mr Schoneich exposed the secret behind the differing biomechanics of the natural horse versus the ridden horse. The lecture, supported by illustrative pictures and videos, as well as explicit drawings, explained why every horse owner, trainer, rider, veterinarian or hoof practitioner needs to be aware of the inherent crookedness of horses. The second part of the presentation showed the essential elements and necessary steps needed to best remedy the problem.

All participants stayed at the farm for lunch. The meals were beautifully catered by a local chef. The first part of the afternoon was set aside for the assessment and videoing of three horses. That was followed by analysis and discussion of each horse’s movement. The slow motion capabilities of the camera allowed the participants to clearly see the negative impact of crookedness. The rest of the afternoon saw the assessment of all the other participating horses. Each horse was individually lunged and evaluated by Mr Schoneich who shared his thoughts on conformation, shoeing, trimming, nutrition as well as saddle fitting.

Klaus did most of the lungeing on the first two days of the clinic, live-commenting on the work he was doing with each horse, and explaining at great length when people had difficulties grasping the concepts. The following days, the owners went on to work their own horses, whilst Klaus was guiding them and helping them position their body more effectively. He relentlessly went into the round pen with the owner. He taught them to watch intently, feel with compassion and anticipate swiftly. He wanted them to use their “horse sense”.  Who would have thought that lungeing could be so different from what they had been taught over the years? The goal, as explained by Klaus is, to take control of the shoulders in order to address the centrifugal and shear forces that are generated.

Four days of training is really a short time to try to accomplish anything, but we did feel that all of the horses showed significant improvements. We had a wide mix of horses/riders/disciplines, which made it very interesting since we were able to observe different phases of training. Every day, everybody stayed until the last horse was worked, which ended pretty late at night. Mr Schoneich with his amazing energy and unfaltering patience was determined to teach each and every one how to achieve proper straightness training.

This short format clinic was just an introduction for postural rehabilitation and straightness training, and has be continued by the owner/trainer. Through the first step of the straightness training, the horse learns to balance itself on the lunge and becomes more ambidextrous. It is only when the horse is no longer falling out or leaning on its shoulder, that he will start working with an upward swinging back. The horse is then ready for its training under saddle.

We are already working on the 2012 dates, for Klaus and Gabrielle Schoneich’s next clinic. We are hoping to bring them to both, the East and West Coasts. Stay tuned and keep checking the website for clinic details.

Or, understanding what we need to do, to transform the natural horse into a correct riding horse which will stay sound and free of pain over the years.

Klaus Schoneich and Gabriele Raechen-Schoneich from Germany, authors of the book “Correct Movement in Horses – Straightening the Crooked Horse” directed the book to all riders be they competitive or pleasure. Their training system is the fruit of their work and analysis of thousands of horses over a span of more than 25 years.

No! Straightness training is not a new fad; it was acknowledged by the old riding masters and is addressed every day by many trainers around the world. Straighteness is one of the pillars of the German training scale, and is currently mentioned in numerous dressage articles. We all recognize that horses in their natural state carry far more weight on their forehand than their hindquarters. Modern breeding programs have compounded the problem by developing stronger, larger  and athletic horses with huge strides and powerful hind ends that drive the forces into the dominant shoulder. Riders are also very much aware that most horses are more comfortable going in one direction versus the other, and bend more easily on one side than the other. This is because, horses like people have a dominant side and literally they “put their best foot forward” and end up using the dominant front leg as a post, putting more weight on that leg and shoulder, which of course affects the hind end considerably.

So, what makes us believe that the Schoneichs are offering something different?

First of all, they want us to understand the biomechanical differences between the natural horse and the ridden horse. The horse must be physically prepared for the right muscles to develop in order to, not only carry himself but later on, the  rider. This takes time, patience and technique. That was the goal of the work in the pillars  that the old classical dressage masters used  before starting the under saddle work.

Secondly, remember that a crooked horse is an unbalanced horse; an unbalanced horse becomes tense and resistant to the aids. Therefore, crookedness should be addressed at an early stage. Each hind leg should bear equal weight if we want to avoid muscular compensation. We must train the natural horse to be more ambidextrous, just like top human athletes truly are.

So, unless these essential issues of crookedness and forehand heaviness are resolved in the early training (or truly corrected later), the average rider/trainer will be dealing with these problems on a daily basis. The crookedness creates gait aberrations that are manifest in pleasure horses as well as in many top level horses of all disciplines. To develop the pushing power by riding forward requires skilled riding and will only emphasize the crookedness if the rider doesn’t understand the root of the problem.

The straightness techniques developed by the Schoneichs, very clearly define the three steps of training that must be achieved before you even put a saddle on the horse. We have talked about the lightening of the forehand as a first condition, along with developing ambidextrousity through softness and diagonal re-balancing of  the center of gravity. The third condition requires the horse to be able to work  forward and downward without losing its lateral, nor longitudinal balance. Only then, and then only, would they start the work under saddle!  The horse has to have the physical ability to bring his trunk up  and move with an upswinging back before the rider can actually start training from the saddle!

Taliana at 1 month of age

Taliana, is a 3 yo Hungarian warmblood, out of a Weltemeyer line dam, by Fabuleux, a Hanoverian stallion from Briddlewood Farm. She is, from being born on our farm, the subject of our experiment with the straightness training implemented by Klaus and Gabriele Schoneich. Fresh from our time in Germany, I could not wait to get her started. She had had no training at that point when I started working with her 8 weeks ago. Her training unfortunately, due to our work commitments and obligations, has not been as consistent as I would have liked but all in all, she has had, at least 5 working weeks.

We did an initial gait analysis/ body evaluation at the start of her training and found some minor muscle issues and soreness just from being a 3 yo living outside as any other 3 yo would. It is in our opinion, to best have the body soreness and pain resolved before the horse starts working. The Schoneichs on the other hand, feel that the body issues will resolve if the crookedness is corrected. We, unfortunately haven’t spent enough time at the Center for Anatomically Correct Horsemanship to assess that fully, and it would be our desire to do a formal study to pursue that further. Hey, we only need time and money…just like everybody else on this planet!

Tali has been a moderate right front limb dominant horse, which means that she wants to come IN, on the circle when lunged to the right, using that right front as a post. Going left, she wants to fall out on an OUTER circle (centrifugal force). At this stage, I have definitely seen a difference in her way of moving, from when I started. She has acquired a clear rhythm and is getting more balanced longitudinally and diagonally. As Gustav Steinbrecht would have expressed, she is starting to “use her 4 legs equally to step forward in the direction of movement”.

We still haven’t reached the “forward and downward” that the Schoneichs would expect at the end of an 8 week period, but that could be in part, due to my own training inability. I am learning as I am teaching her, which might not be an ideal scenario, but I am on a quest for straightness and true lightness, so Tali will be one of my many teachers, I presume!

We will keep you apraised of her progress and share with you, hopefully the highs and also, maybe the frustrations of her training!

Christine Heraud-Ridgway

Klaus Schoneich from the Centre for anatomically correct horsemanship, working a young horse.

After working the horse on the longe following the Schoneichs’ specific instructions, the next step is to work the horse with the rider up. Even advanced riders very often must seek a better balance and develop a truly independent seat. The Schoneichs are masters at creating individual exercises for the rider to achieve that goal. These exercises are being done by the rider while being longed.

For my part, as a veterinarian specializing in integrative as well as conventional medicine, I have recognized that all horses, regardless of discipline, develop the same sets of muscle pattern pain and pathology. This observation is in my opinion, without question, related to the laterality of the horse. In horses with right forelimb dominance(75 to 80% of the population) the muscle pattern is the same, as in the 20 to 25 percent of the left forelimb dominant ones who then present a mirror image of the right forelimb dominant horses. The same can be said for the chiropractic and fascial patterns. It does not stop there, it relates also to the pathology that we see in the joints (especially the stifles and hocks as well as in spinal facet joints.) All these pathological effects are related to the combination of “shear” and “centrifugal” forces that are generated when the horse with uncorrected laterality problems work in circles, with their weight on the forehand. I will be expanding greatly on this subject in chapters of a book that I am currently writing.

Christine has been receiving instruction and learning the longeing techniques from Gabrielle and Klaus. She has also had the opportunity to receive “rider-up” lessons in better developing an independent seat. If one were to see photos you would say that the rider’s position is not at all correct. These exercises and hand positions are the necessary detours (in the “Schoneich Method”) to allow the horse to come into self-carriage and the rider to be able to maintain the required “independent seat.”

When they take a horse in for training, they do a full video assessment of its current way of moving on a circle, a shoeing and foot balance evaluation as well as a saddle assessment. I am, personally, concluding that it is also important to do a full physical examination including acupuncture, chiropractic, limb palpation and flexion tests. It is my feeling that if the horses’ physical problems can be sorted out previous to the hard work of rebalancing, that the entire process may go more smoothly. Even though the longe work may only be twenty minutes, the horse has to use his muscles in a very different way that can lead to more muscle soreness. I recognize my need to experience a large number of horses that are started relatively “pain and pathology free” to be able to speak with more authority on this aspect.

Many of the horses that are brought to the Schoneichs come because the owner’s has been advised that the horse is not “good enough” to do the job or its career is finished because of pathology. The high rate of success that they have with this type of horses speaks volumes. Though, the system can stand on its own, we would maintain that success may come even more quickly when accompanied by a pain free state.

There is no question that many horses with “uncorrected laterality” are competing very successfully and at very high levels. We are very suspicious, however, that there is a lot of horse “wastage” when laterality is not addressed. The question is, how much longer could the horses perform if they were better laterally and longitudinally balanced? This seems like a very logical hypothesis. Our goal is to have horses live a longer, happier life performing well in a pain free manner.

We are in a very good position, as we have a coming three year old that we will start when we get home. I will be able to more closely monitor her progress from start to finish. We cannot wait to get home to commence!

Kerry at the Centre for Anatomically Correct Riding Centre

We have spent 10 days with Klaus and Gabrielle Schoneich at the Zentrum fur ARR (Center for Anatomically Correct Riding). As many of you know, we have become very interested in the subject of limb dominance in horses (laterality), i.e. being “right handed” or “left handed.” Klaus and Gabrielle, through 25 plus years and working with over 5000 horses, have literally written the book on the subject.

Balance is, arguably the most important word in any language that exists, or has ever existed. Being ambidextrous makes it capable of remaining in the athletic sense of good balance. The basic premise is that horses that are intended for athletic forms of riding are born with two strikes against them. Since they evolved as grazing animals, they are, therefore anatomically constructed to be “heavy on the forehand.” The second liability for the horse is that they are born with a significant degree of right or left forelimb dominance.

Being very right or left handed is a limiting factor for high level athletic performance in the human and, in a sense, even more so for the horse. Horses are anatomically constructed in a matter that they can go straight ahead or make sweeping turns, but not designed to go on circles, especially small circles. Think how often we start the training of young horses by asking them to longe on relatively small circles, or use a round pen as a means of starting them.

As a consequence of being on the forehand, they travel with the back inverted, the head held high with the nose out and up. Thus they are “hollow backed” and lack the ability to bring the back upward so it can support the weight of even a non heavy rider. The format of a short blog does not allow me to go more fully into this aspect, but I am in the process of writing much more about this.

The aims of the “Zentrum” is to use a combination of longeing and riding techniques to allow the horse to overcome or minimize the forelimb dominance, lift its withers, lighten the forehand and transfer weight to its hindquarters. Even many very high level horses are still plagued by the forelimb dominance and could benefit greatly from the Schoneichs’ techniques. Their process takes the horse back to “square-one,” and commences with specialized longeing techniques that enable the horse to properly utilize the trapezius muscles to lift the dominant shoulder. (This critical function, in my opinion also effectively uses the ventral thoracic serratus muscles and the pectoral muscles.) Master trainers recognize that the horse cannot be vertically balanced if they are not first diagonally balanced. It has become evident to us, through the Schoneichs that laterality must be addressed in order to achieve longitudinal balance.

The work on the longe requires about 3 weeks or more (each horse is an individual), before the horse will consistently develop the required strength to move into a diagonal and longitudinal balance. With an “up-swinging” back, the neck and head, then and then only, can come into a more downward poll flexed position without dropping onto the forehand. The gait will extend and the outside hindlimb will track within the circle rather than outside of the circle. The next step is to work the horse in the round pen with the saddle in place. The wither conformation has often changed so much at this time that its current saddle might no longer fit. The whole concept is to teach the horse to move in balance and with equal weight on each leg.

We will address the second phase of this training in part 2.

Drs Bowker & Pollitt

Back from Australia…
I want to tell you about this wonderful conference where I had the opportunity to be one of 17 presenters. The conference was being held at the Veterinary College at the University of Melbourne in Werribee, Victoria.

It was organized by two very competent women who had never before organized a conference. As with any conference, it is a formidable task to see through. Margaret Richardson and her “trimming” partner, Rebecca Scott lined up the venue (plus venues for labs and demonstrations), speakers, program sponsors, meals and catering, lodging for speakers, promotion of the conference and the myriad of unseen logistics. Marg’s husband, veterinarian Adam Richardson ably served as master of ceremonies.

The program was an admirable mix of research as well as practical and applicable knowledge for those of us “in the field,” or as the Aussies used the term, “coalface”  a term previously unknown to any of us “bloody yanks.”

The research came from eminent academicians such as Dr. Chris Pollitt of The University of Queensland, Dr. Robert Bowker of Michigan State University. Their topics focused predominately on laminitis. Research on foot biomechanics, computer modeling and imaging such as MRI and CT was presented by Dr. Simon Collins. Simon, from Great Britain is also now advancing his research by working in Australia with Dr. Pollitt on laminitis and its biomechanical effects.

Rounding out research on the functional foot was Dr. (PhD) Brian Hampson. Brian is currently with the School of Veterinary Science in Brisbane and working with the Australian “Brumby” Project. His presentation and the movie made by he and Chris Pollitt deserves a more detailed description than can be given in this write-up. Suffice it to say that in my opinion, it both confirms value of the desert foot or “wild” Mustang foot as a model for use, and yet at the same time challenges that as the perfect paradigm. They were, e.g. able to show evidence of laminitis even in the desert Brumby.

The study provided an awful lot to think about, but in a nut shell, they were able to move a very poor footed Brumby mare from a lush life in Queensland, to 3000 miles away in the “outback” near Alice Springs. She joined up with a Brumby stallion and his small band. Within 3 months her feet were transformed into the incredible foot of the desert Brumby. Like the other brumbies, she sometimes had to roam so far for food, that she went 5 days on only one visit to a spring. The tracking system that they used showed the mare covering 150 km (nearly one hundred miles) in 7 days on only one watering. How is that for food for thought! The movie will be available on DVD from our website. (The proceeds will go to fund the ongoing research of the Brumby project.)

Drs. Pollitt and Bowker’s works on Laminitis were well balanced by the clinical research presented by Dr. Debra Taylor, Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences at the veterinary college at Auburn University in Auburn Alabama. Her research is helping to validate the use of Barefoot approach to the treatment of Laminitis. She has been able to show consistent value of this approach in dealing with reversal of rotation, increased depth of sole and improvement in soundness. This is an ongoing project, but is already showing much value. Deb is not only a good researcher, she is a superb teacher and gave a great presentation.

Another clinical research effort was discussed by Duncan McLaughlin. Duncan, is a trimmer with a degree in Evolutionary Biology, an active endurance competitor and an upper level dressage rider.  He presented a very thought provoking study using thermography to determine the temperature levels in the foot of shod, unshod and booted horses competing in an endurance event. Like every paper presented, it needs a page of its own. With luck, I will provide more at another time.

If one accepts that the marked increase in temperature of the shod foot is proven to be inflammatory and potentially can create damage, then it is a valuable contribution to our knowledge of the functional foot. It was also noteworthy that the feet cooled much more rapidly post ride in the barefoot or booted horses than in the shod feet  (sometimes 8 degrees Celsius higher temperatures than in the barefoot feet). That is a lot of degrees on the Fahrenheit scale.

Dr. Melanie Quick, a very experienced veterinarian in lameness work, but also as a trimmer and previous to that, a farrier for 15 years (she is also certified in equine chiropractic) presented some cases of amazing responses to barefoot corrective work on seemingly hopeless cases. In most of those cases, euthanasia had been prescribed. Melanie mentors other trimmers and recognizes the many variances that barefoot trimmers are doing. She has an excellent ability to be able to prescribe minor changes that can turn a good trim into a great trim. I think that some of her work is part of the path to advanced trimming for advanced athletic work.  My takeaway is that we need to get Melanie to lecture and do some clinics in the United States. I would like to use my small sphere of influence to get her on other foot oriented conferences.

With no intent to degrade the work of quality farriers, it is my impression, that the barefoot movement is more involved in a whole horse approach to the functional foot that the farrier world. There is much more discussion and study into the role, e.g. of nutrition (including mineral balance), more attention to the role e.g. of saddle fitting and various forms of body work along with Integrative Medicine that have a synergistic role with good trimming techniques. It is also my impression that more barefoot trimmers are acutely aware of the critical functions of the structures in the posterior part of the foot.

With that in mind, we had a good presentation involving the importance of nutrition from Carol Layton. She is an independent equine nutritionist, and recently formally associated with Dr. Eleanor Kellon of the USA. Carol also worked hard for the conference in other ways. She created and managed the Website as well as was one of the official sponsors.

It is also my impression that Australia is a bit ahead of the United States in the Barefoot world. We definitely need more formal trimmer schools in the United States, and more specifically  quality schools that give a very meaningful certification. Hand in hand with that, is the absolute necessity for the barefoot groups with differing ideas to stop throwing rocks at one another and use the good science that is already there and the new science that is coming out to sort out the best techniques. Dogma is already encroaching into the barefoot movement. As I said in discussion with Dr. Simon Collins and mentioned in my lecture, the “the intrusion of dogma into any system creates a closing of the mind and a reluctance to change in spite of new knowledge.”

Todd Jaynes, an excellent trimmer and barefoot clinician, and a part of the “Equine Sciences Academy”, described the mission and function of the school in reference to trimming, but also with reference and teaching of a whole horse approach that I deem so necessary. The academy is also a step in the right direction.

The equine boot industry was well represented by Carol Herder of Cavallo, Garret Ford of Easy Care and an excellent rep from the Renegade company. I sincerely apologize for not remembering his name at the time of this writing.

I should perhaps, mention my role in this conference. I was granted about 3 hours to present information on the subject of Laterality and its effect on the horse, including the feet. By laterality I am talking about what is often referred to as being “right handed” or “left handed.” The Germans refer to this as “Natural Crookedness.” It results in a crooked way of going and is responsible in large part for all the gait aberrations that I see and treat daily, but the very things and patterns that farriers and trimmers deal with on a daily basis. It also sets up horses for so much of what the conventional veterinarian deals with i.e.: tendon issues, ligament issues, joint issues (including the necessity for so many joint injections).

In the second half of my presentation I related limb dominance to the foot and particularly to the problem of high heel/low heel syndrome. My presentations were well received and I believe were found to be germane to the functional foot aspect. I am confident that it opened the door to a different way of seeing horses move for many of those in attendance.

This subject is definitely my latest passion. Christine and I are going to spend a week in Germany in May with Klaus and Gabriele Schoneich. They have been working with correction of “Natural Crookedness” in the horse for the past 25 years and have published an excellent book called, “Correct Movement in Horses” – “Improving Straightness and Balance”. They have a new edition out, but so far it has not been translated.

The venues where I have presented this have generated a fair amount of excitement and appreciation. So, I am feeling very encouraged to develop more information, lectures and workshops regarding its recognition and an appropriate therapy to deal with the problems. I will be approaching the therapies from the point of view of the body worker’s modalities, the acupuncturist, the chiropractor, the farrier, the trimmer and, very importantly, the conventional western veterinary medical practitioner. Moreover, I want to educate the world of the average horse owners/riders, who for the most part, is totally unaware of the problems of laterality and the consequences involved. So many people are unaware that a right or left forelimb dominance is antagonistic to athletic performance.

Let me finish this segment by saying that every good conference leaves you thinking and brings to mind your cases at home. Every research project always brings up ten more questions for every one that it answers. They always end up with “further research is needed.”

Knowledge is power and knowledge is always ongoing. Today’s knowledge is often tomorrow’s misinformation. Stay tuned in!

Kerry

International Rehabilitation Symposium, August 2010

Reflecting back on this past Spring and Summer I recognize it as having been pretty fast paced. In light of running a full practice while doing a lot of clinics and seminars and taking the invitations to speak at several conferences, has kept me on the move. By years end there will have been eleven engagements including besides the USA, Canada, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Denmark, and Sweden. I was very privileged to teach the equine section for the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society’s sanctioned veterinary courses in Australia and Germany.

What I recognize is that every time I present, I also learn and hone my skills and knowledge base. I learn from other clinicians, and I, invariably, learn from attendees at my seminars and clinics. That opens the way for me to be able to help more horses and their owners to know more and have fewer health and performance problems with their horses. That also translates to fewer veterinary bills and allows veterinarians to use more of their time in preventative medicine instead of repairing damage.

Through all of the events of the Spring and Summer many ideas started to coalesce into a more cohesive and complete system of diagnosis and treatment. I have come to find common denominators to problems such as High Heel / Low Heel Syndrome in the horse; muscles in the mouth and neck that affect the ability of the horse to properly use his shoulders and forehand; I have realized an incredible connection between the Psoas muscle group and so many problems of the croup and actually the entire hind quarters; and most common denominator of all, I have come to recognize that nearly all horses have an acquired crookedness that can set up nearly all the problems that I address in my work. This list includes joint issues, muscle issues, fascial issues, shoeing issues and, of course, saddle fit. So! Crookedness must be exposed and addressed!

I have also continued to perfect a system that allows a remarkably accurate clinical diagnosis of ulcers in the digestive track of the horses. I feel that there are only two kinds of horses – those that have ulcers and those who will have ulcers at some point in their lives. In my opinion, what we currently know of ulcers is just the tip of the iceberg. Digging deeper into the ramifications is still part of my passion.

Speaking of passion, through all the coalescing of new knowledge, I am finally ready to start work on a book. I am very passionate, excited, worried, empowered, overwhelmed – but ready to start -  and have laid out the groundwork for what will likely be a daunting project. I also know that nearly every book that is published is “out of date” and in need of revision from its very first day on the shelf.

In every lecture series, I always point out that “Today’s best information and truths are tomorrow’s misinformation and falsehoods.” I always have a plentiful supply of black feathers protruding from my mouth from eating crow. They are evidence my past “truths” having turned into misinformation. And that is OK, because knowledge is empowering.

Future blogs will contain bits and pieces from the book. I haven’t yet decided on a title. Input from you, my readers, will only make the book better. Feel free to join in.

My ongoing goal is to promote the legitimate and appropriate meshing of Integrative Equine Medicine with good “Conventional” Equine Medicine for the betterment of the horse.

Jim Pascucci working on the hindquarters.

In June, just prior to going to Durango, Colorado to speak at the Equine Investigation Academy School, sponsored by “Code 3″ Associates, I spent a day in Longmont, Colorado with Jim Pascucci, Advanced Rolfer, NCTMB. Jim is a Rolfing and Myosfascial Release practitioner in the human field who has translated his extensive skills and knowledge to his other passion “the horse”.

Many of you have heard me rave about “Muscles, the forgotten system in Veterinary Medicine”. I emphasize how bones/joints and ligaments can only function as a result of the action of muscles. As an aside, if my profession truly understood the importance of this system, there would be attention to this aspect with the result, that there would be  a lot fewer joints requiring injections.

However, there is a step back that is critical to muscles being able to do their job. That is related to this seemingly mysterious substance called fascia. Simply described, fascia is connective tissue that literally joins together every structure in the body. In the case of muscle, it is not just the “stuff” that covers the muscles. It is the structural system that causes the muscles to have their “shape”. It is, in fact, even the material that connects the muscle to its bony origin and the tendon that connects it to its insertion. In a very simplified sense, the muscle is just a bunch of “jello” with electrolytes that would not have a definite shape, start nor end, without fascia. Fascia can become very tense and restrictive, so the muscle cannot function, contract and release. (Have you ever gotten tangled up in the bed sheets and could not turn over? This is similar to what happens when fascia is tense and restrictive).

Jim has authored a book titled “Equine Structural Integration” on the use of Myofascial Release and Structural Integration for horses. The book is a superb read for anyone even vaguely interested in the subject. It tops the list of several books that I have read about Myosfascial Release (MFR). Jim’s chapter describing what fascia is, and how it functions, is without question beautifully written and allows the reader to readily understand how and why it is such an important and critical system in the body of any mammal. He also indicates in his book how MFR syncs with Chiropractic and Acupuncture.

Jim also presents full courses on MFR and Structural Integration to body workers and horse owners. I would encourage you to visit his website, www.animalsi.com.

My only regret in meeting with him is that I did not have much more time to spend with him. However, we did have enough time to realize that we have a mutual interest in working together and presenting some joint seminars -perhaps  Spring or early Summer 2011 -. I am very sure that our work, though utilizing somewhat different approaches is very synergistic. I have certainly incorporated more MFR in my approach and I am sure that when we get together, I can enhance some of what he does. Needless to say, I am excited about our potential of working and presenting together.

I will keep you posted as this comes to fruition.

WOW! after many years of swearing that I am going to start a blog, the time has finally arrived. Christine, my wonderful wife, has always accused me of having a major case of “verbal diarrhea” whenever I write something or give a lecture. Now at this moment of truth, I find myself at somewhat of a loss for words.

There have been so many neat moments and epiphanies in the last couple of years and even in this first half of 2010. We had a great lecturing trip in Canada in February and also a good teaching experience in Germany. But perhaps, I should start with this past month and our experiences and insights from lecturing, teaching and sharing some mutual interests in Colorado.

It came about because of an invitation to speak to law enforcement officers in a course on Equine Investigations Level 2 taught by instructors from the Equine Investigations Academy. The academy is sponsored by “Code 3” who call themselves “Riders of the Storm.”  Code 3  maintains and dispatches a tractor trailer combination with a 55 foot trailer rigged to handle rescue and treat animals in disasters such as Katrina, and the severe hurricanes in Florida, forest fires, earthquakes and a variety of other natural disasters.

Law enforcement personnel are often put in the position of having to deal with horses under some pretty tough conditions. Think about it – they may not have any background in horses, their management, their behavior (especially when under stress), etc. Yet, they have to make immediate major decisions as to what is the right action to take, given the circumstances.

Many of the attendees are also Humane and Animal Control Officers, and there are so many things and correct procedures that they must follow – especially if there is criminal or cruelty aspects to cases.

The wealth of veterinary information in terms of anatomy, physiology, behavior, etc by such individuals as Dr. Charlotte Robinson, and Nan Stuart of Code 3, was mind boggling to me. I was there to speak to them about such things as ulcers in the equine digestive tract and how they impact the behavior of horses. We also addressed the so called “Ridgway Trot” properly known as the “Cardiac Recovery Index” or CRI. This is of value to humane enforcement where horses can be overworked such as in “wild-cat” endurance rides, some gymkana events, and many others where knowledge and supervision are minimal. It is of value on movie set works where a train chase scene is shot over and over many times until it is deemed a “take”.

I also gave demonstrations on the effective use chiropractic and acupuncture and some forms of bodywork. It was also my goal to give them information on how they could discern a good practitioner in integrative medicine from, e.g. the vast number of people out there doing equine “chiropractic” who have no formal education and an incomplete knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics.

The attendees are taught in-depth body condition scoring to determine whether horses are adequately fed and cared for. I for one, would not put any veterinarian I personally know up against one of these people when it comes to accurate body scoring.

The group also had to conduct a mock rescue operation of 78 horses that were trapped in a forest fire. They had one hour advance warning of this task that required them to set up the command posts, assign an operations manager, an operational plan, assign jobs of catching, haltering, and identifying each animal and then getting them loaded on trailers and transporting them to a holding area. Once at the holding area they presented them to Dr. Robinson and myself to be checked for injuries, smoke inhalation, etc.

I mentioned that they had to identify each and every one. What I did not say, was that they had to provide a description such that any other member of the group could go and  pick out that animal from the description provided by the person who caught and haltered the animal. Their tasks in the drill (last year when I taught there) also included a mock heart attack of one of the personnel, a hysterical owner and a very obnoxious person from the media who was very much in the way (ably played by Nan’s husband, Erik) . Some challenge – you bet.

Yes, there I have done the first blog and yes, I did end up with more words than I intended. (Geez, I hate it when Christine is right.)  Oh, but there is so much more to tell you about the trip

Next blog, I want to tell you about meeting an incredible worker and teacher in the field of myofascial work. I will introduce you to Jim Pascucci!

In conjunction to the inception of our new website, we also want to welcome you to the blog aspect of the site. What we desire from this effort is an ambitious discussion that would lead us to healthier, happier horses who can perform up to their genetic potential without compromising their well-being. There is room too for the non-performing  horse’s health and welfare. We sincerely believe that through Integrative modalities and consumer awareness, WE CAN improve the level of care and life quality of our horses.

Though all persons who post on our site and blog have the goal of the welfare of the horse, there are some in every “modality” that have strong feelings as to how that modality should be applied. I want to open this blog to those diverse opinions, but will be very critical of “flaming” other contributors, including myself in that category.

We will post discussions on many various topics, because there is so much that falls into the category of “therapeutic options”, even such topics as dentistry, saddle and tack fit, etc…

Here are some of the topics that we hope to cover:

- Acupuncture & Acupressure

- Musculoskeletal manipulation

- Myofascial & Neuromuscular  release

- Massage

- Saddle Fitting/Tack Fitting

- Hoof Balance

- Dentistry

- Nutritional considerations