GET TO KNOW YOUR HORSES NORMAL

Ever remember when trying to see if anything was wrong with one leg on our horse, we would run both hands on both legs at the same time slowly going over every bump, feeling for any discrepancy between the two, noting things and then rechecking.

Well for me if you want to get to know your horse you got to get hands on, and not only when there is an injury or ailment because we need to know our horses normal.

Why do I say our horses normal because every horse is an individual because the same structures may feel different on each horse and it's easier to spot when something is wrong when we know what's right

When I first meet a horse, I will always stand back and allow the horse to make the introduction and often this takes a very short amount of time, usually because horses are curious and often most interactions between horse and human is the human going straight up and touching their head especially on their forehead (a I never do that as most horses have some issue around this area and I just think it's too much in their face, so let them come to you then just rest a hand on their neck its less claustrophobic for the horse) so when you don't make the first move and allow the horse come to you often this is the start of the choice action you are giving to the horse,

Your hands are tools that are equipped to relay accurate fast information to us, often only doubt gets in the way when we rely on our hands for I have never found a tool yet that can replace the sensory information that our hands give us, we need to trust the information we are given.

Do not press when using your hands, you want to sweep across the body moving over tissue not ploughing through it you will often see me leave one hand resting while I am moving the other, if you feel something (I often find this is the time where you stop and run your hand back over to check again) I usually find if the horse has the same thing on both sides than more than likely its their normal.

Don't start at the head until the horse is comfortable, often horses do not like someone else having control of the head and to go and grab it can set a horse up to brace, remember there is no right or wrong place to start on a horse you start where the horse is the most comfortable because we want to assess a relaxed horse not a tense braced horse, (as a therapist there are some horses I just don't palpate there is no point as the horse would be so defensive my palpation readings would be false)

Hopefully this video below will give you and idea of how I introduce myself to a horse and the first things I do but as an owner if you get to know your horses right then its much easier to spot when things go wrong, and the bonus it feels good for the horse

And we are not just feeling tissue we are watching behaviour changes, shift in weight, does your horse hesitate more on one side than the other and often you will get nothing more than a side eye but any change has to be noted

Our eyes and hands give us so much information and we must not negate how powerful these tools are

Often I see lots of videos with people asking why their horse is reactive in a certain spot and there will be a million answers and often the only thing I see is that the person is poking to hard because no matter what if you poke you hurt, palpation should be feel not poke till you get an ouch