4 Movement

This is very lovely thought for all beings to take in…..;-)

It's your light that lights the world ~ Rumi

This is a fantastic and very generous post given by Jec Aristotle Ballou! Stifle issues are sadly extremely common for a myriad of reasons. Her exercises are simple and explanations are very clear! Read on so that you can Ride On!!!

Strengthening Stifles — Jec Ballou Equine Fitness & Performance Weak stifles can hinder even a horse with incredible talent. How do we go about helping horses with stifle dysfunction?

So on the heels of Jec’s post - I invite you to ask yourself “ what is a fixed position “? This concept is not exclusive to the use of taught side reins or draw reins or unforgiving hands. In the recent Dissection Course that I attended- the discussion of the importance of offering various feeding positions came up- the more that the housing that we offer mimics nature the better. Horses graze with head and neck down and they also browse with their heads at mid shoulder height and yes they also reach up to find the apple above their heads. If you feed from hay bags you can easily add a few hooks at alternate heights to better accommodate the horses natural varied postures. We can do so much more for them if we open our eyes and break away from the “ that’s the way it’s always been done” type of thinking. 💫🙏🐎💚

"If muscles which are primarily muscles designed for movement have to maintain continuous tension, they become inflamed. Blood and lymph circulation in their substance is impaired, and the muscle fibers cannot absorb the nutrients and oxygen which are necessary to their development in bulk and elasticity."
-- Udo Burger, 1959 The Way to Perfect Horsemanship

Consider these words from decades ago....why are we still holding horses in fixed postures for extended periods of time?? We cannot ignore physiology. We might be decades late, but let's put this vital wisdom in to play.