Work with Dr Jeremy Naylor and a Dressage Competition

I have been using my science brain again and have been planning an experiment with Dr Jeremy Naylor (http://www.jeremynaylor.co.uk/) to quantify some the effects of massage the massage work I do.

Jeremy is a Veterinarian who specialises in horse excercise physiology and uses his methods to train racehorses at his own stables very close to Stonehenge in Wiltshire. The Cleeve stables are the only U.K. training stable run by a veterinary qualified exercise physiologist.

We had a preliminary meeting last week whereby he just wanted to see me and how I work and we have been disucssin this week over the email how best to conduct this mini experiment. I am going over again tomorrow to follow up, so will write more after tomorrow!

We are planning to use an Ultrasound Scanner on a chosen muscle (group) before and after massage to determine the difference in the tissue. (And yes, I really do hope there is some!!!)

I have spent the whole week glued to latest scientific papers finding information on how massage ACTUALLY works. I mean on the real nitty gritty biological level, not on the "it relaxes and lenghtens the muscle" level :D Not that there is anything work with it, but it is rather difficult to convince a Veterinarian with those type of arguments!

So I have been also trying to understand the workings of ultrasound, very detailed molecular biology and cell biochemistry, read a bit about the racing world and plough through the various massage publications on human massage and excercise physiology. 

AND most importantly did my first dressage test for more than 15 years!!! Vatican was great, I was focused (for a change) and I hope the judges liked it. It was done for Dressage Anywhere (http://www.dressageanywhere.com/) so will not find out my placing until the end of September. I am very excited about this all, not the least because I nearly chickened out since he is so unpredictable and I thought I have not schooled him enough. but he proved me wrong, behaved himself beautifully, was really calm and soft and rode like a feather. When he moves the way he did on Friday, all those mad days when he is so tense it feels almost like riding on a live bomb are made worthwile.

Vatican behaving himself @ our Dressage Anywhere
competiton at Cane End Stud

Little bit of trot - and yes I know Im not sitting great :D
I blame the fact that Im sitting in a jumping saddle!

So more details to follow about our work at Cleeve stables with Jeremy and I will most certainly post our result from the dressage test (well... only if we get over 80%!!! hehe)

Hope you are all well and lovong the Autumn weather as much  as me!!

Hello again,

I have been meaning to write about my little 'adventure' with some horse legs seen in pictures below (warning to those of you who do not like graphic details)!

Thanks to a lovely friend Hannah Brooks from the yard who worked at hunt kennels, I had an opportunity to do a mini autopsy on two separate horse legs and see and feel some of the tendons with my own hands.

It was an interesting experience not to say the least because the legs were rather... hmmm.. smelly I think is a too weak work to describe them and I was swamped with flies and over keen terrier right from the start. But regardless it was super interesting.

I must say - I am not an expert in anatomy and this was the first time I did this excercise, so do double check the accuracy on the names of the tendons before quoting me!!

Suspensory

Superficial digital flexor tendon - thick and very tough!

Comparison - see if you can spot the tendons!

Very high tech - in my garden and trying to shoo off the terrier :D
She would've loved a good gnaw of the bones and tendons

Note to self , or anyone else attempting this, do attempt it on a day where youre unlike to have this many flies, or do it in a garage or a shed (smell warning) and try to get the legs as fresh as possible so the smell issues are minimised. Also the horses skin is unbelievably touch, I had an old kitchen knife and it was almost impossible to cut through, so get a serously sharp and touch knife. Also for health and safety - keep keen terriers inside the house !!!! :D :D :D

It is very very interesting and really worth doing!

I have also just recieved some new posters, leaflets and such material and I have a great offer runing for the next 5 weeks whereby you get £10 off my normal price. Check out my website and facebook page!

And as always, please pass this blog on to anyone you think might be interested!!

Happy riding everyone!!

New ideas and material coming soon

I have just placed an order for some lovely postcard sized business card / leaflet things! Got told by the business link they might be a good addition since they do two jobs. And duly I have followed their advice!

It was quite interesting designing them myself, since never done anything similar, so will be interesting to see how they look like when they arrive in a few days time.

Also I am making a video with Wiola from the Aspire Equestrian riding academy http://www.aspire-equestrian.com/. We have an outline of what we want to do and will hopefully get the first part filmed tomorrow. We have been kindly given the lovely horses of Craig Nicolai (NZ international eventer) and her partner Abby (based in Cane End outside Reading http://caneendstud.weebly.com/) to play with. They come in different shapes and sizes, so should be few interesting videos coming out soon!! Looking forward to them already.

Here is my regular ride, Vatican at Cane End, he belongs to Abby. He is a big boy between 17hh and 18hh and has his moments of being... hmm... rather wild I think to put it mildly. :D But regardless of how he is, he is my special boy and I love him to bits. We go on nice hacks (and yes he is scared of everything most days, particularly the bins) and I school him when I get a burst of motivation. He is not keen on schooling or the school, he had an accident few years ago and broke his pelvis and never really got back to his former glory. But when you get his head in gear (this is where you need a patience of a saint) he is amazing to ride, real schoolmaster and super duper sensitive.

Vatican looking pretty - luckily big grass belly well hidden in this photo!!

I will have a busy two weeks ahead since have 3 dogs in the house. A lovely Jack Russell Finn, who we fostered for a charity little while back, has come to stay here while his owners are on holiday. So two terriers and one collie in the house are sure to keep me on my toes!!

Benji with blue eyes, black Lucy with big ears and visitor Finn at the back

Last day with the lovely polo ponies

Lovely polo ponies of Sulham

For the last two months I have spent my early mornings with these lovely creatures. this has also been my first attempt of 2-4-1 riding!! Ie ride one and lead one. Luckily they only made me take two of them, not three or four as they do at big professional polo yards. Two has been plenty to manage! But it is suprising how quickly one gets used to it and the polo ponies are brought up this way, they really understand what is going on and just very calmly jog along the other horse - never try to change direction, barge, kick, bite each other or anything or such. So it really is as straightforward as hacking out one horse that can be a bit of a handful. (And dont we all know a few of those :D)

Toastie waiting to be taken to the field

These four ponies are the gentlest and calmest creatures on the planet. (as you can see from the photo!!). It has made a change from overexcitable professional competition horses - mind you not that these guys arent pro - they just are a bit older 'been there seen that' type. Nothing bothers them - apart from the naughty three young bulls that like to follow us along the fence line whilst doing excitable moo's and little charging attempts. Toastie in particular finds them rather fun!

The wild Toastie - raring to go!! (or about to fall asleep..)

Flo also falling asleep before a ride

The yard is the quietest and calmest place in the world, situated in Sulham, between the villages of Tidmarsh and Pangbourne. I have spent most mornings totally alone, just me, the ponies and my iPod! Very very lovely. I think all horses should have such a calm place to live. (and us people too, to that matter!)

As mentioned in the title of this post, it was my last day with these lovely horses last week. Im onto expanding my business and also working few hours in the morning somewhere else now for a classical dressage rider who also owns a kennel. So busy animal filled mornings ahead! Will miss them lots, but will keep you updated on my progress at the other yard and how my massages go this week :)

Susanna

Welcome and a massive HELLO to all of you!!

Hi to you all


And you are very very welcome to my blog! I am still getting used to using this website, so you will probably see a lot of change on how it looks over the coming months.

Me massaging at Hatch Farm, just outside
M4 in Reading!

I am a professional Equine Body Worker (EBW) which means I have qualified to give horses sports massage. I am based in Reading, Berkshire UK, but will travel for appointments albeit most of my customers are reasonably close by. I only address issues that arise from the soft tissue (exactly as a human sports masseur would) and as much as you would consult your GP for anything more serious, you MUST consult your VET as a first point of call and chat to him/her about you considering having me to massage your horse. I am also fully insured, so if you get the vets referral, you are likely to be able to claim the money back from your insurance company.

I absolutely love what I do, I find it very relaxing and it really takes me to a focused state of being whereby I almost 'listen' to the horse through my hands. The more different horses I see, the more I learn. It is all about feel, I think. And as you as horsey people know, the horses really do let you know where they are tight or sore. I move slowly, keep watching their eyes and the expression on their face, apply a bit more pressure, depending on the horses treshold and to some deeper work on areas that I feel need addressing.

Massaging TeePee and Wokingham
Equestrian Centre
many years ago

Please do have a look at my website www.susannashorsetherapy.com

Hope to see you here again soon - I hope to make this channel educational too, not just full of my blobber :DD Even there is bound to be some of that too. But I beleive things tend to organically mold themselves, so I havent got an agenda in place, I will just let myself to quide me!!

Take care and many happy rides!!

Susanna