5 years on from 'kissing spine'...

The long term management part of kissing spine with horses is a lot about mindset, and about being adaptable to the individual horse...and working out an ongoing exercise, rehab and management system for your horse. NOT going back to 'normal' and assuming the issue has gone away...is hasn't. 

As an equine physio, rehab specialist and spinal therapist, I went through the 'kissing spine' journey with my own horse Azuro, almost 5 years ago. And the learning that I went through at that time was a completely different level to learning about it through all of my professional training. 

Working through it on a day to day basis, and going through all of the ups and downs, taught me a huge amount. And I'll never forget it. It also made me ultimately look at horses in a completely different way. 

So back to the blog...5 years on from 'kissing spine'...

Azuro's diagnosis and surgery and rehab process led to me developing my own way of rehabbing and training. Some of what I knew worked, and some of it didn't. I needed to find the methods that worked for us, and slot the pieces together. What I was finding was that 1 part of the process didn't work without others. 

I had a 13 yo very handsome, smart, talented horse, that had broken down, and rehab was proving difficult. I got him going in the early stages of rehab, and then he felt better and was quite forward and energetic, but was crooked! And then when it was time to start some ridden work with him, the crookedness was there, and all of the ridden exercises I knew to try were not really working either. He wanted to go back to his default way of doing things. 

So at this point I needed to really dig deep and try some new ways to work with him to ensure we were able to move through rehab successfully...completely change how he moved (body), and rebuild his understanding of how he could move (mind).

As I say to clients in relation to 'kissing spine' surgery...the surgery is step 1, and your rehab is step 2-100. 

I really learnt what worked with my own horse in front of me on a day to day basis, month after month, slowly unpicking all of the compensation in his body, and rehabilitating him from scratch. 

Stable based core exercises: we became absolute masters at these important exercises. They are PROVEN, with a study behind them, and they are still the number 1 sets of exercises that I use daily, recommend, and TEACH because of their effectiveness in recruiting the core muscles. If you don't use these exercises during your rehab, how are you going to separate the DSP's effectively and retrain how your horse uses their back and core? 

5 years on I use these exercises daily and continue to promote their use to all of my audiences. 

In hand exercise: this intricate work proved really valuable to use during the process. I could see and feel from the ground what was going on in his body, where he was struggling, and what we needed to work on. I had done bits of groundwork before, but I delved in a lot further this time around, and we spent a lot of time learning new exercises and ways to work, to free up Azuro's body and mind. It was an amazing learning experience, even though it was difficult at the time. My opinion is that we need to take the weight off our horses back, it really improves the rehab process, and as part of ongoing exercise/rehab...take the weight off them for a few days each week.

5 years on I use in hand work frequently, and teach it as a main part of my training programme, and again continue to promote and motivate my audiences to try it out. It's an amazing addition to any training programme, whether you are rehabbing, strengthening, or looking to improve your competition scores. 

So by adding these ways of working into my rehab programme, I have more ways to teach any horse I'm working with to regulate themselves by releasing tension, learning how to organise their body, and learning how to move in a light, relaxed, balanced, symmetrical way. And this is all from the ground, before even getting on the horses back. If we can work down at this level, we are in the foundational space, dealing with naturally occurring issues in the horses body at source (poor posture and natural crookedness), we can turn it all around and actually PREVENT further issues and break down from happening, by thoroughly and systematically rehabilitating and strengthening the whole horse. 

The other big part of the jigsaw has been my own body and posture. At the time I was rehabbing Azuro I was treating horses full time, and was tired, sore and injured in my own body - not helpful when trying to rehab a horse from 'kissing spine'. So I worked with my Equipilates trainer (Emma Stamenkovic who now also teaches within my training programme!), on my own symmetry and flexibility and core strength, and it also made a difference to how Azuro could move. 

So 5 years on from 'kissing spine'...I don't have to work as hard as I did in the earlier rehab process, but I do retain a 'rehab state of mind' with Azuro. I continually work on his core strength and flexibility. My specific core exercises, in hand exercises, and ridden exercises to activate his core, are my 'go to' pillars. And they work for him, and now work for the members that follow and implement my programme. 

Azuro is 18 yo now, he is in light work and doing well. He has a good, correct 'default' posture and way of moving, so that he engages his core correctly and works in long and low and I can strengthen his body correctly quite easily, as he has learnt to use his body fully. I monitor him and adapt his work to suit where he is right now. I have a rehab and management system in place for him that works, and again I make tweaks where necessary. 

And on an emotional level, because that is a part of all of this, I have forgiven myself, and know that I have done my best for Azuro, both at the time and now. 

For anyone going through 'kissing spine' now with your horse, or in the ongoing rehab/management part of it, keep going, be sympathetic to your horse AND to yourself. It's not easy, there will be ups and downs, but your horse will tell you everything you need to know if you just slow down and observe. 

If you would like my support on this level, my training programme 'Strength & Straightness' includes everything I have described above in terms of the training (and LOTS more), in addition to my safe, friendly members group where you can talk to horse owners going through the same journey (including me). 

Strength & Straightness page: CLICK HERE

Contact me page: CLICK TO EMAIL ME