If you have followed me for a while, you will know how much I LOVE and RECOMMEND some non-ridden exercise for our horses! 

Whether horses are in rehabilitation, coming back into work, you are working on specific movements for competition, or you are working with a senior horse, or a horse with a previous injury...any of these horses will benefits from specific in hand exercises!! 

I have been working on In Hand Exercises with my own horse, as well as clients horses, for years, so...

Mobilise - Activate - Strengthen: this is a simple strategy that can be applied to EVERY HORSE!

Whether going through rehabilitation, bringing your horse back into work, correcting your horses posture and movement, following kissing spine diagnosis, starting young horses, working with senior horses to improve and maintain their flexibility, horses with arthritis…. ALL of these horses will benefit from working on these important foundations!

And by using mobility and flexibility work,...

What is your exercise regime with your horse? Do you cross train, ride every day, or only ride at weekends? Do you already do some non-ridden exercise with your horse?

I'm a fan of mixed exercise for horses, and looking at their exercise plans as you would an athlete, considering fitness, strength, flexibility, core strength, co-ordination, symmetry, and looking at what you actually want your horse to do, and working backwards from that point! 

Horses are naturally crooked, and not a...

Did you know that horses are naturally crooked? Naturally 'one sided'? And naturally have one hind limb stronger than the other? 

This translates into ridden work / lunge work / other types of exercise, as...

• One rein stiffer than the other
• Your horse finding movements easier in one direction than the other
• Possibly even holding their head and neck to the outside of the circle
• Only bending through the ribcage in one direction
• Uneven rein contact
• More neck bend in one direction, less in...