Last week I introduced you to something that I think changes how most horse owners see their horse's body.

Locked short. And locked long.

The whole-body asymmetry pattern that explains why one rein always feels harder — why the circle flows one way and blocks the other — why no matter how much work you put in, the crookedness keeps coming back.

This week I want to talk about why it keeps coming back.

Because understanding the pattern is the first step.

Understanding why it persists is what actually changes things. 🦄

Here's something I see time and again in clinical practice.

A horse owner who has been working hard for months — consistent, committed, doing all the right things.

And yet the stiffness on that one rein hasn't really shifted.

The crookedness is still there.

The horse still falls in on the circle in one direction, drifts out in the other.

And the owner is starting to wonder if this is just... how their horse is.

It isn't.

But there's a reason it's not shifting. And it's not what most people think. ✨

The crookedness patterns in your horse's body are held in place by three things working together.

Muscle memory.

Your horse has been moving in this pattern — compensating, bracing, favouring one side — for years. Likely their whole life. The muscles have literally learned to fire in this asymmetrical way. They default to it automatically, without your horse even choosing it.

Changing that takes specific, targeted, consistent work. Not just more of the same riding.

Compensation patterns.

When one part of the body is stiff or restricted, another part compensates. The horse finds a way to keep moving — but it's not correct movement. It's adapted movement. And over time, those compensations become their own patterns, layered on top of the original asymmetry.

This is why horses can feel like they improve temporarily — after a treatment, after a good session — and then gradually drift back. The compensation patterns reassert themselves. 🐎

The ridden environment.

Here's the thing most riders don't want to hear.

Every time you ride your horse in their habitual pattern — even with the best intentions — you're reinforcing it.

Not because you're doing anything wrong.

But because the horse defaults to what their body knows. And in ridden work, with your weight on their back and the complexity of managing both themselves and you, they revert.

And that's without even taking into consideration the crookedness of the rider. 😉

The pattern is the path of least resistance.

And they'll take it every time unless something specifically interrupts it. 💚

This is why crookedness patterns don't fix themselves.

They're not just a physical restriction.

They're a deeply embedded neuromuscular habit — supported by compensation, reinforced by repetition, and too complex to simply ride away.

So what actually changes things?

Three things — and they work best together.

Targeted groundwork — working both sides independently from the ground, where you can see the pattern clearly and address it directly without the complexity of ridden work.

Consistent core activation — building the deep postural muscles that support correct spinal alignment and give the horse the physical foundation to hold a more symmetrical posture.

A structured, progressive plan — not random exercises, but a joined-up approach that builds systematically over time and actually trains the neuromuscular pattern to change.

This is the work that creates lasting change.

Not overnight.

But reliably, progressively, and in a way that holds. ✨

The Core Exercises Course is the foundation — the stable-based activation that starts addressing the pattern before every session.

Just £9 / $12 — lifetime access.

👉 Core Exercises Course

And if you want to go deeper — to truly understand your horse's crookedness and have a complete method to work with it —

I'm running a free live training on Thursday 3rd September 7-8pm UK time.

Finally Understand Why Your Horse Is Crooked — And What To Do Next

One hour on Zoom. Free to attend. And I'll be covering exactly this — the background to crookedness, why it persists, and the structured approach that actually changes it.

👉 Save your free spot here: Click to register

See you there. 🦄

And as always, if you have any questions, need help deciding which course is right for you and your horse, or want to chat about 1-2-1 support — just get in touch. I'd love to hear from you. 💛