I’m pretty sure that Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance didn’t know anything about muscle memory, increasing range of motion or proprioception. All they knew about horses was if they “moved their feet” on the ground as preparation then their horses moved better and it was easier to get them to perform more complicated maneuvers under saddle. So we now have a new generation of “Natural Horsemen” who “move their horses feet” just in the same way that the masters did. The funny thing is that this new … [Read more...]
Tendon and Ligament Injuries
This is the worst news that a horse owner can get from their veterinarian. An injured tendon or ligament means weeks or months of lay-up, hosing, wrapping, medicating – everything EXCEPT riding. Muscle injuries and general soreness are easier to remedy, but can make your horse a cranky, unwilling partner. How do these happen and what can be done to avoid them? Some injuries happen because of an accident – a slip and fall or hard play in the field, but most are due to repetitive use and lack of … [Read more...]
Gus: In the Right Hands
Article that appeared in Massachusetts Horse magazine - written by L A Pomeroy He was a bucker whose luck was about to run out when Theresa Gagnon took in Gus. Since a trailer accident months earlier, he had become a horse who could not be trusted under saddle and finally his owner decided she had been thrown one too many times. The gelding had two weeks to find a new home or was going to auction. It would be an unkind end for a seven-year-old, double-registered Paint/ Quarter Horse whose … [Read more...]