Questions over the years. Topic: DM Exercises.

“But I didn’t do that exercise? Why didn’t you tell me to do that??”

Your horse, under the expectations you place on it, doesn’t need those exercises to resolve, improve & manage it’s individual presentation of movement impacting profile. You also don’t expect the same things of it, so you don’t need to be ‘self managing’ it in the same intensive ways as others.

“I have so many carrot stretches to do. It’s so annoying. I am stretching & stretching and it’s not improving”

1. I don’t prescribe carrot ‘stretches’ ever.

2. You pay me to prescribe these, based on the nuances of the over 17 years of work/knowledge/experience I have.

3. You are not stretching the horse. I will never ask you to stretch the horse. You won’t, it’s useless, and you will put yourself in danger, usually making the mobility issue worse at the same time.

4. It is improving, in the ways that you can’t recognise, that were missed unfortunately (becasue you didn’t see or feel them) that caused the problems you CAN see. Aka, the tip of the iceberg.

5. Changes that were created over years, months, and weeks will not take hours or days, or even mere weeks to resolve sustainably. I won’t sell you that lie. It’s not. Service I offer.
   

“But mine didn’t improve within x,y,z timeframe.”

That is becasue without action, there can be no reaction.

Also, without reaction there can be no action…

So without applying yourself to the recommended exercises, management mobility plans & training as well as acknowledging that not single mobility/stability profile journey is EVER linear…you will be disappointed.

Those are expectations that you set, not the horse.

“Mine is going really well! I didn’t do those exercises thought so there probably wasn’t really an issue. So anyway, I’m having problems again…”

Yes, there was an issue. I’m so pleased it went well for a bit.

So why do you think we are having the same issues again?

“I’m bored with these exercises, can we change them?”

Lols…No. Noperino, negative, nil, nee-yuh, Nej, Nen, non. Naught.

FYI: Im not in the entertainment industry, so don’t be shocked to not find yourself in for a show.

These exercises aren’t for you, they are for your individual horses needs, so that you can benefit from your horses improved mobility & stability.

“They didn’t feel like they were doing anything, so I stopped doing them. They were too easy for them to do!”

That is becasue it is, indeed, not your body that is doing the exercises - so of course it didn’t feel like it was doing anything.

Also, they became seemingly easy to do, becasue, you were doing them.

You’ll find, firebreaks, and fire mitigation measures generally work best before we see the smoke…

I will always choose to speak truth to power, and that includes being the advocate for your horses - always.

I will be honest, I will always be kind, I will always empathise, and I will work with you to find the best fit solutions to help you provide them to your horse, FROM the horses perspectives and needs.

Of course, I enquire & empathise….and find a way to develop understanding. But the answers you see above, are the raw answers. The unfiltered, raw reality. The base line can't really be changed.

If there is a mismatch with what you need, perhaps you aren’t understanding what then horse needs.

If you recognise this, ask more, learn more, aim to be a better horse person, you & your horses will gain greatly form it.