Best practices « physio & performance »

Actualiser son savoir-faire pour progresser avec des chevaux mieux dans leur tête et dans leur corps – c’est l’objectif de cette page

Comment trouver le temps de regarder des webinars? Pour ma part, c’est une double-tâche pendant mes séances de renforcement (activité en soi monotone donc pas très motivante, avec les webinars mes séances sont plus longues et régulières), et pendant mes pause-déj.

Commencer avec les coussins / surfaces instables a déménagé ici

1 Posture et performance, entraînement, réhabilitation fonctionnelle, fascia etc.

Une série de webinars qui touchent à de nombreux domaines sur la chaine youtube de Wendy Murdoch (SureFoot) Webinars with Wendy (format podcast / audio – pratique mais on perd les visuels) dont un certain nombre de très intéressants, voici quelques unes avec, pour certains, quelques notes

Dr vet Hancock

Les webinars de cette vétérinaire sont très appliqués, ils permettent de comprendre les compensations, des enchaînements de cause à effet dans le développement de problèmes locomoteurs etc., la biomécanique, etc

  • Building up your horse to move fluidly and stay sound – très intéressant: à regarder !
  • Body mechanics, how they are affected by imbalance of the jaw [la 2ème moitié est plus appliqué] L’interaction entre la mâchoire, l’articulation de la mâchoire, et différentes compensations dans le corps
  • Ann Marie Hancock DVM talks about Head Shaking Syndrome Extraits: a lot of trigeminal horses don’t have that safe secure painless feeling any more, they are in the sympathetic system. Any time you have immobility you have local sympathetic tone, eg. if a part of the spine does not move (correctly) they have increased local sympathetic tone, same with inflammation. 54:15 a lot of our horses live with a lot of immobile zones in their body, this is why they are in this sympathetic activation. Then their whole body is in a sympathetic state. If we numb through habituation or desensitisation, instead of going into ventral vagal you go into freeze, you don’t fix the problem you just numb it. And then you have gastric ulcers etc., you can’t heal, you really have to be in the ventral vagal to be in healing. We want them to yawn and lick and chew. This is where true health is. If we want them to be healthy and last and perform for a long time. The conventional treatments are not treating where the problem is. There is a stress in the system, we wan’t to calm the system, start with some poly vagal, with behavioural techniques. If you do this you can do a lot of other things a lot easier. Hancock does not know how the balance pads fit into the vagal nerve. Balance pads give them choice. nb. My guess: Among others, using balance pads brings presence to body sensations, and thus a more mindful relaxed state (a bit like ‘grounding’ exercises for humans), and thus allows to access the ventral vagal nervous system (« rest and digest », calm, social engagement etc.), in which a reset and healing can happen.
  • Celui sur le système nerveux polyvagal des équidés ci-dessous, cf. partie 3

Dr vet Rachel Bellini

La pratique de réhabilitation posturale et fonctionnelle de cette ostéopathe avec les coussins d’équilibre

  • Equine Stability Program in Private and Practice bon recap du pourquoi et du comment en 30 min
  • Equine Hard Slant Pads « any of the pads will allow the horse to experiment both stretching and relaxing the tissue ». « If they don’t pick up the hind leg, it is because they are  not stable in front », « if your horse is not comfortable standing on 3 legs, how does it translate into performance? (…) he’s going to compensate and getting injured »
  • Why You Want More Movement, Less Swaying
  • « You know you are re-balancing tension elements when the  horse starts to square up their posture, drop their neck and relax their muscles. Restoring tensegrity is the first step in achieving soundness over time »
  • « Building resiliency into the system ». « For a horse, the hooves are everything ».

Lauren Wain

Recherche sur l’efficacité des coussins d’équilibre

Influence of Balance and Proprioceptive Pads on Equine Posture and Kinematics (Résultats d’une étude sur les changements posturaux et locomoteurs qu’on peut obtenir avec des coussins d’équilibre, l’étude a été réalisé sur une durée 4 semaines, les coussins d’équilibre utilisés 3 fois par semaine pendant 25 minutes, cf Methodology 49:52)

  • à partir de 1:19 : « Significant difference / improvement: Head and neck posture (horses had quite high head posture before); depth of lordosis), lowered head and neck posture reported to positively influence kinematics of thoracolumbar back. They are more relaxed (more in the parasympathetic nervous system of rest and relaxation and restoration) and use the dorsal line of the back better. Core is engaged, pressure is taken off transverse processes (of the spine / thoracic vertebrae).
  • 1:42 Demonstrates routine application (usage régulier de coussins d’équilibre) has the ability to reduce sub-optimal movement patterns and begin re-education of muscular control positively influencing static posture
  • Aids improving static posture and locomotion without the use of restrictive training aids- improves horse’s physical and psychological welfare, we are allowing them choice. With 10 minutes a week you’ll see relaxation response and more souple mouvement
  • By improving proprioceptive awareness we improve muscular and postural output, horses regain their natural mouvements, how they would move without all these restrictions

Dr vet Martina Neidhart

Des webinars qui expliquent les causes des problèmes de dos et les remèdes, la fonction des fascia dans le corps, les dysfonctionnements et compensations, les lignes fasciales.

Kissing Spines and Other Back Conditions In Horses

  • Kissing spines / back issues treatment options after 49:11 – bon récap de pratiques très intéressant, captures d’écran à la fin de cette page, faites défiler vers le bas)
  • you can develop multifidus (deep core) muscles using balance pads. Tellington Touch Body wraps, figure 8, are wonderful for developing better posture 1:19:00. For some horses it is even better than EquicoreSystem. They learn to engage their chest again. Rhythm beads (collier de perles rythmiques) are also helpful, it reminds the horse « use your chest »

Fascinating Fascia and Equine Pads

Quelques notes pris rapidement:

  • les fascias sains rendent le muscle plus fort, les fascias en mauvais état étouffent tout ce qui passe à travers eux: muscles, nerfs, vaisseaux
  • scar tissue and densification in fascia can only be broken up by manual theapy, not laser, not ultrasound. stress can also cause densification
  • altered movement of the fascia layers (densification), cause corrupted neurological input to the brain. fascia allow (if healthy) the nerves to glide. the nerves have to glide
  • everything above 6 weeks (for shoeing/trimming period) is too long: you have changes in posture, compression already etc. the toe grows faster than the heel. 5-6 is normal cycle for normal horse, if laminitic horse it is even shorter
  • trot is good to assess lameness but you want to see how the whole body swings
  • the most important thing (in relation to fascia) is to release tension and the pads allow the body to release tension. (…) There is a release of endorphins and this is what allows the horse to relax
  • Humans often need more therapy for the same thing than the horse does, their body is better at healing
  • The blue one has so much impact because you see so much swaying (…) some horses cannot handle so much so soon
  • You don’t need a long duration (on the balance pad) to get a change, because it is so potent, sometimes a touch with a toe can make a huge impact. (…) Horses start to recognise the pads and choose their pad and the duration. They become actif in the process of their healing
  • 80% of the stability of the skeleton comes from the muscles. If the muscles do not work properly you can do whatever you want to the bone and the ligaments (…) (source 37:00)

Dr vet. Sherry Johnson

Exemple d’utilisation des coussin d’équilibre dans le contexte spécifique de réhabilitation d’équidés blessés etc. dans une clinique vétérinaire (où des précautions particulières s’appliquent donc)

Equine Pads as part of Equine Rehabilitation

  • « Injury + muscle weakness + pain and functional restriction + loss of balance and neuromotor control => cascade of despair » ==> we need a global approach to the equine athlete
  • Safe use of the pads : make sure that the horse is comfortable with the use of the pad, let him know that the pad can flip, move, touch their leg etc. Be very observant of their reaction, in particular the first time. Use the pad away from noisy environments.
  • Be present while the horse is on the pads, your observation is as important as the horse. First time on the pads it can be only a few minutes. The horse should never be tied while standing. (…) He might forget he stood on the pads already in the past (so might need to rediscover them)

Nahshon Cook, horse trainer [ses livres sont à connaître]

  • The golden Rule : « Communication happens when we don’t feel the need to control something. It’s the same with horses », « if it feels like it is too much, it is too much », « my struggle in my own body is why I’m a good riding instructor », « there is a lot of wisdom in the pain when we have the courage not to run from it », « so many people just have not been taught how to be kind to themselves, and then this is how they treat other people (and horses) », « the horse as an end in itself », « when you observe your horses you see the movements in which they are comfortable, they don’t get hurt when they play with their buddy (in general) », « us judging us in this way let’s us know where we still need to heal », « do I see where i myself am stuck? this is usually where the communication block is with the horse », « it’s hard to feel safe with people », « i’m worth my horse’s consideration so people are worth mine »
  • 2nd webinar Nov 2021 : his arthritis case + balance pads, ilio-sacral joint connection with poll, awareness in working with horses.

Ses livres peuvent être plus clairs:

Jillian Kreinbring, trainer : focus sur l’anatomie fonctionnelle

2 Commencer avec les coussins / surfaces instables

Commencer avec les coussins / surfaces instables a déménage ici

3 Le système nerveux polyvagal des équidés

Je regarderais plus tard la chaine youtube de Kirsten Nelsen j’ai l’impression qu’il peut y avoir une poignée de vidéos intéressantes dont celle ci-dessous, qui est géniale (le son est un peu pénible à écouter malheureusement), je vais peut être compléter la liste plus tard.

Polyvagal Nervous System in Horses Dr vet Hancock « shares information about newer research on the nervous system for both humans and horses. We discuss the vagal nerve as part of the autonomic nervous system and the difference between the ventral vagal state and dorsal vagal. Noticing signs of our horse in a dorsal vagal state or « shutting down » or « freezing » is important, not only for training but for our horse’s health through the entire body system. Dr. Hancock explains the significance of the vagal nerve as the largest nerve in the body and how it affects all the vital organs. »

The anatomy of the Vagal Nerve in Human and Horses par Catherine Wycoff: interaction entre filet et selle et nerf vagal, lien avec les ulcères etc. Tools available to optimize vagal tone: 1:11:48

Somatic Movement, Communing with Horses & Equine Balance Pads

Steve Peters: Horse’s Brain, Optimum Learning Can horses test boundaries? 14:00 the clearer we are setting the boundaries the easier it is for the horse. Often we are inconsistent in our boundaries. So the horse does not know what our boundaries are, and that does not feel good for the horse. This confusion activates their sympathetic nervous system (stress, fight, flight, freeze), and when they are too hyperaroused they cannot focus on us. The more predictable we are.. there is something like neuroception. We want to be consistent, when things are predicted the horse can maintain the window of tolerance. But when the horse is in trouble for this and then for this, it makes sense that the horse needs to figure out by testing what the boundaries are. And then humans put label on the behavior « they don’t stand still » etc.. but they are just reacting to us. (Tells the story of « Clever Hans » who was just reaction to human’s clues).(..) the horse has some say, he has internal locus of control. Asking as opposed to telling or demanding, waiting for a sign..(..) we need some sympathetic arousal if not the horse will just pass over us. So we need to continue to bring them back to us.

There is an optimum zone of arousal, this is where learning takes place. if we go to high in sympathetic arousal, we get in hyperarousal (horse is in fight flight etc. ..) So we need to learn to titrate the arousal in the horse. I’m not talking about desinsitization, this is flooding, this is not interesting. Horse should not have to kick in its self preservation. It is aware of the dog etc. but not flooded by it. A horse who appears calm on the outside can be shut down, he is dissociated. This impacts the immune system, we really don’t want our horses to be there. We want a conversation with our horse, an interaction. A key point in learning is « do you feel safe » and this is even more true for horses. Because everything is a predatory threat to them. We need time to reflect and process things. If not the horse gets confused and this will put them in the hyperaroused. Let them reset. Don’t shave the whiskers those are sensory organs where the horse has a blind spot he touches things because he cannot see there, to explore. The horse asks « am I safe, am I safe ». When they are in the sympathetic nervous system the mouth gets tight eyes get wrinkled the head gets higher then the wither. (..) Everything vibrates and resonates together. Horses have this synchrony.01:00 pauses to allow learning.

It’s all about moving slowly, giving pauses, giving internal locus of control (choice), novelty, let him explore to facilitate learning, avoid hyperarousal.

Horsebrainscience.info

4 Exercice therapy, training and stretching

Mark Reilly Dr vet., DABVP, MBA How to use Equine Pads in Veterinary Practice à partir de 15min (Mark arrive en retard). « The horse now has the possibility to alter its posture. Let the horse get his own feedback. They realize how they use their body. With the pads they can alter where they put their weight. Regarding the relaxation, it is about the compensation and that changes over time.

Raquel Butler, Dr vet:

talks about fascia, stretching and developing strength in horses. After 45:00 talks about fascia and stretching (nose between carpus) to prevent / help with kissing spines. She recommends not to do nose-to-chest

Static and Dynamic Stretches For Horses

Training or Imbalance?

  • Dr. Butler talks about a wide variety of training issues that may be caused by pain, inability and confusion.
  • 26:01 A pushy horse is always a horse who has vertical imbalance issues. Any hind end issue is going to make them pushy.
Picture of a horse with a tight dorsal line (see paragraphe beginning with 01:23:12)
  • 35:00 Training issues? If i would have any of those issues, I’d rather go to a body worker first than do training: Bolting/speed, refusing jumps, bucking, spooking, rearing, leaning on the bit, reluctance to work on the bit, unsteady head carriage, head tilt, opening the mouth, dropping the shoulder. Jumps: sacro-iliac issues? Bucking can come from a lot of reasons, pain, rider, saddle fit. Spooking: is often a balance issue, so they don’t feel safe in their own balance.
  • 45:00 Leaning on the bit/reluctance to work on the bit: she tried a smaller bit with one horse and found it helpful, and again: vertical balance issues. Head position is like an indicator. If the horse goes round with the head down (not a positive long low position): there might be issues with the hind end. If the head goes up, could be hind end, or back etc. If the head goes down by himself we need to look where the sternum is, the sternum comes down when they just tip forward. You want a horse on a long rein to maintain a good vertical balance. Head tiliting is a sign of restrictions and postentially pain. Open mouth: Opening the mouth is not ok. Is there discomfort, is there a lack of balance? Is the horse trying to release the tension? Dropping the shoulder: is it balance? do we have shoulder mobility? can we move the shoulder easily side to side?
  • 55:00 Other issues that people often mistake for training issues: rythm in lateral work, canter issues, flying changes, croup high, difficulties with small circles, lack of rythm, rough transitions, hopping into trot or canter, difficulty turning in one direction, poor performance. You should not have to work hard to maintain rythm. The other issue is rythm in lateral work. There could be an underlying issue. Most vets can’t recognise low grade lameness.
  • 58:50 If you can get rythm, balance, bend, engagement on a small circle you got it. On 10m circle or so. Clayton did a study about work on circles. Often horses show signs of lameness on smaller circle. Often small circles are done too much and too often. Small circles are difficult for many horses. If rythme does not change, bend is with the circle, if there is horizontal balance (hind end on track with fore) and vertical balance. As soon as that drops, the circle is too hard. Use it to see how they use their body, their balance etc. but don’t overuse it. If they loose balance etc. you set them up for injury. It also depends on the surface. For some soft surface, sand, is more difficult, adds more instability, more potential for twist, than firm surface. There is a lot of strain on tendons, ligaments, depending on environment. If it is too hard for the horse, if he’s not ready, you’ll set him up for injury. Transitions are good for engaging the hind end, for balance. but if they are not smooth, it’s not good. Make sure their balance is good and it is smooth and effortless. How long does it take a horse to have a smooth and balance transition? 1 or 2 strides? 10 strides? So a rough transition can have several causes : weakness, lumbo-sacral issue, sacro iliac issues, suspensory issues, balance issues etc. Anything that prevents them to engage hindquarter into smooth transition. So then it takes 10 strides in stead of 2 or 3. Hopping into trot or canter, a little jump before going into canter : this is generally a lameness issue. Sometimes it is a thoracic sling issue, or lower limb restriction. Difficulty turning into one direction. Myofascial lines, with any restriction into fascia will influence the horse. Difficulty turning into one direction. Could be avoidance, or difficulty turning because of fascial restrictions.
  • 01:23:12 Fascial restrictions: head up, hind limbs out behind, instead of being underneath: so that dorsal line is really tight. When a horses dorsal line is tight and they are stuck in it, they will be spooky. They will struggle to turn, they will obviously struggle to relax and lower the head. She had a couple of ponies that were super reactive, she treated the ponies, had to do reprogramming. The pony relaxed and stopped spooking and was able to turn. So when our horses stand in the field like this (see picture) we need to think « I need to do something ». If they are grazing differently and relax in the field reprogramming is done. If the horse is standing like the picture, you don’t want to get on. The face is tense, the back is tight, this was a very spooky horses. Treatment : balance pads, sacro-cranial, fascial stuff – it really depends on what you have available. could be surefood pads, osteo, muscle release, accupuncture. I don’t think straight chiro would be good, you need something before. A lot of stuff people can do themselves, like TTouch, stretching. Learn just something, just one thing, just stretching can do a great difference if done over time.
  • 01:27 How to you teach a horse to balance vertically and horizontally: get the balance on the ground before you ride them. you can’t get it from riding. What could cause physical imbalance? Asymmetry. We want to promote especially for young horses, is to become symmetrical as possible. Brace also, often brace comes from pain. Fascial restrictions. Can have a huge impact on how horses move. If they have poll pain. They will be more reactive, spooky, will pull back more. Have issues lift through their back.
  • She cite EquineFACS Facial Action Coding System to get the horse’s feedback on training

Autres

Horse Pro Hub: Kristin Dean, Equimotion Physiotherapist – Injury Rehabilitation  

5 Autres ressources

Série d’articles pour améliorer la posture / l’assiette / le contact du cavalier

L’éthogramme de la douleur de Sue Dyson :

Les webconféres multithématiques de l’IFCE: Santé et bien-être animal

webconférences sur les thématiques Santé (maladies, soin, prévention et médication) et Bien-être et comportement animal.

Lectures & vidéos sur le thème de l’équitation, la communication et le comportement

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Captures d’écran du webinar Dr vet Martina Neidhart « Kissing spines / back issues »

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