Ep.12 -- Go Slow To Go Fast: Unlocking The Power of Bodywork for your OTTBs Transition w/Alisa Pitt

Episode 12
[00:00:00] Hi, and welcome to episode 12 of OTTB on tap.
I'm Niamh. And I'm Emily. Hey, Niamh, what's on tap today? In this week's episode, we're talking with Alisa Pitt of ALP Equine to discover why and how body work is a crucial component to setting your OTTB up for success. I just want to jump in here before we start this episode and let our listeners know that we're going to be going to, and every other week recording style for a little while, because Emily and I are working on some really cool behind the scenes projects that we want to share with you guys.
And so just look for us every other week, instead of every week Alisa, could you just give us a little bit of background about you, your relationship with OTTBs and your history with body work? Sure. Brief synopsis. I've. Been involved with horses since my childhood started a little bit with doing more of the hunter jumper scene and some dressage.
[00:01:00] And then I went off to college and I wanted to take my show horse with me. He needed a lot of turnout. It was a little bit hard to find. And so I stumbled upon. Thoroughbred farm that was taking on some borders. And so I started boarding there. And shortly after that, they ask if I wanted to exercise ride and do a little bit more.
And so I said, absolutely. I wasn't showing much, right? And like, poor college students. So not doing any more shows. So I took a huge interest in. Exercise riding and I just fell in love with the thoroughbreds and the under workings of the barn and I did some hot walking and grooming and I became really involved.
So that's where it kind of started for me with thoroughbreds. Obviously wrote them throughout my childhood, but didn't really have a. Specific conscious awareness of like, oh, I'm on the thoroughbred and I love my thoroughbred [00:02:00] college. But that's really where I found my true passion and love for them.
I love all horses, but I really do have like, a special place in my heart for and then body work. I was always really interested in body work. Body work became an integral part of my horses. Program wellness program, even at an early age, and I was exposed to it at around 13. so I had Cairo and acupuncture for my gilding as well as someone around our barn did massage, which was really not that common back then.
And so I took an interest in it, thinking it was just something that I enjoyed doing and. Learning about Niamhr thought I'd make a career out of it. And it just kind of sat there with something I enjoyed doing and learning about, and I shadowed people and got some certifications and then went off to college and didn't major in anything involving horses.
And [00:03:00] then after school it was a little bit of a non direct route into bodywork. That would be a little bit of a long story, but I ended up. from encouragement of a couple vets and equine practitioners that I should go full time into doing body work. And so I decided that I would that's kind of where I landed in doing more training and shadowing people and just getting really deep into learning about the physiology of horses.
And how long have you had your Practice for full time I've been practicing for seven years. I did some part time work prior to that, but like I said, it was a little bit of a circuitous route to get there. Out of school, I worked for saddle fitting company and had my MSA in saddle fitting.
And I traveled and it just, it wasn't really for me. I learned a lot from it, but it just wasn't my passion. It's very important piece of. What we need to do to support our horse's wellness and well [00:04:00] being, but just wasn't really What I wanted to do full time and that's when I kind of branched off and said, if I'm going to work really hard and be in this industry, I want to do what I love to do.
And that's when I got really serious about being full time bodywork practitioner. That's really cool. So can you talk a little bit about some of the physical attributes of thoroughbreds at the track, how their bodies develop while they're learning to race and how the conditions.
And their environment play into how their muscle groups and bodies develop. So like any discipline in riding, we, the horses are going through like a particular discipline. They're going to develop a specific way, right? Just like I tell people in endurance athlete is going to be completely built like a marathon runner differently than a bodybuilder.
So when we look at thoroughbreds and they're going onto the track. It's very specific way. Their muscles develop. A lot of times, they're going forward. We're not going around in the same way that we refer to that [00:05:00] in our other disciplines of going around. So they tend to have a little bit heavier development in their under neck, which is the brachycephalic muscle as well as up through like their trapezius.
which is over the withers and a little bit behind that there's a muscle called the spinalis that sometimes gets overly developed that correlates with the underneck and so a lot of times that muscle can be a little bit stronger and it allows for them to do what they're, they're trained to do. But when we're asking a horse to sit on the hind quarters and have a different type of rhythm coming off the track, that's something that that has to be retrained.
So those muscles are more developed. And so the rhomboids, which go up like the top of the neck, where we know where like the nuchal ligament runs that inserts like on the top where we see it's crusty down to the withers that. One of those muscles that's less developed. So in show horse, our goal would be to have like the trapezius and the rhomboids more developed in a less developed brachiocebalic muscle and a [00:06:00] less developed spinalis muscle.
Which allows for the thoracic sling to work differently, which is like that muscular area in the shoulder. So it's just, it's functioning more as a stabilizer on the racehorses. And when we're doing our other disciplines, we want it to have a lot more lift to it. And so that's a completely opposite way that they're developed than when we would be, we would be asking them to perform in some of our other disciplines that we ride.
Then if you move like through the top line and to the back. The back, you sometimes get a little bit of like a shorter development muscles. So when I say that, it's just that the way the muscle tissue develops can be just like their top line can just be a little bit shorter or it's just a little bit tighter to stabilize.
So that longusmus is very tight. That big mac muscle that goes across them can be tighter. Then it maybe would be on like a show horse. Mostly because we don't do a ton of [00:07:00] lateral work with, with racehorses. Right, right. So there's not a ton of lateral work done. So some of the lateral back muscles are less developed.
So that back muscle that's running back has to stabilize a little bit more. So it's just a little bit, it's developed in a different way. Again, it's not wrong. It just, in the sense of the, it's just a different development of the muscle. And then we move back into the hind end. Oftentimes they're young.
Sometimes they're like butt high because they're, they're growing. I know that that's a little bit controversial, like that we, the horses are a little bit younger here than in Europe. No, I think it would be beneficial if they were older, but just. For the sake of what we're talking about today. Yes, they are younger and they might be a little bit high.
And so the glute muscles that run over the hindquarter I often see that they're a little bit developed more like right over like the S. I. area, which is like, right across top and then the behind is a little bit more angular just because of the way they're. Stepping under sometimes the the [00:08:00] hamstrings and some of the other muscles in the back work a little bit over time and they get a little bit tighter.
But again, it's just a different development of muscle through there. How do you feel like the different track surfaces impact their body? Oh, definitely track surfaces. Impact their body. A training on the same type of track, I think, isn't beneficial to really like any horse.
Just because the variation and footing is, is really helpful to create. Stability and a lot of those micro muscles gain more strength when they're getting exposure to different surfaces. We want them to be quality surfaces and we want them to, be stable. If they're too soft, then we put more strain on the soft tissue.
If they're too hard, right? We put more stuff for more impact on, like, the joint and the bone and the skeletal system. So I do think that like a too soft of track is not ideal for sure or anything deep just because Also, when we talk [00:09:00] about moving the skeletal system, the soft tissue is moving that. So, you know, if it's working over time and it's getting a little bit tight or strained from learning, their job, then it can cause some injury.
How do you think vices like weaving stall walking? Things like that can impact them physically.
I think that all of those things. Impact them physically. One of the things that I think is a struggle is, you know, like cribbing definitely can cause, you know incorrect muscle development in the neck. It can also cause a lot of pull tension, a lot of things where it's very hard to get them when you have pull tension.
In addition to, , the overdeveloped base of the neck that's a lot. of tension that's difficult sometimes to supple. Weaving can cause, you know, imbalances in the hoof that are not ideal if they're really rigorously weaving as well as in the shoulders. Like you see really tight pectoral muscles in the chest and their [00:10:00] shoulders.
So like their deltoids and their triceps can have some different developments. So like those two particular vices can be, if they're really chronic, I think they can really not be ideal for a horse as well as stall walking. Stall walking to me shows that they're really stressed and it can burn calories and it's just not constructive for their top line.
And it seems like they're just like emotionally struggling. I feel like it could have other like physical implications to making them more prone to things like ulcers and stuff like that. Absolutely. And then I wanted to pick your brain a little bit about the, the muscle development between a horse.
That's unraced. Cause in our last episode, we were talking about my first thoroughbred and mistakes that I had made. And 1 of the things I mentioned was that I would be very unlikely to buy another off the track thoroughbred that had not actually raced. And I gave my reasons for that. But let's just talk a little bit about the.
The different benefits and downsides to a horse that are an off the track thoroughbred that has not necessarily raced, but maybe trained [00:11:00] versus a horse that has raised 1 to 35 times and then like a war horse. Yeah. So muscularly the one advantage, to maybe a horse that's, and this, there's always outliers, right? One advantage could be with less racing is. You know, there are horses that are younger have a higher rate of cellular turnover. So when I say that to like, the muscles also don't have their muscles are young.
They haven't been had any, like, impressed upon muscle memory. That's there. So. you know, the longer that we use a muscle a certain way, the more there's like an embedded muscle memory and strength and kind of undoing that has to happen. So sometimes when you have horses that are raced less, there's less to undo in that way.
But I don't necessarily, I mean, I see that a little bit, but I think personally, what Plays a bigger role is like the quality of training and exposure [00:12:00] that they have and like their, their life as a racehorse really. So for me, like, horses that train off the farm, like, we're talking about footing, like, grass is such a great.
Footing to train on when it's good, right? Yeah, because it's downfalls But you know exposure with horses that are trained off the farm and go to the racetrack They have just as much exposure as horses at the racetrack But they also maybe have a little more exposure like they hack out there on different surfaces.
They sometimes get turnout some of their lives are a lot more like regular show horses life. So for me there's a couple variables that to me affect them muscularly is what was their life, you know, from a training perspective, like, where, where did they come from?
Again, horses have their own personalities. Sometimes that isn't. You know, always the driving force, but it's a factor for me for sure. When it comes to muscular development, as well as, temperament [00:13:00] and, do they have any pathology that was making them painful when they were training?
So, of course, that, you know, maybe didn't get to the track didn't get to the track for a reason. And so, you know, was it just because they didn't want to do their job? And they wanted something different, that, some people notice that or was it because they were struggling or that, they weren't really comfortable.
And so, to me, a couple of things. That can be a tell as a horse goes to the racetrack, you know, there's a level of like soundness that they have gone through to get there. And, that they're maintaining, so that can, that can be certainly a tell, whereas, you know, why are they unraced? That's a big question for me.
Yeah, something else I wanted to kind of touch on in this section before we move on is how horses are shod at the track and trimmed. And what your thoughts are on that kind of particular style, and things to look for, and maybe impacts from that method [00:14:00] of, of shoeing that we see so frequently.
Yeah, so, I mean, it's, it's not ideal, but it, it's kind of what is The industry standard and and I understand why their feet end up with some under run heels and the way they do right. The style of shoes that we have on them for, different reasons. And the, this isn't super common as much in show horses, but, race horses shot shoes are reset sometimes just to make sure that they're.
Really like good when they're going into a race. So it might be not when they're within their shoe cycle that, slowly can involve more nail holes on a foot that maybe doesn't have as much of a quality wall. And it slowly like causes some of that, underrun heel and sometimes a little bit more of a compromised foot.
Some horses have good feet , but I look at mostly the more of the angles in which that kind of comes from right? Like that manifests [00:15:00] from just the style of shoeing and, and that environment. And so when they come off the track, 1 thing I see a lot is like, it's important to address that. But as we're addressing it, I've seen some horses that you fix the feet, which is really important, but then they struggle because.
They're not sure, like their posture changes, right? Sure. And so you have to really, some horses really need help with that change of proprioception. Yeah. And I feel like a lot of people want to fix it quite quickly. And I think that when the angles are quite wrong, initially that. Taking it really slow with that and allowing their body to compensate for how the hoof angles are changing is really crucial.
Yeah, it's super important to me, , it's just like people like if we've been walking around in a type of shoe for so long and then we make a drastic change even if it's marginal as we [00:16:00] go, the whole body is. functioning differently, right? I mean, no foot, no horse, but at the same time, the foot that you have and you're starting with, you have to think about if it really does impact the body all the way up, then where are they in the moment when, they need help kind of creating more balance in the feet.
A lot of times if they're really low behind they might struggle a little bit through their back. Their hamstrings might be super tight which then causes the glutes to be tight and particularly the gluteus medius, which then really affects, you know, back tightness.
You know, when I work on horses, I work on the glutes first and they have a really tight back. I have more access to the back when I've addressed the glutes first on a horse. And so that's like one thing that's really important is, you know, making sure that we are taking the time. And being patient that, you know, they have something proper and comfortable to stand on for the new job that we're asking them to do.
Yeah. I think [00:17:00] you can think about it in a really simple way of like, if you're used to walking around in shoes that have an orthotic support, and then you spend the day walking around in flip flops, you're not back's probably going to be killing you and maybe your hips and who knows what else, you know?
And I think it's, it's simple to think about it in that way, but There's a lot more to it than just just that, you know yeah, I always say, you know when when you go through getting an orthotic for yourself, like if you're needing something that's customizing or we're having type some type of intervention For like a human body, right?
Like let's see a version of like we decide to put a wedge pad on a horse The podiatrist will tell you that you should wear that That orthotic for an hour every day for like a week. And then, the next week, every two or three hours. And so when we make that change to help a horse, we put that shoe on and they don't get an hour there then.
Right. Definitely. That's a really good point. So to [00:18:00] me, that's something that I feel like we have to be a little gentle about and acknowledge that, we need to support them through that change muscularly and through their body physically. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. I mean, I'm just picturing, like, , my ankles pronate inwards and my feet get very flat.
So I need arch support, right? But if you were going to nail that arch support to my foot and I could Niamhr get it off, that would be quite an adjustment to make. Yeah, I work heel lifts. So, for me, that would be like, I don't want to walk around in heel lifts all the time. But, when I'm working, I do need it for my back, but then I need it for a break.
So, it's yeah, I can't imagine. I always think about it. I'm like, okay. Yep. This is why maybe we need to give them a little more support. Well, now that we've kind of gone through some of the basic information of off the track thoroughbreds their life at the track and so on, we want to pick your brain about bringing your off the track thoroughbred home, what to expect in the [00:19:00] initial stages of post track life.
Let's break down assessing their physical condition. I know you talk a lot about the 3 main components. Can you explain that to us? Sure, when I look at any horse the 3 things that I really like to routinely look at when evaluating them. And supporting them is their posture, their compensation, and their tissue load so I can explain.
So their posture, I just want to see what their just natural state is, posturally. You know, are they like tense, do they maybe tend to point a toe, or do they routinely try to like prop a leg and not just in relaxation, but it's just like these patterned stages of posture that might not be You know that explains something to me.
That's not bilateral or both sides like not a bilateral equal type posture they're holding. Is their neck really high? Are they tense and hollow? Can they drop their neck and feel comfortable? Do they [00:20:00] park out a little bit or do they stand under almost like a goat would stand? Like sometimes they like find end under what, you know, what's going on posturally, I look at the feet as well to see if there's a tell within the feet because they typically tell you I'm not a fairy or I just use it as information for myself and maybe just.
Observing a change or seeing something we're starting with. But posture to me. If we can just improve posture slowly, it's something that needs to be done very incrementally, and it takes time and that's something that, with proper wellness support and a horse that's becoming more comfortable and aware of their body, the owner or the trainer can be really integral in that it can be just really simple things and tools that I like to give them to help work with their posture.
Then the next 1 is compensation. Compensation is. Anything that could be compensatory. So we're looking at compensation from a sense of maybe they [00:21:00] were, a little bit weak in the right hind. And so they've loaded the left front.
So maybe that there's more tightness through that right hind to left front. Sometimes it's in diagonals, you know, sometimes it's one sided and then sometimes it's front to back. So I like to look at maybe potential compensatory patterns that can indicate like weakness or sometimes just their way of going.
Maybe that indicates something that was sore, whether it's muscularly sore or sore. Something that's going on that's more serious. Some type of pathology that's inflamed. And these are all just reference points, but it's just observations that I make when I'm trying to decide also like where I like to target and help support them and release soft tissue that can help them maybe find a more comfortable place to be in their own body.
And then the last one is tissue load. What do I mean by tissue load? So when we talk about tissue, we can talk about. Tendons, ligaments, fascia [00:22:00] and muscle. So there's a lot of soft tissue in the body. And when we want to use that tissue and we stress that tissue in small amounts, right?
Like when we go to the gym, we're stressing our tissue and it gets a little bit sore and Wait, Alisa, I've got a question. Yeah. Yeah, it's the gym. I said, what's the gym? I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I think we're too busy all to take care of our horses. I built a gym in my basement. I still don't use it.
I know. I try to tell myself, Oh, like I can just do it at home, but you know, I just, I think the barn work is good enough. Right? Yeah, exactly. Go on back to tissue load. Back to tissue load. So. We talk about tissue load, you know, we might get sore, like our muscles might get a little bit sore when we go to the gym and we really refer to that as like doms or delayed onset of muscle soreness.
So that's just something [00:23:00] that it's where our body's natural ability to have like, a little bit of what we maybe call like tissue trauma to build strength. Right? So let's say we go to the gym and we we do like legs, but we do legs every single day and we do the same exercise every single day, then eventually, like other parts of her body somewhat atrophy right there.
They mean, they like, they don't have as much muscle. They kind of waste. And then those muscles become overdeveloped. And the over development can also lead to an imbalance as well as muscles that are a little bit stressed or fatigued. So when I look at a horse, I want to see, like, some of those things we talked about per discipline is there a excessive muscle imbalance or like some tissues in the body being stressed more than others?
Or do they overall, have a pretty good. Sense of good development. Just, you know, they have certain muscles that are obviously more developed because of the discipline. They were doing. There is a little bit of a difference there than like a horse. That's [00:24:00] not sore. And, you know, is race horse and they just.
You know, this is how they're built because they've been doing a job versus one that was really struggling to do that job, or maybe didn't have the support that it needed. And it's a little bit more sore, or has maybe not been trained as tactfully. And so those tissues have been a little bit, , some have been overloaded and some have been under loaded.
So they're a little bit weaker. Gotcha. Explain a little bit about how emotional regulation plays into them when they first come off the track. So I think that's really important for these guys because they are extremely fit. So the first thing is you have a horse that's extremely fit so they have a lot of energy.
They they have a sense, they have a certain amount of tension in their body because the, the fitness that they're at and the job that they're doing and the, to me, also, some of their ability to find relaxation is through their [00:25:00] lovely, like, we gallop and we run and we have this rush of endorphins, which can also help muscles relax.
And that's kind of what they're used to. They're used to that pattern. And so if you have a horse that maybe is super sensitive or possibly they carry a little more tension emotionally because There may be they're in pain or they didn't like their job or they're anxious, which some are just anxious because they have a lot of energy and some are anxious from a sense of like being in distress or being upset or worried.
I think there's a very different line between a horse that's just excited. And there's tension because they are ready to go do their job and a horse that maybe didn't love their job or was uncomfortable doing their job or is a little bit worried. And so that's important to understand, I think, and be patient about with your horses coming off the track is the ones that may be, you know, ones that are just excited, that will settle pretty quickly.
The ones that, have. struggle regulating [00:26:00] their emotions because they have had some tension in result of being in discomfort. I think that that has to be something that we address in addition to not only making them comfortable, but we have to give them time to understand like, Oh, my body feels better when I move into this.
And I move this way. I don't have to hold a ton of tension. Like it doesn't hurt anymore. Like that's a separate layer that has to be peeled back on some of the horses. It's interesting. I Niamhr really thought about the endorphin element of their life at the track. And I think that's really fascinating because I do feel like a lot of them come off the track and they're a bit lost.
And I think they want to know what's coming next. They need to have an outlet for that. And so I guess I Niamhr really thought about when you're taking that away from them, that, that regularity of endorphins and release of their energy and an outlet, you know, and you're asking them to do something completely different, but that [00:27:00] emotional endorphin element is something I'd Niamhr really.
Thought about very much. No, it's super interesting. I mean, we've talked about how life at the track is so regulated and While farms, you know off the track also have a schedule. It's often not quite as regimented every day day in and day out, I do this for an hour. I do this for another hour Here's where I go out to the track So yeah, that is super interesting.
And I think that's a really important insight into how different the horses can be when they come off the track too in terms of their emotional energy and if they were happy in their job or not it's really really kind of cool yeah i love like i love the walk i think it's really good for them to learn another way to find relaxation aside from a massive endorphin hit that's like a great Way we can slowly introduce new things to them, you know, to [00:28:00] show them like, this is how we, you know, we move this way.
Now we relax through the top line this way. It's low impact rate and it's the one gate where we don't have it's not a suspension gate. So it has they always have a foot on the ground You know It doesn't put a lot of strain or stress on the tendons and ligaments when we're also asking them to change And it recruits a lot of muscle groups So it lays down a lot of good healthy muscle without putting a lot of stress on their body in a gentle way Where they might not get quite as much maybe muscle sore kind of learning their new job.
As well as just, learning to like, get to know your horse. I think it's a great like bonding component when you're starting to get to know them as well. Yeah. That brings me back to like the old days of eventing and having to really put a base and a foundation on your horse and like the, the great old event trainers would like, you would start off by walk, taking your horse for an [00:29:00] hour.
Walk for, you know, weeks or months. Like we would go out and walk for an hour, right? I'm sure it was on like nice grass and hills and footing and were you out and about and. Yeah, right. So we, go on long hacks and up and down hills and kind of gradually incorporate more and more of that or steeper hills, but there's so much that can be done at the walk.
And I don't know that that's fully appreciated in today's like society of like, let's get results now. Well, it sort of leads us into the next segment that I want to talk about. So we've gone through a first assessment of you brought your horse home and you're kind of evaluating him or her as a whole.
I want to kind of break down a maintenance plan of what you would think would be ideal for a horse that you bring home off the track, and we're going to break it down into 1 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, and then 6 months to a year. Just an overview of what would be great if you could do this with your horse in an ideal world.[00:30:00]
So the first 3 months. What do you, what do you start to look for? What do you what are you working on? What are the biggest hurdles in the first couple of months? And when do you start incorporating body work and all that kind of stuff? Yeah. So a lot of the.
A lot of the things that I will say in the first one, three months, you'll see me like cycle back to like, almost every phase we talk about, because I think 1 of the most important things is setting a new solid foundation for your horse. And making sure that you because they're going to go through so much drastic change that you have to like revisit all of these things over and over again until they find this new form of homeostasis.
Then you can grow from that. So there's going to be a lot of change. It's going to take patience and time, but, , for me. Feet are really critical, my couple of my components when I have a horse, they come off, I want to address the feet. I always want to address the teeth, [00:31:00] you know, dentally, make sure that, you know, we want to address comfort, right?
So it's really good to have like a performance eval done, whether it's like lameness, a wellness workup, blood work, blood work tells you a whole bunch, you know, was your horse deficient in something? You just need to make sure. that they're being supported, right? They maybe didn't have a ton of grass.
So like, are they good with their vitamin E? You know, what might they be deficient in? Blood work is just non invasive, super simple and super great as a baseline as you're getting to know your horse. I'm very big on, on all of those things. The blood work is really interesting to me.
I Niamhr thought about incorporating that into the first couple of months. And we talked a little bit about this with Bonnie from after the races, but there's less crash that we're seeing in horses that come off the track now, but I do think that, like you said, the vitamin E thing is, is really coming to the spotlight in the horse industry.
And gosh, I think that. Getting blood work done would be a [00:32:00] really crucial component in that first couple of months now that you say it. Yeah, I mean, I've seen I, it was, it's personally like personal racetrack that I've worked with, she just, she's like so much, you can learn so much from blood work and it's noninvasive and it's not expensive on a CBC and some tests, I've had a couple of horses come off the racetrack with lime because, it can be transmitted by, you know, maybe there was like a mouse running around and had a tick on it, like just.
As they were at the racetrack doesn't mean they might not be exposed to these things. Right. And so for me getting to know a horse, I mean, it's rare, but I've seen a couple of cases, it's just good to have a good screening, just screen them, get to know them. You know, you'll definitely be happy you have it in the future.
Because at least you have a place where you started from and, you know, like, Oh, Change for the better or the worse then, you know, like maybe it's a more cost effective intervention than kind of going down a rabbit hole So for me, I you know, I love the blood work. It tells me a lot about the horse
do you also recommend? People to [00:33:00] get foot radiographs in the first couple of months just to start with a baseline. I what does it depend on the horse? Yeah, I do really love foot radiographs. And I think that the hind feet are really missed a lot. If you're going to take off for just because sometimes their, their angle is neutral or negative behind and that really can affect the back and the Hawks and everything.
And these were, you're not only going to ask these horses to change their whole. Muscle in their way of going, but, they might already have some stresses there in the body What if they have a little pathology like a little pathology in the Hawks or they have a little kissing spine in the back or?
Something that you know that whole negative angle behind can really exacerbate all of that and so those things might really be like Not super, super bothersome, but if they, you start to ask them to, load their hind end the way we want them to come through and they're still neutral or negative and they're not, doing their old job, it might [00:34:00] become more of an issue that.
It could have been just been like, non issue, you know? I feel like you set off a chain reaction throughout their body when you don't think about that as a whole, you know? Yes. It's like that famous, no foot, no horse. Like, just start at the base. Make sure they're also not foot sore. It's really important.
You know, the horses, when they are foot sore or like we see them footy, even if I see a horse has had an abscess, when I see that horse after they've had an abscess, there's a muscle, like it's called the serratus and it kind of comes up like behind the shoulder and like earth area is part of the serratus and it gets super tight and super restrictive when they've been walking around stabby.
And that isn't going to help anybody. When they're trying to have their horse learn to lift in the sternum and come through their top line and have good contact and lift in the back. So, having them really comfortable, to me, comfort is the most important thing to start with, because it's not fair to ask them.
Not only to like do a new job, but to work period if they're not [00:35:00] comfortable. So it's interesting that you said stabby, because I feel like that's a term we would always use. And I think that you always sort of imply that that's a foot thing, but it is interesting hearing it from a body worker's perspective of .
Well, it could be the chicken or the egg in the situation. It could be this other muscle group that's, you know, that's playing into that stabbing. But if you've seen enough thoroughbreds, you know exactly what that stabbing motion looks like. Yeah. And I do see it. I see it where they're like not foot, they're no longer foot sore.
But that muscle is still restricted, so it might not look as terrible, but you still have some restriction there, right? And and it's good to have that released, right? It's important to release that. And it's easy to say, well, we fixed the foot, so why is the horse still stabby? And like you said, well, the horse was stabby, and then these muscles got sore, and so now we have to address the muscles and complete the whole picture.
Absolutely. The next thing I'm really big on is the gut. So I just want to make sure the horses don't have [00:36:00] ulcers, making sure they're not ulcery is really important. And if you think they are, however you choose to address that, it's important to me to address that for their comfort, again, that whole fairness of like, why are they a little bit girthy?
Like some horses are just. A little bit girthy for one reason or another. And some aren't, and you don't know your horse that you're getting off the racetrack. So it's just important to learn. I have one that's not girthy at all. And I have one that she's been scoped a bunch of times and she doesn't have ulcers, but she's just always a little bit girthy.
So it doesn't always correlate and it's nice to have again, a baseline because then, you know, if six months from now. You start doing a little bit more and getting them out, and all of a sudden this behavior changes it might be a good indicator. Instead of being like, well, maybe they had ulcers when they came off the track, but I didn't treat them, , and you're wondering, you could be like, nope, like, we know this is like a new thing, what type of intervention?
Is it ulcers? Is it saddle fit? Is it all these other things? And then that's another one. So, you know, sometimes the first one to three [00:37:00] months, like, this, Some of them are coming off and riding isn't going to be their first go to, like, depends on the horse. Right? But some horses, you know, if they're recovering or, depending on what the person has in mind, or just a lot of variables the first 3 months, might not be, you know, necessary or call for a horse to be, to be worked regularly under saddle, maybe you do more work in hand or something, or maybe you're going to like riding.
But. Yeah. That being said, it's good for them to have a job. So whether or not you are going to sit on them in the first 1 to 3 months, I think it's important to at least start the process to get them something that is, maybe not brand new and custom, but that is appropriate and comfortable for them to saddle fit because.
It takes a while to get a fitter out. Sometimes it takes a while to find something. So just start the process, even if you're not sure when you're on them, if they might change, yes, they might change. They're going to change a whole bunch. That's, [00:38:00] you know, that's the other thing is if you're, if you're investing in.
Restarting a thoroughbred. You have to accept the fact that like what you start with is not what you're going to end with. And that's the whole point if we change them. But then we also have to be open to the fact that maybe the saddle we start with is not going to be the one we finish with. Oh, yeah, you know, everything is going to change the bit, maybe the tack, because we discover that nuances once we get to know them that they like something more than something else.
So just start with trying to make them comfortable and start the process. And in the interim, routine is really important for these horses. It can be different routine, but it's routine, whether it's you spending quality time for them, grooming, if they're coming up from. Right. And injury and hand walking to, something more extensive.
It's just really critical that they have some type of normalcy and routine. Yeah. Yeah. And I think that first couple of months is a really neat time [00:39:00] to introduce lateral movement in their bodies from the ground, because like you said earlier, that's not really something they do very much of at the track.
And I think, Getting them to understand it from the ground, how to unlock their hind end and engage and move their legs underneath of them and move laterally from pressure. I think. is taught so well from the ground and is much harder to teach in the saddle, especially with a horse that's Niamhr, ever had to do it before.
Yeah. I think that I love teaching lateral work from the ground with these guys. It gives you a sense of, just be patient with them. Get to know them. I think it's great opportunity to in those first three months or so, like other things that, these horses, if they race, they definitely had exposure, right?
They have, they've been around. A lot of them have seen things that other horses that are their age haven't seen, but they've seen them in a certain environment. And so they also sometimes maybe. When they saw all of those things, they went to go [00:40:00] run. So again, no, sometimes you, they're totally going to be fine with something scary, but you know, maybe the way they're just acting in a new environment might be not what you're used to at home because they maybe think they're going to go run.
So, good exposure to new environments for their new job is really important. That's a training step. I feel like it's super missed like trailering good. Taking your time, getting them to be comfortable with the trailer and going places, even if you just get them out and graze them and take them home, that's an amazing thing that they know they're going somewhere, they're coming back home and they're also going somewhere and they're not going to go run and get that massive endorphin hit from running, teach them that this isn't what we do when we leave all the time.
I think some horses, it's really, really, it's not as important. I think it's still really important, and you're just a step ahead of the game if you do it slowly like that, and other horses, it's vital. Yeah, I don't, I don't know if you've ever had [00:41:00] horses that really struggled with that. Have any of you experienced that?
Oh, what, where you take them somewhere and they are just like super jazzed up and expecting. You know? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Especially if it's like They hear the loudspeaker. Yeah. Yeah. And you're like, oh. Yeah, the loudspeaker, or just and that they learn that they can just relax in that environment, you know, as well as you know, I had one horse that she really enjoyed going places, and she actually wasn't super up when we got somewhere.
But she would shake on the trailer. Break your heart. And she'd self load. Like we worked on self loading and, but she'd get on and then she would just shake and it just like broke my heart. Cause she's like, Oh my God, this horse is like so trusting and so kind. But she's just, something happened to her, right?
Like something like she didn't like to run or like, I don't really know her history a ton. But and so we worked, we used like. I did, you know, I use some [00:42:00] perfect prep. I know some people don't agree with it. I did use, I do sometimes use a little bit of base under the supervision of veterinary care sometimes to, to help, break a cycle with some of the, some of the horses.
But, you know, and there's other options, like I said, PerfectPrep and these other things that you can transition them to. But, she loves to go places, she gets on and she like doesn't shake anymore and it's great. But, I think it's something that we miss, like you're talking about the lateral work, like exposure to just, Hey, this is your new job when you go somewhere, make it positive.
Or, you know, just Getting them out and about and, you know, walking them around, giving them a bath and showing them like if they weren't standing great, like just teaching them and being patient with them to just be comfortable in their new environment. Again, they're so used to those routines. Like, I think we don't think about it as routine, but they were used to being hot walked and being a certain way and galloped, and that was part of their daily routine every day.
And it's just a little bit different at show barns than it is at the [00:43:00] racetrack. So it's still routine, but it's just different. And so I think it's important for us to, to take time to do those things with them. Yeah. We talk sometimes about like the different language, almost that Thoroughbreds learn.
And it, it certainly can be very different when you bring them home and they're used to certain things a certain way. Like, most of them get. bathed every single day. They get their face washed, you know, that's like a totally normal thing for them. Whereas, you know, a horse you import from Europe maybe has Niamhr even been in a wash stall.
Right, right. I've known a few, I've done a few of those too. But yeah, it's really interesting with the routine and the things they know versus what they don't know. Yeah, even to the level of like some horses are Some resources aren't comfortable in the cross ties, but they will all tie. Oh, yeah. Oh, and there's all like that's something to also I feel like everybody needs to acknowledge that like You know, maybe there's some just take to it really quickly and stand and then other [00:44:00] ones don't, and they're either being held or they're wall tied there.
They're not usually cross tied. I mean, it depends on the bar. So, you know, we put them in a wash stall on the cross ties. Nobody's holding them, that's a little bit different, you know, so they're going to dance around a little more. And I think people don't understand why they dance around.
Like you've had a million baths. Why are you dancing around? Well, this isn't the same. That's your chance to really imprint them. Correctly because I feel like if you just say, well, you're just going to have to figure it out and they pull back and they snap the cross ties.
Well, guess what? Now you might have a long slog ahead of you dealing with the cross ties. Whereas if you're like a little bit more thoughtful about it, and you try to support them while they're learning. then you really set them up for understanding what you're asking of them so much better. Yeah. I think it's just, again, that we were talked a little bit about that, like emotional regulation and tension too.
We're talking about the first one to three months and, you're working on their comfort, but maybe they aren't comfortable. So if these horses are tense and some of those [00:45:00] motions, like when they bring their head up and horses get tense, we have to remember that compresses the spine. It doesn't lift the spine.
It compresses things in the body. It makes it. A lot more tense. And maybe there's something there that's painful, in a joint or something when they're tensing, it's going to be more uncomfortable. So that just kind of like snowballs with them trying to understand and maybe being a little nervous.
And so we just have to be really patient and use these opportunities as baby steps. And I think the slower you go, the faster you go. Because. If you take these really tiny steps to draw a really clear picture these horses are super adjustable and really open to it. It's just we have to give them a little room.
Yeah, I think this episode is going to be really interesting after the last one that we posted regarding my first year with my first thoroughbred, that I was forced to take it slow. I think some other people might have just, skip some steps or. Put a couple of band aids on the issues that I was having, but for [00:46:00] me, I think I got more out of that first year than I could have in like five years of owning a horse.
So I think that reiterating the fact that going slow is the way to go fast is a really, really smart thing. So you've gotten through the first couple of months and so now that they've kind of let down a little bit, their muscles are relaxed. Explain a little bit about how the muscles go from racing fit to more of a neutral.
Position sort of three to six months post track. Yeah. So it does have to do a lot with what you're doing with your horse. So yeah, they're going to naturally let down from the endorphins and settle from not being as fit. But, are you doing body work on them? What type of work are you doing?
Are you working them in hand and engaging laterally? The important thing is is always go slowly, because we're not only, untraining or undoing muscle development, but we're rebuilding that. And so, I think sometimes [00:47:00] we get a little impatient about that. So just go slowly. Know that they might get a little sore from just using new muscles.
But, as you're, the process of you're doing that you're really changing their body and you're hopefully letting some of that tension go. So a lot of that tendency to have that, overdeveloped, shorter muscle will let go. It's just sometimes when they have those muscles that are developed muscles can be overdeveloped and, and quality and, and a little tighter.
And then you can have, I'm trying to generalize this, but you can have fascia, which surrounds our organs and our skin and our muscles and some of those deeper layers of fascia when they're damaged, they create adhesions, meaning if they were overstressed and so those areas that really isn't going to let go on its own, that's going to be something that we're like, manual therapy, where the bodywork needs support, right? So if they have some of these really dense adhesions that's where you really need to [00:48:00] facilitate that because it's going to cause restriction and then tension in the muscle somewhere else or stress on the muscle or some other form of soft tissue as you're trying to like essentially stretch it or ask it to do something new.
And so it's almost to a point where if there's something that's stuck like that, they can't physically can't stretch, right? It's like us. We just physically can't touch our toes if we have scar tissue somewhere or an adhesion somewhere. And so that's a little bit where, naturally the tension will let go.
That's. Like healthy muscle that were just maybe not working as hard, you know Just a natural form of if it kind of resetting But if there's any like type of adhesion buildup, then that's where it really does need some support So you're saying that the horse can't physically do something or it's getting kind of stuck in some sort of way Is that your signal that there's some?
Trouble brewing under the surface. Is that your first indication of, Oh, [00:49:00] maybe this is too much for the horse. Maybe I should have someone come look at him, you know, body worker or similar. And then another question to ask you in this regard is when you find that your horse gets a little bit sore from something, do you think it's.
Okay. To push through a little bit of that with them so that they can build a stronger muscle. Or are you more inclined to back off if they're showing a little bit of soreness? Yeah. So I asked you two big questions there. Sorry. That's okay. The first question which was, more focused on when there is there something brewing So in the ideal world, we go back to the one to three months an hour on the three to six is that I also do like to have like some type of body work support, whether you align with, focusing on some soft tissue acupuncture with chiropractic, or you like to utilize those two with massage or a myofascial release type.
Body work or all three. I'd highly support all three to some [00:50:00] capacity. If some horses don't have acupuncture, a lot of them do. And it's a great, I think it can be a really great tool for these horses because it does provide a very good level of endorphin hit that they're used to the treatment and it.
And it's a little more passive if they're accepting of the needles, because it's not so much physical touch. So sometimes it really can let fashion go in a different way. And it can be really supportive therapy if they're open to it. So if the horses are getting that therapy from the beginning, so you kind of include that in your program for the 1st, months, then I think.
You're out of already setting yourself up for like when you're running into these roadblocks, you can address it with, whatever practitioner you're working with, or a group of practitioners you're working with. And also, you can address it with your vet if you feel like there's obviously like a lameness or a pain response that's needed for like more veterinary support.
Right? So any of these. Modalities, it's good to revisit it. But when I talk about, like, you're getting stuck that way, or you're not [00:51:00] progressing, I do think it's important for the horses to be able to be comfortable doing the job.
So Let's talk about, and I was saying, like, they physically can't reach I'll give an example. So, we talked about the under neck being extremely developed and the spinalis in the back and then maybe the rhomboids up by, the base of the withers in front of the shoulders, so it's, Kind of where the rhomboids and the trapezius are that's like a little bit weaker because, you know, but sometimes that upper neck there gets tight, the muscles get short because of just the way they're carrying their head, and so you might let go, that like base of the neck might let go, that brachiocephalicus might just like start to not be as dominant, but then if it's still restricted up there.
They just can't reach, right? They can't reach down physically that function as much. They just might be stuck with a little bit of an adhesion up there or extra tight muscle. That's where the bodywork can be really supportive. That's where [00:52:00] additional therapies and modalities can help progress more quickly.
Now do horses like adapt and can you typically? Do some of these things with some horses without it. Sure. Are some more comfortable with it. Yeah, absolutely. A lot of them are and you also make progress a little more quickly. So I think I always tell people to , I'm I can support them, however quickly they want to go, right? If you're wanting to move a little more quickly and give it all you've got, and budget isn't an issue. Certainly, we're not going to hurt them by giving them more support. But I also think if you're willing to say,
I'm just okay, giving it a little more time because I just can't throw all of it there at once. And we're just going to take it a little slower to fix all these things to some extent. That's that's totally fine, right? It's just that our expectation has to change with the horses, right? If we. aren't giving them some of these supports up front, then we have, and we need some time for a budget or whatever reason, we have to give them the fairness to say that, [00:53:00] okay, then I still can't expect you to do this job.
In the timeline, I wanted you to do it. That's not fair. So that kind of leads into your next question with like muscle soreness. So there's, there's restriction and pain and discomfort and there's like muscle soreness from. Like the same thing we talked about, like going to the gym soreness.
So like that's what we call DOMS or delayed onset muscle soreness. And that's like micro tears or traumas in the muscle tissue. And this is fun. I could talk about this all day, but I won't that that is really something that's okay. Like that kind of muscle soreness is okay. The thing is, we have to give that a little time to recover.
That doesn't mean that you can't work your horse, but you should work your horse in the way that that helps them recover. So if they are a little bit sore than like a good walk, a long walk would be important because what we want to do is we why the muscles are sores because all this. Lymph fluid is moving there to like flush out and heal the muscle that was a little bit [00:54:00] traumatized to build strength and so when it swells because of that, then it puts pressure on the nerves that are within the muscles and that's why we have pain or muscle soreness from going to the gym and the lymph system doesn't have a pump like our heart, like our circulatory system.
So we need to facilitate that either with manual therapy, okay. Or with exercise, but we want low impact exercise, right? Or not repeat the same thing we did that created the doms, right? So if we did a jump school, it wouldn't be great to go to a jump school the next day, if that's where they got a little bit of doms from, or, we did a little bit of like extra long and low track work, then maybe just do some walk, you know, give them a little bit of time to recover.
Yeah. I think horses can work through that type of soreness to some extent if you're listening to them. It's just you have to be able to support them too. So, you know, if you want to move a little bit quicker and they're handling it well, have a little bit more of a wellness check with your vet, have a little bit more PEMF or body work manual [00:55:00] therapy more frequently.
Then that, I think that's okay. If you're giving them the support they need, then yeah, it's okay for them to be a little sore. They just shouldn't be super sore. And you want to make sure you're also addressing them. The second part of them being sore is if they have some type of like fascial restriction or adhesion, like we said, like a, a tissue that's like really tight from overuse.
That would be, you'd want to slow down. Right. So that's where you slow down. With like the adhesions and the fascia, is that something that would ever resolve if like, you know, the, the old adage was you, you take the horse off the track, you throw it in the field for a year. Or is that is that going to still be there?
Some will resolve itself, some scar tissue adhesions can break down themselves, right? Some of them, like it's just like a little bit when we're even bringing like a tendon back into work that's had. A nasty bow, as we put load on it, right? It's going to start to heal better. [00:56:00] But, sometimes we have little micro traumas to that.
Yeah, and we have to take that process slowly. So, yes, to some extent, a lot of those things, like kicking them out in the field for a year will things that kicking them out and having turnout. That's a little more like that can do as well as horses naturally, they'll use their thoracic sling differently when they're out.
Even if they're just like reaching for grass on a hill, or they're just not eating it off the floor in a stall that's flat or eating it, from 1 level or the K net or anything like variation and I'm just like, reaching over create strength through that and can change right? If there's tightness, because they're just repetitive motion, all that variability can definitely help them.
Break down some of that, tissue and all of that. But when you're trying to put them into work and they're still stuck, it doesn't break it down. And some stuff is too, it's not damaged, but there's too much dysfunction in the tissue that maybe just turning out won't help.
But I, but [00:57:00] successfully have. With the assistance of some vets, we've needled and even done like MFR massaged or myofascial release and some other massage techniques out scar tissue, particularly I've done a lot of them around the withers. I've had a couple of horses come off and
they had flipped over, they did something traumatic to their withers, and there was a lot of buildup around there that was really not allowing them to, lift through their trapezius and their sternum. It was more in, that spinalis region, and we, successfully made them more comfortable, and we worked on it, but it did take a lot of time.
But yeah, I think not all scar tissue will go away, but you can also soften the area around it. So there's less tension on the rest of the muscle or soft tissue related to it. Some of it is permanent. I have a retired horse that has too much scar tissue and he's retired in his deep digital flexor tendon.
But in it's more mechanical issue than actual lameness, but it's too mechanical. of a dysfunction to work him or anything. [00:58:00] But a lot of, that scar tissue, like we're referring to in like a muscle or tightness can resolve itself with time. Yeah. Gotcha. It just takes a long time and you're not sure maybe until you get to the end of it.
Let's move on to six months to a year. And talk a little bit about how different disciplines affect the body at this stage. Sure. So to me I wouldn't really be entertaining a specific discipline with a horse potentially like they're always outliers, right? but for me it's kind of that foundation until six months, right so So for me, you're gonna kind of start to get into like discipline specific focus at six months with these horses one thing that you need to be Revisiting or have on the schedule.
It's always good to have right your saddle check Make sure assess where the feet are, maybe a wellness or performance evaluation from your vet Make sure that everything's feeling comfortable You know if they were struggling more with like a [00:59:00] skeletal imbalance, maybe like a chiro or just be conscious It's really easy to lose track of how quickly time passes when we have an appointment and then we haven't made an appointment like it sometimes you forget like, oh Was it really six months ago when I had my saddle?
Yeah last So I just tell people it's good like put it in your calendar as a reminder to make an appointment and actually physically Schedule a reminder for yourself because it's so easy, particularly when you're doing a good job being patient with your horse and waiting that time will then fly by and you'll be like, it wasn't that long ago.
And then it wasn't that long ago. And it happens to all of us. So I think those are really important things when you're going into starting discipline specific work as well as just be aware of. You know, does your horse like the job that you're going to ask them to do? That's also when you're starting to explore the disciplines, what do you think they'd like to do?
Or do you already have an idea of what they'd like to do? [01:00:00] Within the six months that there's a lot of tells with horses with what they might want to do. And then as you're going through that process, right, understand, that, depending on if it's dressage, you know, any foundational flat work is proper. Flat work is good. But as you start to move up the levels with that, or you're starting to work a little more discipline specific with the thoroughbreds specifically, I find, I know they're outliers, but generalization is just don't drill the flat work.
You've got to make it fun for them. You really need to make it a little playful. They really thrive on routine, but a little bit of variety, I think, with that. That being said, is you're really asking them to utilize muscle groups in a very different way. With a little less, maybe, room to be in some of the, postures that they were maybe used to or the way they were going.
Like a jumper. They're still going to use their body. Differently as they've been remuscled, but, having a little more of like freedom in the way they're [01:01:00] moving naturally from the past can arise through a jumper course. Right? And that can just that's a little more of a gentle that component of it.
That gentle flat work. There's a little more room for them to be moving a little bit more in it. Potentially a familiar way as they grow, right? Whereas the dressage, that's a hugely different way of going to them. And if you're asking them to do that, through a whole dressage test, that's something just to consider in the back of your mind but venting, I think it's great because, it does.
It elicit that component of fitness that maybe you can speak more to this than than I can, but then, some of the other disciplines, not to say that they don't work on that, but that level. I think can be two things. It can be sometimes in their niche because they get that endorphin hit again.
But also sometimes that can be hard then to get them to really relax in the dressage because it's like, just [01:02:00] kidding. We're not going back to your old job. We are doing a new job, but you also have to do these other jobs. They're not remotely close to your new job. And so like create that relaxation in those disciplines that is really helpful to have Good body work, I think, to help those horses stay loose as they're learning and navigating kind of a little bit of reintroduction into that into that environment.
Do you have anything to interject? Either of you with experience with that? With everything, it just depends on the horse. I mean, I've had horses that, six months in can go out and do a starter horse trial and, you know, go out and win the dressage and jump around.
But a lot of them, are not there. And I always liked to kind of let the horse tell me when they were ready. But yeah, the relaxation part, I feel like when you get a really good, really enthusiastic jumper, oftentimes that relaxation needs work. Yes. [01:03:00] And then one thing just to, to mention for, cause we were talking a little bit about saddle fit.
This is just something for everyone to just be conscious of when they do have a thoroughbred and they're wanting to do some type of dressage discipline. And this is just my own personal opinion and just my own personal findings. But a lot of, of dressage saddles now come standard with a point billet, which is different than a standard billet.
The point billet is the front billet of the girth attaches to the tree point in front of the saddle. And so it's just a little bit of a different physics in the way they girth it up. And it was meant for those big dressage horses with the big beefy shoulder and everything slides forward. And so now they all kind of come standard with that.
And a lot of them can be requested to not have a point billet or they have a non point billet option. Interesting. Thoroughbreds are not really built needing a point billet, and then I do find that [01:04:00] oftentimes that point billet, just that little additional pressure in the front, that lies right under that trapezius and that spinalis muscle that we talked about gets overdeveloped when the under neck is.
And so, sometimes you'll see it when a horse lifts its head up and they have it develop. There's like this bulge that is right around the withers there, that muscle. And so what happens is if they come out of a place of like, if they're struggling and they're just not as supple and they pop their head up, then that muscle contracts.
And if it's overdeveloped, it like pops into the saddle there. And if there's extra pressure on the tree point, it like pinches and that's a really high nerve area. A grand central station from a sense of like nerves on the horse. And so then if it's uncomfortable, more uncomfortable, then it's just going to cause more tension.
And so I see a lot of times you take a thoroughbred and put them in a point billet to in a dressage saddle. Everybody's like, they go better on their jumping saddle. And I'm like, cause there's no point. [01:05:00] For anybody , you know, in funding to do dressage or even just leisurely or in venting with their horses, just.
Make note with your thoroughbreds to see if, some don't mind, but see if, you have an on point billet option or just be aware of it when you're doing saddle fit, that that could be a component that does make them less soft and supple in a dressage saddle this has become more standard in the industry.
So I always think too, that especially for us eventers that have a variety of saddles, that if your horse goes better in one saddle or the other, there's probably a pretty good reason why, you know, like, I mean, I've definitely had horses that went better in a dressage saddle and come to find out that the jump saddle was, impinging their shoulder rotation and.
You're like, Oh, geez. And they go better in my dressage saddle. That's wild. And then you see how they impact that part of their body. And it kind of makes sense then, you know, I think it's definitely [01:06:00] just something to be aware of. Saddle fit in general. And, then just make sure you just always listen to your horse, horse responses, everything when it comes to saddle fit, even if it fits it and they don't like it as much, like you were saying, or it doesn't fit one or the way sometimes.
You put a horse in a saddle that fits great and you put them in another saddle that fits great and they want like one more over the other. And it's important to make sure that we make them. As comfortable as possible. So, because we're getting a little long on the tooth here, I think we'll try to wrap up this episode, which I knew this was going to happen because I know how this conversation goes.
I feel like I've learned so much just on my own. I know. Well, and Emily and I were discussing, in the notes about that. We want to create some kind of cool infographic based on like a timeline based on timeline kind of thing to go along with. The episode would be really, really cool.
To wrap up the episode, though, do you have any particular case studies or any cool stories about a [01:07:00] transformation that you've witnessed with a thoroughbred or a personal anecdote that you'd like to add?
Yeah, I do. I've got a lot of fun case studies, but I. I would say that, 1, we were talking about the, posture issue and the feet. I had a horse that I had the pleasure of working with. He came off the track, my. mare I'd had since she was a yearling, who I still have she had a career ending injury, not on the track as a show horse early.
And at that point in time, I was trying to rehab her. We thought she would come back. We gave it a couple of years. That's where time doesn't always heal everything, but but she's happy and she's, she's pasture happy. Just not show horse happy and for me, but that's okay. But I didn't have anything to ride.
And so This horse came to a friend of mine and they were basically, he was kind of going to be euthanized. They said he was a little bit, wild and all these things. And he really wasn't. He was super sweet. He was just afraid. But his feet were really terrible [01:08:00] and as we've worked to fix his feet.
He would stand like a goat, so he really had no sense of proprioception where his feet were in relation to space. So as his feet were like amazing and balanced he would stand like a goat. He didn't have anything physical, like he was gone over by tooth and nail. by new Bolton and we couldn't find anything and multiple bets that looked at him.
So he really was more of he had had just like a rough handling start and he just was not, maybe it just wasn't his thing either. He didn't want to be a race horse and and then his feet were not good. So he was great. Success story. His body completely changed muscularly.
His I was able to work with him also under saddle. So that was great. So, you know, everything we did everything from his feet to his gut, , body work saddle fit. He was all supported and he took a lot of time. But we used the [01:09:00] sure foot pads with him. That's one of the things that sometimes help horses be a little more self aware and proprioception.
And he has great posture. Now. He's good. He doesn't have that. tendency of standing like a goat in the cross ties anymore or just naturally out in the field. And his feet are nice and balanced, but it was really fun to see him change and also just give him a chance because he was super kind.
But he was just a little bit afraid. He just needed a kind heart and some time to just say it was okay to just be a horse for a little bit, and then emotionally, did he develop into a much less worried animal? He did. I would say, not a hundred percent. Yeah, it's like everywhere in all phases of like writing and turnout and stall life and all that.
Yes. Like grooming, just there were some things with him. He was weird about polos or boots. Some days were good [01:10:00] and some days weren't good. You could try to put a predictor on it, but we always were just like, every day is a new day for this guy. We used to say like, have you ever seen that movie?
50 first dates every day is a new day. That's what we just kind of treated him as. Because some days he was okay. And then like the next day things weren't okay, but yeah, it became more mild and it was very like specific to things like raps.
But he just wanted you to listen to him. That's all. Yes. I'm sure so Yeah I have a lot. I have a lot of case studies. But I think Positive anecdotes for all my success stories have been just like take your time and try to not have an agenda with the timeline, cause they're going to kind of dictate that.
And also just the slower you go, the faster you go. Cause yeah, really for me, that's just important. And that everybody feels safe. That's like my I think we were talking before we [01:11:00] did this podcast on like non negotiables. And for me, it's like that everybody's safe, meaning I feel safe and like I'm able to provide an environment for like the horse that I've chosen to feel safe so we can do this job safely and comfortably.
So have a good team. That's how I've had all my success stories is having a good team. You know, I have a list of horses that I've either had the pleasure of working with. As a body worker only or had my hands in the mix, as the rider and doing more and the body worker and, the person calling the shots for the training, but have a good training support, have a good vet support, have a good farrier, body worker, saddle fitter, have people that really know your horse and get to know them from the beginning and are there to support you.
And have a good team that that leads to success with these guys to whatever career they decide to have or are capable of having. I think that's a really good point because I think. As an adult amateur, you sort of look at upper level riders and think, wow, you [01:12:00] know, what does it take to get these horses to the Olympics and this and that?
And then you realize that like every horse should have supportive care and a team around them making sure that they're comfortable and happy and that everybody's, on the same page. It's not just specific to upper level horses or horses that have a high stress job. It's every horse should really have an opportunity to have.
A small village around them helping them succeed. Yeah. It's like, if I want to run a marathon or I want to run five miles, right? Like I'm not going to run it in, for example, shoes that don't fit or in a ton of pain. Like that. I always use that analogy with like saddle fit. Like, well, you wouldn't walk a mile and something or 25, you know, and like a shoe that's like way too small or way too big.
It's going to affect your body. And the same goes with horses. Like you think we just. To whatever level we're asking them to do a job, they should be comfortable and that also ensures that both parties stay safe and that it's positive. And yet to, like, you said, an adult amateur, when I used to get on 10 horses a [01:13:00] day at the racetrack, and I was really fit and I was going to college and I was doing other athletic endeavors, I had a different comfort zone and now like, I might need a little more support. Cause I only ride like four times a week and I don't sit on 10 horses a day because I'm working. And so for me, like having a good trainer that knows my horse and can say I agree with you, something's bothering them or , no, I'm, I'm not feeling as much.
I think that might be you sitting this way. , that's because I'm certainly not as fit as I used to be or riding as well as I used to be. So that's just. I just ride differently right now. And riding is a lifelong endeavor. So, you know, we're, we find ourselves in different places at different times and having a team and however we need to utilize that team to me is what is what really we should offer our horses when they're asking them to do a job.
Absolutely. Well, Alisa, we're so happy to have you on the podcast. We're already talking about other episodes we want to do with you. It's would be really great to partner with [01:14:00] somebody in your field who can come back and give some really cool insight into the industry and how it specifically affects off the track thoroughbreds. Your passion comes through tenfold. It's Been just really thrilling to talk to you. Where can people find you online and how can they interact with you and inquire about your services? Absolutely. You can either shoot me an email at Alisa, A L I S A P I T T at gmail. com, or you can find me on Facebook at ALP equine.
at Facebook. Awesome. Great. Well, thanks again. And if you liked what you heard today to our listeners please leave us a five star review on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. And you can find us on social media. Look for OTTB on tap on Facebook, Instagram. We just launched a TikTok, very big news.
And also [01:15:00] our website, which is www. ottbontap. com. And yeah, so feel free to reach out on any of those platforms or send us an email too. We'd love to hear from you. See you next time.
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