Equichanics - Tina Fitzgibbon

07/09/2026

Thank you Rebecca and Charlotte for this lovely feedback about my WE Camp.

"Over August bank holiday weekend, my daughter and I attended Tina’s Working Equitation Camp at Ayton PRE, North Tawton, and we had an absolutely amazing time.

Tina’s teaching was clear, thorough and easy to understand, and she immediately put us both at ease. She is incredibly personable and approachable, taking the time to answer all our questions and listen carefully so that she could understand our pony and exactly what we needed to work on.

With only four horses in the group, the camp felt relaxed and friendly. There was plenty of time to socialise, watch the other participants’ lessons or simply unwind between sessions. Even while teaching, Tina made a point of explaining what was happening to those watching, so everyone continued learning throughout the weekend.

Tina is an empathetic straight-talker who always has the horse’s best interests at heart. She has an uncanny ability to read both horse and rider, quickly identifying what support they need and how best to help them.

Ayton PRE is a lovely venue with such a calm, welcoming atmosphere, and the horses seem to settle there very quickly. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and are already looking forward to the next camp!"

I wish Charlotte the absolute best at The Grange Equestrian this Sunday for the ABWE Regional competition.

07/09/2026

I took part in a dissection last year where the horse was diagnosed with Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis aka DSLD but was also suspected of having larger body-wide issues related to it, which in 2006 a scientific study by Halper et al. (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1459153/) was proposed as a systemic proteoglycan accumulation which affects all the soft tissues in the body.
I'm unsure about the timeline thereafter when Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation (ESPA) became the new name, but upon dissection through the layers of the horse last year, there were certainly many anomalies that fit with that newer profile.

DSLD, what an awful disease!

Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis is a progressive disease.

Why the Suspensory ligaments show the first break down, The core biochemical defect is an abnormal accumulation of proteoglycans (carbohydrate-protein molecules) within the extracellular matrix of connective tissue.

Because the suspensory is under extreme continuous tension during weight-bearing, the proteoglycan accumulation causes it to lose elasticity and fail structurally here first. This results in the dropped fetlock appearance first.

DSLD has recently been renamed to ESPA, Equine Systemic Proteoglycan Accumulation which affects all the soft tissues in the body. However still more research is needed because I see older horses who seem to just have stand alone DSLD and do not look to have ESPA. The way these problems appear to break down structures in the horses body is different in each horse. I note that in the ESPA horses they seem to be hypermobile generally in their body. Reading about Ehlors danlos syndrome in humans I can’t help but see the similarities to ESPA in horses.

I suspect we are dealing with these problems on a spectrum of severity and this is why it shows up slightly differently in every horse. These photos below are from a 24 year old unridden carriage horse who’s suspensory branch’s in all four legs where a mess. But the rest of his soft tissues in his body including the nuchal ligaments were in tact. The SDFT and DDFT showed aged related changes but not replacement with scar tissue like the suspensory.

So much more research is needed and genetic testing so we can test for these diseases.

To see cases of DSLD including movement assessments and palpations head to patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/Becks_nairn/posts/america-update-155906247

https://www.patreon.com/Becks_nairn/posts/hypermobility-in-150520409

Thank you to Shibumi Equestrian Centre for graciously sharing these horses stories and always hosting professional clinics.