Maple Row Stables, LLC

04/11/2026

EDIT: This post has been updated to correct the laser classification following further verification of specifications. The device is a Class 3B therapeutic laser, not Class IV as originally stated. Full transparency and accuracy matter to us.

We are very excited to announce!

🚨 Giveaway Alert! 🚨

The Equine Documentalist now has a range of equipment for the practitioner!!

As a launch party we’re kicking things off with a Handheld Class 3B Therapeutic Laser giveaway! 🎉 Featured in the pic! Worth $599!

Specs

GaAlAs
Output power 1300mW
Max output per 808nm/650nm diode 250mW

This is your chance to elevate your equine care toolkit with top-quality gear that delivers professional results.

💡 How to Enter:
1. Follow The Equine Documentalist
2. Like & share this post
3. Tag a friend

Competition closes 1st May

Don’t miss out!
Equip yourself for next-level equine care! 🐴✨

Link to see our new tech range…

https://www.theequinedocumentalist.com/shop/

12/30/2025

Beautiful

Forget the Wind and Ride the Horse

I was tired from my first lesson. I was out of riding shape, having significantly less riding hours than I used to, and my back and core were screaming at me from the intensive focus and work I'd just done. I saddled up my thoroughbred for the second lesson when the wind picked up.

A tarp suddenly blew in from who knows where - causing him to dance sideways. As my most sensitive horse with the most anxiety, this was pretty poor timing for the wind to be howling.

I secured the tarp and mounted, but he shied at the side of the arena the tarp came from with each pass - tightening up, balking, and threatening to blow.

My teacher reminded me steadily with each pass of the circle to keep him aligned and focus on a steady tempo. "A horse in a balance finds calm in his body and worries less about the environment," she said. I know this to be true - I say this to my students all the time - but I could feel a storm around me and under me brewing, and my focus constantly being pulled by flapping blankets on fencelines threatening to jump out at us, dogs moving in and out of the scene, horses running in pastures - the perfect storm for a Thoroughbred to come unglued.

I checked my seat constantly under her direction and reminded myself to stay here with my horse - he needed me here, not thinking anywhere else.

"You know he's going to balk on that side," she said, "Get there ahead of time and be there for him - align and tempo, align and tempo." And then, the dreaded, "Release the reins forward! Don't bottle him up!"

To soften your seat into a chaotic back and give the reins forward to a horse threatening to come unglued takes an act of God. This isn't my first rodeo, figurately and literally speaking, but it is still hard to remember when the stakes are high. I believe in the message - but I know that one little mistake of my attention risks us both.

"Now channel that to a trot," she says. A trot feels insane - but I know deep down that movement is calming, and bottling him up will make him half crazy. I make myself trust it, and we trot.

Surely, piece by piece, he relaxes his neck, begins blowing out, and bends around the circle. I forget about the wind, the dogs, the blankets, the pivo that is spinning in the wind, and ride my horse - and wouldn't you know it, he forgets the environment too. Together inside of a wind storm we find our peace together.

Alignment, rhythm, tempo - The test of any method is how it works in less than ideal situations. And the more I see it work, the more I trust it like my life depends on it - because sometimes it truly does.

08/12/2025

05/17/2025

Atrophy in top lines and performance horses.

Soundness in veterinary science is judged by the horses ability to balance evenly across all four legs, when one leg is sore it presents in a lameness. Traditional one leg lameness is easy to spot, head bobbing and a definite asymmetry in stride. This will definitely be identifiable as lameness in the trot ups for competition and should be pulled up. That being said I am often seeing assymetric movement be passed off as sound. This is soundness grey area, assymetry in my opinion is the stage before lameness, the body is protecting a weakness that is yet to develop to the lameness. Assymetry can be from a plethora of problems from soft tissue to skeletal and very few of these problems are identifiable through imaging for horses. Unless it’s in a distal limb and I would argue that is often a red herring for an issue higher up.

Where it starts to get very tricky is body lameness, one pathway for body lameness is atrophy of muscles but why does it happen? Two main reasons, either the muscles aren’t utilised or the muscles have lost intervation by the nerves. If you’ve never googled “sweeny shoulder”, a common injury in Thoroughbreds I suggest you do that to see how nerves affect muscles. The delicate nerves and vascular systems in the horses body are all
Interconnected, I don’t like to focus on one area because the horse is ONE body. But for efficiency I’ll focus on a few, the trapezius(cervical and thoracic) waste away when horses are ridden on the forehand and behind the vertical. The trapezius is also affected by saddle fit and can impede the shoulders movement, the scapular cartilage is often damaged in horses with poor saddle fit.
Logissimus dorsi, affected by riding behind the vertical and hand dominated posture that impedes lateral spinal movement, easily atrophied if worked in tension.
Multifidus is an over looked muscle group in the back, it has a massive impact on DSP spacing due to the way it attaches and can pull DSPs towards each other(kissing spines) this muscle group can be protective or destructive depending on how you condition them. There are many more important muscle groups I will go in to detail in my book.

The main thing to remember about muscles is they are extremely compliant to their loading, meaning they either develop or atrophy. Just look at the huge range of development in humans, a ballerina and a body builder are both athletes but have developed their bodies in radically different ways.

Competitive eventing horses are judged on two things, their soundness in the trot ups and their ability to complete the three stage course, Dressage, cross country and showjumping. Horses who display atrophy in their top lines, will do dressage behind the vertical, be heavy in the riders hands and movements on the forehand. You don’t need a great topline for this Level of dressage, you can carry your horses front end and still score well enough. Horses with atrophy will display big lofty scope on the cross country to clear fences utilising both speed and hind end power. You don’t need a great top line for cross country. Where atrophy will bite you though is in the showjumping, because you do need healthy top lines to be able to either shorten or lengthen a stride to a show jump. You do need the horse to be up and off the forehand to lift the front end because unlike cross country you can not run at a show jump flat and fast. Show jumping is the leveller in eventing at high level because the fences aren’t solid and clever horses get sloppy knowing they can drop rails with hanging shoulders and lazy hind legs. For a good show jumper you need a horse who can collect well, not just be held together by the rider. This is the stage where healthy toplines matter, whether riders know it or not…..a young horse may get away with it but horses over 10 years old wont have elastic youth on their side.

The horses topline tells me everything about how that horse works, when muscles are atrophied they arent working…..it’s that simple.

Year after year we see these horses in the trot ups and the internet goes wild. Soundness and what can be proven are two very different standards. Vetrinary science is built on a peer reviewed, rigorous and reductive method but I feel the problems are more nuanced than science can explain currently. I see horses in dissection constantly that I’m amazed haven’t just laid down and died. Horses that shouldn’t let humans ride them from massive internal issues. Every single one of those horses displayed behavioural issues that were passed off as quirky, naughty or being difficult. I would argue that competitive horses have the mental grit to do the job even with sub par bodies, they are the David goggins of horses! The argument is that david was self aware enough to understand the impact on his body long term and we expect this servitude from the horse without them understanding the impact.

The argument for top line atrophy and performance is “they wouldn’t be able to do it if their bodies were ruined” unfortunately the evidence I see in dissection is the complete opposite. Horses will endure incredible hardships because they are wired as prey animals with the most incredible survival instincts and competive horses have extreme mental
Fortitude. I dont have any judgements or answers, what you do with your horses is your business but I believe in education and understanding for the things we are yet to learn.

The body keeps the score

05/15/2025

01/22/2025

10/11/2024

Three leases available.

⭐️13.1, 17yr old gelding- loves to trail ride, will tolerate work with a soft and confident rider.
Will not tolerate a handsy ride. does not want to be a leadline horse.

He is a great little guy that just needs exercise and I don’t have the students or time him this winter. He would love to bomb around trails all winter.

Preferably an on farm lease- work off or small monthly fee. Off farm is an option for only the best approved home. This pony will teach a small person how to truly ride with your seat and respect.

⭐️15.1 12yr old Appaloosa mare- she is a project that needs a confident and soft advanced rider. She will need slow ground work to start.

Open to options on her. New home is possible to the very right home, but leases are preferable.

⭐️14.1 pony mare-SAFE SAFE SAFE, ON FARM lease only.
This pony is an amazing confidence builder and will help you go from beginner to intermediate quickly. This is a paid lease and on farm only, but will truly help you gain confidence at the walk trot and canter.

Located in Brattleboro, VT
Please direct message for information

08/09/2024

The next sessions starts 8/26!
We have a few afternoon times available and flexible Monday openings!
Wednesday at 4
Thursday at 3

Remember we can flex the days a little during the session since we totally understand how crazy life is 🧡

08/02/2024

We have a few lesson spots available for either ad hoc or whole sessions! Beginner adults and children welcome!

Sessions are 5 weeks long and offer a great way to dip your toe in the horse world!

Our emphasis is on horsemanship and creating a partnership with your horse.

Located in Brattleboro!
Message us for more information!