05/20/2026
Neuroplasticity
Everything we do affects the nervous system.
Google’s definition of neuroplasticity is: “the brain's lifelong ability to adapt, reorganize, and rewire its neural connections in response to new experiences, learning, or injury”
The brain is constantly changing in response to new information. Everything we do to a horse re-wires their brain and nervous system.
The brain is especially responsive to pain, even more so in a prey animal.
The good news is that the brain is also very responsive to interrupting the pain cycle.
That is why learning effective ways to break the pain cycle and create balanced and safe movement is so significant.
Pain science is limited in horses, but we know that the localized tissue damage is not always indicative of the level of pain. The pain that is felt is the way the brain perceives the pain.
This was something I saw so obviously in treating humans.
One woman came in one morning and had the most awful radiographs I had ever seen of her CMC joint (where the thumb articulates with the wrist) and her pain level was almost non-existent.
Another lady came in a few hours later with pretty amazing looking radiographs (especially for her age) and her pain levels were so significant that she could no longer dress herself, cook for her family, or do any of her hobbies.
The pain was not directly specific to the level of damage to the tissue, it was the way the brain was perceiving the tissue.
I’m not saying “it's all made up in your head”.
I am saying “it's in your head.”
The brain is in charge of how we experience our body.
We are always treating an entire horse. Never just a bicep - always a horse that happens to have a sore bicep. Whole horse. Led by the brain and the nervous system.
Injury doesn’t just affect the body. It changes what the brain expects is safe because the brain is more concerned with uncertainty than pain.
Injury trains the brain to protect. Recovery trains it to trust.
You don’t increase performance without rebuilding safety in their own body.
The pain cycle looks like this: damaged tissue sends alarm signals to the brain. The brain sends directions to the soft tissues to protect the area. “Send in the troops!”
As the soft tissue restricts to protect the area, more alarm signals are sent to the brain. And so goes the spiral and descent into dysfunctional movement, pain, and fear of movement.
But. We can affect the soft tissue, decrease the alarm signals being sent to the brain, and create a new cycle between brain and tissue that starts to include safety, comfort, and balanced movement.
How freaking cool is that.
🙋🏻♀️ My entire philosophy of treatment, and my entire classroom is built on this: everything we do affects the nervous system. Everything we do to a horse re-wires their brain.
The way we use our hands. The direction and duration of a manual hold. Cups. Blades. Tape. Vibration forks. Create safety. Re-wire their brain. Progress in an upward spiral to health.
If you vibe with any of that, let's be friends. 🙋🏻♀️
The nervous system is so cool.
My next Equine Myofascial Release and Equine Nervous System workshops are:
Clever Missouri - May 29 and 30
(Deadline to register is May 22)
College Station - June 12 and 13
(Deadline to register is May 29)
Comment “learn” for more info on how to get signed up 🥳
