Equine Sports Massage Therapy

10/07/2026

Colic isn't a single disease. It's an umbrella term that describes any form of abdominal pain in a horse 🐴

Over 40 different conditions can cause colic, from a simple spasm to a twist that needs surgery.

And from the outside, particularly in the early stages, they can look remarkably similar 🔍

Most horse owners are surprised when I share with them that colic has so many underlying potential causes.

And with well over 1,000,000 horses worldwide affected by colic every year, there’s still so much about colic that I believe owners deserve to know.

So over the next few weeks, I'm going to dive deep on colic, so stay tuned, and in the meantime, I'd love to know - did you already know this about colic, or is this new knowledge for you?

10/05/2026

09/17/2026

YOU CAN LEARN A LOT FROM ONE PHOTO… IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING AT 👀

This is why I take photos from angles that might look a bit random to everyone else.

A top-down view like this gives me a really useful snapshot of the horse’s overall symmetry, muscle development, posture and how the body is sitting around the spine.

In this image I’ve marked out a few of the things I’m visually comparing:

🔴 The midline
Not because I expect a horse to be perfectly straight, but because it gives me a reference point for how the body appears to sit either side of the spine.

🟢 The epaxial musculature
The muscle columns running either side of the thoracic spine. I’m looking at width, development, contour and whether one side appears fuller, flatter or more hollow than the other.

🟡 The shoulder and trunk contours
This can help highlight differences in shape and muscular development through the shoulder girdle and ribcage.

🔵 The overall body outline
Sometimes asymmetry becomes much more obvious when you stop looking at one individual muscle and look at the horse as a whole.

And this is the important bit:

A photo like this does not diagnose anything.

Horses are not perfectly symmetrical. Conformation, stance, camera angle, coat pattern, lighting, workload and even how they’re standing in that exact moment can all change what we see.

But when you combine photographs with:

→ palpation
→ movement assessment
→ posture
→ muscle tone
→ range of motion
→ ridden or performance history
→ owner observations
→ previous veterinary findings

…they become another really useful piece of the puzzle.

I also love using images like this to track horses over time.

Because sometimes the interesting part isn’t what the horse looks like today.

It’s what has changed in 4, 8 or 12 weeks.

Has one side started filling out?
Has the topline changed?
Has a hollow become less obvious?
Has strengthening work actually altered the way the body is developing?

That’s where photographs become incredibly useful.

Assessment isn’t about finding imperfections. It’s about noticing patterns, asking why they might be there, and deciding whether they actually matter.

Sometimes one photograph gives you a very good place to start!

Would you like me to do more of these where I break down exactly what I’m looking at in real assessment photos?

09/06/2026

The Emerging Science of Fascia and Expanding Our Understanding

Modern research has shown that fascia is far more than connective tissue. It forms a continuous body-wide network that senses mechanical forces, communicates with the nervous system, distributes load, stores and returns elastic energy, and adapts to training, injury, and rehabilitation.

Some researchers have even proposed that the fascial network—and perhaps its water-rich extracellular matrix—functions as a highly responsive biological communication system, or even an “antenna” for mechanical information. While this hypothesis remains under active investigation, it reflects just how rapidly our understanding of fascia is evolving.

As scientists continue to study this remarkable tissue, fascia is emerging as one of the most important integrative systems in the horse’s body, influencing movement, coordination, performance, and recovery in ways that were unimaginable only a few decades ago.

Fascia is a Sensory Hub

Many fascial tissues contain substantially more sensory nerve endings than adjacent muscle, including mechanoreceptors that detect tension, pressure, stretch, vibration, and movement. These receptors continuously send information to the nervous system about body position, loading, and movement, contributing to proprioception and motor control.

Rather than acting as an inert wrapping around muscles, fascia functions as an active sensory interface between the body and the nervous system.

Movement begins before muscles contract.

Emerging research suggests that the fascial network is continually maintained under a degree of resting tension, sometimes referred to as pre-stress. This tension may help pre-position and pre-load the body, allowing movement to begin more efficiently.

Instead of movement being initiated solely by muscle contraction, fascia participates in preparing the body for movement while simultaneously providing continuous sensory feedback to the nervous system.

Fascia, it seems, contributes to movement in ways that extend beyond far beyond simply connecting muscles together.

Fascia Transfers Force Throughout the Body

Fascia forms a continuous three-dimensional connective tissue network that links muscles, tendons, ligaments, bones, and organs.

Through this network, fascial pathways distribute force is across multiple regions of the body.

A well-conditioned fascial network improves the efficiency of force transmission, coordination, and movement while also contributing to elastic energy storage and return during locomotion.

Fascia is Dynamic and Adaptable

Fascial tissues constantly respond to movement and loading.

Their mechanical properties change with exercise, training, injury, hydration, age, and recovery stage. Fascia continually remodels in response to the demands placed upon it.

This adaptability helps explain why movement quality, conditioning, recovery, and bodywork can all influence how the body functions.

Fascia Also Has Unique Electrical Properties

Collagen-rich fascial tissues exhibit piezoelectric properties, meaning that mechanical loading can generate tiny electrical potentials within the tissue.

These signals are thought to contribute to cellular communication, tissue adaptation, and remodeling. The water-rich extracellular matrix surrounding fascial tissues also plays an important role in their mechanical and electrical behavior, making this an active area of research in mechanobiology.

An Expanding Understanding

Modern fascia research increasingly recognizes fascia as one of the body’s primary integrative tissues, linking sensation, movement, force transmission, adaptation, and communication. As our understanding continues to expand, fascia is reshaping how we think about equine movement, performance, rehabilitation, and bodywork.

https://koperequine.com/fascias-signaling-molecules/

08/23/2026

08/16/2026

👀 TRAIN YOUR EYE | Part 4: The Tongue

We’re back with Part 4 of the Looking Beyond the Poll series.

We’ve already explored the poll, the TMJ, and the hyoid apparatus, all structures that work closely together.

Today we’re looking at one that’s often overlooked, despite being one of the busiest muscles in the horse’s body…

The tongue.

Most people think of the tongue as something that simply holds the bit.

In reality, it’s involved in swallowing, chewing, breathing, communication, and maintaining normal function of the hyoid apparatus.

Every movement of the tongue influences the hyoid.

Every movement of the hyoid influences the surrounding muscles and fascia.

And because the hyoid is connected to the poll, jaw and cervical region, changes in one area can influence the others.

That doesn’t mean the tongue is a/the problem, but it does mean it deserves more attention than it often gets.

👀 What might you notice?

Sometimes horses with altered tongue function may show signs such as:

• Playing excessively with the bit
• Tongue over the bit or out of the side of the mouth
• Inconsistent contact
• Difficulty chewing evenly
• Opening the mouth or crossing the jaw
• Difficulty softening through the jaw
• Resistance during flexion
• Increased poll or throatlatch tension

Again… These aren’t diagnoses.

A horse showing these behaviours could be responding to dental discomfort, inappropriate bitting, rider influence, TMJ restriction, hyoid dysfunction, pain elsewhere in the body, or many other factors.

The tongue is simply one part of a much bigger system.

One of the reasons I love studying this area is because it reminds us not to become fixated on symptoms.

If a horse constantly plays with the bit, we shouldn’t immediately ask:

“What bit should I buy?”

Instead, we should be asking:

Why might this horse be using its tongue like this?

Is it trying to avoid pressure?

Is chewing uncomfortable?

Is the hyoid moving freely?

Is the TMJ comfortable?

Is there tension through the cervical muscles?

Is something further back in the body influencing what’s happening at the front?

Those are the questions that move us from simply managing signs to understanding the horse in front of us.

The tongue isn’t just a muscle inside the mouth.

It’s part of a highly coordinated network that links breathing, swallowing, posture and movement.

Understanding those connections helps us become better observers and ultimately better advocates for our horses.

In Part 5, we’ll move into the muscular connections of the neck and explore how the sternocephalicus, brachiocephalicus and surrounding cervical musculature influence everything we’ve discussed so far.

Because the horse doesn’t move in isolated parts.

Everything is connected!

🧠 Has your horse ever played with the bit, put its tongue over the bit, or seemed inconsistent in the contact? What was the underlying cause? I’d love to hear your experiences in the comments.

08/16/2026

🐴 GENERIC vs INDIVIDUALISED HOOF CARE — are we over-generalising?

The hoof-care world is full of strongly held beliefs:

❌ “Shoes are bad.”
❌ “Barefoot is always better.”
❌ “This trim works for every horse.”
❌ “That hoof shape is normal for the breed.”

But horses are individuals — and hoof care should be too.

Through our evidence-informed, welfare-led approach at Holistic Equine, we see both shod and barefoot horses with pathological hoof morphology — where hoof shape, balance, loading and function may be contributing to pain, lameness or wider problems.

So rather than starting with an ideology about what should be on the horse’s foot, we start with the horse.

🐴 What hoof morphology are we seeing?
🐴 How is the hoof loading and functioning?
🐴 What does movement tell us?
🐴 What are the horse’s welfare parameters telling us?
🐴 Are there metabolic, environmental or management factors influencing what we see?
🐴 And most importantly — is our intervention actually improving this individual horse’s welfare state over time?

This allows us to move away from generic solutions and towards an individualised hoof-care plan that can be documented, implemented, measured and continually reassessed.

And this isn’t just important for hoof-care professionals.

I regularly meet horse owners who have assembled an excellent wider equine team — vets, therapists, saddle fitters, dentists, trainers and behaviourists — yet underlying hoof morphology, balance and loading problems have sometimes gone unrecognised while problems elsewhere in the horse are being addressed.

That’s why I believe hoof literacy should extend beyond hoof-care professionals.

If you work with horses professionally, learning to recognise potentially pathological hoof morphology and understanding when hoof balance, loading or metabolic factors may warrant further investigation can add another valuable piece to the whole-horse picture.

Something new is coming…

Very soon, we’re launching our new online community for horse and human wellbeing, including the opportunity to work with me in our VIP Hoof Mentorship Group.

You’ll learn how to:

• Document and map your horse’s hooves
• Recognise different hoof types and morphology
• Identify potential areas of concern
• Develop an individualised hoof-care plan
• Track changes objectively over time
• Ask the crucial question: are we genuinely improving this horse’s welfare state?

This is for horse owners AND equine professionals who want to understand the hoof as part of the whole horse rather than simply following a particular hoof-care philosophy.

💚 Better observation. Better evidence. Better decisions. Better outcomes for horses.

👉 Sign up to our newsletter to be among the first to hear how to join the new community — and receive details of our special launch offer:

https://www.holisticequine.co.uk/subscribe

📸 ABOUT THE IMAGE

The image shows pre-trim (top) and post-trim (bottom) views of a left fore hoof on the left and a left hind hoof on the right.

The hooves have been documented and marked up using the Hoof Map app, allowing us to record, map and compare hoof morphology and changes over time rather than relying on memory or subjective impressions alone.

If you join the VIP Hoof Mentorship Group, you’ll learn how to document and map your own horse’s hooves using Hoof Map.

Every week we meet as a group to discuss your horses’ hooves through an evidence-based and welfare-focused lens — helping you develop your observational skills, understand what you’re seeing, create an individualised hoof-care plan and objectively track whether the horse’s welfare state is improving.

08/09/2026

👀 TRAIN YOUR EYE | Part 3: The Hyoid Apparatus

We’re back with Part 3 of the Looking Beyond the Poll series, and today we’re talking about one of my favourite structures in the horse’s body…

The hyoid apparatus!

If you’ve never heard of it before, don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone. Though, if your horse has received treatment from me, you’ve probably heard about it too much…

It’s a tiny collection of bones, suspended beneath the skull rather than attached directly to it, but despite its size it has connections throughout the entire upper body/axial skeleton.

In fact, every time your horse:
• Swallows
• Chews
• Accepts the bit
• Moves its tongue
• Breathes
• Yawns

…the hyoid apparatus is involved!

One of the things I find most fascinating is that the hyoid has anatomical and fascial connections with the:

✔ Poll
✔ TMJ
✔ Tongue
✔ Larynx
✔ Deep cervical muscles
✔ Cervical fascia
✔ Shoulder and thoracic sling through muscular chains

That’s why tension here doesn’t necessarily stay here.

A restriction affecting the hyoid can influence how comfortably a horse swallows, chews, accepts the contact, lowers the neck, or even how freely it moves through the topline.

Likewise, pain or restriction elsewhere in the body may also create compensatory tension around the hyoid.

What might you notice?

You might see things such as:

• Difficulty softening into the contact
• Playing with the bit or excessive chewing
• Tongue evasions
• Reluctance to stretch forwards and down
• Head tilting or crookedness
• Poll or throatlatch tension
• Difficulty swallowing after work
• Noisy breathing in some horses
• Resistance during ridden work

None of these signs automatically mean the hyoid is the problem.

They’re simply pieces of information that help build the bigger picture.

One of the biggest mistakes we can make is chasing the place where we see tension.

The real question is:

Why is this horse choosing to hold tension here?

That’s where clinical reasoning begins.

The body is brilliantly interconnected, and the hyoid is one of the best examples of that.

Sometimes it’s not the structure that’s injured…

It’s simply the structure that’s speaking the loudest.

In the next post we’ll continue following the chain and explore another structure connected to the poll, helping you build a better understanding of how these regions influence one another.

Because horses don’t move in isolated parts.

They move as one connected system.

Have you ever heard of the hyoid apparatus before, or is this a completely new structure for you? I’d love to know in the comments.