Re: Drags toes

[Horsestwo@aol.com]

Lynette;

I went to a Nancy Spencer clinic some years ago.  She works with special needs
people doing mounted horse therapy and her specialization is physical therapy
including stretching exercises.  Although her training was with humans she
studied equine anatomy so she could come up with stretching exercises for
performance horses.  I was thrilled to see that aspect of riding addressed as
performance horses aren't that different from their human counterparts.  So
much of equine sports medicine and conditioning comes from human studies and
this area had never been covered to my knowledge.

I got a laminated poster that had all her stretching exercises shown, in the
correct order, with explanations about correct posture (both human and horse)
that has been very useful for me.  I had gotten Jack Meagher's book about
massage but I couldn't "see" the possible problems much less how to fix them.
The stretching clinic and poster have been much more useful and the routine of
stretching before and after riding has become part of my ritual.

Other uses for stretching are: to keep some flexibility when the horse is laid
up; to allow the horse to rest during vet checks without stiffening up; to see
where your horse is already tight so you can address the stiffness with
chiropractic, massage, etc.; and lastly as a way to get your horse really
comfortable with being shod which is especially good for younger horses.

The bad news is that I don't know where to reach her or get a copy of her
materials relating to stretching.  She is (was?) from the Washington, DC area
possibly Virginia.  She had Jim Brady (guy shot when Reagan was shot) as a
client.  Maybe it's possible to find her associated with handicapped riding
programs on east coast.  It's worth the effort for any performance horse.
Additionally, she was also associated with our Olympic dressage team but this
was at least 5 or 6 years ago.

One other advantage is the NO cost to do-it-yourself stretching!!  Good luck
and happy trails.

Melanie in AZ