06/10/2026
We’ve experienced this with one of our ponies that a farrier told me was immutable… she wasn’t and she went on happily for another 5 years…..
The body has an incredible capacity to heal.
If we are prepared to explore past the limitations that are set for us, and the limitations we often set for ourselves, the bodies capability to heal can transcend what we deem to perceive as possible.
Take equine pasterns for example; in mainstream discussions, pasterns once dropped, should not be able to lift.
Yet they can, and they do.
Martha is a fantastic walking-talking example of this. The two images in this comparison were taken 6 months apart of the right hindlimb, and what started as changes moment-to-moment became long-term maintenance.
Whether the focus in on the physical form or the psychology, the body does not work in isolation and neither do any facets of training; to focus on one area does not isolate from another. It is one of the same to support the body in it’s entirety, and for longevity we must train our eye, connect the dots and continue to expand our knowledge to start where the horse needs us to; that could look similar for some and very different for others.
The first time I had seen rehabilitation work directly influencing the soft-tissue that corresponded to changes in the pastern was through Nahshon's work with Xodo who had confirmed DSLD.
Nahshon's work is truly fantastic to watch, and sharing his work began to open up the bigger questions of what the body could be capable of when healing is supported; it certainly did for me, and I know it does for others.
While Martha has not had a radiographic diagnosis, through presentation and assessment the process of elimination brings us to suspect an obvious level of DSLD present, at the very least a weakness and susceptibility in the surrounding tissue.
The rehabilitation protocol for Martha I would not class as anything ‘ground-breaking; it has been a framework centred around supportive training focusing on activating and maintaining specific areas of both the dorsal and ventral muscular chains, with each session adaptive in response to both comfort and behavioural feedback, emotionally and physically; some days may be more postural and static, others include more movement and are dynamic.
Alongside her exercises, I have been integrating sound frequency resonance with Martha, that she not only really enjoys, but that has has yielded fantastic changes for both her posture and her movement, something I will be expanding on more so later this month.
Changes like this for Martha would not be possible unless we had four key components; the correct framework for the individual horse, a diligent owner continuing the protocol and the environment in which promotes the body to heal. The last one? Time.
The purpose of todays words is not to detail a protocol or add specifics to a protocol, but to raise a little more awareness of what bodies are capable of, with the right support, and to celebrate the changes happening out there in the world.
Training should be transcending the limitations of our knowledge, to prompt us to have the conversations about what might be possible and look to the bigger picture of the many facets that contribute to true whole-horse health; mind, body, everything outside and everything in-between.
