Equine Bodyworks By Mary Sargeant

What if you didnt know where to begin so just didnt bother trying?

We all begin learning at a novice entry level, wether it be riding, owning, learning to become a professional, learning as an owner we all start at the beginning, yet often we dont continue because in those early days we just dont feel we are good enough to make a difference, especially when we glance our eyes up and everyone else seems to know what they are doing.

I think to have doubt heck even be a little scared is a good thing for it keeps you and your horse safe, that feeling in the pit of your stomach, your hands slightly shaking, the nagging voice in your head are all normal and there to remind you not to get to cocky 😁 but often we let those things become our focus and often we stop when they become to loud.

I am honest and will tell you probably for the 1st two years of being a therapist i spent most of my time going, what the heck is that, how do I spell it, how do I say it and when the owner rang to tell me their horse was going better I was like really🤔 what the heck did i do and can I do it again 🧐

But every horse taught me a little bit more, I would begin to see repetitive patterns that would help me decide where to to next, I never think of anything when working like ooh must work on a gluteal, must release this or that I just go ok how do I make this horse feel better and why my moves got smaller and softer so I could listen to the more subtle shifts, feel my way round and knowledge and feel progressed together building slowly but never-ending because every horse showed me how do refine my work.

But none of it would have happened if I had quit when I felt uncomfortable, felt that it wouldn't get better or fell at the first hurdle of maybe not getting things right.

Do I know an owner will feel wierd when I thrust a horses leg into their hands and hold this for a minute ??? Of course because I did, yet its that tell tale eureka moment when they glance up and I nod and say "did you feel it: ?? And they go "now I get it" and you see once you get it you are already on a different path without even knowing its already begun 😊

It's making someone feel comfortable that its ok to get get things not quite right in the beginning that is what practice is for, I have been there when you get ridiculed for not knowing and I wouldn't wish that feeling on anyone and I made a promise to not be that person when it came to helping others learn or else I am no better than the awful tutors I had who didn't understand i was not stupid I just didn't learn they way they taught.

When I work on a horse my brain is not thinking of anatomical structures, its not thinking of anything in fact its the only time my head is not full of questions or a constant narrative for its my hands that hold the power and I just follow the pattern the horse shows, where it is wrong and how do I make it better is the only goal I want to achieve.

The first rule for me is simply does the horse like what I am doing and its the first rule for the horsenowner as often they will ask "am I doing it right" and I look up at the horse and say there is your answer to your question, and that for me is the moment when the owner does not need words of encouragement they like me just know xx

The pic is of me many years ago winging it 😃

Being corrected, surround yourself with people who will tell you to not post dumb s**t😆

None of us like to be wrong, and it hurts a little if we are corrected, but often people are not doing it out of malice, they are simply doing it because we f**ked up and we must be adult enough to accept sometimes the thoughts in our heads must be quality control checked before we put it out in the big wide world.

And that is where having a bunch of people who keep your feet on the ground around you may help you realise that not everything we think must be posted or we need to do a little research first.

The problem with social media is we can filter what we may believe is hate out yet often we are filtering a truth, we can block, limit, alter the feedback we receive to make us feel better yet in that we become surrounded by people who will only ever agree even if we are wrong and that is not learning that is simply affirming our belief into a truth.

While there are is a need to limit truly awful comments we must still be open to question, if we declare something we may need to back it up to defend our declaration, for if we cannot be questioned then simply we become unchallenged and that does not help the horse.

We cant look at our tiny world of the way we keep our horses and declare the whole world has to change for us, we know that we need to adapt our work, our, our beliefs, to the individual need of the horses we meet.

Your allies are not those who simply never question, they are the ones who say how, why and what, tell me more. The yes people will always agree even if its wrong they are not the allies often they become the enemy of further education

As professionals we have become wary of speaking up when we see wrong, not because we dont care but simply because our valid point gets lost as the horde descends into the comment section to defend a person not the point they were making, people can still be a nice person but wrong at the same time, and while we think we still live in a world of free speech, debate and asking why, the world of social media turns those thoughts into trolling, hate, and a personal attack.

Parasocial relationships are very real, we think we know the poster, yet do we really,.you only know what we want you to see, nobody really knows the real us, while some of us show the failure and success of our professional life, others only want a polished view and while both are ok we have to remember what we write may not be who we really are.

Remember horse first is never about making us feel better in the words that we write, it matters not one bit to the horse, its always about how we take that information and translate into action for the horse, if it doesn't work in the real world then its just hollow words that someone has wrote on the Internet.

If you are a professional that is just starting out my advise is to not surround yourself with those who say yes to every idea you have, surround yourself with those who ask you why, for i would rather work alone then have to curtail my ethics just to get ahead or fit in. Freedom comes with not having to taper your own beliefs but also listening to others who may challenge them

Ooh waiting for natures sugar to ripen eek
When people ask do I miss refined sugar
Erm nope😊

Refusing to move forward.

I want to talk about this as I feel often we read something, get all uppity about it, rant in private then go on about our day, yet as someone who deals with horses in pain almost every day I feel I must speak about it, so further investigation is always an option for the horse.
And I will say this until I can say it no more horses who refuse, object, ignore, display an undesired behaviour when we ask something of them usually, dont understand or physically cant do or even simply have done this before and they didnt like the result.

I often think we are not going backwards in the horseworld from the ones we think are the bad guys, its the very people that have been preaching horse first and making us feel guilty for every interaction we do yet everything they do which may go against their own words is wrapped up as horse first often to allay their own guilt at having to change scenarios as circumstance dictates.

You see most of us out there do not work with definites when dealing with horses as we know each horse has its own individual needs, and the need can change as they go through life, illness, aging, owners personal life, finances, all can change and we may have to sit back and rethink, are our beliefs and staunch principles that we put upon others now in question because the horse stood before us doesnt care about the words we spoke they need us to act upon what they need in this moment.

Horses are taught from a very early age that to compromise with the human means an easy life, wether we like it or not that is reality, the quiet horse who does as its told will have a better guarantee of a more secure future, the horses that make us think and change better hope the human is ready for change or often their life is full of being passed around until they find that person or sadly for many end up somewhere less desirable, for those horses make us question our own abilities.

Moving forward is something they learn, and we as humans learn the same repitive tools and movements to ask them, when we take those away from both horse and human both stand there perplexed as to how to achieve it without the aids that both are so used to, and if we are going to suggest we do remove everything two species have grown accustomed to we need to have the answer as to what to do next. We cant make up s**t to hide our own inability to have the next answer.

Turn out is so important for horses, movement is the one thing that can help maintain a healthy body, recovery in the healing process, both mental and physical health need to be catered for and there is never a point in a good environmental, species appropriate setting that a horse can become exhausted to the point it refuses to move when we ask to work with them.

If a horse was exhausted from turnout, it would not show up first when we ask them to move forward the signs would be apparent when in that turn out, if we as I always say learn the subtle first we will always notice earlier.

I work with the elderly and its not osteoporosis that is the enemy of the old, its lack of movement.

As for saying they are not living in the wild, i look to my horses in domestication as much as I do my dogs, I dont compare my dogs to wolves and neither do I compare my horses to a wild herd, I look to species appropriate environment and for horses there need to move away from danger is utmost in nervous system regulation, i mean we all talk about it but do we understand it!!!!

Those of us out there working in the real world, dont make big statements we cannot uphold ourselves, if i ask someone to do something its always for the good of the horse not to sell a new course, if i say it its because I live by those words and in that I keep an open mind to all possibilities

If I declare stables are bad then how can I help someone who stables their horse, I am alienating someone who is doing the best for their horse, who I am to judge???

Its not the fact circumstances change its the fact the guilt that is layed upon those just trying to get by, and often the words we read are those who feel guilt for doing something they told you not to do.

If refusal to go forward is simply a tired from turnout thing, then why do we see it most in the horses who are not turned out, maybe they are exhausted from other things, and when we look at the videos of the horses being whipped and still standing there, i mean that video of the horse being hit 42 times yet still took a beating then take one step forward was it simply because it was tired???

Yes I am still finishing the next e book and yes it is taking a little longer but you know me I will keep teasing with pics so you can see what its about so you know in what way I show my work

This is not the finished product I might change the skull. honestly what takes the longest is I sit and look at my pictures and think would someone who hasn't heard of the cranial nerves understand what they do after they have looked at the picture, so while there is the anatomical side I also include a visual representation so it helps get it and this is what takes the longest not just putting it on but making sure its understood

And remember I have to fit in my day jobs aswell 😃😃 I promise it wont be long

If you like this my other two e-books the skeletal and muscular system and my free ebook for the younger generation are all available on my website just hit google search for equine bodyworks by Mary Sargeant and head to the shop, both card and PayPal options available