Project Pegasus Equine Services LLC

Ok Answer to the question, what lies beneath the girth?

Are you ready 😅

I am going to work outside in so maybe next time you pick up the girth you will think layer by layer about exactly what structures lie below, especially if your horse is labelled grumpy, girthy or difficult some or all of the time.
Its going to be short simple explanations because there is actually quite alot to consider and I dont want to turn this into an anatomy lesson that takes three days to read 😂

First up the SKIN;
First contact and incredibly important because even something as simple as the lay of the hair can become an irritant, the clue might actually be there before you even tighten the girth, how was your horse when you groomed this area? If they are already unhappy about being touched then maybe we need to address that before doing up another buckle and deciding they just dont like being girthed.

Cutaneous Trunci;
Or better known as the fly twitch muscle, this can become quite visible at certain times of the year but if its twitching and there are no flies then we may need to start looking at the why. If it is working overtime it may become sensitive and in my own experience I often see changes through this area alongside seasonal changes particularly in the more gut sensitive horses, that doesnt mean the twitching tells us the gut is the problem but a change from what is normal for that horse can be a clue that something else may be happening.
This is part of the Panniculus Carnosus, basically this sheet of skin muscle, extends across parts of the horse so again just because we see something that may not be the area that needs attention.

Ascending Pectoral;
Including the Transverse Pectoral because people often forget just how much muscle there is underneath the horse aswell as down the sides. These muscles are part of a group and nothing works completely independently, if one area isnt functioning comfortably then others may have to alter what they are doing and quite simply a sore muscle probably isnt going to appreciate having something tightened around it.

Latissimus Dorsi;
Again at certain times of the year often when horses are spending much longer with their heads down grazing as the grass comes through this can be an area where your horse really wants scratching and can feel a little overworked. The Latissimus Dorsi is linked into the Thoracolumbar fascia so again we arent looking at an isolated muscle with no relationship to anything else, what we notice in one place can sometimes be part of something happening through a much bigger area of the body.

External Abdominal Oblique;
Now we are getting into the abdominal wall and this again is a huge structure, attaching along the ribs and continuing underneath into a broad sheet of aponeurosis. So when we tighten a girth around the horse we arent simply putting something around a ribcage, there are layers of muscle and connective tissue here which still need to accommodate movement and changes in the shape of the trunk.

Serratus Ventralis Thoracis;
This is part of the muscular sling supporting the trunk between the forelimbs and attaches onto the ribs, extending back to around the 8th or 9th rib. It also has an important relationship with movement of the scapula and trunk so again this isnt simply something sitting underneath a strap doing nothing, its part of a system being used every time your horse moves.

Intercostal Muscles;
Between the ribs we have the Intercostal muscles and these are involved in movement of the ribcage during breathing. Just think about that for a second because we are putting a girth around an area which needs to change shape as the horse breathes, then we are asking them to move and exercise while wearing it. Lets not ask horses to keep breathing in to tighten the girth they need to exhale aswell 😉

Intercostal Neurovascular Bundle;
Along the caudal border of each rib we also have the Intercostal Vein, Artery and Nerve, often remembered as VAN. So by the time we get through all those muscular layers we still havent simply arrived at a row of bones, there are blood vessels and nerves travelling through this area too.

Lateral Thoracic Nerve;
And of course nerves matter, the Lateral Thoracic Nerve travels through this general region and supplies the Cutaneous Trunci, which rather nicely takes us all the way back to that fly twitch muscle we started with. Something we can see happening right at the surface has a nerve supplying it from deeper within the body, there are lots of nerves that are located in this area and why we have to be aware of what we are doing when riding.

Ribs and Lungs;
And eventually we reach the thoracic wall and beyond that the pleura and lungs. Before anyone panics I am obviously not saying your girth is directly squashing your horses lungs 😂 I have included them because I wanted to show just how many different layers and structures we have travelled through before we even reach the inside of the thorax.

So what lies beneath the girth?

Quite alot actually 😅

And none of this means that every horse who dislikes being girthed has something wrong with one of these structures, that isnt the point of this post, the point is that "girthy" only really describes what we are seeing the horse do, it doesnt tell us why they are doing it.

Skin, muscle, fascia, ribs, nerves, breathing, tack, previous experience and things happening elsewhere in the body can all potentially be part of the picture and sometimes rather than immediately correcting the behaviour or tightening the next hole perhaps we should stop for a minute and ask why something as ordinary as putting the girth on has suddenly become something our horse feels the need to have an opinion about.

This is only a small part as I couldnt fit anymore pictures on, but I think you get the gist of why it may not be a one area issue.
Anatomical variation depends on wether I had my glasses on.

One of the hardest things to learn as a bodyworker when you are at the beginning of your journey, is that your value isn't measured by how much you're doing.

It can be tempting to fill every moment with movement, techniques or the next step in your session plan. But some of the most meaningful moments in a session happen when we pause.

Creating space gives the animal time to process, respond and communicate. It allows you to observe rather than assume, to listen rather than lead. In those quiet moments, you'll often notice subtle shifts that tell you far more than continuous hands-on work ever could.

Bodywork isn't about constantly applying techniques. It's about building a conversation where the animal you’re working with has the opportunity to participate, respond and guide the session alongside you.

Sometimes, the most skilled thing you can do is simply wait.

It takes confidence and experience to learn how to take a step back, this is your reminder that it will come with time.

Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby. Then came the Preakness — the second jewel of the Triple Crown — and Cherie DeVaux said no. The world watched. The pressure was enormous. She walked away anyway.

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But here's what nobody is talking about enough: he ran two races, not three. He was protected, rested, and trusted. And he came back and reminded everyone exactly who he is.

Could they have chased the Triple Crown? Absolutely. Would the pressure, the back-to-back races, the shortened recovery have been worth it? Cherie DeVaux didn't think so — and she was willing to let history pass her by to prove it.

That's not weakness. That's the rarest kind of strength there is.

It's easy to be brave when you're already winning. Real courage is choosing the horse over the glory, choosing long-term greatness over short-term legend. In a sport where ambition often overrides everything, DeVaux chose differently.

Golden Tempo is the champion of the track. Cherie DeVaux is the champion of the horse.

And maybe — just maybe — that means more than any crown ever could.

The success stories these ladies share gave me goosebumps!

I am so thankful for having ProSix introduced to me when Otis needed it most.

I will use one for so much more with my mare and gelding and will be recommending this product to all of my clients. Its uses are so versatile, every horse would benefit from its use.

🎙️‼️New Episode! ‼️🎙️

🌺Join your favorite red mares, Taylor and Kahlan, for another double feature episode! Today’s story isn’t just the story of one horse, but the many horses that are helped by ProSix. Founders, Jill McDermott and Lynda Reese walk us through their inspiration for this product and all its different uses.
☯️Prosix is a whole body proprioceptive tool that can help support horses struggling with ataxia due to disease, kissing spine, body lameness from compensation patterns and so much more. They even have dog sizes! This incredible tool helps creatures big and small from training time to rehab to hospice care.

🧡Thumbnail photo is of Kellie Courtwright Roach of Arete Hoof Care working on Brittany West's darling boy, Otis. Brittany and Otis were featured in our last episode (15) 🧡
Project Pegasus Equine Services LLC

🍿Grab some snacks and settle in to hear the inspiring stories Jill and Lynda have to share., as well as some solid science.

🎧Apple podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e16-proprioception-with-the-pros-lynda-reese/id1817818294?i=1000761908054
🎧Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/66Gvfvy8EfoRBZsyXYkUri?si=a03d0d745a4c41e3

☯️To learn more about the Prosix and purchase one for your horse, visit their website at: https://www.eagleprosix.com/

🧑‍🔬Link for the research study discussed: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12892970/

🤎Learn more about our showcased foundation, Teddy’s Legacy at https://www.teddyslegacy.org/

📨Email us with your interesting stories.
Your horse may be able to help another.
[email protected]

Taylor CL Schouten, MS, APF-I
Hoofcare Practitioner
Wild Hoof Equine LLC
www.wildhoofequine.com

Kahlan Ettere
Equine management
Wise Choice Equine Wellness LLC

Check out our website:
www.theredmareproject.com
Follow along on Facebook: The Red Mare Project
Instagram: Wild_Hoof_Equine

⚠️ Warning Graphic Photos ⚠️
**photos from an equine dissection that are not edited or blurred out are in this album. Please only look if you are comfortable seeing internal structures of anatomy**

✨the most difficult part of owning and loving horses letting them go. My sweet boy was showing me he was ready over the winter and we had the opportunity to make his passing meaningful and impactful for so many others.

February 13th, he was laid to rest and his body was donated for a three day dissection led by Lorre Mueller with Trinity Equine Services with the help of Gabby Hale with Victory Equine Services, hosted by Dr. Kaylin at the beautiful facility of Sun Coast Equine Veterinary Care in Odessa Florida.

In honoring him and the sacrifice he made, I participated in his dissection; it would have been a disservice to all my clients and myself for not gleaning what he had to teach. Learning from him expanded my understanding of anatomy and biomechanics, translating directly into my work. The collective knowledge and scope of practices in the attendees was incredible to be a part of; we all learned from eachother as well as from him. Though the anatomy was all covered, we all took away things unique and special for each of us to apply with our own horses and our client’s horses.

Coming from a bodyworker’s perspective, I went into this learning experience knowing almost everything about my boy’s life, having owned him since he was six months old. I knew his history, his diet, his training, his lifestyle, his maintenance, and what it took to keep him comfortable. I had been his caretaker for 5 years. I knew he was hurting. I didn’t know to what extent the damage had been done.

A fractured navicular as a yearling set him up for a lifetime of compensation. Once the soft tissue damage occurred and the bones in his feet surpassed any form of repairable treatment, the clock started ticking on how long he would remain comfortable just being a horse… we got 4 months from the MRI diagnostics to “it’s time.” The date was set with Trinity and we only had to get in through to February.

The purpose of the dissection was not a necropsy, but an overall study of the anatomy of the horse, however, every body tells a story. Knowing what’s normal helps identify what isn’t, and there was a whole lot that wasn’t normal. What was found within him reaffirmed my decision to let him go— from synovitis is almost every single joint of the limbs and cervical vertebrae, to kissing spine, to ulcers, he was living in a state of such chronic pain. The most humane thing I could have done was let him be free of his earthly body.

He was the horse that taught me when bodywork was not appropriate. Sessions would remove his compensation patterns and make him more lame.
One of the most difficult things for me was having people see him and say he looked fine. Unless you truly knew him, you would never have known what was going on beneath the surface. Heck, even I didn’t know what was going on completely. But I knew him. And I knew he was in pain. It wasn’t until he was nerve blocked that the level of pain was remotely comprehensible.

Above everything else, though, he taught me to listen to my gut. We as owners know our horses better than anyone. It is our responsibility to advocate for them and take care of them. My boy told me he was hurting and I listened to him as best as I could.

We didn’t get a lot of time together, and 99.8% of that time was spent on the ground, bonding, and enjoying each other’s company. He was never fully started, and that’s okay. He gave his whole heart in everything we did and in the end, he gave his body for the betterment of equine industry through teaching bodywork practitioners, saddle fitters, owners, and artists, too.

His purpose was fulfilled through his sacrifice.

🐴 🪽Run free, bug.
Stay Gold Pony Boy 💛