Equine Bodywork by Laura

Did you know that the look in a horse’s eye can tell a much bigger story? 👀⬇️

✨Research shows that a horse’s facial expression can be an indicator of pain and discomfort in the body. This is visible in the eyes, ears, nostrils, and facial muscles.

🐴That’s why regardless of what area I’m working on, I try to keep the face in my peripheral vision whenever possible. I’ll also routinely check in with a horse by reaching a hand towards their nose. You’ll see me do this several times during a session and there is a purpose behind it.

✋Offering my hand isn’t me seeking their affection—although it does help build a foundation of trust and rapport—it also gives me valuable insight into a horse’s nervous system state. Their response tells me whether they’re present and engaged, processing the work, or beginning to mentally check out.

🪰That’s also why I prefer not to work on horses wearing a fly mask whenever possible. Their facial expression communicates valuable information, and helps guide the work.

The eyes offer a glimpse into what the horse is experiencing beneath the surface, adding context to everything the body is communicating. 🤍

😌 Look at that sweet face. I love when owners capture moments like this. ❤️

Seeing a horse settle into a session and truly relax never gets old.

There’s handsome… and then there’s Robbie. ✨

What I appreciate most, though, isn’t just how good he looks — it’s how well he carries himself without tack on.

Once the saddle comes off, you get a much more honest picture of the horse underneath. Saddles can hide asymmetry, lack of topline, and tension patterns in the body.

Comfortable horses tend to organize and carry themselves differently. That comfort shows up in the little details: posture, muscle development, self-carriage, and the way a horse holds himself even at rest.

Have you ever noticed how different some horses look once the saddle comes off? 🐎

✨Muscle Spasm vs. Muscle Atrophy: They can both look like general muscle stiffness. But how do you recognize them in your horse?👇

➡️ Muscle spasm happens when a muscle is doing too much; it locks in contraction. This is usually due to a muscle guarding or compensating for a lack of range of motion in a joint, or compensating for weak stabilizing muscles. It can feel knotted, hard, and visually twitching. The bodywork goal here is to release, soften, and restore balance.

➡️ Muscle atrophy happens when a muscle has essentially “gone quiet.” Muscle mass is lost — often from lack of use, improper body biomechanics, nerve compression, or long-term pain avoidance. Atrophied muscles often look like hollow/sunken areas. The bodywork goal here is to stimulate and encourage the tissue “back to life.” Topline atrophy is widely talked about. But it’s also common to see tensor fascia latae and quadricep atrophy — the muscles on the side of the hips.

✅ Did you know?

A horse with tight hamstrings and weak quadriceps often shows resistance to having its hind legs held up for farrier work. Sound familiar? Leave a comment or let me know if you’d like a post all about hind end muscle balance 🙋‍♀️

When you’re caught mid-stretch 🙌

👉Doesn’t text back
👉Constant judgement

👉No mixed signals
👉Unwavering loyalty

Hair. Everywhere.

💌 You’ve got a four-legged Valentine 🐴🐶

She said she doesn’t need flowers.
Just snacks.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Stormy ❤️🐾

Same horse. Same day.

The difference is the body responding to the right input. ✨

➡️ In the before photo, this horse’s center of gravity is very far forward over her front legs, and she looks very downhill. This forehand-heavy posture puts extra stress on the tendons and ligaments in the front legs, makes true collection and core engagement difficult, and creates compensations throughout the rest of the body.

✅ After one session — my first time working with her — you can see a visible lift through the chest, a more neutral spinal angle — her withers are lifted up in line with her pelvis, and her center of gravity is shifted backward so she doesn’t look like she’s falling forward. She looks more balanced, more upright, and more comfortable simply standing.

➡️ Regardless of conformation, many horses can be functionally too heavy on the forehand, braced through the ventral neck, or lacking thoracic sling support — and that affects performance, soundness, and longevity.

Why this before and after happens👇

Horses don’t have collarbones. The height of their front end isn’t limited by the scaffolding of bones— it’s suspended entirely by muscle. That means posture, balance, and how a horse carries itself can change when we address tension, compensation, and weakness in the right places. Conformation isn’t always the full story.

📸 I used to be skeptical of before & after photos. But once I learned how to take them better and mark them with grounding lines to track angles, it became clear how important documenting these changes really is. It’s not about optical illusions — it’s about showing measurable, functional improvement.

Group opinion forming. Someone else can go first…🐴😅