Connected Bodywork

Immerse yourself in the research surrounding fascia and all things related, by joining the World Congress of Fascia this October.

A large, online gathering brings together researchers and clinicians from around the world to explore different aspects of fascia. Simultaneous translation provides delivery in Portuguese, English and Spanish.

Fascia Hub members, you can claim 10% off the price of your ticket to this international, research-led, online congress. The earlier you buy your ticket, the cheaper it is, so move now! Your coupon code is in the Fascia News section of your fortnightly emails.

We've just booked our place - it's important to keep up with what's happening in the world of fascia; part of why we exist is to help you understand it all from the clinician point of view and to bring the science into practical use in your clinical and movement work. So we'll be watching the presentations and thinking about what and who we need to bring to your screen next. See you there!

World Congress of Fascia

𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝟗𝟎-𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐇𝐲𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐒𝐈𝐇).
Hear four of the authors discuss highlights and key recommendations for the diagnosis and management of SIH.
🗓️ Tuesday, October 13, 2026
⏰ 7:00 PM EDT | 5:00 PM MDT

Registration is free.

Register in advance by scanning the QR code on the attached flyer or using the link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_jNOa6h4DRHGdGxtNpq5tXg

In 1939, outside the Swedish Pavilion at the New York World’s Fair, a nine-foot tall Dalahäst (Dala horse), weighing nearly a ton, greeted visitors. The display introduced the world to a distinctive form of hemslöjd (home craft) that originated in the Swedish county of Dalarna in the mid nineteenth century.

This illustrated presentation offers an overview of the early history of this craft, highlighting some of the key individuals and families involved in its development, including the formation of the famous Olsson companies. Discover how rich and varied the carving and painting of Dala horses has been throughout its history, and how the tradition continues today.

This free virtual program is presented by Kirsten Hansen Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal is a museum researcher at Glencairn Museum and a Dala-painting and straw-craft workshop presenter at ASHM.

This is a free program. Register here: https://www.americanswedish.org/events/dala-horse-brief-history-swedish-folk-art-icon

👏👏👏 Every horse owner, trainer, medical practitioner, and any person responsible for medical management of equines should read this summary because many of us who see long term effects and study the existing cellular and human based data have been saying basically exactly this for two decades:

"Summary
Intra-articular (IA) corticosteroid administration in equine athletes has gained increased
attention recently, particularly in racing. Despite widespread corticosteroid use in
equine practice for decades, there are still a lack of equine-specific studies to address
key questions related to their use. Extrapolation of best practices from human litera-
ture supports that while IA corticosteroids elicit transient symptom-modification of
osteoarthritis (OA), they can have deleterious effects on articular cartilage depend-
ing on drug selection, dose and time- indicating the lowest efficacious dose should be
used to achieve clinical benefit. While there are limited data supporting current clinical
protocols related to dose or injection frequency diminishing returns have been noted
with multiple-injection protocols. Recent studies have led to heightened awareness of
equine endocrinopathies and the sensitivity of equine patients with those disorders to
the effects of steroids, putting them at increased risk for complications such as lami-
nitis and secondary infection. These findings prompt reconsideration of long-term or
high-dose corticosteroid administration, particularly given the evolution of alternative
IA orthobiologic and immunomodulatory therapies for OA, which require further inves-
tigation and comparison for relative modification of clinical signs and disease progres-
sion. As much of the referenced literature does not permit direct comparisons across
studies, further research is needed to compare corticosteroids at equivalent body doses
and dosing intervals in horses with and without endocrinopathies. Without such stud-
ies, definitive evidence linking IA corticosteroid use to laminitis risk, subchondral bone
injury or catastrophic injury is lacking at this time. This narrative review seeks to sum-
marise the current literature available as well as gaps in knowledge on equine IA corti-
costeroid use for the practising clinician." Fromhttps://wevaonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-Oct-Equine-Veterinary-Education-2026-Tanner-Updates-on-intra%E2%80%90articular-corticosteroid-administration-in-horses.pdf

WEVA Pick of the Month – October 📢 🐴

This month’s article reviews current evidence on intra-articular corticosteroid administration in horses.

The review discusses corticosteroid selection, dosing, injection frequency, rest periods, endocrinopathy-related risks, and the role of adjunct therapies in modern equine joint care.

📖 Read more: https://wevaonline.org/wevas-pick-of-the-month/

𝗨𝗽𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗲𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘀
Designed to deepen understanding, inspire clinical reasoning, and support our members continued professional growth.

Here’s The Exciting Webinar Line-Up:

𝗕𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗼 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗸𝗹𝘆, 𝗠𝗗, 𝗗𝗢
The Primo Vascular System (PVS): A Newly Discovered ‘Fluid Fascia’ Structure for Manual Therapy
Oct 17th
8am PDT

𝗪𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝗿, 𝗠𝗗, 𝗣𝗵𝗗
Impact of Fascia on Body Physiology
Nov 14th
8am PDT

𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗕𝗮𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿, 𝗠𝗗
Interrupting Paraspinal Progression From Acute To Chronic Low Back Pain: Mechanistic Hypotheses
Dec 12th
8am PST

𝗔𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗼 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗰𝗼, 𝗠𝗗, 𝗣𝗵𝗗
The effect of manual therapy on fascial densification
Jan 9th
10am PST

𝗘𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗜𝗸𝗲𝗿, 𝗠𝗗
Fascia Changes in Lymphedema and Lipedema
Feb 13th
8am PST

𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗞𝗼𝘇𝗮𝗿, 𝗗𝗢
Functional Biotensegrity: How key fascial areas will change your practice
Mar 13th
8am PST

𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀: Free
https://fasciaresearchsociety.org/fascia-research-society-membership/membership-purchase
𝗡𝗼𝗻-𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀: $50 / webinar
https://fasciaresearchsociety.org/education-webinars/upcoming-webinars

*Unable to attend live? Just register as normal and the recording will be sent to you within 72 hours.
*all FRS members must login to their FRS account to register for the webinar.

Not A Member Yet? Attend all FRS webinars for free With 𝗙𝗥𝗦 𝗠𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽. Only $180 a year.
https://fasciaresearchsociety.org/fascia-research-society-membership/membership-purchase

100% - I use my brain to minimize the need to use force or pain / aversive stimulus in training. The importance of positive punishment is real, and I reserve it for safety and hard boundary issues. If my horses doesn't get their correct canter lead, I don't use punishment or aversives to correct. But if a horse goes to bite, kick, or run me over, that becomes a safety boundary issue. R+ and force free training should never mean being unsafe!

I am increasingly worried about owners becoming afraid to set boundaries with their horses.

And I know more extreme pages are using examples of this as a way to dismiss entire methods of training. But I don’t think pretending these examples don’t exist helps anyone.

I think many of the people who are afraid to set boundaries are coming from a genuinely good place.

They want to be kind. They want to listen to their horses. They don’t want to use fear, intimidation or unnecessary force. They’re learning about other methods, getting snippets of the science, and questioning a lot of what they were traditionally taught about horses.

I think all of that is INCREDIBLY valuable.

But increasingly, I’m seeing videos where a horse does something genuinely dangerous and the person handling them seems hesitant to intervene or react. And I’m not going to pretend these examples don’t exist just because they’ve become a bit of a “meme” among the cowboys.

A horse aggressively drives into their space. A horse swings its hindquarters and kicks out toward them. A horse lunges or strikes at them. A horse barges through them with enough force to knock them down.

And sometimes I get the impression that people are genuinely unsure what they’re “ALLOWED” to do in that moment without betraying everything they’ve learned about agency, choice and reducing the use of force.

That scares me.

Because you are allowed to protect yourself. Not just allowed. You NEED to.

My horse cannot bite or kick me. My horse cannot run through me. My horse cannot aggressively crowd me and make my space dangerous.

Those are hard boundaries we should all have.

That doesn’t mean I need to hurt my horse to teach them. It doesn’t mean I need to punish every mistake, establish dominance or routinely use force to maintain those boundaries.

But if a horse is ACTIVELY putting me in danger, safety becomes the immediate priority.

And I think we’re starting to muddy the line between using force as a training method and physically intervening in an immediate safety situation.

Those are NOT the same thing.

I’ve had this conversation many times. If a horse is about to kick me and I have to move them away from me, that is not equivalent to routinely hitting a horse to shape behaviour. If a horse is coming through me and I have to physically stop them, that is not equivalent to using heavy pressure or punishment as my training system.

An emergency response is NOT a training methodology.

Once everyone is safe, THEN we can look at what happened.

Why did the horse behave that way? Do they have aggression I don’t know about? Were they frightened? Frustrated? Over-aroused? In pain? Was food creating conflict? Did I put them in a situation they weren’t prepared for? Have I actually taught them an appropriate alternative behaviour? Is there something about my management or training that needs to change?

Those questions matter enormously, because simply stopping dangerous behaviour in the moment doesn’t teach the horse what we want them to do instead. And this is where I think another distinction is important.

Not everything we call a “boundary” actually is one.

“My horse cannot bite me” is a boundary.
“My horse should stand quietly beside me” is an expectation.

“My horse cannot run through me” is a boundary.
“My horse should walk politely beside me on a loose lead” is a behaviour I need to teach.

If a horse isn’t meeting a behavioural expectation, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re “disrespecting my boundaries.” Sometimes we need to stop framing training problems as boundary problems and simply train the behaviour better.

But when there is an immediate threat to someone’s physical safety, I don’t want people standing there wondering whether protecting themselves is “ethical.”

You can believe deeply in agency. You can give your horse meaningful choices. You can listen when they say no. You can train however you like. You can reject dominance-based explanations and unnecessary force.

AND you can still have hard boundaries around your physical safety.

I think we need to be careful that in trying to move away from an industry that has normalized far too much force, we don’t swing so far in the other direction that people become afraid to intervene when they genuinely need to.

Showing your horse kindness should NEVER mean giving up your safety.

Understanding why a horse kicked doesn’t require you to get kicked.

Our planned partner for this month’s event in the Plymouth area (April 24-26) had to change plans and now we are looking for a new donor horse. If you know of a horse that might be ready to cross the bridge and help over 20 equine proessionals learn and deepen their understanding, please reach out! 508-658-0078 or [email protected]. Thank you🦄