Equine Postural Training (EPT) is a way of working with the horse to try to help it find the most mechanically efficient way of using itself.
The components of the body are the shape they are to allow specific functions - by studying the structure of body anatomy in detail, one can start to see how it was intended by nature to move. By studying wild and domesticated horses of different ages and breeds in both their anatomy and their movement an understanding is gained of how nature intends them to work and move. This could be called ‘Natural Correctness’.
Riding or driving horses has been going on for thousands of years, so it is easy to fall into the trap of assuming it is ‘natural’ to do so.....as though the horse was ‘designed’ by nature to carry out this task. This unfortunately appears not to be the case, as soon as we sit on or behind a horse we create stresses and strains within the horses structure it was never designed to take. For instance, what tends to happen us we sit more over the fore quarters than the hind (for lots of good reasons), yet the horse is designed to be strongest behind and lead and carry its movement from the hind quarters..... this could create unnatural forces through the fore quarters leading potentially to the structure being damaged.
Having said this it does appear possible to ride or drive horses and still allow them to move in/towards ‘natural correctness’..... and hopefully lots of enjoyment for both parties involved.
So the job of the rider/driver must be to help balance the horse back towards its Natural Correctness.
Any uneven stresses (forces) and strains through the musculo-skeletal system can result in uneven tensions being created in muscles to try to cope with these forces. Both sudden major forces, such as a fall, or small more repetitive forces building up over time lend to uneven or unbalanced patterns of tension through the muscles and soft tissues of the body, leading potentially to uneven body use/movement.
All of us, whatever species/age we maybe, tend to have tension somewhere in our bodies muscles.... however, this is normal and need not cause a problem. If however, the tensions are very uneven, e.g. muscles more pulling to the right than left over all, or more pulling down towards the fore quarters than lifting up etc., this tends to lead to overall uneven body use i.e. movement problems.
We are all born with a ‘blue print’, if you like, within the body tissues, which remembers what normal or healthy function for that tissue is. If the tissue deviates from the ‘normal’ the body becomes aware of this and is able to try to correct its function back to normal. For instance, if we cut ourselves the body is programmed to recognise this is potentially harmful so initiates scab formation and tissue healing to prevent blood loss and ‘normalise’ the tissue, so it can function properly again. Fighting infection is another example of this self correction. In fact all body systems are programmed to try to do this in order to help the body survive, and improve its health. Sometimes the system is unsuccessful and this is where therapists come in to help the body to correct (including orthodox medicine). In the musculo-skeletal system the same principles apply, the body tries to release tension in muscles once the force that causes it t protectively contract has gone. If the force was too great or too frequent/recurrent or tissues were damaged this may not be possible, so residual tension remains in the tissues. The body often then tries to compensate for this now unnatural (uneven) tension bay creating an equal and opposite force/muscle contractions somewhere else in the body (eg; muscle tension pulling to the left in the fore quarters cause the body to create a tension pulling right through the hind quarters to allow the balance of tension and movement of the whole body to be more even.
EPT is a way of helping the body release the tension patterns it has been unable to fully adapt to or release its self.
By gently showing the body what normal tension is again in the muscles it helps stimulate the body t reset its muscle tension back to normal held in the ‘blue print’. This only works because the body is programmed to try to self correct i.e. to recognise and try to reinstate the blue printed normal tension above the ‘ab-normal’ induced tensions.
Many problems can be caused by these unbalanced patterns of tension in the body. Uneven tension will often result in uneven body use, such as stiffness on one rein (which is so common we assume it to be normal) problems using fore or hind quarters evenly. Difficulty carrying the body properly (outline problems) on the flat or over fences; Difficulty carrying a saddle and rider, stiffness generally ‘through the back’ or the body as a whole; behavioural problems etc...... in fact almost any schooling/movement problem you may be having COULD be caused largely by the fact that the horses tension pattern is not allowing itself to move (use itself) properly. OBVIOUSLY there can be many causes for such problems including disease processes (eg; navicular, osteoarthritis, foot infections etc.) rider (body use/poor communication) saddle, shoeing, breed/confirmation, mental attitudes.
BUT, unless you consider ALL the possibilities, the main cause may not be found or attributed to the wrong factor, implying that the horse and rider suffering unnecessarily.
The above are a few of the less serious problems..... the more serious include, bucking, rearing, inability to be ridden at all, aggressive towards people/other horses (often mediated by pain), extreme lameness, complete inability to get up or move at all. Gut and respiratory disturbances etc. can even be linked to such problems.
However, don’t panic, these tension pattern problems are common , but on the whole horses are better at coping than we are and better to respond to treatment.
To help the horse fundamentally change a pattern, usually takes between 1-3 session BUT only if it is appropriate to ask the horses body to change (remember we all have tension in our bodies.... it holds us together and we should only try to change it if it is causing a problem and the body has the capacity to make such a change). No ‘force’ is ever used i.e. the body is allowed to change what it wants to, it is not made to release. These session maybe spread out over a few weeks to a few months. Changes will often be seen immediately but it takes time for the body to establish the new pattern. The aim is to help the body crease a permanent change which it can build on i.e. once stimulated towards a better balanced pattern the body continues to try to improve itself.
For further details please feel free to contact me on: 01233 750228
