Does this definition describe your horse? Is he or she ready for training or the trail, alert to your instruction, and able to perform at the top of his or her game? Or maybe not?

YOU may have had the experience of a hard work out at the gym, or a weekend day of activity very different from your office activities during the week and the next day you experience – muscle soreness, discomfort, and a lack of interest in any athletic activity until that soreness is gone. Maybe you are even a but cranky, and less friendly than usual with friends and colleagues.

GUESS WHAT! Just like humans, horses get sore muscles, especially if work is intermittent, or intense. And they may react to more work by being girthy, refusing jumps or canter leads, and exhibit an inability to concentrate on what you are trying to do together, and many other actions often interpreted as “bad behavior”.

Professional athletes have regular massages after an athletic event. Professional bike racers have a dedicated human massage therapist with their team who gives daily body work before and after each race of a multi-day racing event.

Does it not then make sense to consider body work for your equine partner to ensure that he or she is in proper alignment and fully engaged for your next activity together?

There is almost always a physical cause for so-called “bad behavior” in horses and it is up to you, their owner and guardian, to obtain the best advice and assistance to identify and correct the underlying cause.