Kirsty Rawden Veterinary Physiotherapy

27/07/2026

Having a brew with this Handsome chap 💜

25/07/2026

'Stop it!'

In the horse world, it often seems that our first instinct is to stop horses doing things.

Flashes and nosebands are tightened to stop horses opening their mouths.
Gadgets are used to stop horses lifting their heads. Horses are told off for touching and mouthing us. Behaviours are shut down altogether.

But what if they're just trying to communicate?

Imagine this...

You go to a foreign country where nobody speaks your language. You're given a pair of shoes that are two sizes too small and you're forced to walk in them for an hour. You're not allowed to take them off. You must keep walking.

You'd probably cope for a while. Then you'd likely start complaining, stopping, walking differently, trying anything to relieve the pressure. You might lean on somebody. You may even become 'lame'. You'd probably become a bit snappy with the people around you.

Then you're allowed to take the shoes off and get on with your day.

The next day, you're made to do exactly the same thing again.

How do you react?

What if you were made to do that every day.

People calling you lazy, naughty, aggressive.

Just think about that.

This isn't a post about horseshoes, although sometimes they can be too small or too tight. It's about saddles, tack, equipment, rider balance and weight, management, environment, physical discomfort, emotional wellbeing... everything.

Your horse has a voice. They speak through their actions.

Not every behaviour means pain, and not every behaviour should simply be accepted. But before we ask, "How do I stop this?" perhaps we should ask, "Why is this happening and what is my horse trying to tell me?"

So many of the behaviours we dislike are the very ways horses try to communicate that something isn't right.
If you were silenced in that situation, eventually you would either explode or you'd stop trying to communicate altogether.

Maybe, before we focus on changing the behaviour, we should first make sure we've listened to what it's trying to tell us.

22/07/2026

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

Yes, i am running the Great North Run AGAIN! (The UK's largest Half Marathon!)

All in aid of an amazing Here4Horses!

Last year you all supported me tremendously on my maiden voyage.

So this year to make it worth your precious pennies, i am challenging myself to run it in under 2 hours 30 mins. That's a whopping 18 minutes off my time last year!

I feel Wendy and the team run at this pace all day every day to ensure the charity survives!

Please give generously via the link below 👇🏼

https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/fundraising/kirsty-s-great-north-run-2026

22/07/2026

I'm actually really excited about this hay!!

Leigh has studied her land, the horses and their needs and created a bespoke mix for the local farmer!

I can't wait to have a smell of it when I'm next there!

Snap it up whilst you can, your horses (and their guts!) will thank you for it!

The first trailer load of our bespoke hay has arrived 🚜
I feel like a child on Christmas morning 🌾🤩🌾

If only there was a 'scratch n sniff' button on FB because it smells divine! It is a beautiful mixture of Meadow grasses, Timothy & herbs, specially selected by me & our farmer to create a diverse mix.

It's turned out to be a bumper crop which means we have more than we need so if you want good quality, late cut, species appropriate forage for your horses from a reliable source, then you're in luck 😉

🌾 £40 per round bale
🚜 Delivery available within 15 miles from WF3 3QR.
🌾 Minimum 6 bales per load.
💰 Delivery cost to be discussed based on distance.

Inspections before purchase welcome.

Pre-order with delivery as required throughout the year.

Collection for smaller amounts welcome.

Contact Geoff to make arrangements- 07715 698708.

22/07/2026

⚡ It’s all just energy ⚡

Every week, a new gadget for treating horses appears. They move through trends, everyone talks about them for a while, and then suddenly, they fade into the background.

At their core, though, they all work with energy at different frequencies.

Take light, for example. On one end of the spectrum, we have infrared; on the other, ultraviolet, both used therapeutically in different ways. In between lies the full range of visible light. Different frequencies, different effects. Most of us know how good it feels to stand in natural sunlight and feel it on our skin.

Now consider sound. We’re familiar with ultrasound, used for both imaging and therapy. But what about music? What happens when you don’t just hear it, but feel it? Why can certain sounds shift your mood, calm your mind, or lift your energy?

Then think about all the machines and devices out there. Are they magic? No. They emit energy at specific frequencies and often come with a hefty price tag.

Want to know something else that emits energy, for free?

Your body.

This is why hands-on therapy has existed for thousands of years. Perhaps it’s not always about the amount of force applied. Maybe there’s something more in the connection, the intention, the communication, and the exchange that occurs between two living systems.

And what better way to influence a body than with something as natural and finely tuned as another living being?

At the same time, it’s worth asking whether we sometimes get caught up chasing the next new thing instead of investing in what we already have. It’s easy to buy another gadget, another tool, another promise of a quick fix. But how often do we slow down, place our hands on our horses, and truly spend time with them? Feeling, observing, listening. Building that connection. Because no device can replace the awareness, sensitivity, and relationship that come from simply being present.

This isn’t to say that gadgets don’t have their place, but rather to question the idea that healing only comes from a machine.

But perhaps the bigger question is this:

If we accept that light can influence the body, and sound can influence the body, is it really so strange to consider that touch might influence the body in ways we’re still trying to understand?

And maybe it’s also a reminder that we shouldn’t rely solely on external fixes when we already carry something powerful within us.

20/07/2026

THE DROP — TRAINING, THE PILLARS OF BALANCE, THORACIC LIFT & SADDLE FITTING

Here's a thought for you…

What happens to your saddle in the microsecond your horse loses their balance?

Because they will lose it.

Balance isn't a place a horse arrives at and stays.

It's a constant conversation.

Find it.
Lose it.
Reorganise.
Find it again.

Our Director, Jemma, talks a lot about the pillars of balance — and once you start to understand it, you begin to look at saddle fitting very differently.

If a horse becomes out of balance, guess where they can tense to help keep themselves up?

Through the thoracic area.

Even if it's just for a microsecond.

A tiny brace.

A tiny drop.

And suddenly the shape underneath the saddle has changed.

A space has appeared.

And guess what can drop into that space?

Your saddle.

⬇️

THE DROP.

Now, once?

Probably just a moment.

But what if it happens again?

And again.

And again.

The horse loses balance.

The thoracic area braces.

The saddle drops.

The horse feels the saddle drop.

So the horse braces against the feeling of the saddle dropping.

Read that again.

Because this is where we can start to see micro-bracing patterns developing.

And here's the question we should be asking…

Is the horse bracing because they're out of balance?

Or are they now bracing because they've learnt what happens to the saddle when they become out of balance?

🤔

This is where saddle fitting and training collide.

At LM, we don't believe you can simply fit a saddle to the horse standing beautifully on the yard and assume the job is done.

The horse underneath that saddle is going to move.

Lift.

Widen.

Lose balance.

Find balance.

Develop.

Change.

A horse working over the back can naturally lift and widen in movement.

So we have to think about the horse we're trying to help them become, while still supporting the horse physically standing in front of us today.

And this is where shims are bloody amazing.

Yes. We said it.

Because correctly used shims aren't there to “pad out a bad saddle”.

They can be scaffolding.

They can help us support saddle balance while the horse is learning to find their own physical balance.

They can help reduce the opportunity for the saddle to repeatedly drop into those microseconds of brace.

And that matters.

Because a horse learning to balance physically shouldn't also have to worry about what the saddle is going to do when they get it wrong.

We don't want the conversation to become…

“I lost my balance.
The saddle dropped.
That felt uncomfortable.
I'd better brace next time.”

We want…

“I lost my balance.
I reorganised.
I found it again.”

No drama.

No worry.

No need to protect themselves.

Just the physical process of learning.

Maybe saddle fitting isn't just about whether a saddle “fits”.

Maybe we need to start asking a bigger question…

Does the saddle allow the horse to safely explore balance?

Because those tiny microseconds matter.

The drop matters.

Training matters.

Thoracic lift matters.

Saddle balance matters.

And it's all connected.

🌐 lmsaddles.com

18/07/2026

18/07/2026

What if it's not the farrier's fault?

Can we just talk about feet for a moment?

After looking at these two photos side by side, it really got me thinking about feet (not in a fe**sh way 😂) and the forces being placed upon them from higher up in the body. I think these pictures illustrate it perfectly.

At our first appointment, we discussed the angles of her feet and how underrun they were. This wasn't a criticism of the farrier, just an observation of where she was at and something we hoped to improve over time.

In the top image, you can see how the directional force through her body is sending weight into the back of her heels in the front feet.

Now look at the hind legs. The way she had to stand to find some degree of comfort meant she was effectively sitting back onto her heels there too.

So how can we expect to develop a more upright hoof capsule when the body is continually directing force in a way that encourages the opposite?

If we had added wedges or pads at that stage, my concern is that we would simply have increased the directional force and stress on an already compromised system.

The changes would have had nowhere to go. Her body was stuck in that pattern and wouldn't have allowed meaningful adaptation. We can't force posture.

Now look at the second image. We still have work to do, but the body is beginning to find more balance. The directional forces are more evenly distributed (the right hind is still further forward as that limb had its own issues), but to me there is noticeably less crushing force from above, she appears more lifted and soft, than strapped down. The white arrows represent the direction of fascial pull ( this is how my brain functions 🤓)

Of course, feet don't change overnight. It takes around 6–9 months to grow a new hoof capsule, so I'll be fascinated to see how her feet continue to develop over the coming months now that the force patterns are changing.

I think hoof care professionals sometimes get a hard time for not "fixing" feet, but if the feet don't have the space or freedom to adapt, how can we expect them to?

This is a team effort. Free the body, work with the feet, assess the saddle, address dental balance, improve biomechanics and then repeat the cycle. We leapfrog each other, with every professional contributing to the overall change.

But first, the body needs the space within the system to change.

17/07/2026

I will be travelling this route the 19th/20th August if anybody would like an appointment along or near my route!
Please drop me a message ASAP so i can finalise appointment times. I think it'll be M6 on the way down and M1 on the way back up!

Hayley Marsh if you want me to visit you, please respond to your messages 😂