Rocky Mountain American Biomechanics Society regional conference
Postural stability adaptations on unstable surfaces in seated, standing, and walking environments: a pilot study
It took months of figuring out how to make the experimental set up work, and a long Saturday afternoon into night to gather data with Dr. Ferris and Shawn, but we managed to get one subject’s worth of data collected and analyzed to present at the American Biomechanics Society regional conference. Thank you to Dr. Ferris for putting up with all my questions on the equipment and software and for getting the poster edited on time for print! So excited to see where this goes next!
Congratulations Jareth!
Graduation Day!
After only 3.5 years, my stepson, Jareth, graduated college from the University of Arkansas with is B.S. in computer science!
We are so proud and are excited to watch the next stage of his life!
So it begins
Make it stand out
Week 2 of classes and I am already getting an introduction to the fancy equipment used for gait analysis!
Two wild fires way too close
Serenity Farm played host to some horses displaced by the two wildfires. There was so excitement the first hour as the two herds got to know each other over the fences. Luckily both groups tired out without any injuries. This was a reminder to practice trailer loading, as in a situation like this our horses need to get on the trailer immediately, no questions asked. And to make an emergency preparedness plan for wildfires and other disasters.
Kinesiology Taping Class for Horse Enthusiasts!
Serenity Farm hosted our first in person equine kinesiology taping course. A wonderful group of 5 equine massage and/or Masterson method workers joined me and our 7 horses for a full day of learning. Students learned why tape works, how to apply it in general as well as specific applications, and had guided practice. Our horses all enjoyed being practiced on!
Students were given notes from the lecture portion as well as a field manual. The field manual was designed to be used as a quick reference of how, why, and what tape to use for each of the applications learned that day.
In person classes can be arranged at your barn or mine. In addition, I am super excited to put together online resources for your learning convince. They will be available soon. Click here for more info and early bird discounts.
Biomechanics lessons
Today was my unofficial start back to teaching riding lessons. I forgot how much I enjoy it. A group of 5 PATH instructors at Hearts and Horses enjoyed the beautiful day riding outside and changing how their bodies sit and influence their horse. A variety of exercises that focused on balance and body control help riders understand the why behind the what to do. This was a follow up to an interactive lesson the month before where we explored muscle use and dissected some of the more commonly misused phrases riding instructors call out during a lesson.
By changing the way the rider uses their muscles, the horses also become more balanced and confident. Biomechanics lessons have application to all riding styles and are a supplement for your regular riding lessons rather than a subsitute.
Exciting Changes!
Sage showing off his school spirt colors with a fascia wave taping application.
I am so excited to announce that I have officially been accepted into the University of Northern Colorado’s Sports and Exercise Science: Biomechanics PhD program!
While my main focus the past few years has been on equine body work, the business name has a second part to it because I knew I would miss teaching riding lessons and wanted a way to incorporate both in the same business (i.e. less paperwork and administration stuff).
I love teaching riders to use their body biomechanically correct but have been frustrated at the lack of scneifntically proven work with riders. So, I plan on changing that and need to develop the skills for it, hence going back to school.
Since I will be working full time on campus, there will be some changes to the schedule starting in late August 2024. In addition, I will start taking clients for riding lessons again.
Free Educational Lecture
Kelly volunteers her services once a week at Hearts and Horses, helping to keep their herd feeling and preforming at their best. Tomorrow she talks to volunteers about why, what, and how she does what she does. Join us!
Continuing Education- FASCIA!
Continuing education is so important, no matter what field you are in. In 2023, Kelly took two college courses (anatomical kinesiology and biomechanics) and watched multiple webinars from industry experts. Ending the year was the Online Pet Health Vet Rehab Summit, with the two day theme of myofascia.
Solar Eclipse!
As some of you know, Kelly is also an astronomy instructor for a community college in Arkansas. So, of course, she and Shawn were out watching the annular solar eclipse Saturday Oct 14th with their special eclipse glasses. Except for the few moments of totality in a total solar eclipse, do not look at the sun without a filter.
In April 2024, the moon will be in the part of its path that is closer to the Earth, so it will cover more of the sun’s surface.
In both a total and annular eclipse, the sun is covered by the moon. The difference is where the moon is in its orbit around Earth. While we often picture the Earth making a perfect circle around the sun, we in fact orbit in a slightly eccentric ellipse. All the planets make an ellipses some more circular and some more elongated. The moons around planets, including our own, have this shape as well. When the moon is on its closer approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, it will cover more of the sun’s surface than when it is farther. The eclipse that just happened occurred when the moon was a bit further away from Earth, so it covered less of the surface. It leaves a ring of fire around the sun for places that cross 100% totality. Here in Berthoud we were l icily enough to have approximately 80% totality, which means we saw the sun as pac man rather than a ring of fire.
Leaves act as a pin hole camera and create the pattern of the solar eclipse on the ground! Super cool!
Post Breakfast Nappies
It's finally the time of year for post breakfast group nappie time! When it’s chilly, about an hour after breakfast, the whole heard dozes for an hour or so. Usually one or two remain standing to guard the herd (from bunnies?) but the standing dozer switches throughout the morning.
Guest Speaker at Hearts and Horses!
Hearts and Horses is a fantastic therapeutic riding center in Longmont, CO. They have a great group of instructors, trainers, staff, and volunteers that work with a wide variety of disabilities and conditions over a very large age range. I have the honor of working on their horses every Monday to help keep them as comfortable as possible in their work. One way they give back to their volunteers is free educational lectures. I’m excited to be the December speaker for their fall/winter line up!
To learn more about the work Hearts and Horses does or information on volunteering, visit their website:
Hearts and Horses
Back to work!
With the hay field cut, it’s now time to use the “arena” again. It was getting a bit dangerous to ride in, with the grass being chest height for the horses and easy grab and go while working. Summer and Caper both lost some top line over the winter. Summer was just getting hers back when we had to take a break until the 6 weeks of rain allowed the hay to be cut. Caper hasn’t worked nearly as much as Summer since we’ve been in Colorado and he has lost more muscle than I’d like over the 6 week break. So while Summer will get back to under saddle work faster, they will both be starting with some ground exercises to build toppling. This is especially important as they are both older and it’s extra unfair to just slap a saddle on and start riding around. Also, Caper’s saddle won’t fit until I get more muscle over the back. After their 20-30 minute hand walk with abdominal, back, and glute building exercises, they both get a snacky-snack and I sneak in a a few extra minutes of balance pad work while they’re eating.
When I ask clients to start their horse on balance pad work, I usually get a concerned look and “how do you start them on that?” Really, you just do. While they're eating or standing quietly in the cross ties, pick up the hoof like you’re going to clean it and then place the pad where you think they’ll place their foot back down. If they pick their hoof up, then do it again. Eventually they’re understand they’re supposed to stand on it. then go to the opposite side. I like to start on the hind end. Maybe because they naturally place less weight on the hind end, but whatever the reason most horses I’ve started on balance pads seem more confident starting there. Then when they have confidence with two legs on the pads (this takes time, it will not be in the same session or even in the same week), move the two pads to the front. Again, after some time and confidence with the front, you can try with all four. Or, work on some carrot stretch type exercises or rocking the haunches (or withers if the pads are in the front) while they’re on the pads; essentially increasing the difficulty level of the stretches and pads.
If you don't think that balance pads will do anything, try it yourself! When I was doing PT for my back, the hardest exercise when I first started was balancing on one leg on a balance pad.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Just like last year, we waited until Jareth was just about to go back to Arkansas for school before taking a hike in the Rockies. Here are some pictures from our day trip (well, half day trips because…well…horses).
Hay is here!
We thought we moved to a desert but it rained nearly every other day from the end of June until the beginning of August. This, of course, made it difficult to cut our pastures for hay. But we finally got a dry enough stretch to put up 800 bales of hay from the first cutting!
Hopefully the alfalfa will start to grow and we can get our second cutting that is mostly alfalfa.
Farm dog in training!
Some of you may know that Barkley lost her battle with cancer earlier this year. We hadn’t been ready to adopt another dog for a couple of months but here he is. Hadron (yes, like the particle collider; our other dog’s name is Quark so we wanted to something to fit with his name) is about 1.5 years old and full of puppy energy!
On the way home from the adoption. They have a one week trial, but as Shawn said, there is no trial period with us.
He wasn’t so sure about the really big dogs when there isn’t a fence between them. If the fence is between them he will bark and try to play with them!
He and Quark were introduced on a walk off farm, so that there was neutral territory. Quark is a super good boy, very tolerant of the puppy energy.
We need the rain...
…but maybe not that much in such a short span of time. It feels like we’re back in Arkansas rather than the desert environment of Colorado. On the plus side, it should help make for an improved hay season this year. On the minus side, the barn flooded with water coming in under the doors.
When your pasture looks like this instead of (or in addition to, like here) the barn make sure to take extra care when you plan your riding. Your horse will be working extra hard just walking in the pasture to get hay/water. They also may be over using their stability muscles as they protect themselves from slipping. Those smaller steps to be careful in the mud will also cause them to decrease their range of motion during their daily activity. So, when they say they’re tired 15 minutes sooner than usual in their workout, believe them!
Jesse's new look
Last year my clippers busted and poor Jesse had an awful hair cut with scissors. It looked awful but at least he was cool. This year I got new clippers, the same type his previous owner had to sheer off his giant coat. I think it went just a little bit better
Before
After