When mounted you are a team with your horse, a joint unit. Each member of the team affects the other member – weakness and tightness in you and/or your horse disrupts the correct functioning of this unit.
Postgraduate qualifications as an Advanced Practitioner in Equine Integrative Support Therapies and as a Pilates teacher enable Deirdre to competently offer this specialism for horse and rider, individually, and as a team.
Who? All branches and levels of equestrianism can benefit from this input. Some interventions are one-off visits with relevant rehabilitation advice, and others are required on an intermittent long-term basis. This often depends on work demands, history of injury/trauma, and fitness/conditioning of both rider and horse.
When? For the rider, it may be symptoms such as pain, stiffness, or inability to maintain correct postures for certain tasks. Typical equine signs that suggest the need for therapy include a decrease in performance (not necessarily lameness related) or/and an increase in expression of unwanted behaviors (eg girthiness, resisting being tacked up/mounted).
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