ridden horse performance checklist - The Horse Physio - Sue Palmer

Tag: ridden horse performance checklist

The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram: A Tool for Equine Wellness and Performance

By Sue Palmer on April 14, 2024

Join me on a journey as we delve into the significance of 'Harmonious Horsemanship' and the transformative Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram! Let’s uncover insights shared during a recent webinar I presented with Dr. Sue Dyson hosted by Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out.

How Pain Affects Your Horse

By Sue Palmer on April 7, 2024

In any subject, there are key areas to consider. In this lesson, ‘How Pain Affects Your Horse’, I’ll discuss the ‘5W’s’ of pain, the what, why, when, where, and who. I’ll also include the ‘H’ of ‘how’. What is ‘pain’? The International Association for the Study of Pain (ISAP) defines pain as "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with, or resembling that associated with, actual or potential tissue damage.” Short-term pain is called ‘acute pain’, and long-term pain is called ‘persistent’ or ‘chronic’ pain. Pain that comes and goes is called ‘recurrent’ or ‘intermittent’. Pain is a complex phenomenon involving our whole body, and the experience of pain can change from one day to the next.

Why does my horse buck?

By Sue Palmer on March 16, 2024

“There can’t be much wrong with him if he can keep bucking people off the way he does”, is how I was greeted at a yard recently. I know I’m preaching to the converted here, so it’s safe to vent my frustration. I’ve put years into writing ‘Brain, Pain, or Training’ and then more into writing ‘Harmonious Horsemanship’ in partnership with Dr Sue Dyson. Dr Dyson has spent years developing the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (also known as the Ridden Horse Performance Checklist - you can download a FREE PDF here) and ensuring that multiple robust scientific studies back up the list of 24 behaviours. That’s on top of the hundreds of scientific papers she’s been involved in around horse health. And that’s just me and Dr Dyson. There’s a worldwide conversation around social license for equestrianism. Discussions around horse welfare are at the top of the Paris Olympics agenda.

Is ridden work important in an equine lameness assessment?

By Sue Palmer on April 13, 2023

A rider may feel a change in their horse’s performance during ridden exercise, but when assessed moving in hand, the horse is not detectably lame. Some people then use the term ‘bridle lameness’, with the assumption that the gait irregularity is in some way caused by the rider and is not related to the horse’s discomfort.

The rider size debate and the welfare of ridden horses

By Sue Palmer on February 16, 2023

All riders must take ownership of their responsibilities for their horse’s welfare. None of us wants to do a horse harm, but through lack of awareness, we sometimes do so. Food for thought.

30.12.22 Is My Horse Faking It?

By Sue Palmer on December 30, 2022

“Being more sensitive to pain than another horse is not a character flaw, but a real and lived experience. Indeed, there is no logical reason for a horse to exaggerate their pain. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Horses, as prey animals, are evolutionarily designed to minimise their suffering and make accommodations to mask their lameness. Horses who showed their weakness were more likely to be tonight’s dinner for the next predator, and thus have no opportunity to pass those wimpy genes on to their offspring and to future generations.”

What is the role of close spinous processes, so-called ‘kissing spines’ in horses? A guest blog by Dr Sue Dyson

By Sue Palmer on December 13, 2022

There are many misconceptions in the equine world, one of which surrounds horses that behave normally in hand and on the lunge but perform sub-optimally when ridden or behave ‘badly’ – and sometimes get labelled as naughty horses. If thought is given that an underlying cause may be pain, there is often an assumption that because this behaviour is only seen when ridden and since the change is a rider sitting on the horse’s back it must reflect primary back pain.