I’m going to guess the “neutral spine” is only attainable with the $4,000 a month rehab package.
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https://www.facebook.com/share/p/xmUPthV6RwcYvx61/?mibextid=xfxF2i
I don’t know much about Amy, but thought this fit well in this discussion.
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I always think, “I guess I’m supposed to like this person, because they obviously like themselves so much, but I don’t.”
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I see she has a new term now…what the hell is “rib entrapment”?
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Can a rib actually be entrapped? And entrapped by what, exactly?
(Oh, please say nuchal ligament!)
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Jesus wept.
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Go to the Equine Biomechanics Facebook group — i don’t know half of what they are talking about there — but the poor assessed beast in question is always “lame.” And there is rarely a consensus where.
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What these self-professed biomechanics experts always seem to forget is that horses, like humans, are living animals. They don’t have perfect symmetry in their movement and that doesn’t necessary mean they’re lame or in pain or anything is wrong. Most humans aren’t perfectly ambidextrous either … that doesn’t mean they’re in pain or shouldn’t exercise.
Yes, the goal is for them to be strong and basically ambidextrous, but these wannabe experts seem to more often than not miss the forest for all their obsessing over the trees.
They’re horses. Horses are big and strong and designed to run fast and cover long distances. A human poking and prodding and trying to “activate” or “deactivate” muscles on a stationary horse is just … not gonna do much of anything. I imagine the human equivalent would be someone’s pet cat climbing in their lap and swatting at them a bit while they’re sitting and watching Netflix.
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That page is such a mess. I would appreciate a similar page where commenters had to have some kind of street cred before they could comment. It’s just a bunch of armchair quarterbacks over there.
@Arlomine What is in the water over there??
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So I’ve worked with the bodyworker who is developing the rib entrapment theory and it is not all BS. It’s definitely a working theory and the practitioner behind it is working to develop the methodology for a long term study. Yes, all horses have asymmetries, and yes a lot of it is natural and some of it is from the way we ride. I’m not thrilled about her involvement with Celeste, but she’s much more grounded in her theory than Celeste. More thoughts later after I ride this last class.
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It’ll be interesting to hear your input!
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Add Massage & Chiropractic
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It would be useful if someone could provide a definition of this rib entrapment.
What is entrapping the rib?
Is it dorsally, in the area of articulation with the vertebral column and adjacent ribs, or ventally, nearer the sternum?
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I joined this group excited thinking I’d learn a lot of useful info. I was floored at the craziness in there
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Same here! Even attended a clinic. Money and time down the drain.
Nothing new to see here, folks!
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It is dorsal, close to the spinal column. The way the practitioner explained it to me so that rib entrapment is essentially an over tight or spasming muscle or set of muscles that cause to ribcage to rotate towards one direction or another. It is often accompanied by a “kink” in the thoracic spine, but not always. Horses that have it often have one hollow behind the withers deeper than the other side. From the front you can see that the high point of the barrel will be higher on one side than another. From the top you may see a slight wave in the spine.
In simplest terms, it is asymmetry.
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What made this practitioner much more interesting to me and piqued my interest in her theory was that she approached it from a rational perspective. She’s developed the theory over years of working on horses, has developed a technique that helps correct the rib entrapment, and is preparing a study to test her hypothesis.
I’m a nerd - my day job is data analysis - and we got to spend time talking shop about statistical tests, the importance of robust data sets, and the possibility that your hypothesis might be wrong.
I had her work on my younger gelding who is hollow to the right and stiff to the left. It is very difficult to get a good bend to the left. I always feel like his shoulder is very high to the left, his barrel bulges to the left, and I have nothing under my right seatbone. She did a careful analysis of his stance and gait, took some before photos, did her rib entrapment alleviation work, and then took a set of after photos, and there was a profound difference in his gait (left hind could swing though) and his physiology (shoulders more even, equal high points on both sides of the barrel).
I also felt the difference under saddle - better bend to the left, more willing to scope his neck out and reach for the bit. I think there is merit to her theory. She does webinars, podcasts, is very willing to discuss her theory, and teaches other body workers. It is not woo-woo. I am allergic to woo-woo. If anyone is interested in her work, send me a PM, I’ll pass along her info.
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I guess I forgot that I joined that group, then it started taking over my feed. There was a post a couple days ago with a horse that 4-beats on the right lead, much as my mare does. Most of the people said it was because the horse needed to be ridden more forward, and given it’s face. The riding was perfectly fine. My horse does this when she gets off balance, and actually gets better if I’m a little stronger “putting her together.” Decided I had nothing to learn there.
So essentially the chiropractic description of “a rib out”?
My problem with some of these complementary therapies is the tendency towards using nomenclature that doesn’t really fit what’s going on or obfuscates/mystifies it in some manner.
I’ll admit to casting a jaundiced eye in the direction of this one because somebody who gives every appearance of being a mountebank endorses it.
That’s likely uncalled for on my part.
What you’ve described sounds like what my chiro teachers referred to as a restriction in the normal range of motion (they didn’t care for the archaic “subluxation” ).
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