Also, don’t predators go for the following areas: gut wall (weak point - drop guts and wait), throat (break neck, sever jugular, or cut of windpipe), hamstrings (cripple).
So… how does tensing the psoas over the back, or tensing the base of the spine, act as a “protective mechanism”? A better mechanism is: move into pressure, or run away then ask questions.
Well, out of curiosity and due to the ongoing threads on HHO and here, I watched the video. Were there better ways to spend an hour? Probably. Did it make the classic Powerpoint presentation mistake of having lots of complicated text that the presenter read out? Yes.
I have been teaching horses to lower their heads into a more relaxed posture since I discovered Linda Tellington-Jones’ work in the 1990s, so nothing new there. I thought it was common knowledge that a horse with its head down is in a neutral, parasympathetic state, while one with its head up and braced is in alert/flight mode. But maybe it isn’t.
Her point about wild horses having large underneck muscles because they are often in alert/flight mode was interesting to me, because my ex-feral came to me with a ridiculous underneck muscle. We are working on it. It goes without saying that teaching the horse to carry himself in a softer, more relaxed way makes riding a more pleasant experience for both him and me. Again, I thought this was common knowledge. Mark Rashid talks a great deal about losing the brace and softening, and I have read all Mark’s books, as well as books by other trainers with similar philosophies.
No wheel reinvention here, but she repackages that wheel in some shiny boxes.
I’m interested in the thoughts of anyone who knows more about anatomy than me. A couple of you have mentioned that her explanation of how the brachiocephalicus and other muscles work and what they do isn’t quite correct. Can anyone chat more about that? I’m curious.
Even on here, there was a pretty big “discussion” about whether or not teaching a horse to put its head down on cue was valuable in a spooky horse. I think some misinterpreted it as a “head set” type thing, when it’s not.
My mare, when nervous, will stop chewing food and raise her head. Change nothing else, but ask her to put her head down, and the chewing will resume…
One of her acolytes shared a recent post in a Correct Dressage Schooling group and the comments have been interesting - although I’ll admit this was my favorite 
I came across a Facebook post shared by a friend, wherein an equine bodyworker “assessed” the horses at the Land Rover 5* during the jog (by video, not in person), and determined they all had significant physical problems (which apparently this person felt could be fixed through their bodywork methods), and reading it I felt like it was very similar language and mood of the Horse Witch.
Sure enough, this person is a follower of Celeste, an accolyte, and there are comments back and forth on the FB page from Celeste where they heap praise on each other.
Here’s an excerpt from the post in question:
"Thirty-eight horses jogged up for the vets and all were accepted.
By my anecdotal and non-medical assessment using the same criteria I use for my series horses, all thirty-eight horses showed:
-Evidence of negative palmar angle, excessive flaring, egregious medial-lateral imbalance in one or more hooves, clearly collapsed or crushed heels, feet that were clearly too upright, high/low syndrome, toe or quarter clips, or landings that were not heel-first.
-Pelvis angle too steep - indicative of chronic psoas tension
-What EFIT practitioners refer to as a “V” holding pattern. Evidence that tension is chronically improperly transferred across the superficial dorsal lines and superficial ventral lines.
Of the thirty-eight horses, thirty-seven had improper development of the longissimus dorsi muscle.
Thirty-six had dysfunction of the forelimb protraction line - commonly seen in jumpers
Thirty-two prioritized moving their limbs to create forward motion rather than recruiting the full-body chains of kinetic myofascial lines
Thirty were tail wringers, or avoided tail movement at all. Thirty showed incorrect development of the medial glutes and the quadriceps.
In twenty-eight horses, the Cutaneous Omobrachialis was easily visible
In twenty-six horses, the cutaneous trunci was easily visible
Twenty-two horses showed either dorsal pelvic dysfunction, or lower impulsion chain dysfunction - both associated with galloping, starting work too young, or acute or chronic hind limb trauma
Twenty-one horses stood out to me as having an especially hard fascial expression, excessive freeze responses, excessive spooking, or excessive ear movement - all indicative of chronic stress or discomfort
Nineteen horses were presented in a flash noseband
Eleven horses demonstrated “spicy” or spooky behavior despite being some of the most highly-trained animals in the sport
Six horses demonstrated headshaking or nerve-fire behavior in the head.
This is the sport of eventing. This is the sport I fell in love with as a teenager - before I knew what I was seeing. Things have gotten better, and they are still this bad.
I have had success alleviating all of these symptoms with manual bodywork and specialized movement work. We can do better."
This was all written by someone who clearly has no experience at an FEI jog… And I guarantee on Sunday you will see some sore muscles, tightness, and lines due to the amount of exertion required. And in an electric jog atmosphere there will be plenty of jazzed horses, both wanted and unwanted. Judges are more likely to hold a horse who jogs slow and unsteady, vs a fresh horse bouncing on his toes.
I saw that come up on my fb - the same person that posted it, shared one of Celeste’s post a week later. No thanks. I really hate posts like that.
The hilarious part is this person is constantly sharing posts about “know better, do better” and other posts bashing basically everything about competitive dressage. Clearly they have not done their homework at all. Unsure if it’s just because they call themselves a trainer (trying to make themselves a big fish in a small pond) or if they actually believe it? Who knows…
The post was written following the jog before the dressage phase. So all of these horses, who have access to the very best vets, farriers, massage and chiro and acupuncture and BEMER practitioners and grooms and psychics and whatever particular routine makes them perform at their best, these horses are all still NOT RIGHT.
Please. 
They got all that from a FB live (you know, notorious for absolutely destroying video quality) from somebody’s phone?
Not to mention horses that are so fit they spook themselves…
I was reading this and just rolling my eyes until I got to this part:
“Eleven horses demonstrated “spicy” or spooky behavior despite being some of the most highly-trained animals in the sport”
…and nearly spit out my coffee. LOL, for all those big words s/he uses to try to assert her knowledge, s/he sure did show their ignorance with that sentence right there.
I’m.goimg to guess this is a person who is not used to seeing fit, hot horses or the TB body type. You know, visible muscles. The equivalent of a human body worker who had only ever practiced on chubby mall walkers getting a look at a marathon runner or body builder!!
I’m going to tell this to my gelding tonight when he inevitably spooks at the wind blowing between his butt cheeks.
“You’re way too highly trained, HOW VERY DARE, giant flight animal!”
I read it as satire, in order to stay sane. Yeah, let’s take a kick ride around Land Rover.
That neophyte would have a stroke at the Tevis vet checks.
Mine spooks when his tail gets stuck in his bumcheeks - “ooh, something touched meeeeee!”
The other day I ponied him around the property from a noisy old quadbike for the first time. “eh wha’evs”
Go figure.
Sooooo… Nick now judges eventers, hey.
I bet the last horse this person successfully fixed was a Breyer with superglue and a Sharpie (and don’t look too closely at it either)
that’s great!
My personal favorite spook of my gelding’s is when he dislodges a clod of footing and it hits the top of the kickwall. He watches it flying, hit, and then spooks—slowwwwww motion.
Mine touched the fence with his tail, and it made a little tzzt noise… ZOMG!!!
Bro… calm your marbles.
Gee. You think?! No sheep, Sherlock. Can’t imagine anyone running a 5* in casting material or their nudie tootsies anytime soon…
(PS this is not aimed at 2bayboys! but the OOP)
I liked her head shaking comment. She attributes it as pathological when it’s just a VERY normal indication of exuberance in fit equine athletes. You are barely more than a pinata when jogging out those jocks.
Imagine how much money owners can save by having this whiz kid diagnose negative palmar angles without the need for radiographs.
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