Stride Performance Equine Therapy

09/12/2026

This! There are many nuances when it comes to consent based horsemanship and the details are important BUT just because they say no does not mean stop everything and never proceed forward

Exposure is necessary and informed exposure is ever more important

When we use consent based communication it is less about never pushing past the no and more about learning why the no is there and working within it to create a new relationship to the triggering stimulus or body part

The devil is in the details, always 🙏

Can we consent our way out of training?

I believe horses should be allowed to say no. I also believe it is our responsibility to become skilful enough to understand what that a No from a horse is, what it looks like and the complexities that come with a horse expressing anything other than an easy and immediate response to our requests.

A horse might refuse because they are frightened, confused, tired, in pain or physically unable to do what we have asked. They might also be meeting ordinary difficulty, preferring the familiar, or discovering that hesitation reliably makes our question waver. These are not the same situation, and responding to all of them by simply stopping is not necessarily progress.

Sometimes stopping is exactly right. Sometimes we need to investigate pain, change the environment, improve our preparation or admit that we have asked for something the horse just doesn't want to do with us right now. At other times, good training means helping a horse remain with a manageable difficulty long enough to discover that they can do it.

Agency cannot only mean the ability to opt out. It must also include the ability to participate, attempt, recover, influence the conversation and become more capable.

This is uncomfortable territory because horse people have used words like leadership and responsibility to justify a great deal of force. But refusing to lead at all does not create an ethical space. We can dominate a horse by overriding every answer, and we can abandon a horse by offering no clarity, structure or preparation at all.

This week on the podcast, I am talking about the limits of borrowing human consent language for horse training, the difference between discomfort and harm, and the responsibility of preparing horses for a life we cannot fully anticipate.

The question is not simply whether the horse said yes or no. The deeper question is whether the horse was heard, whether the human remained fluent in their perception of the horse, and whether the conversation left the horse with more capacity than they had before.

The episode of the podcast is out now (Horse, First with Lockie Phillips) and you can find it anywhere.

09/10/2026

Sticky Fascia, Half Pads and Chronic Tension

You’ve been told that half pads help distribute weight and pressure. You think the cushioning of a half pad is a nice treat for your horse, or maybe your saddle fitter told you to add a half pad to help with saddle fit

But you’re still fighting chronic back tension, your coach is still getting after you to get your horse supple, your bodyworker is continually telling you their back is tight, and you are feeling consistently defeated by not understanding what else you could be doing because you’re doing everything you’re told but nothing is getting better

Sometimes the things we do that we think serve our horses best can actually create another problem.

Have you ever taken your horse’s saddle off and noticed that all of the hair and skin underneath seems flat and dehydrated?

While half pads can be a great addition for some horses, many horses can experience an increase in back tension with the use of half pads due to tissue restriction

The horse’s back is highly sensitive to both pressure and load

When we add a half pad, very often we are decreasing the amount of space that tissue and fluid have to freely move

And when there is a lack of tissue and fluid movement, fascia becomes dehydrated

Fascia is a living, fluid-rich connective tissue

It is not simply a layer of tissue sitting over the muscles. It surrounds, connects and communicates throughout the body, and its ability to glide, slide and deform depends in part on adequate fluid movement within the tissues

When tissue is well hydrated, the layers of fascia can move more freely against one another

When tissue is compressed for prolonged periods, fluid can be displaced and movement between those layers can become restricted. This is what we mean when we talk about fascia becoming dehydrated

Think about a sponge

A hydrated sponge is soft, pliable and easy to move

Take the water out of it and it becomes stiffer, less compliant and more resistant to deformation

Fascia is far more complex than a sponge, but the concept is similar: fluid availability and movement influence how easily connective tissue can deform, glide and tolerate load

In the short term, this can create that familiar feeling of a back that is stiff, tight or resistant

The horse may brace through the topline, change how they carry themselves, or recruit surrounding muscles to create stability where normal tissue movement has been compromised

Now we have a cycle:
Compression → reduced tissue movement → altered fluid dynamics → increased tissue stiffness → protective muscular tension.

If the same areas are consistently compressed, restricted or loaded without enough opportunity for normal movement and recovery, the body can begin adapting to that environment

What started as a temporary response to pressure can become a chronic pattern of tension and altered movement

This is why sometimes adding more cushioning isn’t necessarily the answer

The question isn’t simply:

“How much padding can I add?”

It’s:
“What is happening to the tissue underneath it?”

Because sometimes the thing we added to create more comfort is actually creating another layer of restriction

A simple and effective way to check if your horse’s back fascia is being impacted by saddle fit or half pad compression is:

1. Feel your horse’s back fascia before you ride vs. after you ride with the half pad
2. Feel your horse’s back fascia before you ride vs. after you ride without the half pad

Compare what you feel

Does the tissue feel the same?
Does it feel more restricted, firm, sticky or resistant after riding with the half pad?
Does that response change when you remove the half pad?

These simple observations can give you a better idea of what the tissue underneath your saddle is experiencing and may just be the missing piece in understanding chronic tension

Always remember, a well-fitting saddle should not NEED a half pad
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👩🏻‍💻Melissa Cochrane 𝘊𝘌𝘔𝘍𝘛
📧 [email protected]
📱 613.921.0299

09/09/2026

The best messages 🥰✨

From having time off and not working due to reluctance to having consistent good rides just three months later — happy horses and happy riders are what it’s all about!

We’ve spend the last three months intentionally focused on releasing chronic patterns through bodywork, nervous system safety, non-invasive stretches and simple routine adjustments

Not only is she happy, sound and mentally stable, she also reduced her cribbing habit by 90% !

I absolutely love working with the systems together in this way

If you’ve tried different modalities for your horse and haven’t seen the results you’d like I’d love to chat 💬

Bodywork with One on One support Appointments open!

One Bodywork session + One Support session
$200
*bodywork sessions only available in select radius please dm to see if services are available in your area

__________________________________________
👩🏻‍💻Melissa Cochrane 𝘊𝘌𝘔𝘍𝘛
📧 [email protected]
📱 613.921.0299

08/31/2026

Can you stop or decrease cribbing without a cribbing collar or training out the behaviour?

Short answer, absolutely yes

I have watched multiple horses, my own horse included, who have cribbed and wind-sucked stop the behaviour without cribbing collars, wood sprays or “training out” the behaviour

A current clients horse could be seen wind sucking in the paddock, at almost any time of day, every day

That same horse would also crib/wind suck when her owner would come out to gather her from the field and then again when she would return to the field

Fast forward to two months of working together and the horse hasn’t been seen cribbing through the day in two months, stopped cribbing upon catching starting the first month and stopped cribbing 98% of the time going back into the paddock at the end of the first month

We did not introduce any tools or external equipment to stop this behaviour and we didn’t do anything to train this behaviour out of her system

But how?

Instead of focusing on the cribbing we changed the way we interacted with her, worked on releasing tension in her body, started rewiring her nervous system and gave her autonomy

When we look at the root of a symptom we are able to see the many reasons why that symptom exists in the first place, and then, we can work backwards from the symptom, to the root

This not only relieves the symptom (the problem we are trying to manage) but also reduces other ailments in the body (which add up to create the symptom we try to manage)

If you’ve been managing your horses cribbing with cribbing collars, stinky sprays or trying to train the behaviour out of them without a change in outcome, it’s because you’re treating the symptom, not the reason the symptom exists in the first place

07/14/2026

I promise I know k have RBF but I’m actually really nice 😅🥲

When my hands are on the body or I’m working with a horse my attention is inward focused and sometimes it looks like I’m ignoring what’s going on around me but I’m actually tuning into the body!

If you ever see me and think I look like I don’t wanna chat, I promise you I do! And you won’t interrupt to if you say hi 😌👋🏻

07/07/2026

Less will always be more

It’s so full circle to see how the small steps I continually took lead to the work I do now and the changes I get to see in horses, not by doing more, but by listening more intentionally and doing less 🙏

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞

While my posts are typically for your horses (and this one will be at the end), this post goes for a type of pressure felt by myself, and many, many others in the industry

As equestrians we find ourselves under an insane amount of pressure, working in the industry as a woman adds another tier to that pressure. Pressure to be better, work harder, work more, dress better, look better, know more and the list goes on!

Maybe some of this pressure is pressure we put on ourselves, and a healthy dose of pressure if good! It keeps us striving for more, but when is enough, enough?! I have lately felt pressure to do MORE in my sessions, to perform more modalities and be physically “showing” that I am in fact changing tissue. So much so that I will often joke and say “just know that it may look like I’m not doing anything, but trust me I am”. But that’s not where my heart always lies and not always what the horse wants or needs

So, I’m no longer giving into this pressure (mostly from myself) to be doing more! If I feel the need to do very light myofascial work and look like I’m “doing nothing” for an entire session, then so be it, that’s what I’m doing and that’s what the horse will react best to in the given circumstance

Doing “less” is actually much more taxing mentally, emotionally and physically but I LOVE IT!

I challenge you to allow yourself to be guided by your heart and your horse, to do what feels best and not what you feel pressured to do! Give yourself and your horse some grace, they don’t always feel like doing more either 🙏✨🤍
____________________________________ ____________
👩🏼‍💼Melissa Cochrane 𝙲𝙴𝙼𝙵𝚃
📧 [email protected]
☎️ 613-921-0299
👩‍💻 strideperformanceequinetherapy.ca

06/26/2026

Do you want to know the easiest way to cause back tension?

Probably not! But you could unintentionally be doing it every day!

Short crossties are the easiest way to increase back tension

When we have horses in crossties that don’t have slack in them and allow the horse to freely move the head up and down through full ROM and instead have that range restricted by keeping their head elevated in shorter cross ties (or even crossties anchored in extremely elevated or lowered positions)

When we have shorter set crossties are removing the bodies ability to fully relax the neck and thus, they stand holding themselves in an elevated, more erect, posture — putting pressure on the low neck, withers, lumbar, pelvis and pectorals

And, Any posture horse holds, is practice for their tissue

So each time they stand in the crosstie like that, they practice being elevated and tense

We then often get on them and seem the opposite of erect and tense

Changing crosstie length and heights is simply the absolute easiest thing you can do to positively influence posture, which in turn influences biomechanics, which aids in improved performance

We spend a lot of time working against the body when we can easily adjust to work with it

06/25/2026

“Do you need some help?”

That’s a question I often hear when I’m retrieving clients’ horses from their stalls—or, sometimes, from the pasture

I usually smile and reply, “Oh no thank you, we’re okay. We’re just working on some things.”

And no, this doesn’t happen because I can’t simply walk up and get them

It happens because I’m acknowledging their discomfort with the process—and what that process often means to their body

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We often don’t think much about placing a halter on our horses, entering their stall, or gathering them from the field

But the truth is, these moments can carry immense pressure

For many horses, bracing begins here—long before bodywork ever starts

In fact, tension often begins before touch

It begins the moment the nervous system predicts pressure

The body braces in anticipation

This is why, rather than continuing the interaction the way we’re often taught, the moment I notice stress activation, I pause

What looks like me simply standing there—and is often why people ask if I need help—is actually a deep conversation about pressure, expectation, and autonomy

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Many horses experience very little meaningful choice in their daily handling

And when autonomy is limited, the body often creates tension as a form of self-preservation

This isn’t defiance.

It isn’t stubbornness.

It’s protection.

The nervous system is constantly scanning for safety and danger through a process called neuroception—its subconscious evaluation of threat

That means the horse is not consciously deciding to be difficult

Their body is making protective predictions based on previous experience

In simple terms, the body may be saying:

“If I don’t have choice over that, I need choice over something.”

And that “something” often becomes how available they allow themselves to be physically, mentally, and emotionally

That need for control plays a significant role in chronic tension and recurring compensation patterns

Autonomy does not mean letting horses do whatever they want

Autonomy is a horse’s ability to have agency, choice, and influence over their body, movement, and interactions

It is a relationship built through boundaries, clarity, and respect

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So rather than entering the stall and immediately placing the halter on, I watch how the body responds

At the first sign of self-preservation, I pause and remove pressure

Stress activation doesn’t always look dramatic

Sometimes it is subtle.

A held breath.

A hardening around the eye.

An increase in blinking.

A jaw tightening.

Weight shifting away.

A ribcage becoming rigid.

Head elevation.

Loss of softness through the poll and neck.

These small changes often tell us the nervous system is preparing for protection

That pause is my way of saying:

“I see that you’re not ready for that yet. I see what your body is doing—and that’s okay.”

What most people miss is that these moments are not passive

What appears to be me “just standing there” is actually a continual conversation through micro-pressure and release

A shift in posture.
A change in breath.
A softening through the eye.
A subtle release through the ribcage.

Every detail matters

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Why does this matter?

Because every time a protective pattern runs uninterrupted, that neural pathway strengthens

The body gets better and better at bracing

But when pressure is removed at the moment of activation, the nervous system receives new information:

“Protection may not be necessary here.”

That interruption matters

Because every moment safety interrupts a protective response, a new pathway becomes possible

Over time, this is how we influence neural rewiring and reduce chronic tension patterns

This matters biomechanically, too

When a horse repeatedly braces, it isn’t only muscles being affected

Fascia begins adapting to repeated protective patterns

Over time this can influence ribcage mobility, thoracic sling function, spinal rotation, stride length, weight distribution, and overall movement efficiency

The nervous system doesn’t just influence behaviour

It shapes biomechanics

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This is also why a horse can appear compliant while still being highly dysregulated

They stand still for haltering

They don’t pull away

They don’t “misbehave.”

Externally, they look quiet and cooperative

Internally, they may be holding their breath, locking through the jaw, bracing through the ribcage, and preparing for survival

Compliance is not always regulation

Stillness is not always softness

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People often worry that giving a horse this level of choice means they’ll simply refuse

In all the horses I’ve worked with over the years, I can count maybe two that fully refused the halter altogether during a session

This work is not about never doing things that make them uncomfortable

It is not about avoiding all pressure

It is about giving the nervous system a chance to be comfortable

And that changes everything

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As someone whose intention is to help release physical tension from the body, improve performance and increase general well-being, I can tell you this:

It is far more effective to begin with a horse who is not actively in self-preservation than one who remains stuck there

Because a body cannot truly soften while it still believes it must protect itself

06/23/2026

Cribbing is a displacement behaviour in an attempt to self soothe when a horse is over their stress threshold

Both chronic and acute cribbing give different hits of information to what is going on inside the system

For horses who don’t crib consistently, when they choose to crib shows us precise moments of when they are over their stress threshold and are trying to both, dispel that stress and attempting to self soothe or self regulate

When we learn to recognize the patterns of certain symptoms we can work within the horses threshold to actually increase their ability to handle stress and rewire their perception to the stimulus they are feeling stressful

Almost all of the information we are looking for is right in front of us, we just need to be willing to see it clearly

When we pair nervous system work with intentional bodywork we not only remove the reason for a stimulus to be felt as stressful, we rewire the relationship to everything involved with it