Swish Stable Body

Swish Stable Body Dawn's goal is to help you achieve your next level of fitness, strength, mobility, balance and endurance so you can ride pain free and at your best.

Dawn Payne - Physical Therapist & Equestrian
⭐ Empowering Riders & Women
🐎 Founder of Ride Strong - Swish Fitness
💪 Build Strength & Mobility Now 👇

https://www.fitness.swishphysio.com/core
https://www.fitness.swishphysio.com/ridestrongfitness Ride stronger, feel stronger and live your best life!

09/05/2026

A lot of equestrians pour everything into their horse’s training, nutrition, and care… but forget one key piece.

You are an athlete too.

Your balance.
Your strength from left to right.
Your flexibility and stability.

All of it directly influences your horse’s ability to be strong, supple, straight, and happy.

The smallest asymmetry in your body can echo through theirs. The way you move shapes the way they move.

When you train yourself with the same intention you train your horse, everything changes.

Remember, it is not just about riding better. It is about becoming better in the saddle from the inside out.

If this resonates, save this and start treating your body like the athlete it is.

09/04/2026

Forward is forward. It does not matter how fast you get there.

I see this all the time with riders who come back after an injury or a long break. They want to be where they were. They want to skip the rebuilding and jump straight to the version of themselves that felt strong and capable in the saddle.

But that version was built one step at a time too. You just forgot because you were in it.

When I returned to riding after more than 20 years away, after breaking my back and pelvis, after 15 years of chronic pain and countless injections, I had to start with one ride. One day of trusting my body enough to get back on. And then one more after that.

I promised myself I would never jump again. I jumped on my first day back.

Not because I was ready. Because one step turned into the next and the next and suddenly I was doing things I told myself were impossible.

Your body responds to what you ask of it. But you have to start asking. Even when the ask feels small. Even when walking your horse around the ring is all you have that day. That is not nothing. That is the foundation of everything that comes after.

The riders who get stronger are not the ones who do the most on day one. They are the ones who keep showing up. Step by step. Building from wherever they are right now.

So if today all you have is one step, take it. Your body will meet you there.

If you are ready to start building that strength and want a program designed specifically for riders, comment the word SWISH and I will send you everything you need to get started with Swish Fitness for Equestrians.

08/29/2026

Your body isn't broken. It's just telling you something.

When pain shows up, most people stop. They wait. They hope it goes away on its own.

But here's what actually works: you start moving. Not the injured part necessarily. Not some grand gesture. Just movement somewhere.

Movement tells your nervous system you're safe. It increases blood flow. It triggers healing at a cellular level. But more than that, it reminds you that you still have control.

Pain convinces you that your body won't listen. Movement proves it will.

One step. One breath. One small thing you can ask your body to do. Then you do it. Then you ask again.

As long as you're moving, you're improving.

That's not motivation. That's physiology. That's autonomy. That's you reclaiming the conversation with yourself.

Your body is listening. It's waiting for you to ask.

08/26/2026

This is the hill I will die on.

I have seen coaching that looks like correction but feels like demolition. I have been on the receiving end of it. And I have watched it break people who had no idea the problem was never them.

A good coach does not need to make you feel small to prove they know more than you. That is not teaching. That is control.

The best coaching I have ever experienced and the kind I fight to create does something completely different. It finds the thing you did right and builds a fortress around it. It shows you what is already working so you have the confidence to reach for what is next.

Because here is what most people miss. We are wired to obsess over the one mistake and ignore the ninety eight percent that went well. A great coach interrupts that pattern. They say look at what you just did. Now do it again. And again. Until your body and your mind believe it.

That is how you build a rider who trusts herself in the ring. That is how you build a woman who trusts herself in life.

I spent years around coaching cultures that rewarded toughness and mistook cruelty for standards. When I built Swish Fitness I made a decision. This would be a place where people are raised up. Where showing up matters more than being perfect. Where you are met exactly where you are and challenged to go further from a place of belief not shame.

If you have ever left a lesson or a class or a conversation feeling smaller than when you walked in, that was not coaching. And you deserve better.

Tag someone who coaches the right way. The world needs more of them.

08/25/2026

You invest in their training. Their nutrition. Their recovery. Their bodywork.

You would never send your horse into the ring unconditioned.

But what about your body?

Every imbalance you carry, your horse feels.

Every tension in your hips, your horse braces against.

Every moment of fatigue, your horse compensates for.

You are not separate systems. You are a partnership.

And right now, one half of that partnership is being trained. The other is just showing up and hoping for the best.

This isn't about guilt. This is about love.

You take care of your horse because you love them.

Your horse needs you to take care of yourself for the same reason.

A stronger rider creates a more confident horse. A more balanced rider creates a freer horse. A rider who trusts her body creates a horse who trusts his rider.

Your horse deserves a strong rider.

You deserve to feel strong.

DM me SWISH and I'll show you exactly where to start.

08/25/2026

When your protective brain replays an accident, it's doing exactly what it's designed to do. But you have a choice in what happens next. You can react from fear, or you can respond with intention.

That response looks like retraining your focus. It's the physical work—the rehab, the treatment, the rebuilding of trust in your body. And it's the mental work: the words you choose, the story you tell yourself, the breath you return to.

When you're getting back in the saddle after a fall, your nervous system needs both. Your body needs to heal. Your mind needs to reset. Not one or the other. Both.

So what are you saying to yourself as you approach that jump, that conversation, that challenge? Are you spiraling into "oh no oh no oh no"? Or are you grounding into "I'm calm. I'm centered. I'm balanced. I'm breathing"?

The difference is everything.

08/23/2026

At 23, I made the decision to retire from riding. I truly believed I was hanging my hat up for good.

It was one of the hardest choices I had ever made. Riding shaped who I am. It taught me discipline, resilience, and strength. Walking away was not taken lightly, but at the time, it was the right decision because of significant injuries.

When I eventually returned, it surprised everyone, including me. What I found was not just a sport, but home.

Coming back to riding has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. Being back in the ring, performing, and doing what I love reminds me every day how grateful I am to be here. I cannot imagine life without it now

Share it with someone who might find their way back 🐎💙

08/22/2026

This exercise will help you improve your ability to load one leg at a time and shift your weight while keeping your pelvis , back and core steady. It will help you be able to use your legs independently while you’re on your horse without twisting inadvertently or putting your Horse off balance.

08/22/2026

Most people skip the first step after a fall.

They try to push through the pain, the fear, the doubt. They think moving forward means moving fast. It doesn't.

When you fall, your nervous system is activated. Your mind is spinning. Your body is in protection mode. Forcing yourself to get back up before you've actually processed what happened doesn't rebuild you. It fractures you further.

The truth is this: recovery requires you to stop first.

Honor what happened. Sit with it. Let your body settle. Let your mind understand it. This isn't weakness. This is wisdom.

Once you've acknowledged the fall, once your nervous system has calmed, then you can move. Not before.

But here's what matters next: you don't move alone.

Find people who have actually walked through what you're walking through. Not people with advice from a book. People with scars from their own falls. They see you differently. They know the path because they've traveled it.

Then use every tool available to you. Visualization. Meditation. Movement. Psychology. Whatever resets your thoughts and rebuilds your belief in what's possible.

The beautiful part is this: you don't have to do it perfectly. You don't have to do it fast. You do it one step at a time, as you can, with people beside you.

And eventually, you get back on that horse.

Or back to whatever you want in life.

That's when the real strength shows up.

Address

Swish Spine & Sport Physio/6958 76 Avenue
Edmonton, AB
T6B2R2

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 8pm
Tuesday 8am - 8pm
Wednesday 8am - 8pm
Thursday 8am - 8pm
Friday 8am - 8pm

Website

, ,

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Swish Stable Body posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Swish Stable Body:

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category