The Equestrian Physio

The Equestrian Physio It's time you showed up for them too...

🗓️TEP Training opens doors in Sept.👇

🏋️‍♀️ Rider-specific strength, rehab & performance systems that actually work.
🎓 MScPT | 300+ coached | 200K+ riders strong.
🧡 Your horse shows up every day for you.

09/17/2026

But that face😂

09/16/2026

This resonate with you? Comment FIX and I'll send you the sign up for my FREE WEBINAR on September 30, THE POSITION FIX! If you're ready to finally get a handle on that crookedness your coach has been telling you about for the last 6 months (cough or years cough), now is the time!

Do you struggle with lateral stability in the saddle? A collapsing shoulder or hiking hip? Try for firm aids, but just can't seem to maintain connection through your leg?

There is a false assumption that, in a rider's lower body, your hip adductors, or groin muscles, are your most important riding muscles.

And while the Adductors are important, I would argue that your glutes are actually your most important muscle for aids and as a pelvic stabilizer.

The gluteus medius is one of the main stabilizers of your lateral hip, and it's responsible for internal rotation at the hip (especially in a flexed position), and abduction.

Internal rotation is one of your main movements to provide an upper leg, or steadying, aid. Being able to strongly and independently apply this aid with each leg individually will help bring more accuracy to where and how you apply your leg, bringing more clarity to the aid overall.

As well (maybe more importantly), the glute med stabilizes the pelvis ON the femur. If you think of the femur as a solid and secure base along the side of the horse, the glute med acts as a strap, controlling your side to side pelvic motion, and preventing you from collapsing sideways in the saddle.

If you struggle with maintaining lateral position in the saddle, try playing with this exercise in your routine. Monster walks and Captain Morgan's can be a great place to start. The Star Side Plank is a challenging exercise for your lateral hip muscles. I've shown two versions here, the straight leg or bent leg versions. If both are too challenging, try starting with a clamshell type exercise to build some more strength before moving to this one.

We'll be digging into WAY more of what's driving these kinds of position issues in THE POSITION FIX! Comment FIX or check the link in my bio to sign up 🍂

LinkDM *040*

09/15/2026

IS a more expensive helmet any safer than a cheaper one? September is Helmet Safety Awareness Month, so over the next couple weeks I'm doing several videos on both concussion and helmet safety!

The Virginia Tech Helmet Lab is an independent research group. On every helmet they test, the run 16 impact tests, evaluating linear AND rotational forces (both correlate with concussion risk). Every helmet they test passed general safety ratings, but more extensive protocols allow them to go beyond the simple PASS/FAIL standards and compare models head to head (no pun intended).

In their 2022 equestrian ratings, the top pick was a $400+ MIPS helmet by Champion, but several helmets in the under $100 range ranked significantly higher than their more expensive counterparts.

Which means that price is NOT a reliable proxy for safety when you're shopping. Sometimes the more expensive helmet wins, but there are plenty of $300+ helmets on the market with sub par ratings!

Some caveats worth knowing, though, is that their testing is done in standardized lab conditions and doesn't perfectly replicate real-world falls. And they've also only tested about 54 (I misquoted in the video) helmets to date, so not every helmet on the market is in their database.

STAR ratings measure force transmission, which CORRELATES with concussion risk, but doesn't equal prevention. But until we get more epidemiological data, it's still a great proxy to base buying decisions off of.

Keep in mind though, FIT COMES FIRST. A well-fitting 3-star helmet will likely outperform a poorly-fitting 5-star. STAR ratings assume proper fit (more on that to come!)

If I was buying a new helmet today, I'd narrow my options to a price range I'm comfortable replacing if I came off, then pick a brand and model that rigorously passes a fit check for my head.

THEN I'd check the Virginia Tech ratings before committing.

Want to see for yourself? Comment STAR and I'll send you the link to the Virginia Tech website!

LinkDM *043*

09/11/2026

There's a lot in the equestrian and fitness world that doesn't hold up under scrutiny (case in point, below 👇) and we're digging into more of it during my FREE webinar on September 30!

THE POSITION FIX is all about riders' most common position faults, where they stem from, and what to actually DO about them. TWO live sessions, 11 AM and 7 PM EDT. Comment "WOBBLE" for the link 🍂

Have you ever tried training on an unstable surface?

Unstable surface training, like standing on a Bosu ball, wobble board, or foam pads, is becoming SUPER popular in equestrian training. The idea is to "mimic" the instability of riding, since horses and stirrups are naturally unsteady.

But does it actually do what we think?

Your visual, vestibular, and proprioceptive systems all work together to help you stay balanced and react as you move, walk, and ride. When we get injured, the proprioceptive system in that area often struggles, which makes us rely more on our visual system. And many of us become reliant on our vision for balance because we don't active challenge the other systems all that often.

Balance training is supposed to rebuild proprioception and help with overall stability. And unstable surface training is theoretically meant to boost this by making you react to instability. It's makes sense, right!

But there's a catch... on an unstable surface, your brain doesn't fully trust the proprioceptive input because it's too RANDOM. Imagine trying to navigate by reading a compass that is constantly swinging in different directions.

This means your brain relies on your visual system MORE to make up for the poor quality data coming from the proprioceptive system, which isn't ideal.

The visual system is one of the slowest to process information, and it limits you to what's in your immediate line of sight. That's a big deal when you're riding because it could throw off your timing and make you slower to react when s**t hits the fan.

So, while the intent behind unstable surface training kinda makes sense on the surface, when you look deeper into how your brain processes information to help you balance, unfortunately UST is just handicapping you more.🤷‍♀️

LinkDM *042*

09/10/2026

When was the last time you actually replaced your helmet? 🤔

Most of us know the "every 5 years" rule, but few of us know WHY it matters. The EPS foam inside your helmet degrades over time. Helmets are tested to a specific set of safety standards when they're brand new, but as that foam breaks down, manufacturers can't guarantee it's going to protect you to those same standards anymore.

Sweat, heat, cold, UV, and even small drops all speed up that degradation. I bought the helmet in this video in 2019 and I'm VERY guilty of storing it in my car. So a replacement is long overdue.😅

HELMET SAFETY AWARENESS Week comes around every September, and lots of retailers and manufacturers run sales of 10-20% off. Most major manufacturers also offer crash replacement programs, so if you register your helmet after purchase and have a fall, you can usually get a solid discount on the replacement. Contact them BEFORE buying a new one at full price to see if you can qualify.

Replace your helmet if:
🔹 It's over 5 years old (casual rider, 1-2x/week)
🔹 It's over 3 years old (heavy rider, multiple horses a day, or stored in less than ideal conditions like your car 🙋‍♀️)
🔹 It took ANY impact, regardless of visible damage

Check with your favourite tack store or helmet manufacturer for their September sales. I PROMISE your head is worth it.

09/09/2026

There are a LOT of commonly held beliefs in the equestrian and fitness worlds that don't hold up when you look at the evidence, and we'll be digging into even more of them during my FREE WEBINAR on September 30!

Join me for THE POSITION FIX, all about riders' most common position faults, asymmetries, where they stem from, and what to actually DO about them.

TWO live sessions at 11 AM and 7 PM EDT! Join through the link in bio or comment "FIX" and I'll send you the details 🍂

Now, onto the Bosu balls...

You've seen it… equestrians (and other athletes) doing complex moves on Bosu balls, wobble boards, soft mats, and whatever other cool looking wobbly things they can find!

This trend is getting popular, but does unstable surface training actually do what people think?

People often tell me they use unstable surfaces to recruit those "little stabilizer muscles," improve core activation, or increase overall muscle recruitment...

And at first glance, this makes sense! If you're constantly reacting to an unstable surface, your muscles should be firing MORE, right?

In reality, the research tends to show the opposite. Training on an unstable surface often leads to LESS recruitment of the target muscles. Which makes sense if you think a layer deeper!

If you're doing a max squat on solid ground, you'll recruit as much quad, glute, and everything else as POSSIBLE to lift that weight. But on an unstable surface, you can't lift as heavy, because your body literally doesn't trust the ground it stands on.🤷‍♀️

Just because something FEELS hard, DOESN'T mean it drives adaptation. Doing a lunge on a Bosu might be difficult, but that DOESN'T mean it's making you stronger. You'll improve over time, yes, but that's skill development, not strength. Training on unstable surfaces prepares you for... more unstable surface work 🤷🏻‍♀️.

What about those "little stabilizers"? Mostly overhyped🤷‍♀️. As are the targeted "activation" exercises. You'll recruit spinal, hip, and shoulder stabilizers like the multifidi, deep hip rotators, and rotator cuff WAY more effectively by lifting at a sufficient intensity than by "tricking" your body with an unstabl

09/08/2026

Here's the thing, training in the gym is not INTENDED to make you a better rider.

To be an effective rider, we need the strength, skill, mobility, power, body awareness and control, and endurance appropriate for our level of sport.

SKILL is what makes you a better rider. Your ability to interpret the tension or movement coming from your horse. To see a stride. To time your aids. To follow and control the movement. Those things come with hours of practice in the saddle.

But the rest of it? It might not make you a BETTER rider (directly), but it WILL make you ...
.. an OLDER rider, capable of staying in the saddle for decades to come...
.. a more CONFIDENT rider, because you can trust your body to handle whatever gets thrown at you...
..a SOFTER rider, with the strength to control the forces coming up from your horse and stay in sync with their movement...
.. a FASTER learner, because your limits in a lesson will no longer be defined by the cap of your physical capacity, so you can implement the things your coach is saying without your body getting in the way...
.. a more RESILIENT rider, capable of resisting injury and coming back faster when it happens...
.. and more! While it is entirely true that the gym is never going to replace time in the saddle, it sure has a hell of a lot of other benefits🤷‍♀️

On Sept 30th, I'll be running THE POSITION FIX as a LIVE webinar! In 60 min we'll chat through common performance problems and asymmetries riders struggle with, and what to do about them. Check the link in my bio or comment BETTER for the sign up page!

LinkDM *041*

09/07/2026

If you want to dig deeper into what actually shows up in your position and what to do about it, I'm running a FREE WEBINAR on September 30: The Position Fix: Common Rider Position Issues and What to Actually Do About Them.

Comment FIX for the link to hold your spot. ⬇

As a physiotherapist, I don't usually care much about side/side imbalance in most athletes UNLESS it's actually limiting function or increasing injury risk. It's not uncommon to HAVE a dominant side, and that's often a good thing. Tennis, hockey, golf all develop asymmetrically because it HELPS performance.

But equestrian sport is DIFFERENT. Our asymmetries don't just affect us, they also impact to the horse UNDERNEATH us.

So when is it worth addressing?

When I'm assessing a rider's imbalance, I'm mentally sorting it into 2 things:

→ FUNCTIONAL asymmetry: You can SEE IT in the saddle. A hip drops, a dominant hand, a leg sticking out...
→ MEASURABLE asymmetry: Something we could pick up in a test (like with a dynamometer or force plate) but that doesn't necessarily show up in your riding.

And there's a tipping point here... if your physical capacity is barely enough to meet what your sport demands, then even a small imbalance matters A LOT. A 10–15% difference between sides can be the thing that tips the scale toward a crooked rider, pain, or breakdown.

But if you have a SURPLUS of physical capacity? That same 10–15% difference probably doesn't matter nearly as much, because you've built enough capacity that you're never really "in" the range where it starts to matter (at least in the tack).

So when riders tell me "my left hip is tighter" or "my right leg is weaker," my first question is: does it actually show up in your riding? And if it does, is it significant enough to address on its own, or do we need to look at the bigger picture?

For most riders, the better investment isn't chasing tiny side-to-side differences, it's raising the WHOLE system. Building enough strength, power, & mobility across the board so those little imbalances stop mattering.

The goal is to be strong, balanced, & capable enough that your asymmetries can exist WITHOUT defining how you ride.

LinkDM *040*

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