Flourish Equine Bodywork

Flourish Equine Bodywork Performance • Wellness • Recovery
Equine & Canine
Massage • PEMF • Thermal Imaging • In Hand Polework
Serving the Northwest GA & Atlanta Areas

05/26/2026

Belly lifts (AKA thoracic sling activations) should be an important part of your horse’s weekly routine.

As an equine bodyworker, I’m often asked how to do these exercises correctly and what to look for.

Here’s some tips:

👉 Try “zippering” your hands together under the ribcage. Start one hand on each side and meet in the middle while gently scratching with your fingertips. This is a sensitive area, so be gentle!
👉 Look for a slight lift in your horse’s withers and a slight drop of the head to counter balance (as shown in this video). The movement doesn’t have to be big!
👉 Aim to hold the lift for 5-6 seconds. If they can’t do that at the beginning, work your way up to it!
👉 Let your horse fully relax back into its natural posture in between lifts.

There are so many benefits to these exercises, but my top two are: helping your horse maintain a good posture and mobility as they age and aiding hind end engagement during riding.

05/06/2026

As an equine bodyworker, I use lots of different tools day-to-day to help horses with mobility. In my opinion, some of these tools are a lot more effective than others and I’ve rated them here for you to see!

Questions about any of these tools? Leave ‘em below! ⬇️

05/01/2026

So blessed this is my life! ❤️

04/29/2026

As an equine bodyworker, my clients are often shocked to find out that their homework exercises do not include riding, polework, or even stretching.

Instead, I often point them to what I consider to be the most important exercise for musculoskeletal longevity: a relaxed, neutral posture.

In this clip, my horse, Artie, is in a pretty noisy and chaotic environment. And all I’m doing here is asking him to find relaxation in his neck, while he is in my presence. Once he can do that, we can move onto all the fun exercises. Until then, doing polework or riding will only result in incorrect muscle development or poor compensation patterns.

Can your horse find a relaxed, neutral posture in your presence? Try it and report back! ❤️

04/06/2026

If you guessed activating the thoracic sling, you are correct!

As an equine bodyworker, I’m often tasked with assessing horses through “static” or non-moving assessments. During this time I look for many things such as:

➡️ Posture
➡️ Over/underdeveloped muscles
➡️ Body symmetry
➡️ Tight lines between muscles
➡️ Ribcage alignment

The list is endless!

This sweet hardworking therapy horse at Bearfoot Ranch was an easy assessment. Right off the bat, I could tell she struggles with activating her thoracic sling (core muscles) and this could have caused a cascading effect on her body.

Did you guess the same?

04/01/2026

It’s what’s on the inside that matters most y’all. 🫶

03/31/2026

Artie sure loves Pulse PEMF! But, he definitely tries to hide it. 🤪

I’ve been working on him for over a year and a half now and this is the first big release he’s given. But wow, what a release! Check out that sideways jaw! ❤️

Good boy, Artie. Now it’s time to get back to work!

Isn’t there a saying, “The mechanic’s car is always the last one to get fixed?” 🫣Well… apparently the equine bodyworker’...
03/12/2026

Isn’t there a saying, “The mechanic’s car is always the last one to get fixed?” 🫣

Well… apparently the equine bodyworker’s horse can fall into that category too.

Poor Artie has been pretty off lately. With an abscess track in his hind hoof and some clear compensation patterns showing up, it was time for a ribcage rebalance session today.

The photo on the left shows just how asymmetrical he had become. While the “after” photo on the right shows improvement, it’s also a great reminder of why consistent bodywork matters. Artie tends to fall into the same asymmetry patterns whether he’s being ridden or not—and honestly, this is something I see in a lot of horses.

Horses are masters of compensation. Left unaddressed, those patterns can build over time and start affecting comfort, movement, and performance.

Let this be your friendly spring reminder: don’t wait until your horse looks like mine did today. 😅

If your horse hasn’t had a bodywork session in a while, now is a great time to get on the schedule. Send me a message or comment below and I’ll help you find an opening! 🐴

02/27/2026

Most horse owners think about training, conditioning, and performance, but very few think about how their horse stands when doing nothing. And, that matters more than you might realize.

Your horse’s posture directly affects how their muscles function and how they move. When they can’t properly engage their core and thoracic sling, other muscles are forced to compensate. Over time, this leads to tightness, imbalance, and breakdown.

Think about people who stop using their core and glutes as they age: Posture collapses. Backs round. Pain shows up. Movement becomes harder.

The same thing happens in horses.

A healthy horse needs BOTH:

✨ An active, functional posture for movement
✨ A relaxed, neutral posture for recovery

If your horse can’t stand quietly in a soft, balanced, tension-free position after work, their muscles never fully reset.

And that’s a red flag. 🚩

02/25/2026

As an equine bodyworker, I’m often asked why I do tail lifts & tail circles.

I include tail lifts & tail circles during sessions mostly for assessment purposes. When doing them, I look for muscle asymmetry, balance issues, hindend tension, or directional stiffness.

All of these things clue me into the overall muscular and spinal health of your horse because the tail impacts more than most equestrians realize!

If you give tail lifts or circles a try, let me know!

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Rome, GA
30165

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+17065918835

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