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Stretch Exercises for Your Horse
by Karin Blignault
I found "Stretch Exercises for your Horse - The Path to Perfect Suppleness " by Karin Blignault to be a very thorough book about the subject of equine stretching.
Karin Blignault is an occupational therapist and equine trainer. She discusses how the principles of stretching (long used by human athletes) can be used to benefit horses.
(The following is taken from the back of the book)
In the book she explains:
- The importance of stretch exercises in preventing injury, alleviating pain, and improving performance.
- The need to develop suppleness in tandem with strength.
- The important role of classical ridden movements as active stretches.
- The basic anatomy and physiology of muscles and their associated tissues.
- How muscles work together in groups, and which exercises benefit which muscles.
- The fundamental principles of how to perform active stretch exercises as a rider from the saddle, and passive stretches from the ground.
The individual exercises are explained in detail, with clear, specific instructions designed to ensure that they are carried out in the most beneficial manner, with no risk of injury to the horse or therapist.
As you can see, it is a very informative book. I would say it over-delivers on the amount of information, pictures, instructions, and options of how to properly stretch a horse.
This book is packed full of quality color photos and also drawings to try to make sure the reader has a full understanding of what is being presented.
The only caution I would have is that many of the photos of stretching show a horse that is obviously very flexible. I am a little concerned that some people will attempt to get their own horse to stretch this far when it may not be ready. Or, may never be able to stretch that far due to age, injury, or structural limitations. So, I hope that you will take that into consideration when using this book.
All in all, "Stretch Exercises for Your Horse" by Karin Blignault is an excellent book. You will come away knowing more about equine stretching, equine anatomy and physiology, and what she calls the "fundamentals of stretching". The last chapter (which is the majority of the book) describes stretching exercises for all parts of the horse using muscle charts and color photographs.
Each of the sections offers information and instructions about passive stretching exercises (from the ground) and active stretching exercises(ridden work) for each of the horse's muscle groups.
So, in summary, I would highly recommend this book if you have an interest in stretching exercises for your horse.
Please choose your country from the list below if you would like to learn more about, or to purchase this book.
- United Kingdom (coming soon)
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