Good farriery, saddlery and schooling affects hind limb movement and flight

conformational problems

hind foot dragging

Hecate - 4 year old Homebred Mare

  • Changed from toe-dragging to foot placement over a series of Buqi sessions
  • Now displays evidence of her own body awareness
  • Carries out her own repertoire of  movements, stretches and corrections at her own will
  • Displayed some extreme posturing during the sessions
  • Progressing well in schooling despite some conformational issues

(Click here to see a video of a Buqi session with Hecate)

Hecate is a 4 year old homebred mare. Her owner’s initial concerns were that she dragged the toes of both hind limbs and that the back legs tended to be stiff and clicky at the beginning of work

My initial observation was that the mare was straight legged behind and that this conformation was having its effect on the function of the hind leg and its relationship with the flexion of the pelvis and topline. This was causingstiffness and rigidity.

Hecate had also received an injury a couple of year previously; a kick to the left hind quarter below the hip area. This had resulted in muscle and nerve damage, was addressed with several months rest and was now considered fully recovered.

The owner had discussed all of her concerns with her Vet who thereby passed the horse’s general health. The owner regularly works with a qualified instructor for correct schooling, training and development.

This mare had about 10 Buqi sessions over a 7 month period. She is naturally quick thinking, has a healthily busy and active mind and is usually highly involved with what’s going on in her external environment, i.e. the comings and goings of the yard. In the first couple of sessions she mostly ignored the practitioner, and occasionally dipped into relaxation, soon to be distracted again by what was going on outside. It became clear over the first few sessions that she was using some quite clear distraction techniques to avoid the process of ‘going inside’ or ‘connecting in’ with the sensations in her own body. She consistently ‘played’ with the owner, by pushing, nudging and chewing, etc and then would swap sides on the practitioner regularly. It became clear that something else was going on!

Throughout the next three sessions (having initially been tied to the wall to reduce her avoidances) she then displayed some remarkable posturing and behaviour. Some of these can be seen on the video footage. She made clear her moments of discomfort as her energy system became increasingly active and the binqi (or negative factors)  moved internally; this included displays of tail swishing, kicking out, raising and holding the left hind out to the side, straddling the back legs, looking round, rounding the back and humping with a series of mini-bucks. She has also repeatedly reversed up against the wall and pressed against it and sometimes bumped up against the wall quite strongly, the intensity and frequency of which have changed over the sessions.

These self-regulatory movements and adjustments have proved very effective in Hecate being involved in the process of releasing her own physical tensions.

Since those sessions Hecate has become more relaxed during each session and ‘lets go’ at the onset of each session, becoming ever-more relaxed throughout it. You can see her touching some of this 'stillness' in the video. Once the binqi, or discomfort, has cleared she allows the process to complete naturally and she observably enters more fully into her whole being.

After about the first six sessions the footfall of the hind limb began to change, from being dragged to being placed squarely to the ground; this marked change initially was seen as being the difference from before the session to after it. This new movement pattern has subsequently become stronger and more established. The left hind still appears slightly more ‘lazy’ during limb flight than the right, which is probably due to scar tissue from the old kick injury and remains work in progress.

Hecate continues to receive monthly Buqi sessions and is still consistently placing the hind feet. She enters into complete relaxation during the sessions with a minimal amount of the same extreme posturing as before - although she will revisit it at times.

The owner also describes how Hecate appears to have found her own increased body awareness and developed her own releasing techniques. The owner observes Hecate both on the lunge, and in the stable, first stretch one side of the body and then the other quite purposely and she also occasionally displays some of the behaviours that have been seen during the Buqi sessions. The owner reports that the mare is going consistently well and continuously improving in her work. The owner is very pleased with her progress.