Ep 32: Objective Gait Analysis in Horses and how Riders Impact Equine Movement Using Sleip with Dr. Jamie Textor

In today's episode I have the chance to interview the North American Director for Sleip, a Swedish-based objective gait analysis tool for horses. Dr. Jamie Textor, DVM PhD DACVS DACVSMR is a veterinarian based in Northern California. Her professional experience includes specialty surgical and sports medicine practice in veterinary teaching hospitals as well as sports medicine work in the field. Dr. Textor's perspective emphasizes the importance of real-world interpretation and integration of objective gait analysis techniques into everyday practice.

I believe that Sleip is going to fundamentally change how we get our horses in shape, help them recover from injury, and keep horses sound over their entire lifetime. I’m excited to announce that I have the capability of uploading your horse’s videos to the Sleip app remotely through my subscription. Head to solidinthesaddle.com/sleip for more information. 

In this episode we discuss the benefits of objective gait analysis in keeping horses sound, healthy, and performing well throughout their lifetime.

We discuss three separate scenarios in which objective gait analysis can really benefit horse-rider teams. 

1) Getting a horse in shape for competition as well as implications Sleip may have in prehabilitation (preventative conditioning before the horse is injured instead of after)

2) Coming back from an injury. So what I’m hearing is that this can be a source of confidence Getting in shape for competition

3) Monitoring the status of horses who are actively competing and hauling

We discuss how it can pick up an overuse injury before it is detected by the human eye or felt under saddle.

We talk about the cost of the rider only posting on one diagonal for extended periods of time- years- and the asymmetries the horse will develop due to that. That asymmetry is what I'm wanting to help riders become aware of. 

If a rider only posts on one diagonal and the reason is that their pelvis is a bit twisted or they lack internal rotation on one hip, there are exercises we can do to greatly improve that so posting on the other diagonal doesn't feel so awkward!

Again, I am SO excited to be able to offer this service to riders. The remote analysis will include a PDF of your horse’s gait pattern including any asymmetries and the degree of asymmetry that is present. This includes differences side to side in impact (that is, the horse’s hoof hitting the ground, AND push-off, that is, the horse’s hoof leaving the ground). The important part for riders is to send in a video of your horse trotting in-hand AND a video of your horse trotting with you mounted.

Asymmetry in humans is just as important as it is in horses, so if you’d like a free hip strength workout for riders you can head to www.solidinthesaddle.com/hip.

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