Fusion Equine

02/09/2026

We have another few zooms coming up. If you are wondering about what the course is like- or if you have any burning questions about why your OTT does what it does- come and ask your questions live in the zoom.

🐎 Got questions about your off-the-track horse? Join us for a FREE Zoom Q&A!

Whether your horse is fresh off the track or has been off for years, this is your chance to ask questions about transitioning, retraining and life after racing.

Join Dr Shelley Appleton & Isabelle Chandler as we share some of what we’ve learned successfully transitioning off-the-track horses and answer your questions.

We’ll also introduce our upcoming Project Racehorse Reboot 12-Week Challenge, running from 19 September to 19 December 2026, so you can find out what it involves and whether it might be right for you and your horse.

📅 Choose from TWO free Zoom sessions:
Friday 4 September | 9:00–10:30am
OR
Sunday 6 September | 8:00–9:30pm

Can’t make either Zoom? No problem.

👇 Post your question in the comments below. We’ll include questions submitted here in our Q&A and post the replay afterwards, so you can still hear our answer even if you can’t join us live.

And you absolutely don’t need to be considering the challenge to participate. Come along to ask a question, listen and learn, or simply get some new insights into helping your off-the-track horse.

🐴 Fresh off the track or retired for years
💬 Bring your questions or post them below
💻 Two live Zoom sessions
🎥 Replay available afterwards
🎟️ FREE to attend

Comment ZOOM below to get all the registration details⬇️

17/08/2026

This is why bodywork and training go hand in hand. A lot of the time it’s not that they won’t- it’s that they physically can’t.

𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐓𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞?

Why does an OTT’s conformation make such a difference to their balance and ability to work like other horses?

The short answer: their body is often still stuck in a ‘racehorse’ frame.

Racehorses are all about the push. A lot of force drives forward and down from the hind end through the thoracic sling, while the head and neck stick out like a cantilever to counterbalance that. The gallop is a huge stride too — to cover maximum ground, the horse stretches nose to tail.

That’s the opposite of collection.

Why does this matter? Because it shapes the body in a completely different way to what we want in a riding horse.

🐴 The pelvis usually has an anterior tilt — flat and weak on top, over-built through the hamstrings

🐴 This limits flexion through the hind end joints: tight hips and fetlocks, hocks that are either tight or weak, unstable stifles

🐴 With little core engagement, the psoas and back muscles have to tighten to compensate for pelvic instability — which also limits flexion through the spine and ribs

🐴 The force through the front legs often leaves the shoulders restricted, the neck stiff from being braced out, and the jaw locked from then tension carried through the body

🐴 Add natural asymmetry (worsened by racing predominantly one way), plus average feet and teeth, and it’s a lot working against them

Just coming off the track and being asked to work usually ends in frustration — not because the horse won’t, but because they physically can’t. Small circles alone need a flexible spine, a soft neck, and real balance — things their body hasn’t been built for yet.

Getting bodywork done before you start re- training, along with balanced feet and up-to-date teeth, isn’t just a nice extra. It’s often the difference between a horse that can build toward collection — and one that stays stuck.

28/07/2026

All my OTT people- we are doing another free zoom tomorrow morning. This one is on addressing contact issues. As long as you register (make sure to comment on the original post for the link) you will be able to watch later if you miss it.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗣𝘂𝘇𝘇𝗹𝗲: 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗢𝗳𝗳-𝘁𝗵𝗲-𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀)

🆓 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫
𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟗 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
𝟗:𝟑𝟎 𝐚𝐦 (𝐒𝐲𝐝𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝐀𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚)

One of the most common frustrations when retraining an off-the-track horse is developing a soft, confident and consistent contact.

Many riders assume contact is simply about the horse accepting the bit or learning to soften to the reins. In reality, contact is the result of a complex combination of physical, emotional and training factors working together.

When even one piece of the puzzle is missing, the contact often suffers.

Join Isabelle Chandler and Dr Shelley Appleton as they explore why contact problems are so common in off-the-track Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds, and why many well-intentioned approaches fail to produce lasting change.

During this webinar, you'll discover:

• why contact is far more than what happens between the horse's mouth and the rider's hands

• the hidden factors that influence a horse's ability to develop a soft, confident connection

• why issues that appear unrelated to contact often have a significant impact

• how a horse's previous racing education shapes the way they respond under saddle

• why rebuilding contact requires understanding the whole horse, not just correcting symptoms.

Rather than offering quick fixes, this webinar will help you see the bigger picture.

You'll leave with a completely different way of thinking about contact and a greater appreciation of why developing a beautiful connection under saddle is both an art and a carefully constructed process.

If you've ever found yourself wondering why your horse leans, braces, curls behind the contact, resists, rushes, or simply never feels comfortable in the rein, this webinar is for you.

This webinar is designed as an introduction to the principles behind our Racehorse to Riding Horse: Off-the-Track Reboot program, where we teach the complete step-by-step system for rebuilding confidence, posture, balance and contact in off-the-track horses.

All registrants will get access to the replay if you cannot make it.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤 ⬇️

IMPORTANT‼
If you have a question you would like us to address in the webinar please post in the comments.

21/07/2026

How important is the TMJ?
Here’s a great example of how it affects the pattern of the whole body.

In the before photo, you can see the right side of the nose and mouth is contracted, the front feet are off balance, and the whole body is falling over the left shoulder.
What you can’t see is the slight shift of the hind end to the right to help counterbalance that.

Stop for a minute and think about how this would affect your ride.

The after photo was taken just 10 minutes later, after working on the TMJ and associated structures in the head and neck. Once the jaw and facial bones were given the chance to realign, the whole horse began to straighten up and rebalance.

Without the head twisting to the side, the neck is straighter and so is the spine. This helps move the shoulders back to the centre line, and you can see the front feet are squarer. It also means the hind end isn’t having to compensate as much, and is therefore more balanced too.

Now think how much easier and softer this would be to ride.

It’s important to understand this kind of shift, while impressive, won’t necessarily be permanent — especially if the horse has other contributing issues. Ongoing bodywork, correct exercise, balanced feet and up-to-date dental care all play a part in supporting these changes long term.

Next time you’re with your horse, step back and take a look at how their face shapes up — and how their body is following that pattern.

20/07/2026

This is one of my favourite quotes- and one I live by when it comes to horses.
Every owner I meet loves their horse and wants to do right by them. There is no question about it.

What we need to remember is that when we learn something new it is no good wallowing in the past and what we may have done wrong. We have a responsibility to our horses to change our actions to match that new knowledge so we can make their life better.

01/07/2026

Your saddle fit issue might not be what you think it is. 🐴

I reposted a great post from Dr Shelley Appleton Calm Willing Confident Horses the other day about how your saddle fit issue might not be the saddle at all — but a sign that your horse is unsound.

I’d like to throw another spanner in the works..

Sometimes it isn’t your horse, and it isn’t even the saddle fit- it’s the way the saddle was made.

Many saddles come off the production line already out of whack — made on a crooked tree, with panels sewn on unevenly, or uneven stirrup bars. Before it even sits on your horse, it’s already working against them.

This photo is a perfect example. Despite the horse having his own crookedness, the fit wasn’t all his fault. This saddle was hardly used but it already had a twisted tree, which means it simply cannot sit on the horse correctly, no matter how you fit it. You can see that the gullet opening and the front of the tree are uneven and twisted.

It’s no wonder he was struggling on the circle to the right and refusing the right canter lead.

This kind of issue creates instability, discomfort, and compensation patterns that show up as behaviour, resistance, or uneven movement. What looks like a training problem — or a horse being difficult — is actually a tack problem.

Unfortunately it often can’t be fixed and you’ll need to buy a whole new saddle.

So how do we avoid that kind of heartbreak?

I’ll do another post tomorrow running through a quick checklist of what to look for when buying a new or used saddle — it can save you a lot of money and heartache before committing to such an important piece of tack.

If you’d like your horse and saddle checked, drop a comment below or send me a message. 📩

21/06/2026

This is a great video on hock angles but also just an easy reminder on how to asses a horses conformation.

19/06/2026

A good weekend consideration..

The Great Saddle Slip Mystery🔍

Your saddle slips to the left.

So naturally, you buy a new girth.

It still slips.🤨

So you buy a fancy anatomical girth, a non-slip saddle pad, and perhaps a breastplate with enough straps to secure a small aircraft.

It still slips.😠

So you call a saddle fitter.

Then another saddle fitter.

Then one recommended by a friend who swears they transformed her horse's life.

It still slips.😖

At this point, many horse owners begin to suspect that they're somehow destined to spend the rest of their life searching for the mythical saddle setup that stays exactly where it should.

But before you spend another dollar on tack or lose respect for your latest saddle-fitter, let me tell you about some fascinating research by Line Greve and Sue Dyson.🤓

Because what they discovered put some very important information on the table to consider when you have a saddle slip issue.

The researchers investigated horses with persistent saddle slip and found that many of them had underlying hindlimb lameness.

Now, stay with me if you just rolled your eyes and think this isn't you case because your horse is clearly NOT lame....

The type of lameness identified was not the obvious kind where the horse is hopping around on three legs.

The subtle kind.🤔

The sort of issue that can quietly affect performance, behaviour, balance, and movement long before anyone recognises it as a soundness problem.

Why?

Because horses with discomfort or dysfunction or weakness in a hind leg often alter the way they move. They redistribute load, change how they push off the ground, and compensate through their body. Those altered forces travel through the horse's back and can gradually push the saddle off centre.

This doesn't just apply to horses with obvious injuries. It can occur in horses with mild lameness, asymmetries, weakness, developmental immaturity, or conditions affecting structures such as the stifle, sacroiliac region, suspensory apparatus, or other parts of the hind limb.

Now here's the part that many people find surprising.

The researchers found that saddle slip was actually associated with well-balanced saddles that had even contact and good flocking.😲

In other words, a saddle that slips isn't necessarily poorly fitted.

In fact, if you've had the saddle checked, adjusted, reflocked, replaced, and the problem keeps returning, there may be something else worth investigating.

The most compelling finding came when the researchers identified the source of the hindlimb pain and used diagnostic nerve blocks to remove the discomfort.

The saddle slip disappeared in 97% of cases.😱

Read that again.

Ninety-seven percent.😱

The saddle didn't change.

The girth didn't change.

The saddle pad didn't change.

The horse's movement changed.🤯

That's a pretty powerful clue.😎

One of the biggest challenges with horses is that we often focus on the symptom we can see rather than the cause we can't.

The slipping saddle becomes the problem.

The canter transition becomes the problem.

The spooky behaviour becomes the problem.

The horse drifting through the shoulder becomes the problem.

But sometimes these things are not separate problems at all.

Sometimes they are all clues pointing towards the same underlying issue.

So if your saddle consistently slips despite multiple fitting assessments and equipment changes, it may be worth considering whether your horse is trying to tell you something.

And if that saddle slip is accompanied by things like:
- Canter difficulties
- Resistance under saddle
- Reactive or spooky behaviour
- Struggles with engagement
then the possibility of an underlying soundness issue becomes even more important to investigate.⚠️

One of the most valuable lessons I've learned working with horses is that behaviour, performance, and movement are often connected in ways that aren't immediately obvious.

A slipping saddle may not always indicate a soundness issue...sometimes it can be a YOU issue, but that is for another article another day.

But if it keeps happening despite your best efforts to fix it, it might be worth looking beyond the saddle.💡

Sometimes the saddle is not the problem.

It's the clue.

References
Greve, L., & Dyson, S. J. (2013). An Investigation of the Relationship Between Hindlimb Lameness and Saddle Slip. Equine Veterinary Journal, 45(5), 570-577.
Greve, L., & Dyson, S. J. (2014). The Interrelationship of Lameness, Saddle Slip and Back Shape in the General Sports Horse Population. Equine Veterinary Journal, 46(6), 687-694.

Collectable Advice 226/365. Please SHARE or hit SAVE. Please no copy and pasting.

07/06/2026

Gotta love some weekend fun..

07/06/2026

Why does my OTT horse suddenly seem unsound? Here's the honest answer. 🐴

As an equine bodyworker who has worked with Thoroughbreds and OTT horses for years, there is a common issue that is not well understood by new owners — and that trainers get blamed for unnecessarily in most cases.

Despite the horse appearing sound before leaving the track, unsoundness can emerge once they're home — and it's not always anyone's fault.

There is a reason for this. A racehorse is very fit and strong — but also carrying a lot of brace to keep their body stable while at extreme speeds.

As a responsible owner you remove the brace through bodywork, give the horse time to let down and lose some of that track fitness and core stability, then start asking them to carry a rider or work in small circles in a round yard.

This is all valid — however it is also where things can fall apart that were holding together just fine before. Without all the brace to disguise it, the weak points will become very obvious.

This is not the trainer lying to you about the horse's soundness. It is a natural consequence of taking on a horse that was started early, worked hard through their formative years, and is now being asked to do something completely different, with different muscles.

This is why I always advocate for X-rays before you fully commit to an OTT. Not to talk you out of it — but so you have information to work with. A horse with kissing spines can absolutely go on to perform well with the right management, but it may never be the 3* eventer you were secretly hoping it would be.

Knowing that before you've fallen in love can save you years of heartache.

Do I get every horse I take off the track X-rayed? No. But I also accept the risk and responsibility that comes with that decision.

My advice?

→ Get X-rays if you know what you want your horse to do and it needs to be sound to do it
→ Learn how the horse's body moves and what to look for
→ Talk to your bodyworker about warning signs
→ Look past the pretty colour — watch how they walk and how they hold themselves
→ Educate yourself. Then make peace with the fact that it is still a risk — and decide if you're willing to take it

Trainers are generally just looking for good homes for their horses. They aren't there to provide all the answers — and they often won't recognise the warning signs themselves. It's on you as the buyer to go in with your eyes open.

It will still likely be one of the most rewarding journeys you will ever take.