Broken Spur Equine Therapy

08/29/2022

It's been a long time since I have posted anything, so here is a business update!

For those wondering, yes I am still working. My schedule typically has 2-3 days/week available, with some flexibility on which days those are. Priority is given to clients on a regular schedule.

Harvest season has also started, so the availability will be limited until we can finish. As always I will do my best to keep my regular clients on schedule, and fit in anyone else if possible. I appreciate everyone's patience.

It's also been a very long time since I have updated my pricing. As of October 1st, Initial sessions will be $140, regular sessions $125. Depending on location, and number of horses, there may also be a call out fee. For those unfamiliar with my work, my sessions are between an hour and fifteen minutes and an hour and forty five minutes.

I do also have my heated barn (and a washroom!), available for haul in sessions. Pricing for these sessions will remain at $110.

I'd like to thank everyone for their ongoing support of my business, I truly enjoy working with your horses!

03/27/2022

“My body worker is working on my horse regularly, but she keeps finding the same problems and my horse isn’t improving.”
This is a statement I hear a lot.

If you’re getting your horse regular body work, I commend you. It’s an important step in the way of getting your horse moving and feeling well. It’s a commitment of time and money, and one you should feel good about!

But - the big butt (sorry, I’m not mature)

If your horse doesn’t change their way of going, they will keep having the same tension patterns.
If you don’t fix your tack fit, hoof balance, dental balance etc, the body will keep getting pulled out of alignment or into tension

If you don’t open contracted muscles and tone carrying muscles, your body worker will have to keep doing the same work each visit.

It’s a little bit like hiring a house cleaner. Your house will look great when they leave, but if you keep making the same mess and don’t learn to organize, they will keep coming in and having to clean it back out.

The goal would be to need less restorative and repair work and let the movement release the body. That doesn’t mean you won’t need body work anymore, it just means you’ll be able to move beyond cleaning out the junk in the house and have a more efficient system organize and build on- you can actually move forward, instead of constantly repairing damage done by poor movement.

12/11/2021

do not
lose hope,
please believe
that there are
a thousand
beautiful things
waiting for you.

sunshine
comes to all
who feel rain.

r.m.drake

09/26/2020

Well worth another share! As a body worker I regularly get calls to look at horses that really need to see a vet. I always make the recommendation for vet care. It's not that I don't want to help the horse, it's that in some situations the horse is going to be helped best by another professional first, and at the end of the day I always want to do what is best for the horse. I hate the idea of a horse suffering due to something like an undiagnosed fracture, while we wait to see if bodywork will help, or even worse cause more damage by not knowing what is underneath my hands. All of the professionals available to horse owners have a role to play in the right place and time.

Day 2 of bute for Dallas, and he’s already nearly back to normal 🎉 he had very very mild reactions to his dock being palpated, and overall seems more himself.

I’m not a worrier of small things, and I’m quite experienced in equine husbandry. I also regularly enlist the help of an equine body worker (I say body worker, because the one I use I truly believe is one of the best in the business - she works in so many modalities that I’m not sure even how to label it all 😆). That said, anything that is causing huge concern related to bony structure and mobility will always have us calling our vet first before anyone else. My body worker (Broken Spur Equine Therapy) is in agreement with this, as while she truly is a wealth of knowledge and a genuine miracle worker, she is not interested in playing vet. She has also taught me many things over the years, enabling me to notice many things that would actually best be sorted by a body worker rather than a vet. This in turn also makes me confident when I make the choice to call the vet first. Knowing my ponies ‘norm’ very well also adds to my confidence when something even more serious is going on than a sprung rib, or a rotated pelvis.

My vet bill was just shy of $200 to have Dallas checked out, but it was money well spent to have my suspicions confirmed - and squash potentials of something even worse going on. This allows us to make a plan for him, that takes the entirety of his injury into consideration, and also will provide extra info for my body worker when she works on him.

I wanted to write this just as a reminder for others that your vet is an important part of you and your horses health team. No, it is not as cheap as a visit from a body worker, but your body worker is not a vet, and shouldn’t be expected to substitute for one. My equine body worker is still an invaluable member of my horses health team too, but timing and application of those services are quite important - even when you’re super fortunate like me to have one who’s one of the best in the business. In all reality, the vet and body workers services work best when used in conjunction with one another.

Dallas will be booked to see Jody in the next little bit as his inflammation settles and our schedules allow. He’s got a couple days left of bute, but I am happy to see him find relief ❤️

04/24/2020

What and where is the Iliopsoas muscle group? The Iliopsoas Muscle Group lies deep within each side of the body. The group is made up of 3 muscles, the Psoas M

04/19/2020

It's always fun to collaborate with Scott and this podcast was no different! We recorded a few more together, and Scott has a tonne of other great material you can check out!

01/17/2020

I'm looking forward to spending some time with Scott Phillips of Amazing Horse Country today to record some podcasts! I'll get to share some of my knowledge, and for those of you that have seen Scott and I work together, you know it will be entertaining too 😝

We are looking forward to spending tomorrow in the studio with equine bio-mechanics expert, Jody Schulze McMann.

Jody will be joining Scott in AHC's new podcast series, The Amazing Horse Country Podcast.

We'll let you know all the details of you how can listen to these entertaining and informative episodes once they're produced and available.

Stay tuned!

.brokenspurequinetherapy

01/02/2020

12/03/2019

While I really appreciate the lovely compliments, what I really love is Brandi's clarity and well written description of the roles of the body worker and the veterinarian. It is crucial for the horse owner to know this difference for their horses' well being.

Day 2 of bute for Dallas, and he’s already nearly back to normal 🎉 he had very very mild reactions to his dock being palpated, and overall seems more himself.

I’m not a worrier of small things, and I’m quite experienced in equine husbandry. I also regularly enlist the help of an equine body worker (I say body worker, because the one I use I truly believe is one of the best in the business - she works in so many modalities that I’m not sure even how to label it all 😆). That said, anything that is causing huge concern related to bony structure and mobility will always have us calling our vet first before anyone else. My body worker (Broken Spur Equine Therapy) is in agreement with this, as while she truly is a wealth of knowledge and a genuine miracle worker, she is not interested in playing vet. She has also taught me many things over the years, enabling me to notice many things that would actually best be sorted by a body worker rather than a vet. This in turn also makes me confident when I make the choice to call the vet first. Knowing my ponies ‘norm’ very well also adds to my confidence when something even more serious is going on than a sprung rib, or a rotated pelvis.

My vet bill was just shy of $200 to have Dallas checked out, but it was money well spent to have my suspicions confirmed - and squash potentials of something even worse going on. This allows us to make a plan for him, that takes the entirety of his injury into consideration, and also will provide extra info for my body worker when she works on him.

I wanted to write this just as a reminder for others that your vet is an important part of you and your horses health team. No, it is not as cheap as a visit from a body worker, but your body worker is not a vet, and shouldn’t be expected to substitute for one. My equine body worker is still an invaluable member of my horses health team too, but timing and application of those services are quite important - even when you’re super fortunate like me to have one who’s one of the best in the business. In all reality, the vet and body workers services work best when used in conjunction with one another.

Dallas will be booked to see Jody in the next little bit as his inflammation settles and our schedules allow. He’s got a couple days left of bute, but I am happy to see him find relief ❤️