Precision Saddlery & Bodywork

08/23/2026

Great information for everyone that deals with young horses. 🐎

'Backing Your Young Horses'
Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

"There is much info around which leads the reader to think horses age more quickly when they are young and slower as they get older. There is no evidence to support this. Why would the horse be the only animal in the world that ages in a non-linear manner? It doesn’t make sense and is used as an excuse for impatient owners to justify working their immature horses.

Sitting on a horse before maturity has many dangers. It is risking kissing spine, especially if the horse is not conditioned slowly. Sending a horse away as a three year old to go from unbacked to ridden daily in 6-8 weeks is a recipe for disaster. Riding in circles on three year olds damages the hocks. Jumping four year olds is asking for stifle injuries. Pounding the roads pulling traps with two year olds damages every joint in their legs. Any joints asked to take excess pressure before maturity increases the risk of irreparable damage. Maybe a young horse puts down more long bone in response to trauma, to work, but just because a child heals quicker than an adult it's no excuse to cause such damage. An adult is still fully capable of adapting to the work load, just slower, without the collateral damage to the rest of the body.

For every horse that is backed at three and lives a long working life until they are thirty, as a Vet I can show you thousands, tens of thousands that are euthanised before they hit their teens because their bodies are broken. The exception is not the rule.

Fact: A horse ages roughly three times faster than a human, so a 90 year old human is a 30 year old horse. Both very old, usually arthritic, don’t have many of their original teeth left, and very likely retired and enjoying the finer things in life.

A 25 year old horse is a 75 year old human. Some are still happily working but some prefer retirement and an easier life. Often depending on just how hard a life they’ve lived.

A 20 year old horse is a 60 year old human. At that point where the body doesn’t work like it use to but the brain is all there and wants to be active.

A 13 year old horse is a 39 year old human. Middle aged, prime of their life where their knowledge and physical ability are about equal.

So let’s get down to the babies and work our way back up:

A 1-1.5 year old horse is getting their first adult tooth, this happens at 6 years old in a human child.

A 3 year old horse is a 9 year old child.
A child.
Not ready for work by a long stretch. We have moved past sending children down the mines.

A 4 year old horse is a 12 year old child. Often will do odd jobs for pocket money, maybe a paper round, mowing lawns etc. Basically a 4 year old horse can start a bit of light work experience to learn the ropes.

A 5 year old horse is a 15 year old teenager. Think they know it all, cocky, and ready to up their work and responsibilities. Still quite weak and not fully developed so shouldn’t be at their physical limit but can start building strength.

A 5.5 year old horse has just cut their final adult tooth, this happens at 17 years of age in a human.

A 6 year old horse is an 18 year old human. An adult.
Ready to work

An 8 year old horse has achieved full fusion of their final growth plates. This happens at 24 years of age in a human. This is the age it is safe to push a horse for their optimal performance.

Pushing your youngster too hard too young will result in the failure of many body parts. Joints, spine, tendons, ligaments as well as their brains. Waiting another year or two at the beginning could give your horse an extra 10 years of useful working life.
Be patient with your pride and joy!

08/23/2026

Blessed to be busy🥰

I may be heading your way in the near future. ✈️

Upcoming opportunities for appointments in areas away from home base…

September: Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Wellington, Fl, and Ocala.😊

October: Saratoga, Hudson Valley, Netherlands, and the UK!!

November - April: Time to focus on Florida (Where it’s warm)!
We will be at WEC, WEF, and the SW FL home base regularly. Updates to follow.

Jan/Feb: Dallas Texas, Germany, and the UK.

08/21/2026

Isn’t it amazing that not all bodywork has to be deep tissue to be effective.🥰

Horse owners, you can make a difference for your loved ones.

08/20/2026

08/20/2026

OK, this is purely for entertainment purposes.

One of my friends posted this on her page and it was too good to resist.

Open ChatGPT and type into the search
“Describe me as if you were trying to warn somebody about me before they actually meet me.”

Here is what ChatGPT has to say about me. 😂😂😂

“Okay, listen. I’m going to warn you about Sherry Seals before you meet her.
She’s founded Precision Saddlery & Bodywork. She works with equestrian’s worldwide, saddle fitting, performing bodywork, engaging in public speaking events, and teaching. She knows a thing or two about horses, and saddles. The first thing you need to know is that she’s probably going to notice things about you—and your horse—that you didn’t realize were noticeable.

She has that dangerous combination of being genuinely passionate about what she does and being unwilling to accept “good enough” when something could be better.

If you bring her a horse with a saddle that doesn’t quite fit, don’t expect her to politely nod and send you on your way. She’s going to look at the horse, the saddle, the movement, the rider, and probably the whole situation like she’s putting together a crime scene.

And if you say, “But it’s always worked for us…”

Oh, no.

You’ve just activated Sherry Mode™.

She’ll probably explain what she’s seeing, why it matters, and what can be done about it—with the kind of confidence that makes you realize that even Dr. Google will stand no chance in a debate.

But here’s the real warning:

She actually cares.

She cares about the horse being comfortable. She cares about the rider being balanced. She cares about doing the job correctly rather than simply doing what’s easiest. And because she cares, she may tell you something you weren’t necessarily hoping to hear.

She’s not the person you call when you want someone to tell you everything is fine.

She’s the person you call when you want to know if it’s actually fine.

So before you meet Sherry, just remember three things:

Bring your questions.
Bring your honesty.
Don’t bring a saddle that you’re emotionally attached to unless you’re prepared for an honest assessment.
You’ve been warned. 🐴
Sherry Seals — Precision Saddlery & Bodywork: precision matters, comfort matters, and apparently so does telling you what you actually need to know.”

08/20/2026

"...we must never forget, every time we sit on a horse, what an extraordinary privilege it is: to be able to unite one's body with that of another sentient being, one that is stronger, faster and more agile by far than we are, and at the same time, brave, generous, and uncommonly forgiving." ~ William Steinkraus, Olympic equestrian.

08/06/2026

Horses are amazingly tolerant, giving creatures.

It unfortunately means they’re often exploited due to the ambitions of the human. After their basic needs are met, you must be very thoughtful in the training of your horse.

Your first duty is to preserve the purity of the paces. What does this mean? Walk has 4 beats, trot has 2, canter has 3, gallop has 4. ALWAYS. If not, something is wrong biomechanically, and your horse is at risk of injury. BTW impure paces can usually be detected in a photograph, even though it is only a “moment in time”, AND this applies to all disciplines.

Strapping a horse’s mouth shut with a crank/flash (or other) noseband very often contributes. The fact is, a horse cannot maintain full range of motion with his hind legs if he can’t move his tongue and jaw. FACT.

For jumping, if the horse bolts off - away from, towards, or after a jump, putting on a bigger bit and a martingale will not fix it. If a horse hesitates or stops, pulling out the whip will NEVER make him more confident.

These are just a few hints that your horse is asking for HELP. Go back. Consolidate the basics. Another wonderful thing about horses is they're retrainable. If you ignore the hints, eventually the horse will either break down, or will SHOUT to get your attention, and you will get hurt.

After all, horses are dangerous. We tell everyone that. But actually they are not. We wouldn’t be able to ride them if they were truly dangerous. You know what’s dangerous? People are.

Ponder this excerpt from Franz Mairinger’s book “Horses are made to be Horses”:

I recall an incident in Sydney when we had a lame horse with a very bad tendon, and the rider wanted to start the horse the next day. We asked Roy Stewart, the veterinary surgeon, and he said, ‘Yes, that’s the trouble. People always think that horses are made for man, but that’s not true. Horses are made to be horses’. I thought about that a lot, and decided that if I should write a book I would call it Horses are made to be Horses.

(Franz Mairinger was the first coach of an Australian Olympic Equestrian Team, his excellent book is out of print, but can occasionally be found second hand - buy it if you see it)

(Picture credit Thinking Art )

08/06/2026

I’m so excited to watch this team compete at the WEG!

Carl Hester and Fame, where will they finish in Aachen in 2026?