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8. April, 2022 • ©Mid-South Horse Review • www.midsouthhorsereview. com Horse Health & Welfare

Ida Hammer, Debbie Davies Clinic

Article & photos by Tom Brannon melanie taylor’s Wildwood farm in germantown, tenn. hosted another ida hammer Clinic on march 25-27, 2022, this time a 3-day joint class with Deb Davies on the theme of “Decoding hoof and Body Compensations. ” Davies is an osteopathically trained rider, clinician, and practitioner. She teaches the horse-rider partnership holistically.

Davies began her presentation using Power Point diagrams to show the horse’s anatomy and physiological connections among the skeletal, muscular, and neurological systems and how they are all interconnected. She explained the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system and how they work, as well as the skeletal structure and spine and how the bones move in relation to each other. after viewing the diagrams on the screen, Davies used horses doing ground work on a lead to demonstrate movement, possible problems, and how the horse compensates for these problems. She utilized the color of one of the demo horses, a Palomino named Winslow, to visibly mark locations on his body, highlighting muscle movements.

She used another interesting method to help the clinic participants understand muscle compensation and how the rear of the horse feels when something is off in the front. the participants formed a conga line as if dancing at a party. the front person donned a clown shoe on one foot so that her feet were slightly off balance, similar to how a horse may be a little “off” in the front. the conga line turned left, went straight, and then turned right. each person, starting in the back of the line, was asked to explain how they felt about the movement and what they did to compensate for the off balance. it was an eye opener for many! another of Davies’ bag of teaching tricks is a bag of real bones. She has an extensive collection of horse bones, which she uses to show how the bones interconnect in relative position to one another, and how one bone being slightly out of position or off angle can cause another bone to be off angle as well. in particular is the relationship between the sacrum and the pelvis. She used an 8year-old off track thoroughbred gelding named Sonic, suspending the demo pelvic bone just above the demo sacrum bone in the area where they would be on Sonic. the clinic participants could then visualize just where these bones are on a horse and what their proper positions are. During this part of the demonstration she explained the phenomena commonly known as “hunter’s Bump, ” where there is a visible bump or protrusion on the horse’s back just above the croup. hunter’s Bump is common on many jumpers who are in high level competitions. She explained using the demo bones that this is a subluxation (tilting under) of the sacroiliac joint, which may involve injury to the ligaments securing the pelvis and the spine.

She also used Sonic to show how a horse may compensate for misalignment and old injuries. he was a good sport about it and actually seemed to enjoy the attention, as well as the chiropractic treatments that came with it. in concluding, her charge to the clinic participants was to be observant of any subtle changes of (Continued on p. 10)

Debbie Davies at Wildwood Farm

Davies explaines how the pelvic and sacrum bones fit together

www.midsouthhorsereview.com • ©Mid-South Horse Review • April, 2022 9. Foundation for the Horse Accepts Gifts for Ukrainian Equine and Veterinary Medical Relief

From Keith Kleine as the devastation unfolds from the war in ukraine, many in the equine and veterinary communities have asked how they can help. through the foundation for the horse, the charitable arm of theamerican association of equine Practitioners (aaeP), you can make a financial gift to those providing emergency relief and support, including veterinary organizations and the horses and animals they care for.

“our hearts go out to the animals, their owners, and veterinarians impacted by the devastation in ukraine, ” said Dr. emma read, president of the foundation for the horse and the aaeP. “We are working with veterinary colleagues in europe to identify trusted organizations who are providing rapid response for equine and animal care in the region. ” the images and reports from ukraine as well as the border countries are heartwrenching. While many residents fleeing ukraine are trying to take their pets and animals with them, thousands of displaced horses, donkeys, burros and other animals remain behind and, like the people of ukraine, need your help. visit the foundation’s Disaster relief page, www.foundationforthehorse.org/impact/disaster-relief/, to donate and learn more about how we are connecting with veterinary groups and animal charities that are supporting those in need.

Other Ukraine-related Equestrian News: according to a report march 9, 2022 from The Chronicle of the Horse, “thousands of horses and humans are trapped inside ukraine, with fuel in short supply, evacuation routes jammed and some reportedly coming under fire from russian forces. on social media, horse owners have posted about turning their horses loose in hopes that will help their chances of survival as supplies dwindle and shells land nearby. “as of march 6, only horses with european union papers are allowed to cross the border into Poland. But the european equestrian federation (eef) is working with the ukrainian equestrian federation, which estimates the country to be home to about 100,000 domestic horses, to provide much needed hay, feed and sawdust to stables as they face critically low supplies. the eef is processing such donations at a logistics hub in Poland. more information on how to help the horses in ukraine can be found at helpukrainehorses.eu. ” read the full article by Laura Lemon at: https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/fam ed-stallions-cornet-obolensky-andcomme-il-faut-5-evacuating-ukraine the fédération equestre internationale (fei) decided on monday february 28, 2022 to remove all international equestrian events in russia and Belarus from the fei Calendar. following this decision, the fei Board on Wednesday march 2 announced an emergency resolution that prohibits the participation of all russian and Belarusian athletes, horses and officials in international events.the resolution also prohibits the display of russian and Belarusian flags, or their anthems played at or in connection with any fei events. the prohibition went into effect on Sunday, march 6.

Horsetalk reported on march 7: “horses being evacuated out of ukraine following the russian invasion are being permitted to enter moldova without restrictions. an order from moldova’s agriculture ministry had been made to let all animals through, even those without documents, the ukraine equestrian federation said. ten days of quarantine would be required.

“two border crossings in romania are also providing free entry for horses being evacuated from ukraine, following the russian invasion. a microchip and passport are required to get horses throughalbitas and halmeu. Slovakia, romania and hungary are also in the process of creating quarantine stations, the federation said. it was also working to organize a shelter in ukraine in an area beyond the military actions. ” read the full Horsetalk article at: www.horsetalk.co.nz/2022/03/07/bordershorses-evacuated-ukraine/

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The conga line with the leaderwearing one clown shoe helped participants learn about off-balance movement.

Davies (continued from p. 8) movement in their horses and, when the problem is corrected, to give the neurological system time to adjust. find more information about ida hammer clinics at: mackinawdells2.com/classschedule.html

About Deborah Bowerman-Davies: Debbie’s passion for the horse began in her childhood living in the uk. She volunteered at a therapeutic riding academy, where she had earned an award for the most accomplished horsewoman at age 13. She competed in Pony Club events, earning her a rating. She spent her Junior rider years successfully competing in 3Day events. She was a working student for marie Stokes fBhS, where she competed in Dressage, Show Jumping, Side Saddle, and english Showmanship as part of her British horse Society duties. She also had the opportunity to work with francois mathy, reiner klimke, and norman Dello Joio.

She worked with Peggy Cummings, owner and founder of Connected riding. Peggy ’s knowledge of the human and equine body, plus her exceptional way of translating concepts to a rider, helped Debbie understand how to find the posture that would further assist her horses. Debbie graduated from the quantum energetics School in 2008, and completed studies at the equine osteopathic School in 2012. find more information about Davies at: https://www.equineselfexpression.com/