Horses Inside Out Conference : 22nd and 23rd February 2020 Holywell Conference Centre, Loughborough University, England Sue Palmer MCSP, IHRA, ACPAT and RAMP Chartered Physiotherapist, BHSAI CPD hours: 16
Speakers: Gillian Higgins
David Kempsell
Dr Andrew Hemmings
Mark Johnson
Vibeke Elbrond
Dr Seth O’Neill
Dr Sue Dyson
Richard Hepburn
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id you know that if you rest for 5 days after a tendon injury rather than keep moving appropriately, you could delay your healing for 3 weeks? Did you know that the liver is connected to the jaw? Gillian Higgins and the Horses Inside Out team presented their annual Horses Inside Out conference on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd February at the Holywell Conference Centre, Loughborough University, and I was lucky enough to be one of the attendees. The presenters, as always, were world class. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Anatomy in Action’, with a particular focus on the role of fascia, tendons, ligaments, muscles and internal anatomy, as well as hoof anatomy, the thoracic sling, an examination of lameness diagnosis, and how to hel horses struggling with poor performance (yep, you’re absolutely right if you’re thinking that’s a lot of information to cover!). Throughout each of the breaks and through lunch the presenters were available for individual questions (or perhaps they were cornered by audience members!), and Mark Johnson in particular invited us to go and see the hoof specimens and the specialised shoe that he’d brought with him. I’ve been to several Horses Inside Out conferences, and one of the things that Gillian and her team have done in response to feedback is to make the breaks much longer than they used to be, which allows more time for catching up with friends, browsing the stalls, reading the scientific posters and questioning their authors, blowing your mind at the stunning anatomical displays, and of course questioning the presenters.
Saturday 22nd February Gillian Higgins Gillian opened the conference at 8.50am with a discussion of anatomy in action. I learned, to my surprise, that Eadweard Muybridge created what is believed to be the world’s first moving picture, and it was of a galloping horse! He was working to
answer the question of whether all four feet of the horse were off the ground during a trot stride. Cameras at the time did not have a fast enough shutter speed to capture movement, and Muybridge worked to change this. He invented the ‘zoopraxiscope’ to present 12 images of a galloping horse, hence the ‘moving picture’. Gillian is releasing her own catalogue of ‘Anatomy in Action’ this summer, a unique fold out photographic anatomical catalogue of equine movements illustrating the versatility, strength, beauty and athletic prowess of the horse in motion, available this summer. Judging by the quality of her current books and DVDs, this will be one to look out for.
Celeste Wilkins
balancing structures. This helps to explain the connections between one part of the body and another, both during standing and in motion, and may also explain how compensatory mechanisms develop and show up in the body. To help describe the importance of fascia in the body, Vibeke referenced Tom Myers, author of Anatomy Trains, as saying ‘We are one big muscle in 600 different bags’.
Take home messages: “We are one big muscle in 600 different bags” Tom Myers Warm up and cool down is important in terms of fascia.
Dr Vibeke Elbrond: Understanding locomotor myofascial connections
The myofascial kinetic lines balance the body in a 3D network in standing and in motion.
Associate Professor in Anatomy and Biochemistry at the Department of Veterinary and Animal Science with a PhD in Anatomy and Physiology and a research field in biomechanics / functional anatomy with a focus on the functionality and integrity of fascia.
David Kempsell: The thoracic sling connection
Vibeke’s talk was titled ‘Understanding Locomotor Myofscial Connections’. ‘Myo’ is muscle, and ‘fascia’ is a connective tissue that is spread throughout the body. As a Chartered Physiotherapist, I have long been fascinated by fascia, and I manipulate it on a daily basis to improve the comfort and performance of the horses I treat. Fascia has many roles, including the force transmission of muscle contractions onto tendons, bones and other muscles, shock absorption, and the exchange of kinetic and elastic energy. The ‘myofascial lines’ are connections of muscle and fascia that, on dissection, have been shown to travel from one part of the body to another. Think of it a bit like a train, with the muscles as carriages and the connections as the fascia. There have been found to be many different myofascial lines, which provide a 3D full body network of
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Saddler and Managing Director of Firth Thought Equine Ltd, which bases it’s products on scientific research and has revolutionised the saddle industry. The thoracic sling in the horse is the set of muscles, tendons, fascia and connective tissue connecting the horse’s front legs to the rest of it’s body. This is important since the hrose doesn’t have a collar bone. David introduced us to the idea of asymmetry in the horse being as a result of shorter muscles on one side of the thoracic sling than on the other. This, he postulates, leads to shorter leg length on one side (usually the right fore), which in turn affects the balance of the rib cage. He took us through one of his many case studies where he has measured the pressures under the saddle in the ridden horse whilst making adjustments to leg length (by placing pads under the shorter foot), or to the saddle fit (by increasing or decreasing the air in the pads front / back / left / right as appropriate).
