so much to learn about horses. the more i learn , the more i need to know

Dreamer's saddle doesn't fit, it's flapping on his back when the rider rises, which is probably contributing to his topline issues too.

A good and qualified trainer can be hard to find or unaffordable. I really wish some options were given on best practices or exercises we can do with our horses to help maintain the health of our horses spines. I was so excited when Carrie started to talk about what we can do only to be let down with the qualified trainer as the only feedback. I do LOVE the information in all of your videos! Just wish there was some "this is how you fix it"

This is complicated.... But thank you for educating people like me, who had no idea, that there's such a wide range of problems, that common unexperienced rider might cause to any horse.

What I would give to have such professionals on hand, unbiased towards breeders, racing and other branches of the equine industry, who observe the horse with knowledge and as priority. I would travel the country no questions asked. However, we have no such people in Australia unfortunately at this time.

Forcing a horse to hold his head like that is criminal.

Grear videos. Thank you for making them publicly available

This is a very eye opening video! Thank you 💕

One never stops learning,if you love learning about that which you love,you are living a joyful life of purpose.i adore horses,have done so all my life @ continue to do so,partnering with my beautiful 4 hooved fellow creatures -my TB gals my angels. All the best to you @ yr equine adventures. You sound like a soul with integrity @ humility.🐎🐎🐎🇭🇲🇭🇲🇺🇸🇺🇸

Excellent programme.

Your KZfaqs are so full of information, This one in particular is one of my favourites and something everyone should watch.

A Lot of Info packed into this video...! Thank you

Excellent & valuable video

This was extremely educational. Thank you.

This was incredibly informative, thank you!

I am very grateful for this video, I learned a ton, thank you so much!

Rider position probably doesn't help this horse. Rider is leaning forward and not in alignment.

Wow amazing video everyone is so focused on the legs, but the entire body needs to be addressed just as we do. Very informative! Thank you ❤️

It seems to me that the root cause of these back issues is taking a relatively long-backed warmblood and trying to turn him into an Iberian. Closer-coupled horses are built for collected work such as Grand Prix or classical dressage; warmbloods can do it, sort of, but it doesn't come naturally and they risk injury if it's overdone. Their backs are too long and too weak.

Excellent and informative video!

Balanced and clarity helps the confidence in the rider and the riden, I realize that word sounds wrong in ethics, but when you realize what your riding is trusting on the unnatural weight on the back, you gain perspective in true balance and perfect athleticism these creatures deserve to thrive on. How important it is to know the anatomy of good overall health. I love your videos. Thank you

Thank you so much for having done a video like this ! This is very clear and helpful and the world of riders need this kind of informations !

Wow this was really interesting! I’m so glad I stumbled across this and it opened my eyes to my own horse and her condition. Sadly I think she is out of wack and pretty sore now 😢 I would’ve enjoyed maybe more ideas on how to help them get stronger, I know training is important but, maybe stuff the owner can do on their own too. Going to check out more of your videos maybe I’ll find one! This is good stuff, thank you 👍🏻

Caroline, I am so thankful to you for bringing these concepts of truth and continued education for the welfare of the horse into an accessable platform for all of us ,who are truly dedicated, and are always open and hungry to learning more about horses . I hope you are receiving many awards for what you've done here .. As an avid equestrian my entire 47 years since I could walk ..I would honestly be pleased to say that yours is the most comprehensive and tuned to and for the horse above all that I have ever heard, or seen in all my years . ..Thank You . I am forever a student and will be tuning in to your program until I cannot.. I hope all other horse people realize the value it what you've created and provide willingly to the public... You deserve the Nobel prize in my mind ...Again , thank you. Sincerely, Dixie Grue of Missouri, USA.

This is an excellent video with a lot of detailed analysis. Is there another video(s) that detail the exercises therapy to correct these issues? That’s the true gem.

Amazing video!!! I wish I could learn all about this in person with my mare. Sadly a lot of trainers don't look at these issues in depth :(

Wow so much to learn ❤🐴 good information

So informative. Thanks a million.

VERY informative.

When I purchased my TW gelding, he had a severe pointed out hoof. causing his whole diagonal to be severely off. Apun inspection and ferrier care, we could fix it a little but the rest was just going to take time in proper strength training

All this was extremely interesting. Can you do a version of this for horses that move to a four beat, or gaited type horses, ( Tennessee Walking Horse, Rocky Mountain Horse, Missouri Fox Trotter, Kentucky Saddle Horse)?

this is really interessting. I have horse that size or even bigger too.

I'd love to know what caused Dreamer's problems and how he is doing now. Could you make an update video?

I'm not a horsey person but I like to think I know a sick or injured animal. Wow am I wrong, this fellow looks so healthy but has so many conjoined problems. What an amazing and informative video.

Wow!! What such good information do you guys have provided! Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication after taking the time to make this video and explain to us the viewers about the reasons and causes of course pain especially in your spine they're Negra hindquarters how they should be ridden in order to be written pain-free and what to look at that what you look for I commend you on this are you guys I bet this is the first time I've ever seen your video or a video similar to this but you guys are dedicated to this. May God bless each and everyone of you involved in this video and for those feature people that are going to be involved with the horses and there's always an explanation for everything we just have to put online together and figure out what's causing the problems and it looks like you are on the right path we will never stop learning no matter how much we think we know about a horse I thought I knew everything about a horse I got slapped in the face when I saw this video I will be checking each and every one of my race horses tomorrow those that are mine and those that aren't mine that I trained I love all of my horses. Horses or the horses that I have now up until five years ago they saved my life and I will always always have respect for horses I was in a very very very deep depression to the point to where I wanted to commit suicide and the day that I decided I was going to go through it well I went by the groceries paid all of the bills I got a hit on my bills to or three months ahead pay my electric bill I even overpaid on my electric bill and water bill about a lot of groceries drink napkins paper plates cut my yard washed the vehicle's and I went to the gas station to do the very last thing after I change the oil on each and every vehicle and I had tune-ups that I had done on them during the week well this day that I thing I had to do was to fill up my truck with a full tank of gas as the other cars and vehicles already had a full tank I pulled up to a Shell gas station and this guy with a big trailer had some horses and something truly today's horses and not touch one on their nose and I began to rub that area they were so soft with his lips he live with my hand and I felt a sensation of I just going to be blunt love any feeling went through my body of love I've had it the horse on the face rub its face the guy came out he said what a gorgeous horse huh and I said yes he's a gorgeous horse and I walked away. I pay for my gas with my debit card and I proceeded filling my tank got my tank full went to the driver side of my door and the gentleman waved his hand at me and he spoke to me he said what do you do for a living and I said oh nothing much at this time it looked at me and he said would you be interested in a job I said what kind of job Kinko's helping me take care of the race horses these are athletic race horses these are athletes and my heart started pounding and I told him I don't think I have that much time to invest and help you with your horses and he told me he goes look I don't know what made me stay here in this truck but something is telling me to tell you that you have time but you don't want to make the time he goes now I don't know what I mean by that sir but I'm just telling you whatever you're going through Let It Go come help me with the horses see if you'd like it I'll pay you $600 for the first week 8 hours a day Monday through Friday he goes today is Monday you can start today and I'll pay you for the full day why don't you follow me to my property and weekend talk to her and you can Overlook the property in the horses and tell me if it's something you want to do I followed him I walked into the barn where all the Stalls were at with these beautiful gorgeous horses and I said what do you want me to do Migos have you ever clean stoves I looked at him and I said yes but human stalls not horses he smiled or laughed he said you got a sense of being funny I said no I just being honest I've never done this type of work I said but I'm a quick learner and I will do whatever I'm asked to do I said but I just need you to have patience with me she goes what do you mean you just told me you are a quick learner and you are a hard worker but I don't understand the last part of your sentence that I have to be patient with you and I said well I'm in a better deep dark place at this point in time in my life I am severely depressed that's what my doctor told me I sent him to be honest with you I was filling up my gas tank to my truck because I was going to go home and end my life but you have saved my life these horses have saved my life and I am willing to give it a try I saw videos on KZfaq where people where the press and they got you working around with horses and they came out of their depression I said I'll try this for two months you don't have to pay me for 2 months but if in two months this is not for me then I'll just walk away from it and you'll never see me again he said okay deal and we sure can little did I know this man was also dying of cancer I was at 9 of cancer I was depressed to make a long story short he showed me everything he knew about horses with the time frame that he had I work with this man for a year-and-a-half and he worked me hard hard hard hard and he would get mad throw a fit and he said you can do this why are you not picking this up write this stuff down make a video on your phone and I did and I picked up on it we went to the racetrack we started winning and thanks to horses and thanks to John Culver may you rest in peace my life was spared. Thanks to God Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit I renewed my faith and now I am a happy person in life full of joy and happiness and now I took over the burn and and now I took over the barn and the race horses the owners did not take their horses anywhere else I am bilingual and we get along just fine I know how to pick out horses I know what to look for but I just wanted to share my story God bless you all have a blessed day amen!!

Great video with excellent illustrations. Wondering if you could elaborate on some of the treatment that horse owners can do on their own to help alleviate and prevent these injuries from happening. A knowledgeable trainer is helpful but pretty expensive. I typically stretch my horse after every ride; but what are some of the specific exercises and body work we can do? That would be super helpful.

In my opinion many of these disorders could be prevented by a more natural lifestyle. Turn out instead of stalls, riding in more natural tack, starting colt at an older age, using true hackamor instead of painfull bits could go a long way toward preventing these musculoskeletal problems.

So, if I understand correctly...Kissing spine is basically bone spurs then? I have bone spurs in my foot and some fingers...very painful!

What exercises and stretches can I do to help my horses core stop from falling and release tension from the from the c7 vertebrae and t1-t3 vertebrae?

What about with high headed horses like saddlebreds, Tennessee walkers and Friesians?

Is this lumbosacral dip reversable? Do you recommend a vet check/xrays in this area?

Why in the world would one choose a long backed Warmblood for dressage? I don’t mean lower levels that any horse should be able to perform but for higher levels and competition. That spine and long legs are for covering ground

Love the information but would love it more without the background music,

I’ve watched several of these Equitopia videos and I’m beginning to wonder if horses ought to be ridden at all.

What are requirements to give horse massage for pay in California? I am a certified massage therapist ( since 2004 ) for humans, and a tai chi & zhan zhuang qigong practitioner since 1989 which i also provide lessons in. And want to include massaging horses, but unclear what is required to do so and be paid for it. I saw a horse massage course for about $250 ( which is a lot less cost than the human massage programs Ive taken ) but there was no clarification whats required education and certification wise for giving massages as a profession.

Excessive horse sports doesn’t go well with a healthy horse. Only because the human can hang a ribbon on the wall.

Please mention that a a sinking topline is not be due to malnutrition especially when the rest of the horse scores well in a fat index. Some horse are inactive and the the back undevelopes.

So if your horse has topline syndrome how do you fix it?

How do you fix topline syndrome?

love your videos, but the background "beat" noise is really annoying

How does age factor in here?

Bearing reins are becoming popular again, what do those things do to a horse?

Oh wow. Oh wow. The implications of this. Oh wow. I've never imagined that people were this dedicated to ending the abuse in equine sports & pursuits. Maximizing the horse's physiology instead of more training or more severe bitting.... Like I said, the implications 😳 all of those TV trainers cranking necks, yanking & ENDLESS lunging.... The horses aren't resisting they're probably unbalanced and in pain.

But how do you correct it? Wheres the correction video?

How about letting a horse move as it is born to move, and not pulling the chin into its chest constantly... Let it out into the pasture with other horses.

Since when is "long-bodied and narrow" good conformation? Overbending causes muscle tightness? Who would have thought? You breed for these traits and allow them in the ring, so you have problems. You overwork your horses. Real dressage is a wonderful thing, but there are a lot of pretenders out there.

When are all these experts that know so much and love so much horses lower their prices to make themselves more affordable and accessible to the horses that need them?

The rider sure contributes to Dreamer's topline syndrome, among other things. Her posting trot is too bouncy, her seat not deep enough due to insufficient thigh contact in the saddle. Repetitive bouncing of a rider will slowly wreck that horse.

The main cause of this is bad riders and bad instructors. Every Joe-Schmuck that has ridden 1st Level professes to know dressage and teaches others, what themselves don't understand. Very good analysis in this video, except they should emphasize more the rider and /or trainer problem.

Dressage always seemed more about human vanity than anything else. Same with racing and rodeos. None of these "sports" appear to be in the best interest of the horse or it's longevity.

When you really are being honest about animal's and their needs, none of these injuries should endure a rider on the horse. Humans who have these anatomical injuries can barely endure their own pain. Oh, but since they're just captive animals without a choice, let's force it to carry on for ourselves. Humans are selfish making animals slaves for their pleasure and egos.

Poor horse is starting to look like a giraffe it's so sloped. People keep breeding like this, we might end up with a different animal altogether -_-

A good bit of overinformation in this video. You complicate alot of things from my 18 years of experience as an equine osteopath. The information isnt wrong but its way more then 99% of all riders can handle.

I am a hard-core rider. But I am looking at this video thinking WTF. That we have such expendable time and money that we can mess around wondering what is making our horses uncomfortable. Got to say. That goes beyond being frivolous

All these vets here, and not 1 of you talks about the horrible way this horse’s mouth is kept closed with pressure, and the fact that dressage is not a humane sport. Shame on you all!