Educational Evening Recap- March 25th, 2023

Educational Evening at SSHF

Many thanks to our wonderful presenters for their time and effort in educating 35+ folks from around the region. It was informative and sometimes thought provoking, laughter and snacks were shared among all!

Emily Sleizer (Overland Horse Massage) used a demo horse for pointing out regions and muscle groups. An excellent lecture, with drawings, helped make it clear how problems in certain muscle groups might affect way of going, etc.

Amy Gibbs- Sleipness (Be Balanced Physical Therapy) spoke with passion about her career shift to work only with riders now. A good rider herself she fully understands how your balance in the saddle is important. Better yet by use of slow motion video of your ride, evaluation and some testing on a massage table, then a quick decision she makes to use bands or other methods to activate muscles and help align your posture/balance in the saddle- she can accomplish changes you can see on the second video taken during your session. She also provides a lesson/exercise plan and has follow up available.

Tara Grahm (The Equine Bit Fitter) brought her associate “Hank” to help instruct us on the topic. Hank is a horse skull with nerves marked to demonstrate why bridle buckles at certain spots on the head aren’t optimal. She spoke about the hyoid apparatus (7 bones not 1😂) She spoke about types of bits, how to measure for correct fit of both the bridle and bit. She is the only certified bit fitter in the Pacific Northwest.

SSHF plans to host additional free evening sessions with willing individuals on topics you might like. Feel free to submit ideas and preferred timing (weeknight, weekend ? ) All three of our professionals from the evening are available for consultations. Please reach out to them directly or contact us if you need their info. We personally recommend and utilize their services here!