Katie Bird Equine Sports Therapies

We’re all feeling heartbroken by the loss of two riders in the UK.

In a sport built on bravery, days like this remind us how much we carry, and how closely connected our community is across the world.

To their loved ones, and to everyone in eventing feeling this: you’re not alone.

The eventing community will always stand with you. 🖤🖤

Future Post are an incredible company, if you can please support them.

They have been fundamental in the transformation of our property 💪🏻

URGENT: Save Future Post. Save NZ Recycling.

Help Future Post recover from a devastating arson attack so we can continue turning NZ plastic waste into sustainable product not landfill.

Future Post, New Zealand's world-first manufacturer of recycled plastic fence posts, is fighting for its future after an arson attack caused more than $1 million in damage to our Waiuku facility.

Although the person responsible has been caught, the financial impact has left us in a critical cash flow crisis. Without immediate support, Future Post may be forced to close its doors.

For years, we've transformed New Zealand's waste plastic into durable, long-lasting fence posts, diverting millions of plastic bottles and soft plastics from landfill and giving them a second life. Our work also supports New Zealand's soft plastics recycling network, helping ensure the plastic collected at participating supermarkets continues to be recycled.

If Future Post closes, New Zealand loses more than a manufacturer. We lose local jobs, valuable recycling infrastructure, and an innovative circular economy solution that has taken years to build.

Every donation, large or small, will help us recover from this devastating event, protect local jobs, and keep plastic out of landfill.

Please help us get back on our feet and ensure this proudly New Zealand innovation continues for generations to come.

Yes, we had insurance, but this has only covered $186,000 of what we need to keep the doors open.

Use of funds:
Recovering from the arson attack, site clean-up, replacing destroyed stock, restoring operations, and covering lost revenue caused by damaged products. Every dollar helps us rebuild, protect local jobs, and keep New Zealand's plastic recycling moving.

Givealittle link: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/save-future-post-save-nz-recycling

Let’s talk about Spinal Pain and your horse.

It often slowly builds over time and rarely shows up as obvious lameness.

More often it shows up as coping: postural changes, tension, decrease in performance , and behaviour that gets labelled as “attitude”.

I’m seeing more horses diagnosed with:

🔸Overriding Dorsal Spinous Processes (Kissing Spine)
🔸Fused Spinous Processes
🔸Ligament Impingement
🔸Degenerative Spinal changes

This is NOT a rehab post.

It’s a “WHAT TO NOTICE EARLY” post.

Common signs your horse might be struggling

🔸Posture & Topline

•No topline development even when weight and condition improve
•Persistently hollow back, bracing/ holding through the back and body
•Standing camped out or camped in to elevate pressure from lumbar/ SI
•One-sided muscular atrophy, that does not resolve with correct work
•Sensitivity and over reactive
•Defensive to touch along back, lumbar, or SI area
•Overreacting to normal aids/ cues (even from the ground (often protective, not naughty)
•Girthiness, rug sensitivity, difficulty standing for tacking up and grooming
•Moves away, tenses or ‘drops’ back when you place saddle on
• Cold backed

🔸Ridden Red Flags

•Reluctance to go forward, sticky transitions
•Bucking/rearing/bolting, especially around canter or when sitting
•Disunited canter, wrong leads, repeated breaks
•Contact issues that feel inconsistent or “random”
•Poor Biomechanics (even in-hand)
•Stiffness on the circle, difficulty bending evenly
•Shorter steps behind without a clear single-limb lameness
•Toe dragging or irregular rhythm
•Quarters swinging, falling in/out on turns
•Poor Proprioception causing forging or interferance

The reminder that matters, this is your horses way of COMMUNICATING

A horse showing these signs is not giving you a hard time.

They are having a hard time!

Before you assume it’s a training problem, cover the basics that protect the horse:

🔸Check Saddle Fit Regularly:
Horses change shape with workload and weight gain. A saddle that no longer fits can create or amplify back pain fast.

🔸Know Your Horses Baseline:
What is normal for their posture, muscle tone and way of going when they are comfortable

🔸Track Changes In Posture:
Take photos every 1-2 months (side view, front, behind and topline) and take short videos (straight lines, circle, both reins). This makes small changes easier to spot when you see the horse daily.

If you are noticing a pattern, document it and then speak to a professional or your vet.

Early intervention is kinder and in most cases cheaper!