06/09/2026
🍂 The seasons are changing… is your horse’s body ready?
A little rain and a few cooler mornings can make it feel as though we are transitioning into another season, which is the perfect opportunity to check in with our horses — particularly after an exceptionally dry summer!
CHECK THEIR BODIES | with your hands 🙌
• Create a memory of your horse’s body in your hands — feel through areas of fat, muscle, lack of muscle, swelling, left to right comparisons, etc. and establish a baseline for what is normal and not for your horse. Take photographs and make notes, too!
DON’T ASSUME RAIN = SOFT GROUND | surface matters 🌧️
• A 2026 study looking at horses galloping on dirt tracks of different hardness found hoof impact acceleration was 19% greater on medium compared with softer tracks, while cannon-bone accelerations were 16–54% greater on medium/hard surfaces.
• Consider the effect of CUMULATIVE loading!
TRAINING CHANGES | preparing the body đź’Ş
• Lack of/different training over the summer months may need a tweak for a different season. Don’t jump into the change as soon as we get an overcast day, but make changes gradually.
BUILD THE BODY YOUR HORSE NEEDS FOR WINTER | don’t wait until winter arrives! ❄️
• Now is the opportunity to prepare — thoracic sling strength, postural control, balance and proprioception, stability.
• A 2024 study found horses that remained conditioned during a 12-week break had greater topline muscling than non-conditioned horses afterwards. Preparation is key 🔑
REASSESS THE FEET | the horse’s interface with the ground 👣
• Hard, dry summers can alter hoof wear and growth patterns in addition to a change to a damper climate.
• Regularly discuss with your farrier, and correlate the following to horse your horse feels to exercise/manage; hoof balance, toe length, heel support, chipping/cracks, wear patterns, symmetry, changes to intervals.
THE GRASS | we needed rain, but let’s monitor the effects! 🌱
• Brown and crispy, to soft and green — research has shown there is differences in the nutrients profiles of drought affected pasture.
Prepare now 🤍
