Nikki Robinson - Pain-Free Horse Riding: An Illustrated Guide to Prevention, Self-Care, and Injury Management for Riders of All Abilities

Pain-Free

Horse Riding

An Illustrated Guide to Prevention, Self-Care,
and Injury Management for Riders of All Abilities

Nikki Robinson

Copyright 2018 by Nikki Robinson. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information, contact Lotus Publishing or North Atlantic Books.

First published in 2018

Lotus Publishing

Apple Tree Cottage, Inlands Road, Nutbourne, Chichester, PO18 8RJ, and

North Atlantic Books

Berkeley, California

Illustrations Gabrielle Vickery Illustration

Photographs Maria T. Michael of Detheo Photography, unless otherwise indicated

Text Design Medlar Publishing Solutions Pvt Ltd., India

Cover Design Chris Fulcher

Printed and Bound in India by Replika Press

Pain-Free Horse Riding: An Illustrated Guide to Prevention, Self-Care, and Injury Management for Riders of All Abilities is sponsored and published by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences (dba North Atlantic Books), an educational nonprofit based in Berkeley, California, that collaborates with partners to develop cross-cultural perspectives, nurture holistic views of art, science, the humanities, and healing, and seed personal and global transformation by publishing work on the relationship of body, spirit, and nature.

North Atlantic Books publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800-733-3000.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 1 905367 92 4 (Lotus Publishing)

ISBN 978 1 623173 67 8 (North Atlantic Books)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Robinson, Nikki, 1970- author.

Title: Pain-free horse riding : an illustrated guide to prevention, self-care, and injury management for riders of all abilities / Nikki Robinson; foreword by John Barnes, PT.

Description: North Atlantic Books edition. | Berkeley, California : North Atlantic Books, 2019. | First published in 2018 by Lotus Publishing Apple Tree Cottage. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018033811 (print) | LCCN 2018034703 (ebook) | ISBN 9781623173685 (E-book) | ISBN 9781623173678 (trade paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Horsemanship--Physiological aspects. | Equestrian accidents--Prevention.

Classification: LCC RC1220.H67 (ebook) | LCC RC1220.H67 R63 2019 (print) | DDC 615.8/51581--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018033811

Contents

Important note

The advice given in this book is very general and cannot take into account your particular physical or medical condition. As such, this book is meant to be practical and informative but is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice. It is not meant to replace any relationship that exists between you and your doctor, hospital specialist, or other health-care professional.

It is essential that you only follow any of the advice or exercises suggested in this book if you feel that you are able to do so safely. If you are unsure about any element, you should consult a health professional before commencing any new exercise. If you do any of the exercises included in this book, you are responsible for your own safety and should stop immediately if you feel any undue effects.

Acknowledgments

Huge thanks and appreciation to my long-suffering familyPete, Freddy, Joey, and Katiewho had to put up with me focusing on nothing but writing this book for five months.

Also, thanks to the amazing team at Holisticare and my lovely patients for their encouragement and making me believe that I was capable of putting my passion into words.

Thank you to Mel at Attridges Equestrian Centre for providing the perfect location for our photo shoot. Also, huge appreciation to Mel and all the staff and liveries at Attridges for their help, advice and support.

Maria the photographer and Gabrielle the illustrator: you are very talented and it was a pleasure to work with both of you. I learnt a lot and I think that we made a great team.

I really appreciate the lovely words written by John F. Barnes in the Foreword and by Sarah, Duchess of York, and Laura Renwick in their quotes for this book.

Jamie and Arlyse, Jess and Hannah, and Lara: thank you for your generosity in allowing me to use your images.

Thank you to Sally, Katie, and Tracy for patiently reading through what I had written and giving great feedback, and to my friends and networking buddies for their support and introductions.

This book wouldnt be the same without the words from my patients about their experiences, or the models Katie, Brooke, Louise, and Dan. Thank you all so much for your generosity and for being part of this book.

Jon at Lotus Publishing and Emily at North Atlantic Books: thank you for your help and for trusting me to deliver my book in the right way.

Foreword

I have had the honor and opportunity of knowing Nikki Robinson for a number of years through my Myofascial Release seminars. She is a highly intelligent, excellent therapist, who has combined her love of horses with her expertise in Myofascial Release.

I have had a love of animals for my whole life. I have been treating equine athletes for decades now, with great success. I am a physical therapist that has been treating humans, horses and a variety of animals from all over the world that have gotten into serious trouble. When other forms of traditional therapy unfortunately did not help them, Myofascial Release did. Myofascial Release is the missing link in health care for both humans and animals!

I was an athlete when I was younger and I fell with 300 pounds in a weight lifting contest which ruptured a disc in my lower back area. I tried every form of therapy including surgery to get better, nothing worked. There was a day when I realized that theres nobody going to help me, but me. Nobody wanted to get better more than I, I started to treat myself on my living room floor. Over time, I started to make a remarkable recovery. I then utilized these principles, which are totally different than other forms of traditional therapy, on my patients.

Science is verifying the principles of Myofascial Release that I have been teaching now for over 40 years. Fascia is an incredibly powerful connective tissue that connects and intersperses with every muscle, bone, nerve, organ, cell in our body. When restricted, fascial restrictions can generate tensile forces of up to approximately 2,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. Crushing pressure! The important point here also is that fascial restrictions do not show up in any of the standard testing that is currently being offered for humans or animals; x-rays, CAT scans, blood work, etc. Therefore, fascial restrictions have been misdiagnosed for eons. A highly trained therapist, such as Nikki, can feel where the restrictions lie in a particular individual. Fascial restrictions can lead to pain, restriction of motion, and a multitude of symptoms.

I got a call one day from a friend that had race horses. He had just purchased a horse that had great confirmation and amazing potential, but every time they would run the horse he would go lame within a hundred yards. I went to the stable with my friend and started to apply my Myofascial Release principles. In three treatments, this beautiful horse was running a mile without veering off his center, was totally different in his gait, fluidity of motion and increased power. With 3 months of further training he went on to win, and shatter, the record for three year olds at Belmont Stakes Park which is the famous racetrack outside of New York City. This horse was purchased for $19,000 and after I treated him, six months later, he had won over $600,000.