Coming soon: a horse sculptor who knows her dogs and cats, too.

Book Review by GLH:

Activate your Horse's Core:
Unmounted Exercises for Dynamic Mobility, Strength & Balance
by Dr. Narelle C. Stubbs and Dr. Hilary M. Clayton
published by Sport Horse Publications
illustrations by Susan E. Harris
photographs by Erin Groom, cover by Bob Tarr

The book is friendly. Issues are economically presented and fully referenced for a layman user. Both authors are research-based scientists with extensive, multi-faceted experience in the areas of biomechanics, performance athletes and animal physical therapies. I trust their belief that faithful application of these techniques will make real change. The book is all of 32 very instructive and well-illustrated pages – well within the range of learning.

The book’s minimal text is  easy to read initially but requires some time to absorb. Therefore, a couple of readings, front to back, are recommended. This is not because the text is convoluted or wanders – it’s because the text is so focused that it reads easily. So, warning! - one can read quickly without really absorbing the material. In the end, when I went to the barn and actually applied the techniques  I had very detailed visuals in my mind.

Most helpfully, the book  comes with a DVD. The DVD shows all of the exercises applied in video format. It is narrated by Dr. Narelle C. Stubbs. This is 95 minutes of straightforward massage on video. it’s easy to divide the 95 minutes into separate viewing sessions.

This basic approach is reassuring. The Contents page reads: mobilization exercises; core strengthening exercises; and, then, balancing exercises.  The musculoskeletal anatomy - bones, muscles - are all presented in black and white drawings. Different colors highlight different muscle groups.  A reader can check back to these pictures.  You find you want to familiarize yourself in more detail with the way a given muscle works after you’ve learned the exercise. The exercises are all presented in clear, sparse photographs. The index is good.

The authors also are teachers. They are familiar with the kinds of questions asked by learners.   In one instance, we are told to “note that the sacroiliac joint is on the inner surface of the pelvis.”  This helps one take a 3-dimensional view of that area of the body.  The authors realize that missing this point would confuse a person later on.

Now, I wondered how theory would translate to application? I own a horse that suffered a pelvic injury during his track days. He came to me with a displaced pelvic bone and now, three years later, it is often still out of whack. The chiropractor puts it back in place with the caveat that it will be out of whack again shortly. The muscles cannot be re-taught to hold the bones together as they should. So I’ve wanted to be able to help those muscles hold that better shape.  In this book, a sentence directly addresses my horse’s problem! The text and accompanying graphic explain, “The pelvis is firmly anchored to the sacrum at the sacroiliac joint, with stability of the pelvis and hip being controlled by the pelvic stabilizer muscles.” Voila! “the pelvic stabilizer muscles.” Now I can go find those muscles on my horse and apply the book's exercise to strengthen them!

Obviously, a lot of thought and sweat went into editing this text and graphics to help a reader learn the significant components of anatomy, technique and application without feeling either overwhelmed or under-helped. A page is laid out well. The exercises are given a name that describes it's action. This name covers the purpose or the exercise as well as the location of application on the horse. Then the technique follows. Finally there is a comment at the end of the page about when this exercise might be of most benefit - what sort of problem exists due to performance (or stabling).

The exercises are intended to be used by the layman every day,  ideally. For some, it's a hard question -  can you make this daily massage happen? For me at least a daily massage won't happen - but that's not the book's fault.....

Thoughtfully, the book’s pages are laminated. Obviously the authors intended it as a ready reference to be kept at hand in the barn. I worry about the binding: the pages will hold up longer than the plastic-coated, metal coil.

My only negative responses? None. Only suggestions from me? I would like more graphs describing the muscle groups and, also, some drawings showing muscle slices to get a sense of how “underlying” some of these groups are – and how to deal with those deep muscles. Additionally, I liked the exercises so much that I want more of them.

Reviewed by Tania Evans, Editor, Great Lakes Horse Sport news, written July 2008
c.2008.Tania Evans Media. All rights.

Reviewed by Tania Evans, Editor, Great Lakes Horse Sport news, written July 2008
c.2008.Tania Evans Media. All rights.

 

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Book Review by GLHS:
Rob van Nassau's Hoof Problems
published by Trafalgar Square Books

Book Review – BUY IT!

Hoof Problems
By Rob van Nassau

This book  is for the curious, intelligent reader looking for detailed approaches to the anatomy, function, diseases and injuries of the hoof.  And it's for the reader who likes to hear about cures whether they are technical surgeries or home remedies.  Every effort is made by the author(s) to elucidate.  I am so grateful to be given real information.  So many supposed vet books for the non-vet are the shallow pool version when what you want is a deep sea dive. The author has a wealth of experience to contribute. Rob van Nassau has over 30 years of farrier experience working in a specialist equine vet clinic. He is a former European Champion farrier and National Champion in Holland.

The layout is outstanding.

The pictures are terrific.  I’m a photographer and I really appreciate these. There are all sorts of them, from shots of surgical procedures to microscopic looks at fibres: close-up, clear, annotated, and illustrated.

Every page is a multi-layered look. If you don’t understand the text or the point of a photo, there’s another one to help you.   There’s so much material, you could spend an hour before turning a page.

There's an abundance of interesting home cures, the sort you might learn while reminiscing with your vet as he packs up his truck to leave on another call. For example, says Rob van Nassau, you can use honey to kill fungus. "Bees know how to keep the nursery of the queen's eggs clean. Honey contains propolis - a fungicidal agent." Honey is also indexed, appearing in three places in the text: a thorough index is a real plus.

There are elucidations that only a thoughtful instructor realizes a student needs.  For example, in my barn we are having a bout of foot fungus.  We recently installed rubber stall mats.  These mats fit the stalls tightly and don’t drain. I increased the bedding, which has helped but, still, we've never before in 20 years had any fungus issues.  So I am keen to read about them here.  I am made aware IMMEDIATELY that a fungus issue is also a bacterium one.  And I am made aware that their sources are ever present in the soil.  Now I knew both of these things.  But this book tells me to treat fungus and bacterium as separate issues. I am given separate cures for them. Fungus is described specifically so I can see how it moves through the hoof.  Suddenly, it’s the enemy and I can see it!

I love the confidence I feel when I read this book. I am being educated. 

Now, the book isn’t perfect.   It has several purposes.  Most are benign.  One is to provide detailed anatomical description. Well done!

Another is to offer case histories, in delightfully deep detail, of problems that look insurmountable. Also well done, even if the examples overall are weighted towards the most serious.

Thirdly, less benignly, the book is promotional.  It promotes the patented shoes that the author and his brother have created.  This is fine BUT why not state it up front?

Which parallels a real problem.  The book has some forceful, sophisticated and sometimes extreme approaches to problems and I would like to know more about the credentials behind the suggestions. There is insufficient biographical information about the author.  I find on the back cover that he’s a well-recognized farrier of the highest calibre. He is associated with a specialist equine vet clinic.  This is great to hear but it's very bareboned bio.  And so, I wonder, is this vet clinic where the hoof surgeries are done?  There's a lot of extreme cutting away of hoof elements. Who performs these operations? The author isn't a vet so I'm assuming he has vet support. I'd like to know how the vets are involved in the procedures and what the author expects of my farrier.

The other people producing this book are the author’s brother as fellow researcher and the author’s wife as photographer and writer.  However, without reading the bookjacket, I wouldn't know until I worked my way through most of the book that these were strong collaborations. Therefore, I want the author to establish a foundation for the material.  Besides, I would love to hear the story of their farrier practice, the history of which is interesting in itself. 

This book is a  wonderful addition to my library and I’ll put it right next to my medical books. You should, too. And don’t forget to give it to your farrier. Tania Evans, Editor
c. 2008 Tania Evans Media. All rights.

For more on this book Hoof Problems , visit Trafalgar Square Books