Pilates for horses? It’s simply neigh bother for Lady Pollyanna
IT’S COMMONLY thought that lame horses are destroyed because it’s less cruel than forcing them through the necessary recovery period.
In severe cases, such as severe fractures, that holds true, but if at all possible Lady Pollyanna Fitzgerald prefers a unique form of treatment – horse pilates. And while she certainly looks nothing like Robert Redford – more English counties than Hollywood cowboy – Lady Pollyanna, daughter of the Duke of Leinster, could be regarded as a type of horse whisperer; able to bring traumatised horses back to health by working through a series of what she calls “soft tissue corrective exercises” with the horse.
Using a series of specially designed massages for horses she manipulates the animal’s soft tissue to help correct problems and imbalances a horse may be experiencing due to repetitive or strenuous activities and trauma. Prices range from £40, up to £70 an hour.
The idea of this “bodywork” is not only to reduce the occurrence of injury and aid recovery from injury and strenuous activities, but also to promote the horse’s well-being and relaxation – which is why some have mistakenly described it as “horse yoga”. “I do bodywork and stretches with horses,” Lady Pollyanna told The Daily Telegraph. “I don’t do yoga for humans or horses. I suppose what I do for horses would be akin to human pilates.”
She added: “There are some injuries that horses cannot recover from due to their physiology such as a severe break to a leg, hence why they often are put down straight away as this is more humane to the animal.
“However, there are some injuries that are a grey area, so a horse can recover, but may not be fit for purpose i.e. can’t race or event anymore – but could retire and lead a happy life.”
But her work doesn’t stop at the horse. Lady Pollyanna, who, as it happens, is a practitioner of Halo Yoga, as well as Goju Ryu karate, also extends her philosophy to the rider.
Lady Pollyanna, 38, runs her Lightspeed Sports Recovery practice from a stables in Oxford, where she describes the idea behind her work as that of “creating a deeper partnership between rider and horse that works better as a whole”.
What she calls Equipilates is “a wonderful way for the rider to work on imbalances, core strength and understanding their body and how they can influence their horse”, she said. “One is dependant on the other, so when possible it is good to see the horse being ridden and how they interact together to allow me, the practitioner, a deeper understanding on how I can improve them as a unit.”
‘A horse can recover, but may not be fit for purpose i.e. can’t race – but could retire and lead a happy life’