DECEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /29


The reason you don’t fall down!


Have you ever been grooming your horse and


suddenly wondered how it is that you’re able to move different parts of your body to perform dif- ferent tasks all at once without thinking about it and somehow manage to not fall over? No, probably not! But that simple luxury all of us biological be- ings take for granted every day can be attributed to a concept known as biotensegrity. Biotensegrity is an elision of the words biol-


ogy, tension and integrity. Biotensegrity describes how our body’s system of bones and soft tissues function as an interconnected structure, providing us with the stability to stay upright combined with the flexibility for dynamic movement. Tensegrity models illustrate this concept by


depicting the body as a system of rigid and elastic structures. This model uses wooden rods to repre- sent bones and elastic bands to illustrate soft con- nective tissues, such as fascia, muscles, tendons and ligaments. The model on the left is shown in balance,


with all its rods and bands appearing symmetrical. The model on the right is shown with an imbalance, illustrating how even if only one rod or elastic has become out of balance, all the other rods and elas- tics shift to compensate in order for the entire struc- ture to remain stable. The entire body is interconnected as a biotensegrity model, which means if force is ap-


create balance so that the horse can continue to function in its day to day life. Add to this the fact that horses are prey ani-


mals. Horses will attempt to hide any pain or dis- comfort because weakness is what predators are looking for when they decide who to target. This can become a difficult puzzle for those trying to de- termine the source of a horse’s discomfort or dys- function. Dysfunction could be the result of injury or


trauma, musculoskeletal asymmetry, ill-fitting tack, unbalanced feet, or even repetitive movements such as pulling hay out of a hay net, schooling the same exercises many times, or lack of cross-train- ing.


Equi-Bow practitioners understand the inter-


connectedness of the horse’s biotensegrity model and approach bodywork sessions with the whole horse in mind. If you would like to have your horse’s biotensegrity model assessed or learn more about it, contact a Certified Equi-Bow Practitioner. An up-to-date list of practitioners in your area can be found on the Equi-Bow Canada website at www.equi-bowcanada.com


Angela Saieva, CEBP/CETP/CEMT info@elevationequine.com www.elevationequine.com


Biotensegrity:


Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week 2020


Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week, 2020


(#GBFW20), in its 54th year, will run from Fri- day, January 3rd to Thursday, January 9th, start- ing with Goat Day, and ending with Crops Day. It is a 7-day Agricultural Conference packed with a most impressive and informative line-up of speakers! It is held at the Elmwood Commu- nity Centre in Elmwood (# 38 Queen St. West). Elmwood is located approximately 8 kilometers north of Hanover on County Road #10. The co- ordinators for this event, Grey County Ag Serv- ices, in conjunction with agricultural commodity leaders from Grey and Bruce Counties, have at- tempted to feature at least one high-profile speaker for each day, targeting the issues and challenges facing the farming community today. The Committee is delighted to announce


that this year, all days of #GBFW20 will be Live Streamed. So, if horse enthusiasts live further afield, they can still participate in this amazing conference! Of course, the best way to experi- ence GBFW is in person, so that attendees can chat with the speakers during breaks, visit the tradeshow booths, and network with fellow pro- ducers over a delicious lunch. If that is just not possible, this new online viewing option will allow people from far and wide to learn from our spectacular speakers. Please go to our website, www.gbfw.ca to pre-register for this online viewing option. $20/day or $100/week, plus HST and transaction fees. One of the most exciting days each year is


Horse Day – Sunday January 5, 2020. It runs from 9:30 am – 4:20 pm. Where else, in one venue, can you experience presentations from: Two veterinarians; an owner of two time, World Champion six horse hitch of Registered Clydes- dale Mares; a Clinician and Horse Trainer; a Pro- fessional Animal Trainer; a Retired Soldier, Privateer and Adventurer; and Registered Nurse, Instructor of Emergency Training . Now in its third year, there will be interactive demos on both levels of the Community Centre after the afternoon break. This year the program will include:


• Dr. Bob Wright, Veterinarian, will be our first speaker. He will tease out, The Bugs We Share With Our Animals. • Robert Brander, Brand AAA Farms, will de- liver, Showing and Raising Clydesdale Horses. Robert’s Clydes are World Champions, so he will have lots of great pointers to share.


• Jason Irwin, Clinician, Jason & Bronwyn Irwin Horsemanship; and Horse Trainer, Northstar Livestock, will provide his tips for Starting Horses Under Saddle. • Ellie Ross, BSc Ag, Director of Animal Behav- iour & Applied Training, Wag and Train Inc.; and Columnist –“Between the Ears”, The Rider Newspaper, will delve into The Science and Facts Behind Common Equine Behaviours. Ellie’s presentation style will have the room sit- ting at the edge of their seats, as they learn how their horses think. • After the afternoon break, Interactive Demos will be offered in the upper and lower levels of the Elmwood Community Centre. On the lower level, Lawrence Cannon, and Vickie Bruce will share an interactive program about Rider First Aid. Meanwhile, on the upper level, Dr. Tee Fox, Markdale Veterinary Clinic, will share, Equine First Aid. She will provide members of the audience the knowledge and confidence they need to make critical decisions in emergency sit- uations.


Registration is $25 at the door (includes HST). Cash/Cheque/Debit. Pre-registration is not required. Join us by Live Streaming. Go to


www.gbfw.ca and click on the Live Streaming tab to pre-register for this online viewing option. $20/day or $100/week (Plus HST and Processing Fees). Conference content will be available to live stream ticket holders for one month follow- ing the event. Live Streaming Sponsors include Hydro One, Trillium Mutual Insurance and Bruce Power. The Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week Committee


would like to thank all of our sponsors that have contributed to Horse Day. Thanks to Premier Sponsor: Farm Credit Canada. The hot roast beef on a bun lunch is sponsored by Huron Bay Co-operative, Masterfeeds, and North Welling- ton Co-operative. For more details, please refer to the Grey


Bruce Farmers’ Week website, www.gbfw.ca. If you need detailed information about any of the presentations, or complete bios, that information is also available on the website. @GBFarmer- sWeek #GBFW20. For further information or interviews,


please call Lorie Smith at 519-986-3756, or email Lorie at lorie@greyagservices.ca.


These two tensegrity models depict a pelvis that is in balance (left) and a pelvis that is unbalanced (right). Photo credit: Tom Flemons.


plied to any part of the body, its affect will be dis- tributed throughout the rest of the system. This connectivity can sometimes make it difficult to find the root source of discomfort or dysfunction within the body. Creating tension in one area of the body will


create residual tension elsewhere in the body. If you lift a horse’s hind right limb to pick out his hoof, he will end up shifting more weight onto his front left to compensate. Taken a step further, if there is some sort of


dysfunction somewhere in the hind right limb that has gone undetected, the front left limb will have been compensating for the right hind’s inability to function in a biomechanically correct way. If you did not know there was a hind right issue and the horse begins to present with a front left issue, you would think the root cause was front left when in fact it is still hind right. Let’s examine this more deeply. If we isolate


only the front left or the hind right as the issue, we are ignoring the compensation patterns the rest of the body has had to create in order to remain stable with two limbs that are in some way compromised. These compensation patterns arose from a need to


A tensegrity model of a human skeleton. Photo credit: Tom Flemons.


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