Lifelong horsewoman Laurie Pitts shares the highlights of her career as a professional groom, including working for legendary horseman Rodney Jenkins and Olympic gold medalists Joe Fargis and Conrad Homfeld. For her work, she has traveled to Sweden for the first World Cup Final, and she was set t...

Laurie describes her system for a horse’s tail, mane and hoof care. For daily tail care, this means leaving it alone except for picking out large shavings. She shows a quick method for making the tail look good, keeping the hairs intact, for a lesson. For mane care, she explains how to keep the m...

FEI groom Mario Martinez shares the tools of the trade that he keeps in his grooming box He covers grooming tools from currycombs to brushes He also shares specific products he uses to detangles a horses tail massage a horse with sore muscles protect legs from scratches treat cuts and keep boots ...

Veterinarian Sarah Cohen walks viewers through the process of sheath cleaning with a young horse. Sara Cohen explains the proper items needed for the sheath cleaning process and how to correctly use them for the benefit of your horse. Sara also demonstrates how to work with a horse who is not eag...

Jim explains what the responses are that he looks for and how to read them He also demonstrates and goes over the different levels of pressure you can use The idea is to use the most pressure without the horse bracing against it He also goes over the three key junctions to check in the horse

Jim explains and demonstrates doing the bladder meridian technique. He starts at the poll using almost no pressure at all and looks for a response from the horse, staying there doing nothing until you get a release. If you put pressure on the area, the horse may start to brace and block it out. S...

TMJ tension is common in horses. Jims answer for that is to do a tongue release. He explains and demonstrates how to do this and recommends doing it on both sides. This will help release the TMJ, hyoid and poll. You can do this prior to bridling the horse.

Jim moves between lateral flexion and lifting the horses head to release more tension in the poll, which, for this horse, is worse on the right side. He watches the horses reactions to notice when its getting to be uncomfortable. He also talks about what causes tension in the poll.

Jim shows how to do small movements in the neck. It's the relaxation, not the range of motion, that releases the tension, so you don't need a large range of motion. It's important not to rush because you can miss what the horse is telling you.

Moving on, Jim explains and demonstrates moving areas in the scapula to release tension in the shoulders, neck and withers. Mostly he wants everything to be relaxed. When the horse tenses, it means hes feeling uncomfortable. At that point you need to wait for the horse to relax.

Jim works on shifting weight off of specific legs to help release tension in the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae. The horse definitely is more uncomfortable one side versus the other, and tension upfront shows up in the horses hind legs.

Jim explains and demonstrates leg releases which will help the pelvis drop and stretch. Pay attention to what the horse is doing so you know if they are uncomfortable, and you lessen the chance of being kicked. Moving the leg towards the midline will help the stifle relax, and stifle issues can r...

Moving to the hind end, Jim demonstrates sacrum releases, which can be helpful for horses who dont move quite right behind, but dont have any diagnosed issues in the feet and legs. He explains the different hind end points to check for tension and works in various areas to release tension in the ...

Jim finishes with gently rocking the horse’s spinal column to try to generate movement from the tail to the poll. The horse shows good movement throughout his entire body. He does warn that horses can sometimes be a little sore after being worked on because their nervous system is firing and musc...

Jim explains and demonstrates his methods on an Arabian mare who had an accident in the past and is tight in her poll, neck and shoulder. He stresses that you can't fix everything at once. Instead, you have to peel off a layer, get some success with that and then move on.

Jim continues working on the hind end of the older horse. Here he demonstrates working with the lower legs to help the pelvis relax. He also reminds people to watch the horse's ears to judge how receptive the horse is to work on the hind legs. By being careful and paying attention to the horse's ...

Jim finishes his work on this horse with the hind legs showing how he does the movement. This is an exercise you can do yourself without much difficulty. He also does some lateral rocking from side to side to do gentle lateral movement of the spine.