Equiband, or Pessoa

[Carlosmum]

or a tail bandage? Following on from my bucking pony post, The vet wants me to exercise Sam using a Pessoa ( or similar) to help build up the muscles in his back which she hopes will alleviate the pain from his spinal changes. ( Not kissing spines) I'm not a great gadget user but tried him with a pessoa type system yesterday ( he was not happy). Too much going on at his mouth, lines bouncing everywhere, ( I admit it may not have been adjusted correctly) and he hated the pad round his bum even though he is regularly lunged with 2 lines. So... I looked at an Equiband but wondered in the end if I would have just as much progress from a tail bandage, rather than anything particularly fancy. Thoughts please?

 

[Tiddlypom]

The Pessoa and the Equiband are poles apart in their action.

Pessoa = bargepole. A horrible piece of kit which gobs the horse in the mouth at every stride.

Equiband = highly recommended. It is much more flexible and adjustable than just a tail bandage ever could be, and it doesn’t restrict the horse at all. It has both a belly band and a bum band which can be used together or independently to work the horse in different ways.

One of my Equibands is out on loan to an HHOer atm, I believe that she’s pretty impressed with how it’s helped her rehabbing horse, as was the previous HHOer who I loaned it to.

They are undoubtedly spendy, but they are so very worth it over the alternatives.

No restriction on the shoulders or contact needed with the mouth.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I don't like the pessoa they sock them in the gob horrible things.

Equiband is what I would use.

 

[scats]

Equiband everytime. TP kindly loaned me hers and I found it to be a super piece of kit.

 

[Jinx94]

I would absolutely go Equiband over pessoa, but personally had trouble with them slipping back.

Happy to admit it may have been user error!!

If using again, I would probably pop a breastgirth on too. Though it is worth noting that we were using it on a slightly herring-gutted 6yo with very, ahem, extravagant movement!

 

[planete]

I used a pessoa fitted loosely with a giraffe half arab youngster but fastened it it to a paded headcollar, not to a bit. It was just enough to give him the idea that going upside down was not the most comfortable way he could move.

 

[sbloom]

Pessoas really have no use, and I'm not the biggest fan of Equibands. It all depends on your understanding of how to put a horse correctly in balance.

Pessoa - drives the hind end under while "encouraging" the head to be lower. Lowering the head puts a horse on the forehand, it's physics. It's not to say that doing so doesn't have its uses but we must be aware of the downside, and driving the hind end under, on a circle, where most horses aren't moving correctly on two lines (ie are asymmetric, unable to align the hind end with the front), is likely to cause more harm. Then we have the mouth being affected every stride. Hard no.

Equiband - some models of "correct" movement allude to the abs and the core and their "key" role. My understand is the "core" as we think of it has little to do with helping a horse move better, in the early stages. It will of course be involved as we ask more of the horse but at the beginning, with a horse that is compromised and needs to learn to move better, it first needs to learn to brake better behind, use the pelvis to do this, and to stop itself falling forward which is the natural way a horse moves. Lifting the core, the rear half of the torso, is not really related to that, nor is it related to learning to push up in front. It's a fundamental that the horse learns to push its ribcage up through it's front legs/shoulders in order to carry the rider better, ideally without compromise. Using an Equiband, to me, is more like the model of compression we see at the top level in the dressage ring, jamming the lumbar spine up via head lowering/shortening/rounding.

There are lots of resources out there for groundwork/lunging that does help horses move better - have a look at equitopiacenter.com for its resources on posture, movement and groundwork, Amy Skinner Horsemanship, Yasmin Stuary Equine Physio, Louise Mauferon Vernet Equine Osteopath, Encompass Equine Solutions (there are others for sure) on websites and FB.

I do think that improving proprioception can help with postural rehab no end and the bodywrapping with tail bandages, as done at very low tension by TTeam practitioners, can be incredibly useful. Finding a method to help the horse relax the underneck as more of an everyday thing is a really good idea, but it's not present in all schools that, broadly speaking, help the horse move better.

 

[crazyandme]

I found with the last horse I used a pessoa on, that he had learnt he could trot around looking "pretty" in a fake outline, but wasn't actually working properly and stepping under himself

 

[Tiddlypom]

Using an Equiband, to me, is more like the model of compression we see at the top level in the dressage ring, jamming the lumbar spine up via head lowering/shortening/rounding.

I know that you are not a fan of the Equibands, sbloom, but I can assure you that my incredibly astute and highly qualified chiropractor vet, a former senior equine vet at Leahurst now additionally trained as a chiropractor, would not recommend the use of a piece of kit which acts in the way you describe.

The Equiband does not jam or round up anything. Unlike the Pessoa, which is the work of the devil.

It does need to be a true Equiband through, not a rip off - there are a number of inferior and harmful wannabes out there.

 

[sbloom]

What is your understanding of how the Equiband works?

When I say "jamming the lumbar spine up" I refer to what we see at top level rather than the band, however the band lifts the area below the very rear thoracic and forwards lumbar, so surely has similar action, even if not as severe?

 

[Fieldlife]

I know that you are not a fan of the Equibands, sbloom, but I can assure you that my incredibly astute and highly qualified chiropractor vet, a former senior equine vet at Leahurst now additionally trained as a chiropractor, would not recommend the use of a piece of kit which acts in the way you describe.

The Equiband does not jam or round up anything. Unlike the Pessoa, which is the work of the devil.

It does need to be a true Equiband through, not a rip off - there are a number of inferior and harmful wannabes out there.

My understanding is there are a range of professional views on the equiband, and more recent research is less positive compared to initial research. And it really does depend how it is used. Advised usage is pretty gradual, for short times, and building to both bands. For some postural issues / ways of going it is counter productive.

 

[GypsGal1718]

You can always just use one band at a time on the equi band if you prefer

 

[Pippity]

I'm the HHOer currently using TP's Equiband, and it's been a huge help. It's encouraged Blue to bring her hind legs under her and lift her front end, and I'm seeing that change in posture continue in the field and stable, as well as when working.

I primarily use just the belly band, and very slowly worked up from just a few minutes to where we are now - leading her round our 1km farm ride, so about 10-15 minutes at a time, 3-4 times a week.