No. 328 Jec Ballou Equine Fitness

Alicia Harlov of the Humble Hoof joins Wendy to talk about how she uses her Track System at her Hoof Rehab Facility.

The importance of the nervous system and how our modern sport horses require it more than ever before.

Dr. Erica Lacher is a 2001 graduate of the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and the owner of Springhill Equine Veterinary Clinic in Newberry, Florida. In addition to practicing medicine, she is also an author, blogger, and podcaster, with the mission of making the world a better place for horses. Her podcast, Straight from the Horse Doctor’s Mouth, is popular among horse owners worldwide. She enjoys competing in show jumping with her horses, and spending time outdoors with her husband.

Lynn is the head coach at Horse Wise and founder of LOPE, a charity that helps ex-racehorses and youth learn from each other. Lynn has developed an innovative curriculum for teaching science that uses senior racehorses as teachers. She has partnered with veterinary associations to encourage K-12 students to consider veterinary careers. With her curriculum and herd of racehorse professors, Lynn hopes to bring the world of living science to students across the US – while also creating a pipeline of eager, future vet school candidates.

Veterinarians and research scientists from around the world gathered in Ocala, Florida last week for the 27th Annual Equine Health and Nutrition Conference. Hosted by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), speakers included Dr. Hilary Clayton, Dr. Stephanie Valberg, Dr. Joe Pagan, and other experts in feeding, conditioning, and preparing the equine athlete for competition. Dr. Lydia Gray was in attendance and summarized the key findings from the three days of research presentations in this webinar.

Emma's equine journey, beginning at six, led her from an aspiring jockey to a renowned practitioner in equine and human therapy. Trained at the British Racing School, she worked in prestigious stables globally. Her quest for deeper equine understanding led to Equine Craniosacral Therapy studies with Maureen Rogers and anatomy under Debranne Patillo. Inspired by personal therapy experiences, Emma specialized in Craniosacral Biodynamics, influenced by embryologist Erich Blechschmidt's work. Her dedication took her to Germany's Blechschmidt collection, enriching her foundational knowledge. Today, Emma operates a successful equine practice in Victoria, Australia, and offers her expertise to human clients in Melbourne.  

Jec was raised in a horse training family in Vermont, studied dressage throughout Europe, and eventually settled in California. About 15 years ago, she realized that most of the problems riders struggled with stemmed from their horses not using their bodies well. They lacked strength or coordination, they had muscle imbalances, they were stiff, and so on. Meanwhile, horse training had become too specialized and way too complicated. We needed simple, straightforward tools to help horses use their bodies optimally. This prompted her to write her first book in 2005, 101 Dressage Exercises for Horse and Rider, which was endorsed by the United States Dressage Federation as critical for every rider to own. Three other books followed, all of which have been translated into foreign languages and are widely trusted around the world for helping horses regain freedom of movement, enjoyment of exercise, and strong bodies. Today, she works with students and their equine partners across the globe through publications, customized fitness plans, online courses, and in-person clinics.

In 1982 Robyn became involved full-time with the Tellington Method that was developed by her sister Linda. She has been the editor of the monthly Newsletter for more than 30 years. Since 1986 she has been teaching Tellington TTouch® Method on a full-time basis in Canada, the US, Europe, South Africa, and Australia and spends about 160 days a year traveling. Robyn has given demonstrations and lectures at various venues including Spruce Meadows; Equitana USA and Germany; Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan; International Humane Society Conference in Vienna and Murdoch University in Perth.

Through her never-ending quest for personal self-improvement and her practice of authentic communication, she has become a powerful voice that helps guide riders to better partnerships and results in harmony. Even after all the decades of being a professional trainer, instructor, and competitor at the Grand Prix level, she still wakes up every day feeling like a little girl in love with horses… And you can too.

Continuing conversations with Laura and Sharon Wilsie!