Training Aids: Their use in Training, Management and Rehabilitation with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
Thursday 9th October 2025 @ 19:00 HRS BST
Training Aids: Their use in Training, Management and Rehabilitation with Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
Multiple training aids are available for therapists and horse owners to use. However, there is a paucity of evidence on their use in rehabilitation and training. Development of core muscle strength is important for training and during rehabilitation following injury, and as part of an on-going training/management programme. When lunging is used as part of a training or rehabilitation programme, training aids are often fitted in the belief that they facilitate improved back and limb biomechanics, leading to the development of increased core strength and spinal stability, and in some instances may serve as a substitute for ridden exercise. This two-hour webinar will review the literature, and present a series of evidence-based studies which have quantified the effect that training aids have on equine locomotion, and present new research relating to the effect that training aids have on equine back movement. Throughout the session the potential advantages and limitations will be discussed along with evidence-based considerations when using training aids.
For all attendees, CPD certificates available as well as a “view only” recording of the webinar with a year access pass. There will also be a Q and A session with ample opportunity to post questions via our interactive Q&A panel.
Dr Russell MacKechnie-Guire
Russell MacKechnie-Guire graduated from Warwickshire College in 2006 with a BSc (Hons) in Equine and Human Sports Science and now holds a PhD in Equine Biomechanics, graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in 2019. Russell’s thesis was titled ‘The Relationship between Saddle and Rider Kinematics, Equine Locomotion, and Thoracolumbar Pressures in Sports Horses’. Russell is based at Centaur Biomechanics, a company which he founded in 2006. He has extensively researched the effect that tack (saddle, bridle and girth) has on equine health and performance. Russell’s current area of research is horse-saddle-rider interaction, spinal kinematics in horses when ridden over ground and the effect that rider asymmetry has on equine back movement. In addition, Russell collaborates with researchers from around the world on various research projects associated with equine health and performance. He regularly presents his work at international meetings throughout the world and is a consultant for the British Equestrian Federations World Class, Team GBR programme. Russell is a member of the Team GBR’s Scientific Advisory Group, Society of Master Saddlers Scientific Advisory Group and chairs the horse+rider subgroup, part of the International Task force on Laterality in Sports Horses.
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