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I wasn't quite sure what to expect or how I would handle walking into the dissection, but what I found was that the equine body is breathtakingly beautiful.

So many layers and structures woven together with each one influencing, supporting, and responding to the others.

What struck me most wasn’t just the anatomy itself, but the absence of something: muscle tension.

When I touched Royal before the dissection, I could feel the places where his body was contracted and bracing. The neck tension, especially near the poll, was the most notable.

But during the dissection, with the nervous system no longer generating contraction, all of that was gone. The tissue showed what should be possible when nothing is blocking full, functional movement.

It was such a powerful contrast:

The living body, shaped by tension patterns, guarding, and habituation.

The anatomical body, free of neurological contraction, showing pure structure and design.

This is exactly why somatic and nervous-system-based work holds so much value for me.

My recent studies in somatic education, specifically Equine Hanna Somatics, have shifted how I look at tension in the body. The nervous system can unconsciously hold onto contractions shaped by injury, repeated use, environmental stress, survival strategies, or training. Left unaddressed, those patterns can influence posture, movement, and eventually degenerative change. Understanding that the nervous system can recalibrate and release long-held contraction, yet still hold tension where it believes safety depends on it, gave me a different appreciation for what I saw in this dissection

One of the most significant findings was at C0/C1, the atlanto-occipital joint.

There was notable wear, including moderate synovitis. The right articular surface showed the most degeneration with visible cartilage loss. When you pair that with the bracing we felt in his neck, the picture becomes heartbreakingly clear:

Chronic tension doesn’t just restrict movement. It can reshape structure.

It can create patterns that become permanent, painful, and pathologic over time.

We also found evidence of ECVM on the left side, along with several dorsal spinous processes in the thoracic and lumbar spine that showed hooking. Two areas, between T14–15 and T15–16, were beginning to fuse.

These findings matter because they remind us that sometimes the structural reality is already written and the body has adapted beyond what rehabilitation can unwind.

But most importantly... the horse gets the final say.

Intervention only works if the horse still has the will, the capacity, and the desire to try.

When they don’t, the most compassionate thing we can do is honor their truth and not override it with our hopes.

Seeing the architecture of the horse without contraction deepened my appreciation for how transformative somatic work can be.

Horses don’t choose tension.

They adapt, compensate, and cope right up until they can’t anymore.

Thank you, Royal, for that powerful reminder.