Part-3
Another significant piece of Valor’s rehabilitation involved restoring awareness and organization within his body.
Following EPM, he demonstrated clear compensatory patterns.
His default posture strongly reflected what we refer to in Equine Hanna Somaticsas a Green Light pattern: elevated head carriage, a contracted and extended back, anterior pelvic tilt, and camped-out hind limbs.
He also demonstrated significant co-contractions.
Initially, those co-contractions created the appearance of straightness through the spine. But as layers of chronic tension began to release through EHS, a distinct left C-curve became visible. This also aligned with what we were seeing functionally in his groundwork, particularly his preference for left bend.
Even basic balance tasks were difficult in the beginning.
During his early EHS sessions, picking up a foot and balancing on three limbs was a significant challenge for him. It became very clear that the sessions needed to be structured around his nervous system’s current capacity rather than around completing a full protocol.
Instead of attempting the entire sequence in one session, I worked in shorter partial protocols over time.
I found that he responded best when sessions began with the hind limbs for the initial pick-ups, then alternated between the front limbs after each pandiculation.
My hypothesis is that he felt more neurologically and mechanically stable on his front limbs. Beginning with the hind limbs appeared to help increase awareness and organization through the back half of his body, which then gave him more confidence balancing on those limbs while a front foot was lifted.
Over time, his balance and coordination improved markedly.
As his awareness increased, there was also a noticeable shift in his overall posture and spinal organization.
What I find particularly important about this process is that none of these changes were forced mechanically.
The goal was not to place his body into a position but to help resolve motor-sensory amnesia so his nervous system could begin recognizing more efficient options again.
That distinction is important because when compensation patterns have existed long enough, they stop feeling like compensation to the horse. They simply become the default.
EHS works by interrupting those habituated patterns and helping the horse reconnect with movement options that have gradually been lost beneath layers of chronic contraction and protective organization.
And in Valor’s case, that restoration of awareness became a foundational part of rebuilding balance, coordination, and stability following neurological injury.