Daily Archives: March 2, 2010

We first introducted Troy Brandenburg to OTRR last week. In case you missed it, click here. If you own a horse this is one person that you want to pay attention to. He has helped many rodeo atheletes perform to their best. He helped Brandie Halls famous horse Slim at the 2006 NFR (remember that year? She set the arena record! ) along with many others including Kelly Maben’s horse. That year Troy’s clients won 8 rounds of the NFR. To say his resume speaks for itself is an understatement. Okay, so now that you all know how GREAT he is………on to the interview…………

I understand that you are not only a positive influence on the horse but on the rider as well, tell us how you help the rider state of mind positive at a competition?

Positive thinking is a MUST for competing. If you think your horse is going to do something wrong, most times he will. You must believe that you can ride and your horse will perform to best of his ability. It’s not about winning all the time, It’s doing the best that YOU can. There is always some positive in everything you do. You can take that concept and build on it.

 What is the most challenging part of your job?

Dealing with the people. I have found people tend to want the quick fix . They don’t want to or have the time to do the little things to help the horse. Moreover, I find the constant traveling can wear on me. At one time, it was nothing for me to do 3 states a week. I am slowing down a little. But I am lucky. I love my job. And at the end of the day, I would not change a thing. It is all worth it.

Tell us a little bit about Muscle Manipulation?

Muscle manipulation is a phrase I coined to describe how I work on a horse. I would like to think that my work has evolved since I first started but I know I still have long way to go. I believe that a lot of problems start with the stomach. Horses tend to internalize everything. How many times have you known your horse is sore and yet he still performs? This causes stress. I use a form of reike to release the stomach then I use the acupressure points to release the muscles. Then I use pulsating magnetic therapy to get a further release of the muscles and to stimulate more blood flow. After this, I use a range of stretches that I also teach to the client so that he/she can continue the process of keeping the horse performing better.

What is one reoccurring problem that you continue to see in your business? Are the horses not in good enough shape? Not flexible enough? Etc.

I work on a lot of different horses. Again I think we tend to be in too much of a hurry. Simple stretches make HUGE difference to the horse. I don’t think we understand how important the warm up and COOL down are. Professional Athletes stretch both before and after a competition. A Horse is a professional athlete and this step should not be skipped. The other thing I see is there tends to be a lot of issues with proper shoeing. Here again, we are all in too much of a hurry. Your farrier should not be in a rush when he is shoeing your horse. If your horse is not shod right, sooner or later you will have muscle problems.

When working on horses that compete in different events, what different problems do you see? For Example what problems do you see in a barrel horse and how do they differ in a team roping horse?

A Barrel horse tends to have a shoulder problem that correlates to which barrel they run as first i.e. right shoulder if they run to the right and left shoulder if they run to the left. They run so hard and fast to first & then they have to turn. I don’t think they hit that degree of exertion again until they head towards home.

 Heading horses will get sore behind their left shoulder and over their right hip. They lead away with their left shoulder. The Shoulder will take the weight of the steer while the rope will be sitting across the right hip bearing some of weight and movement of the cow.

 Healing horses will be sore over their loins and withers. They have to stop very hard and hold the steer. As this happens there will be a lot of force where the rope is dallied to the front of saddle causing pressure on withers.

 Bulldoggers will be right side. This easy to think about, when the guys are getting down for the steer they will have a lot of weight on the side of the saddle.

Stay tuned…….more to come with Troy! In the meantime, click his logo to visit his website.