The Soundness System

A step-by-step guide to monitoring your horse’s soundness, catching issues early, and safely getting them fit and ready to train for eventing, dressage, and hunter jumper sports.

Enroll Now, Course starts 4/24

You don't need a PhD in biomechanics to track your horse's soundness. Rather, you need to know how to assess your horse's readiness for work, design effective strength and conditioning programs, and gauge his response to work in an organized and systematic way.

You love your horse and want him to feel good and enjoy his job. He’s your best friend and you would do anything for him. Plus, you have big goals with your horse that inspire you to work hard and be a student of your sport. You put tons of energy into taking care of your horse and hope you’re doing the right things to keep him sound. But even with all this effort, you’re still nervous and uncertain about how to best train your horse and help him be a successful athlete.

I often see this uncertainty in my equine physiotherapy practice. I talk to so many riders and owners who have tons of questions about helping their horse feel good when training and competing.

I get it.

The marketplace is flooded with generalized information that doesn’t really help you make decisions about your horse. There is so much information out there but it’s not integrated together, so how do you know when to do this or that?

I created The Soundness System to help you go from feeling uncertain about how to help your horse reach peak performance to feeling confident in your ability to assess your horse’s readiness for work and create an effective strength and conditioning program, so that you will experience increased success this season. You’ll catch movement compensations and discomfort early, so hopefully it’s much easier to resolve and you can keep working towards your goals.

I think one of the biggest challenges is taking knowledge, which I know you have, and turning it into action. You know a lot about horse health, barn management, and training. But if I asked you about your system for monitoring soundness, fitness, and movement, would you have a solid answer?

If yes, that’s fantastic.

If you answer "no" or "sort of", this course is for you.

I would be honored to help you learn how to effectively and consistently assess your horse, safely get him fit for his work, and catch problems early when they are so much easier to address.

What's Inside the Soundness System?

Learn how to optimize your horse's management and training program to increase your

odds of keeping them sound and catching issues quickly.

By the end of this 9-week course you will be able to:

Soundness
- Accurately assess your horse's soundness.
- Detect soundness issues quickly.
- Identify the difference between training issues and pain problems.
- Improve your communication with your vet and farrier so they can better treat your horse.
Strength & Conditioning
- Assess your horse's current fitness level and ability to handle his workload.
- Develop a safe and effective strength & conditioning program
- Help your horse become a more resilient athlete.

Biomechanics
- Understand how a horse moves.
- Develop your eye so you can see movement compensations.
- Understand how a crooked rider impacts a horse.
- Understand how poorly fitted tack impacts movement, and how to properly fit tack on your horse.
Therapeutic Exercise
- Use therapeutic exercise in your program to strengthen weak areas.
- Use exercises and warm up drills to improve nervous system function.
- Strategically use different types of rest and recovery to improve your horse's motor control and posture.

Click Here and Enroll Today

This course is for you if:

You own a horse and want to improve your horse management skills.
You are working towards a training goal with your horse and need to improve your horse’s fitness.

You want to improve your knowledge of how horses move so you can better identify changes in your horse's gaits.
You have a goal with your horse and want to increase the odds of achieving it with a sound and happy horse.

Hi, I'm Shelley.

I’d like to share my story with you, my passion for learning to listen to horses, and tell you what's behind The Soundness System.

I’m a physical therapist and competitive rider. I’ve had horses my entire life and love taking care of them, working with them, and I actively compete in eventing and show jumping.

My business, Intrepid Wellness, was founded in honor of my horse, Intrepid, aka “Trep” in 2017. At the time, I’d been a physical therapist for about 18 years and had this idea of working with horses, but hadn’t left a traditional practice to pursue that dream. I wasn’t sure where to start or if there was truly a need for my business idea.

It’s a longer story than I can share here, but the short version is that sometimes the Universe knocks you on your ass when you don’t listen.

Trep had always been such a fun horse to ride. He loved to jump and made me feel like we could do anything together. Around 2013, things started to change. He had some minor health issues and became trickier to ride. I worked with vets, farriers, and saddle fitters and everyone thought he was okay, so I told myself it was my fault and I needed to be a better rider. I really took responsibility for “ruining” such a fun, amazing jumper and turning him into a horse that didn’t love his job. I took about a million riding lessons and tried desperately to get back to solid ground.

You can imagine the confidence blow and insecurities that created, right?

Fast forward to 2017 and Trep got very sick. He got diagnosed with cholangiohepatitis (a liver disease). My vet went back through all his records and thinks signs of it started showing up in 2013.

Boom.

Hindsight is 20/20. It was like suddenly I could see the ways he had tried to tell me he didn’t feel great. To be fair, I tried to listen, but I just didn’t have a good system in place to see the patterns, and because of that I couldn’t communicate effectively with my vets, so they missed it too. Plus, I had been trained to take responsibility for my horse, riding, and skill sets. When things are going poorly, work harder to learn more and improve.

What Trep taught me is that horses have tremendous try. They show up and do their very best for us, and when they don’t feel good, they often communicate their discomfort or challenges in subtle ways, while still trying to do their job. Trep taught me to observe more, listen more, critically think more, pay attention to the little things, and blame myself less.

When Trep got sick, I suddenly had clarity on how I could help horses and riders. I launched Intrepid Wellness, with the mission to help horses and riders move and perform better, and help riders listen to their horses. I’ve treated thousands of horses and riders at every level, and honed in on how to catch problems early with the help of the whole team (riders, grooms, vets, farriers, and more). When you work with performance horses, it’s not “if '' but “when” they will have some soundness and health issues. We ask horses to do repetitive work, travel long distances, and live in very unnatural environments which leads to problems. These problems can be mitigated and managed, but you need to be on the lookout. The same is true for riders. Improving body alignment and strength not only helps your horse, but lessens your risk of injury and makes you a better “backpack” for your horse to carry.

Can I count you in on The Soundness System? I’d be honored if you would trust me to teach you how to monitor your horse for pain, discomfort, and movement restrictions. You’ll use information from this course almost every single day. I really hope to see you in the course.

To the horses,

Shelley

Learn my soundness system and start using it in your program. I can't promise your horse will stay sound, but I can promise you'll catch issues more quickly, have better data for your vet and farrier, and lower your horse's risk of injury.

“It’s been instrumental having Shelley join our team. I’ve struggled over the years finding a physio that helped my horses and actually benefited them long term. After having Shelley join our team, I can see a huge difference in the core strength of my horses and flexibility. Riding is one key part to building flexibility and strength, but having Shelley help develop exercises for each of my horses has been a game changer."

Tamie Smith

Next Level Eventing

More Details (these are good ones!)

The Soundness System starts April 24, 2023.

When you purchase the course, you'll be sent login information to the membership area. You get access to the course content forever.

There are three parts to The Soundness System. Each module is three weeks long. You get access to me every week to get your questions answered, plus there will be deep dive trainings each module.

Module 1 is released on April 24, 2023.

Module 2 is released on May 15, 2023.

Module 3 is released on June 5, 2023.

There will be weekly office hours where you can get your questions answered. I'll be there and ready to help you This is not a DIY course where you can't get any help.

THIS ONE IS THE BEST! You have lifetime access to the course and when I update the course, you will receive ALL the updates. Plus, you can join the course every time I run it for free in the future. You'll have access to the deep dive trainings, office hours, and case studies. I'm so excited to offer this to you because our knowledge changes over time. The Soundness System will help you keep up with current best practices so you can include them in your performance program.

This is the first time I've run The Soundness System. When you enroll, you'll be part of the beta group. I'm offering you a super low price and hoping you'll give me feedback after each module so I can make future improvements. Your help will be very much appreciated!

A word about the course value. Although this course by no means replaces your veterinarian, if you can prevent or minimize one injury through what you learn, that will save you hundreds to thousands of dollars and all the time it takes to heal your horse. This course saves you money in the long run!

The Soundness System

The Soundness System will improve your horse management! It’s officially OPEN for enrollment.

Enrollment closes on Monday, April 24th and won’t open again until the fall. Plus, this is the beta group, so the price is far lower than it will be in the future.

This 9 week long course has videos and handouts about soundness, strength & conditioning, biomechanics, and therapeutic exercise to help keep your horse performing well.
Weekly office hours with Shelley so you can get your questions answered

Lifetime access, PLUS you can join the class each time it runs for free
A library of therapeutic exercises you can use based on your horse's weaknesses and restrictions.
Handouts you can use at the barn to track your horse's program

“Shelley has been an integral part of my team for many years now. Her ability to monitor my horses' movement, performance and fitness gives me comfort in knowing that we are being proactive in maintaining sound performance horses. Shelley’s biomechanics program is also extremely important to both myself and my clients' ability to maintain fitness and strength in the saddle. I refer clients all the time to Intrepid Wellness for the pure fact that Shelley and her team help me do my job better. Happy healthy horses and riders all around.”

Erin Storey

Storey Tails, LLC

Want to give your best effort to keep your horse sound and performing well? If you said "YES", then let's get started!

And there's no risk! Every plan comes with a 14-day money back guarantee.

Pay In Full

14-Day Money Back Guarantee

PLUS get an extra bonus

$119

Buy Now, Extra Bonuses!

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2 Monthly Payments

14-Days Money Back Guarantee

$62 per month

Buy Now Pay Monthly

I hate SPAM and promise not to bombard your inbox when you purchase.

And there are Bonuses!

You can get bonus trainings for paying in full and acting fast. If you pay in full and enroll by April 13th, you get both the bonus packages.

Pay in Full Bonus

Pay for the course in full and get a bonus training.

"How to Assess Rider Asymmetry and What to Do About It."

This training will help you identify typical patterns seen in riders that create asymmetry in your position and aids. I'll review biomechanical and strength issues often seen, and provide suggestions for how to improve your effectiveness on your horse.

**Please note you will receive the bonus on May 8th (after the 14-day money back guarantee period has passed).

Fast Action Bonus

Enroll in the course by April 13th to get fast action bonuses. These are golden!

Bonus #1: Receive a 30-minute video consultation with Shelley to review your horse's posture and movement patterns. You will submit videos of your horse to review in this session. Details will be sent via email after you enroll.

Bonus #2: "Typical Movement Compensations Observed in Horses."

This training will help you identify common movement restrictions seen in horses and their possible causes.

**Please note you will receive the bonus trainings on May 8th (after the 14-day money back guarantee period has passed).

14 DAYS

Money Back Guarantee

I have confidence that my programs are effective. I offer a 14-day money back guarantee on The Soundness System. You can cancel for any reason and I’m happy to refund your money. I want you to feel like my courses are effective and help you achieve your goals. If, for some reason, you start this course and it’s not a good fit, just let me know within 14 days of the start date of the course and we'll send you a refund.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a money back guarantee?

Yes. If you enroll in The Soundness System and decide the course isn’t for you, you can request a refund within 21 days of the start of the course

How long can I access the course?

You have lifetime access to The Soundness System materials. You will receive all future updates and can participate in the course, such as using the office hours to get your questions answered, each time it runs.

Is this course appropriate for beginner horse owners and riders?

If you are brand new to horses, much of this information may feel overwhelming. The course is best if you’ve ridden or owned horses for a little bit of time and gotten some foundational work done. That way you will have a frame of reference for the materials.

Is this course appriopriate for expert horse owners and riders?

Yes. Even if you are an expert, I am confident this course will help you be better organized and create a repeatable system for assessing soundness. That will help you, even if you are knowledgeable about all the concepts I teach. This is especially helpful if you manage multiple horses, because it’s easy to lose track of things.

When does The Soundness System run?

Shelley runs this class twice a year, in the spring and fall.

The spring class runs April 24 - June 25, 2023.

Fall dates TBA, but look for a September start.

Is this course a good investment?

Yes. This course will help you monitor your horse's soundness and health, so you can catch issues early. It will teach you how to develop a safe and effective fitness program, so you can best prepare your horse to handle his workload. This course only costs $119 and payment plans are available. A vet visit to do a lameness or wellness check is easily $250. This course pays for itself if you avoid one vet visit, or if you can make your vet care more efficient so your vet can make a diagnosis more quickly.

What is the format of the course?

The course is taught in three sections. In each section there are three weeks of material (videos and handouts). There will be office hours each week where you can get help with the material and get your questions answered. Shelley will do a live training for each module to flush out topics people need more help with. Those will be recorded and put in the members area.

When are the class office hours?

They will be held weekly. The times will rotate so people on different time zones and schedules have the opportunity to join. The schedule will be sent out with the class information. If you cannot make it to the office hours but have some questions, you can submit your questions to Shelley and she’ll get back to you.

Is the course appropriate for all horse sports?

Shelley focuses on working with eventers, hunter jumpers, and dressage riders so the examples in the course will be focused on those sports. However, the tools to track soundness and create a fitness plan apply to any sport. You can easily apply them to any area, and if you need help, you can talk to Shelley during office hours or submit your questions.

Does this course replace veterinary care?

Absolutely not. However, this course will help you better communicate with your vet (and farrier) and help you seek veterinary care more quickly, which often results in a better outcome and less vet visits overall.

Enroll Now, Course starts 4/24

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