Horse Rider Recovery

Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist

Recovery of horse riders using an
environmentally friendly recovery system
Horses and ponies are used for a variety of purposes around the world; they use them for many
things in work and pleasure in sports such as endurance events, show jumping, horse racing-
but probably not these two fat little things

These are probably kept because they are good for someone’s emotional development-they are
almost certainly not going to contribute to someone’s muscle soreness from riding them
Muscle soreness is a problem for the novice rider whose leg muscles have not developed
sufficiently to give the stability needed to ride properly, and also for the endurance rider
competing in multi-day events whose muscles are fatigued

They would pretty well be in much the same situation as my ultra marathon runners who have
been running 3 days or more
To use invasive work as normally used on already stressed muscles is going to put them in
danger of being overloaded with too much tension being placed on the muscle insertions and
muscle fibers-and result in damage that may take time to recover from
Subjecting them to extra stresses, the muscles are taut like the strings on a guitar or violin, if
they have too much tension placed on them, they can snap and they have to be replaced-
unfortunately it is not so easy to replace the muscles-so better not to place them ‘at risk’ by
using invasive techniques to achieve recovery

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
Recovery

Muscles that are recovering do not need working on-they need working with-which opens up a
range of options not available before that can be used to assist in recovery without putting the
muscles at risk of injury
Ultra athletes suffer from sore feet, sore legs, swollen ankles, stiffness, wasted muscles, muscle
cramps, tiredness, mental fatigue, restless legs, sore skin, night pains, muscle spasm, muscle
wastage, swollen ankles, hyperthermia, hypothermia, temper tantrums, vomiting, food
sensitivity, allergies, rashes, loss of judgement-and that is the good part
No matter how much someone trains and practises, or how talented they are, this can be
detrimentally affected if recovery is not quickly and efficiently achieved
Compounding soreness and stiffness can create an ongoing problem to young growing bones
and muscles-they do not need these as they can interfere with coordination between horse and
rider
To demonstrate how stiffness and fatigue can compound, we can visit a 24-hour relay event
where the young athlete runs for 15 minutes, has 5 hours break and goes back for another 15
minute leg-in all they do 4 periods on the track in the 24 hours.
15 minutes of running with five hours of recovery should be enough time, yet each leg of the
relay was more difficult than the last time they went on the track because the muscle were sore
and stiffened up
When the young athletes first started to come in for help with recovery, I was very surprised (I
was working on adults and thought is strange that they were having problems after such a short
time on the track) but treated them as I would the older runners and walkers-but I found that
their muscles were tighter
Fortunately the World Run Recovery System accommodated their needs to address soreness
and stiffness problems

These are 2 people who have just been running for 3 days around a running track in all
weathers and they have stiff legs after a few minutes of resting

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
What is the World Run Recovery System?
The World Run Recovery System is a Do-It-Yourself method based on encouraging
the muscles and tissues to assist in their own recovery

• It is not a massage system

• It is not invasive
• It is not aggressive

• It is not time consuming

• It does not need disrobing

• It does not need oil applied to the skin

• It does not need strong hands and fingers

• It does not need hand/brain coordination

• It does not need equipment

• It does not work on the muscles

• It does not work on any specific injuries

• It does not threaten the integrity of the muscles

• It does not use force on the muscles

• It does not need more than a few minutes to do

• It does not require a long course or workshop

What does it do?

It is a fully self contained non-technical, non-invasive 'cutting edge' recovery system
It’s not what you do but the way you do it that counts

While muscle injury and problem fixing needs to be able to work on the muscles
to have any effect-Recovery requires work with them to be effective

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
The secret to leg recovery
The calf muscles act as the motor for a pump to take it from the feet back to the body against
gravity through the venous system where it is re-nourished and recirculated-but to be working
they have to move.

Look at the photo above-how many towels and bottles of oil do you see?
None because the latest in non-polluting, non-technical method of leg recovery techniques is
being used

The active way to help the legs recover is to learn how to work with the muscles
If you can use your hands you have the tools to do the job of recovery

Recovery from leg fatigue or ongoing leg maintenance

The World Run Recovery System

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
Below is a chart from when I discovered working with the muscles rather than
on them shows how much things did improve for the runners and walkers
If these figures are translated into recovery speed for the person with aching legs they
would be very happy

Results from 1995 Coburg 6 day footrace

Name Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6

A Krouglikov 237.2 113.6 130 106 126 108 Kilometers
539 284 325 365 315 270 Laps

T Rusek 215.2 98.8 98 139.6 138.4 122.4 Kilometers

538 247 245 349 346 306 Laps

M T aylor 174.4 128.8 143.6 123.6 138.4 122.4 Kilometers

436 322 359 309 302 223 Laps

B Beauchamp 180.4 133.2 124 117.6 110 93.2 Kilometers

451 333 310 294 275 233 Laps

P Gray 150 134 105.2 94.8 111.6 106 Kilometers

375 335 263 237 279 265 Laps

D Parri s 138.4 108.4 106.8 116.4 106 107.2 Kilometers

346 271 267 274 265 268 Laps

I Davis 168 119.2 90 116.4 106 107.2 Kilometers

420 298 225 291 180 247 Laps

G Watts 132.2 96.4 99.2 104.4 92.8 133.6 Kilometers

328 241 248 261 232 334 Laps

C Young 142 91.2 90 97.6 88 92 Kilometers

355 228 225 244 220 230 Laps

D Kettle 138.2 86.8 90.8 95.2 94.4 84.4 Kilometers

332 217 227 238 236 212 Laps

R H ill 128 80.8 99.2 70 95.6 96.6 Kilometers

320 202 248 175 239 241 Laps

K Fisher 164 91.6 50 115.2 49.6 81.2 Kilometers

410 229 125 288 124 203 Laps

G Pollard 120 74.8 73.6 68.4 69.6 61.2 Kilometers

300 187 184 171 174 153 Laps
The above group came in for Light Manual Muscle Rel axation
The below group did not or had their own recovery people
T Rafferty 141.6 112.8 104.8 101.6 98 96.4 Kilometers
354 282 262 254 245 241 Laps

G McConnel 145.6 110.8 126.4 113.6 108.4 106 ki lometers

363 277 287 284 271 265 Laps

G Audley 152.8 110.8 126.4 113.6 114.8 95.2 ki lometers

S Scanlon 140.8 82 84 34 0 0 Kilometers

352 205 210 85 pulled out-bli sters Laps

J Timms 127.2 98.4 74.8 0 0 0 ki lometers

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
Quickly-easily and in an environmentally friendly way!
The World Run Recovery System is a simple system that is easy to use without
the need for equipment other than the hands

Resource Box

Michael Gillan is an Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist who has been a masseur around many
ultra long distance events both in Australia and internationally since he was a student in 1993

In 1995 while working at a 6 day run, he changed the approach to recovery of the athletes from
the conventional way of working on the muscles using the hands and fingers to increase muscle
blood circulation, to working with the muscles and making them work on themselves

The results from this changeover can be seen on the Coburg result sheet on page 5

In 1996 Michael went to the Nanango 1000 Mile 16 day event where it was tested and helped
the worlds 4-5 and 11th to achieve their distances

Other notable events the World Run Recovery System was tested on was World Run 1 with
Jesper Olsen www.worldrun.org and the World Run 2 training camp in Denmark in 2007

How can the athlete benefit?

Because the muscles are being worked with they are actually doing the work-this means that
the skills needed to do the recovery after training and competition do not have to be as great or
as complicated as when they are being worked on
Nothing is being fixed nor is any attempt being made to repair anything

All that is happening is that the body is repairing itself-we are just facilitating it’s ability
to do that by increasing circulation to the muscles

Aching legs should always be checked out by a medical professional before doing anything to
and with them because there are many medical reasons why they may be aching-see a
physician first

If you want more details go to my website at

http://kidsweb.aching-legs-relief.com/horse_rider_muscle_soreness.html

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 Horse Rider Recovery
Michael Gillan Ultra Marathon Recovery Specialist
http://www.aching-legs-relief.com

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