CASE STUDIES & TESTIMONIALS

The Hegeman Methods of Balance Breaking and Target Therapy have produced incredible results.
Click on a case study or testimonial below .

Case Studies

• Mo
• Lucky


Testimonials

• Charmian Wright, DVM, Mountain Horse Medical
• Liz Hecht - Shirley a 20 year old quarter horse
• Verna Nielsen - Lucky a 13-year old Missouri Fox Trotter
• Skip Slusher - 11 year-old cutting horse
• Jim Smith - three registered paint horses

Mo Age: 6 Breed: TW Discipline: Show / Pleasure Sessions: 2 Lessons: 24 Type: Balance Breaking Results After concluding the Hegeman Balance Breaking Program, Mo took 6 ribbons in FOSH show including Grande Champion English and Grande Champion Western. "After Balance Breaking, I suddenly had the horse I had always wanted. His gaits are better and more consistant than I'd ever hoped." — Dr. Charm Wright, DVM

Lucky Age: 13 Breed: Missouri Fox Trotter Discipline: Show / Pleasure Owner: Verna Nielsen Sessions: 2 Lessons: 24 Type: Balance Breaking Results Lucky was at 80% of program completion. With continued riding and reinforcing muscle memory, Lucky is expected to recover 100%. He is expected to go back into the show ring summer of 2005. "After two surgeries on each of his front knees and a sabbatical of almost two years, Lucky was almost completely lame. After two months of physical therapy, we are now riding Lucky again on trails. He never Fox Trotted this good." — Verna Nielsen

TESTIMONIALS

I am an equine veterinarian who has been practicing with performance horses since 1986. I am endlessly intrigued by learning what we can do to enable horses to perform better, maximize their potential, and remain sound. This information takes on great implications in the case of the serious competitors. Of course, in some instances, it is even distilled down to a matter of life or death for the horse.

Over the past 18 years of practice, I have seen equine care advance on many fronts. I feel we are gaining an increasingly enhanced understanding of what it takes to enable our horses to perform their best. Preventative medicine, improved understanding of the foot, sophisticated diagnostics, alternative therapies, advanced dentistry, and better saddle fit have all contributed to superior care for these magnificent beasts.

However, over the years I have sensed a gap in our horse training. I am not a horse trainer, but I have spent years assessing different schooling methods and my interests and my practice take me across many sections of horse training and athletic endeavors. Having no personal agenda, I can objectively assess what I see. What I consistently observe, in contrast to human athletes, is inattention to the horses’ physical preparedness for a specific discipline. Given enough repetition, horses are expected to automatically be physically able to perform whatever discipline we ask of them. This disregard often leads to resistance, imbalance, and even injuries. Unexpectedly, I even see this in some of the highest levels of the sport.

As you know so well, physically enabling the horse to be balanced is an essential prerequisite to almost any equine discipline. Of special interest to me as a veterinarian, it is equally important in helping the horse to avoid injuries. What Jen has designed in Balance Breaking is a unique and extraordinary system that, in a relatively short time, physically prepares the horse to work off the hindquarters, get in a frame, and engage in true collection. It also targets specific muscle groups, so the horse can be fine-tuned as needed.

Over the past several years, I have observed the results of Ms. Hegeman’s Balance Breaking firsthand. As she has worked on a number of my client’s horses, I have been able to follow them over time. The results have ranged from impressive to dramatic, and in several cases even prevented the premature retirement or death of the horse. I now refer clients to her without hesitation. I have also had her work on two of my own performance horses, I can easily say that, with both horses, the Balance Breaking system was a major breakthrough.

I wholeheartedly recommend Jen Hegeman and her Balance Breaking to enhance competitive performance, for rehabilitation cases, and to improve sub-optimal performers.

Charmian Wright, DVM
Mountain Horse Medical

I would like to let you know about the results Jen Hegeman’s Balance Breaking program achieved with my horse, Shirley. Shirley is a 20-year old Quarter Horse I adopted mainly as a pet. She was lame (a problem with her sesamoid bone), and she would have been sold at auction had I not adopted her.

Before learning about Jen’s work, I had reconciled myself to not riding Shirley, I mainly took her for walks with my dogs, just as if she were a dog. She was so lame, in fact, that she could not even make it through a Parelli Level One program at our stable. Several vets had worked with her and
nothing (except for more bills!)

After just a week or two of working with Jen, we began to see remarkable results. After two months of focused work, Shirley is a different horse! I was initially skeptical about Jen’s program, but I have become a True Believer. My horse now prances around and is frisky in a way that I had not thought possible. I can ride her for an hour at a brisk trot, and she enjoys it.

I encourage you and your colleagues to learn as much as possible about Balance Breaking. The results achieved for my horse have changed her life--and mine!-----dramatically for the better.

Sincerely,


Liz Hecht

After two surgeries on each of his front knees and being off for two years, my 13-year old Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, Lucky, was just as lame as before his surgeries.

After two months of physical therapy by Jen Hegeman, Lucky is no longer a beautiful lawn ornament in my pasture but has recovered 80%.

We are now riding him again on trails, and he has never fox trotted this well.

With a little more work from Jen, we know Lucky will be 100% and back in the show ring.

Thank you, Jen!


Verna Nielsen
And Lucky

Balance Breaking literally saved my horse. I have an 11 year-old cutting horse that could not walk 100 feet without stopping, due to problems from injuries. Jen took the extra time to understand the demands cutting places on a horse, and tailored the process to fill those needs in my horse. Within a few weeks into the Balance Breaking system he was trotting and cantering. After a few months he brought home a check from a cutting. I can’t believe how well Balance Breaking works, and would recommend it to anyone. Not to mention the value of my horse went from 0 back to a least what I paid for him.


Skip Slusher

We own three registered paint horses, two of which are five years old and on that is seven. We have been looking for a trainer and training program that made sense to us and that would benefit our horses’ confirmation and performance under saddle for pleasure riding.

After meeting Jen Hegeman and hearing her describe her method of balance breaking, we have had her training our three horses for the past six months, spending about two months with each of them.

We have been extremely impressed with the method, Jen’s manner of training, and the clearly observable results that she has achieved. All three of our horses can frame up nicely and move under collection in both ground work and under saddle. They all have developed much stronger muscling in general. In particular, we have been impressed by the way that Jen is able using her method to target specific shortcomings in our horses movement and development, and then tailor the Balance Breaking regimen to improve them.

Jen has also greatly impressed us with her detailed knowledge of horse movement and behavior, her excellent teaching skills and her easy manner of working with owners and riders of all ages and skill levels.

Jen Hegeman and Balance Breaking have our highest recommendation.

Jim Smith

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