Painted Anatomy: How Gillian Higgins Reveals the Inner Workings of Horses

Gillian Higgins is revolutionizing how we understand horses - painting anatomical structures directly onto living horses to reveal what's happening beneath the skin. As founder of Horses Inside Out, she combines her passions for horses, anatomy, and art to educate equestrians about how understanding a horse's internal structures can improve their health, performance, and well-being.

In our conversation, Gillian shares how her unique approach to teaching equine anatomy evolved, why understanding basic biomechanics is crucial for every horse owner, and how simple exercises can dramatically improve equine posture and movement.

The Origin of Painting Horses

Gillian began painting skeletons on horses in 2006, initially for a small workshop at her local livery yard. "I started off just doing some workshops for my clients to answer many of the questions I was getting. My mum was a primary school teacher and had some kiddie paint in the shed at home, so I just used a little bit to indicate where things were," she explains.

What began as simple dots and circles evolved into full skeletal paintings when Gillian wanted to illustrate movement. "I thought, I know, I'll put a skeleton on," she recalls. That first attempt was completed in just 30 minutes - a stark contrast to the six hours she now allocates for painting two horses for her lecture demonstrations.

This initial experiment snowballed into something much larger. "Every event or little demonstration I did led to another one. It just happened," she says. "When you're passionate about something and you pour all your energy into it, it just works."

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What We Can Learn From Anatomy Paintings

One of the most common revelations for viewers of Gillian's painted horses concerns neck anatomy. "When I first started years ago, people would say, 'I didn't realize the neck vertebrae were there. I thought they ran along the top of the neck,'" she explains.

In fact, the neck vertebrae are positioned lower than many assume. This makes biological sense - the head and neck account for 10% of a horse's total body weight (4% head, 6% neck), requiring strong muscles and ligaments along the top of the neck to support this weight against gravity.

Understanding this anatomical reality helps explain why certain head and neck positions are better than others - whether in training or everyday activities like feeding. It also illustrates how a horse's nuchal ligament (a strong elastic structure running along the top of the neck) serves as an energy-saving mechanism.

The Responsibility of Riding

Though horses weren't specifically designed to be ridden, Gillian explains that their backs have evolved to carry weight - primarily the weight of their digestive system.

"The contents of the digestive system would weigh approximately 150 kilograms in a 500-kilogram horse," she notes. "That weight is designed to be slung underneath the horse's back. So although I say a horse isn't designed to be ridden, it is designed to carry weight."

This doesn't absolve riders of responsibility, however. "It is up to us as horse owners, horse riders, horse lovers... to do as much as we possibly can to make sure that they are fit, in good condition, and prepared and ready to do whatever we ask of them."

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Pilates for Horses

Gillian has developed a comprehensive Pilates program specifically for horses, containing 74 exercises designed to improve core strength, posture, and movement.

"Getting the right exercise for your horse to stimulate muscles that are potentially weak is really important," she explains. "If you want a healthy body, you need to stretch muscles that are short and tight, and strengthen muscles that are long and weak."

These exercises don't have to be time-consuming. Many can be integrated into daily routines:

• Walking horses over raised poles on the way to and from the field

• Backing up while leading to the arena

• Using treats to encourage specific stretches

• Incorporating exercises during grooming

"I'm a big advocate of trying to fit things into the routine," Gillian says, "so that we get as much out of it as possible."

The Art and Science of Painting Horses

Creating anatomically correct paintings on horses requires deep knowledge and precise technique. "You've got to know your subject to be able to either describe it or draw it," Gillian explains.

Her paintings aren't generic - they're tailored to each individual horse. "Every painting that I do, I feel for the bony landmarks to make sure that that horse's skeleton is correct for that horse," she says. "If we've got two or three horses, obviously their skeletons are all different."

The process takes six hours and requires special materials. "I use water-based hypoallergenic non-toxic paint," Gillian says. After a demonstration, the paint washes off easily - "put the hosepipe on them and it'll be off in the time it takes to wash them."

The Horse-Human Connection

Beyond the technical knowledge, Gillian emphasizes how understanding anatomy can deepen our connection with horses. "If a horse is misbehaving or not performing well at something, there's something either within their body - musculoskeletal discomfort, they're in pain somewhere - or somewhere along the line, the training's not quite right, maybe the tack doesn't fit," she explains.

By understanding anatomy and biomechanics, we can better interpret what our horses are telling us, leading to improved well-being and performance.

"I think we nowadays really understand more and more about horses," Gillian reflects. "Our standards have gone up. We want our horses to have the best possible lives."