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It Was Never the Ride That Wore Me Out. It Was Everything After.

August 2nd, 2026 By Kate Sullivan

I've been around horses since I was seven. Riding properly for about ten years now, two horses, most days of the week.

I don't mind the work. Mucking out, filling water, dragging feed, lifting the saddle on and off. That's just the yard. You don't ride if you're not willing to do it.

But I noticed something over the last couple of years. The day stopped ending when the riding did.

By the time the horses are settled and the tack's away, my lower back is done. Stiff. Heavy. That deep ache that sits right across the bottom of your spine after you've been on your feet since morning.

Then comes the drive home. Forty minutes in the car, seat pushing into exactly the spot that already hurts. I get out moving like someone twice my age.

And I told myself the same thing every time. This is just part of riding. You're young, you're tough. Get on with it.

My horse comes first. He always has. He gets cooled down, checked over, rugged up. I make sure of it.

Then I get in the car and carry it all home with me.

Why Your Back Feels Like This — And It's Not Just "Getting Older"

It's not the time in the saddle. It's everything around it.

Bent over picking out feet. Twisting to do up girths. Lifting saddles on and off the rack. Hauling feed, mucking out stable after stable. Then holding yourself steady for an hour while a half-tonne animal moves underneath you.

Your lower back takes all of it. Every single day.

So of course it aches by the evening. That's not weakness, or bad posture, or a weak core. It's a normal back doing a genuinely hard job, over and over.

Here's the part I got wrong for years.

I thought because the soreness was normal, I just had to live with it. Ride, ache, drive home stiff, wake up, do it again. That was the deal.

What I didn't see was where that deal was heading.

Because carried home every night, it stops being soreness. It's dreading the drive. Snapping at people because your back's screaming. Sitting out the second ride because you're not sure your body's up to it. And the quiet one nobody says out loud — wondering how many good years you've got left in the saddle.

Your back isn't broken. Mine wasn't either. But "pushing through" isn't free — it just moves the cost somewhere you don't notice until later.

Being tough got me this far. It wasn't going to get me the rest of the way.

So I went looking for something that would fix it.

I Tried the Usual Things First

I'm not someone who ignores a problem. So I tried what everyone tries.

Heat packs — good for ten minutes, then cold. Stretching — fine, if I had the energy left to do it, which after the yard I didn't. A foam roller that lived under my bed and stayed there. Physio, which helped, but it's an hour away and it's not cheap, and I can't book one in for every Tuesday my back's had enough.

And painkillers. Which I took more often than I'd like to admit, just to get through the evening.

None of it was useless. But none of it fit the actual moment — that hour after I get home, when I'm too tired to do a routine and too sore to sit still.

The problem was never that nothing works. It's that nothing worked then.

Everything I tried needed something from me. Time. Effort. A drive. Another appointment. Energy I'd already spent at the yard.

What I actually needed was simple. Sit down. Switch off. Let something else do the work while I did nothing.

I didn't need another job. I needed the opposite of one.

Then a Physio Who Actually Rides Told Me About It

I didn't find this on some ad, if I'm honest. My physio mentioned it — and she rides herself, which is why I listened.

She said one sentence that stuck with me the whole drive home: 'Most of what I see in riders isn't damage. It's a back that never gets told the day is over. And that the thing most riders need isn't more treatment. It's something at home they'll actually use.

She told me about The Untack.

It's made for exactly this — the back of a rider after a day at the yard. You put it under your lower back, pick a setting, and lie down. It warms up, and it works into the muscle with movement, so the tension eases while you just... sit there.

No stretching. No routine. No appointment. You position it, switch it on, and rest.

That was the first thing that sounded like it actually fit my evening.

  What It Doesn't Do

I'll tell you what it won't do.

It's not a cure. It won't fix a real injury, and it won't undo years of anything. If something's genuinely wrong with your back, see a professional — this isn't that.

What it does is simple and immediate. It takes the edge off. It makes the evening yours again instead of the day's last chore. You use it for as long as you want — no timer, you get up when you're ready, not when a machine tells you to.

That's it. No miracle. Just comfort, when you actually need it.

RIDER AFTERCARE

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Warmth and relief right where riding leaves you sore

Use it as long as you like — no timer

Try it for 30 days. Don't like it? Money back

No exercises, no appointments. Sit down and switch off

"I honestly thought it'd be a fancy heat pad. It's not even close. You can feel it working into the muscle, not just warmth sitting on top. My old heat pack's been in the cupboard since this turned up."

Verified Buyer

Anna P, 39 

"It's not even the riding for me, it's the yard work. Bent over all morning. This is the first thing that's actually reached the spot 

Verified Buyer

Karen M, 36 

"I've got a drawer full of massage gadgets that did nothing, so I nearly didn't bother with another one. This is the first that's earned its spot. I don't know how else to say it — it actually does something, and I've kept reaching for it, which is more than I can say for the rest."

Verified Buyer

Lisa H, 46

The First Night I Used It

I didn't expect much, the first time. I've been let down by enough gadgets.

I got home, boots off, put it under my lower back on the couch, and picked the middle setting. It started to warm up almost straight away. Then the gentle working underneath kicked in, right across the sore band.

I'll be honest — I didn't move for a while. I just lay there.

And by the time I got up, I knew. Not fixed, not cured — I told you it's not that. But lighter. The heaviness that usually follows me to bed just... wasn't as loud.

That was the first evening in a long time that didn't feel like it belonged to the day. It felt like mine.

I've used it most nights since.

Why This Isn't the Cheap One You've Seen

Let me get in front of the thing you're already thinking. Because I thought it too.

I've seen back massagers online for forty bucks. Why is this one three hundred?

Fair question. Here's the honest answer.

The cheap ones aren't made for a rider's back after a day like yours. They're generic, they're flimsy, and half of them do one weak thing. This does three things properly — real heat that holds, pulses you can actually feel, and a massage that reaches the right spot — and it's built to take being used most nights without dying in a month.

I'll say it plainly: $299 isn't cheap, and I'm not going to pretend it is.

But think about what you already spend to keep riding. Rugs. Feed. Farrier. So many things for the horse without blinking. Entry fees. A single vet call-out costs more than this and you pay it without a second thought — because he comes first.

This is the first bit of gear that's for you. And here's what I had backwards: buying it wasn't me putting myself before him. It was me finally treating the rider the way I've always treated the horse." And you'll use it more nights than most of the things in your tack room.

I nearly didn't buy it because of the price. Now it's the last thing I'd give up.

Horse Settled. Tack Away. Your Turn.

Somewhere along the way this stopped being a gadget I bought and became part of how my day ends.

Horse cooled down and rugged. Tack put away. Gate shut. And then — for the first time in years — something for me. Boots off, sit down, switch it on. Ten minutes or an hour, however long I want.

It's a full stop at the end of the day. The moment I actually go off duty.

I'll be honest, I ended up getting the leg boots too. Once I understood what Untacked was doing for my back, I couldn't ignore what the rest of me felt like. Because it's never just the back, is it — it's the legs. Standing on hard ground all morning, in and out of the stirrups, walking the same paddock a hundred times. By evening mine are heavy and aching from the knee down.

The boots are the same idea as The Untack, just for your legs. You put them on, sit back, and they squeeze up and down your calves and thighs in waves —  No effort from you. You just sit there and let them do it.

I put The Untack under my back, the boots on my legs, and I don't move for half an hour. That's the whole evening ritual now. Back and legs, both looked after, at the same time, while I do absolutely nothing.

That's the bit I didn't expect. It's not really about my back, or my legs. It's about finally being allowed to put the whole day down — all of it, not just the parts that shout the loudest.

✓ Real heat that holds — warms the sore band and stays warm, no going cold on you ✓ pulses + massage — works into the muscle, not just on top of it ✓ No timer — use it as long as you want, get up when you're ready ✓ Cordless Feature — rest on the couch, the bed, wherever you land ✓ Made for riders — built for a back that does the yard, not a bargain-bin gadget ✓ 30-day refund — try it a full month; if it's not for you, send it back

RIDER AFTERCARE

Post-ride recovery for your lower back. The part of you that carries the day after the tack comes off.

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Real heat that holds — warms the sore band and stays warm

Gentle-to-firm settings — however much your back's had

No routine — sit down, switch on, rest

Frequently asked questions:

How do I know it'll work for my back?

You don't, until you try it — which is why there's a full 30-day refund. Use it most nights for a month. If it's not doing anything for you, send it back and get your money back. The risk is on us, not you.

Is it complicated to use when I'm exhausted?

No — that's the whole point. Position it under your back, pick a setting, lay down. Three steps. If you've got the energy to take your boots off, you've got the energy to use it.
 

Is it safe?

Yes, for general muscle comfort and relaxation. It's not a medical treatment and won't fix an injury — if something's genuinely wrong with your back, see a professional first. For everyday post-ride tightness, it's exactly what it's for.

100% Money-Back

Try It for 30 Days. The Risk Is Ours.

Use The Untack for a full month. Most nights, after riding, after the yard — whenever your back's had enough.

If it doesn't earn its place in your evening, send it back for a full refund. No arguing, no hoops.

 

I nearly talked myself out of this. Too expensive. My horse comes first. I'm tough, I'll cope.

Then I worked out something obvious. Looking after myself doesn't make me any less committed to him. It's the thing that lets me keep showing up for him — sore-free, in a good mood, for years more than my back was on track for.

 

Your horse gets untacked at the end of the day. It's about time you did too.

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