Canadian Equine Therapy Institute
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By Shantel Perreal
We all know that if we want our horses to be fit and sound, they need to have a proper training program to keep them healthy and happy for competition. Let’s walk through how that should look.
As we know, horses are built in a way that allows both forward and upward movement. To do so, they have a 5 way spring system.
Most people by now know that we have a horse that is built like a spring system, we have a 5 way spring. Let me explain that in detail.
If we begin by looking at the hind legs, the 1st set of springs starts at the ilium down to the hip and stifle and then follows through to the hock, fetlock, and into the hoof. This spring system is strong and works to hold the limb together like a universal joint (the pelvic girdle). Keep in mind there are two legs which means there are two springs.
The 2nd set of springs, or front springs, are in the shoulder and begin at the top of the scapula and follow down to the point of the shoulder then over to the elbow and down to the knee, fetlock, and then to the hoof. This spring system is held together by connective tissue and muscle; therefore, is lighter than the hind limb springs that are held together by the bones as well.
Our 5th or middle spring will travel the length of the horse starting from the tip of the tail to the tip of the nose. Beginning at the tail, the spring follows the topline of the horse from the croup over the spine, withers, neck, poll, and down to the nose. See attached picture for clarification. This spring works in conjunction with the other 4 springs to lift the back.
This 5-way spring system allows the horse to move freely, but does not compensate for activities such as weight baring or riding, yet these wonderful animals seem to love and forgive us for doing so.
If horses are not naturally designed to carry us and perform the daily tasks we ask of them, then how do we go about keeping them strong and fit? Before we can explore exercise options, it is important to fully understand this apparatus.
Many great trainers understand from an anatomical point of view how this 5 way spring system applies to their riding and should be approached, however, not everyone has access to educated trainers. Some trainers may not know what this means or how it should be carried out. We will explain this further.
The horses have 5 springs (2 front legs, 2 hind legs, and a spring attaching the 4 together) and so when we aim to ride them, what is the first thing we do? We put a saddle in the middle of that moving system and tightly cinch it down. This is where we need to be aware of how balanced and fitted our saddle really is. Saddle fit is VERY important and finding a TRAINED saddle fitter is key!
So now that we understand we are essentially riding a 5- way spring system where the hind springs are the strongest and most efficient, we can assume that the hind legs are designed for driving the horse forward. To do so, the hind limb must reach under the barrel of the horse towards the front limbs and lift the 5th spring along the topline. With a saddle and rider placed over that spring, it interferes with the ability of the horse to carry out such an action. Let me further explain how common riding scenarios inhibit the spring system from working.
While riding a horse, we place an average extra weight of 200lbs on the middle spring and depending on the discipline or scenario, squeeze our legs around the horse. Then we tighten our reins either pulling the horse’s nose closer to its chest or creating resistance causing the horse to throw its head up. If we look into the scenario where the rider has pulled the horse’s head up and keep in mind where we are sitting on the horse’s back, what would you infer will happen to the front spring located in the front legs? If you answer that the horse will brace, you are correct. So if the horse is bracing in the front two springs we are causing interference and compensation within the front limb muscle structures. What does that mean? Well, if I get you to take a dumbbell and put it on the back of your head and ask you to lift your head you will start to develop muscle on your lower neck and shoulders. This is essentially what happens to your horse. The horse’s back begins to hollow and weaken and then it starts to rotate the back springs forward. Now those back springs can no longer stretch to the front nor are they as strong. This means the impulsion must now come from the front. So again the 2 springs in the front begin to get larger. This is all wrong. As discussed earlier, the back two springs need to be the strongest and be the driving force of the horse. They have a universal joint with it being the pelvis and hip all connected. The muscles connecting the springs allows the lift in the back to begin at the back two springs at the universal joint apparatus. When these muscles contract they shorten, hence the lifting the back. Riding a horse inverted with its head up disrupts the entire function of the horse just as riding the horse over flexed with its nose to its chest can.
Ok, so that is the horse being ridden with the head up. Now, lets look at the horse the head down and with the nose too close to the chest.
A horse is not designed to be ridden with its head in the sky or to its chest. How does an over flexed neck disrupt the normal movement of a horse? If the driving force of the horse comes from the hind end coming forward and creating lift throughout the middle spring and front springs, it will be hindered by a hyper flexed neck and nose to the chest. Let’s think of it in another way. Grab a partner and have one pretend that they are the horse and get down on all fours. Use a piece of string to mimic reins. The other person will sit on the partner’s back who is acting as the horse. Careful not to hurt one another! Place the string in the mouth of the partner who is the horse and the rider will hold on to the other end. The rider will ask the other partner to lower their head as they would a horse. The partner acting as the horse will put their chin to their chest. Now the rider feels like they have lost their contact and will pull on the reins a little more. How does the horse feel? Now horse, try to extend your front legs as far forward as you can. Does it feel easy and free? No, I didn’t think so. So now you have lost the mobility in your front legs and this will have a ripple effect throughout the whole spring apparatus. Now rider, sit tall in your seat and have some pressure on the ground like it was a stirrup. Let the reins go and allow the horse to relax his/her neck. How does that feel? Do you feel that your front is free to move and your back is strong enough to round and carry the rider? This is because you are not being restricted and can balance yourself in a way that enables your body to move freely preventing potential soreness.
There are many structures and muscles that are at play and we could go into deeper detail about the anatomical and physiological points to support these theories, but that would be a whole new book! The goal in this article is to get our minds as riders thinking about how we ride our horses and what we can do to improve the life of our equine friends. If our horses function with a 5-way spring system that includes the function of the neck, how is your horse developed?
So now going back to the beginning of the story and look at your horse. If we look at them as a 5 way spring system, dividing hind end back and front end then the neck, how is your horse developed?
There are a few words commonly used in the horse industry that absolutely make me cringe. The one I’m going to highlight today has a lot of misconceptions and conclusions around it that quite frankly, are just not true. People argue over it, they try to sell horses by it and they even try to assume it’s a “permanent” feature of their horse. WRONG. Ready for it?
Conformation.
*shudder*
Now if we look up the Oxford Dictionary definition of the word, it tells us the following:
NOUN
1. the shape or structure of something, especially an animal:
“the judges run their hands over the dog’s body and legs, checking its conformation”
Conformation is what you cannot change! The things you cannot change would be things like the length of the back, where the neck ascends out of the body, how long the bones are and for the most part, the angle at which these bones come into each joint. This is Structural Conformation.
Everything else is what we would label as a functional compensation (don’t forget compensation is not necessarily negative) due to the horse’s exercise regime, rider capabilities, environment or injuries, etc.
Majority of what we see in horses would fall under the label of functional compensation. Some classic examples of “conformation labels” that are compensations would be:
When we look at a horse, either as a therapist, trainer, Instructor or to purchase, our job is to look for what is unchangeable about this horse and can we live with it. Examples would be the length of the back, the angles of the pastern bones, the size of the pelvis and angle at which the femur is set coming out of it, the length and angle of the scapula and how the cervical neck vertebrae emerge from the body. I cannot change those things. The Structural Conformation could be contrasted in a Quarter Horse versus a Saddlebred, or a Draft Horse versus an Arabian.
Next, we must identify what we can change – which is just about everything else. We look for the functional compensations that we can begin unwinding and bringing into balance. This takes a trained eye, good feel and; the knowledge of the physiology and working anatomy of the horse to put it all together. In our line of work as Equine Remedial Therapists, we may look for which muscles is this horse over using, and which ones is he not using at all? Is there an injury present? Is there scar tissue in the fascia or muscles that are restricting movement? Is this horse being asked to move in balance and correctly? Are his feet balanced and the same on all four? There are a lot of questions to ask before we begin a game plan of setting this horse back up correctly.
But wait! It gets a little more complicated.
Structure = Function AND Function = Structure
WHOA! What does that even mean!?
We’re working on a short video series to start walking you through how to spot structure versus function. We hope we can help you start to train your eye and learn how to navigate anatomy with a little more ease! Do you have questions, comment here! We love hearing from you!
Stay tuned…
Every dissection provides us with an opportunity for growth and to acquire new knowledge. To reaffirm previous beliefs or hypotheses, or to be proven wrong.
We had a mare – somewhere between 23-27 years old that has been with us for the last 8 years. She had been a wonderful asset to our teaching team, aiding many children & youth in learning how to ride. We don’t know a lot about her history, other than she used to do quite a bit of gymkhana & barrel racing.
The mare presented with moderate colic symptoms early afternoon on December 28th. As with any colic, we have excellent tools as Equine Remedial Therapists and are successful at bringing most horses out of a mild to moderate episode within an hour or two with manual manipulations, homeopathics and acupuncture. This mare wasn’t such a case.
Upon arrival, our veterinarian tubed the mare and immediately litres upon litres of fluid were being emptied from her stomach. We removed about 16L +/- of fluid (this will mainly be composed of Gall – the Livers contribution to digestion as it is continually asked to send Gall aka Bile into the stomach when the stomach is in a state of stretch).
A blood lactate test was also performed to find out the acidity of this mare. Upon reading studies, this simple test is making waves in the accurate diagnosis and treatment plans of colic… read up on it! Quite fascinating if you are a little bit of a science geek like us. In plain English, the blood lactate test is looking at how far into sepsis a horse is. There are certain parameters in which on farm treatment is likely to be successful, where a surgery could be the winner or where euthanasia is really only the only option. She tested at the mid high end of the scale – eluding to a more serious condition – but frankly at some mid 20’s age, we were not going to send this mare for surgery.
We opted to see if relieving the pressure on the stomach, some homeopathics and banamine could keep her comfortable overnight and tone down the colic and get her through. There are cases where a horse will have an inflammation of the intestines and end up in a state like this, so it was worth a shot to see if just relieving that pressure and having her rest would be enough. The banamine wasn’t enough, but bringing the homeopathics on board, we were able to bring her heart rate way down and get her to rest. We checked on her every hour through the night and she seemed to be holding steady until about 7:30am. Her heart rate sky rocketed to over 90BPM. (normal range is 28-44BPM). Our vet came back out, took vitals and ran another blood lactate (they take less than 2 minutes). Her sepsis levels were now at the recommendation of euthanasia. We figured this would be the case, and agreed. We said goodbye to a longtime friend. It was a sad morning for many of us at the farm. I know many of you have experienced that heartache before – knowing you’ll never truly fill the void that animal has left behind.
The HER team, along with the 2nd year students decided to do an autopsy to find out what had caused this mare to go from just fine, to distressed in such a short amount of time. Something was wrong as soon as we started as fluid was in places it shouldn’t be. Upon examining the intestinal tract, it was very obvious as soon as we saw it. This mare had suffered a strangulation in her small intestines from a pedunculated lipoma (a fatty tumour that grows in between the mucosa lining and becomes heavy, stretching down creating a long string or stalk). The lipoma had twisted around a part of her intestines cutting off the hope of anything making it through. Of course, enquiring minds want to put the puzzle together and so we also looked at her stomach, spleen, liver, kidneys & lungs.
While the mystery of cause of death was now certain (and peace of mind for making the right decision), we were left with many questions and still more developing daily:
And that my friends is how a study develops and unfolds. Here’s to a year of hypothesizing, exploring, finding answers and laying myths to rest!
Thank you, Mare, for your companionship, your service to many young riders, the laughs you gave us Instructors as we watched your “pony” antics testing your riders when they were getting a little too full of themselves….
Thank you for the opportunity to learn, to ask and develop more questions and to go forward and better serve the horses of this world. For giving us tools to help educate and develop the bigger picture. We are eternally grateful for your lessons, right until the end. Run free little mare.
