of the rider. This can lead to muscle weakness, severe pain, joint dysfunction and potential behaviour problems.
Which muscle becomes effected by our unbalance?
The splenius muscle extends and raises the neck, as well as giving lateral bend. Muscular pain, soreness or discomfort can range from just being slightly tender to your horse being unable to tolerate being touched.
The most common sign is resistance to bending the neck and flexing at the jaw to the direction to the sore muscle. Other signs may include persistent lowering and stretching of the neck at rest or at liberty.
The horse will show resistance on the opposite side from the soreness, riders will often make the problem worse through trying to soften and make the neck supple in the direction in which resistance is shown. High level dressage can increase the demands on the splenius muscle when performing movements such as lateral flexion,
this will cause a lot of strain through having to hold the neck in the same position for long periods of time through the rider hands. Riders hands can cause over development of the muscle due to restrictions and constant lateral flexion to one side of the horse. He will become reluctant to flex to one side. The horse show over sensitivity at the poll when putting on bridle or halter, head shaking and holding to the side to elevate the pain are other signs that your horse is in discomfort. There is a ligament that run down each side of the horses back which is called the supraspinous. These ligaments connect the pelvis and to the poll of the horse. As the horse moves forward, the pelvis follows the motion of movement of the diagonal legs, which therefore will cause the ligaments to move back and forth along the spine with the horses movement. If the saddle is tight at the wither, then the panels running down the saddle may also be restricting. This will cause your horses actions in locomotion to become choppy, shortness of stride, and a sore back.
When your horse prefers one lead over the other, could this be that he is holding on to muscular stress within one or more of his major muscles that attach to the scapular. The scapular moves under your saddle with every step the horse takes. As the horse travels forward, the middle and base of the scapula is pulled forward by muscles in the neck, bringing the foreleg forward, and thus, slopes the upper part of the scapula slightly backwards as it
About the Author:
Donna Cooksey from DLC Equine Therapy is a Worcestershire based equine massage therapy practioner.
If you are interested in Donna treating your horse, please contact her on
donnacommons@googlemail.com or call on 07515254859.
You can also find out more by visiting
www.dlcequinetherapy.com or follow her Facebook @DonnaCookseyEquineMassagePractioner
Please mention Central Horse News What’s On when responding to advertisements THE SPRING SPECIAL 2020 39
is pulled by muscles behind the withers. As that leg becomes weight bearing in movement, the muscles along the back of the scapula that attach it to the ribs and thoracic spine pull the middle and base of the scapula backwards. These muscles, therefore, play a large part in creating good movement. The scapular has many muscle attachments to it. These muscles can easily be bruised with pressure from the saddle and rider. Any damage could be crucial as our horses shoulders need a complete range of motion as in protraction, retraction, abduction and adduction to jump, do extended trot etc. When the horse’s back and shoulders are restricted, the horse will lose the muscle flexibility and definition that aids him to lengthen or extend his steps with his back and shoulder. This lack of muscle results in loss of impulsion and strength in the haunches and back, causing the walk and other gaits to become stilted. The development of the horse’s back muscles and haunches combined with free use of the shoulders is paramount for the development of self-carriage in the horse.
As a therapist, I treat musculoskeletal conditions in horses, when doing initial assessments on a new horse I find certain muscle groups are affected, this leads me to asking questions of the rider, I find that the rider has unintentionally created the restricted muscle pain and trigger points of their horses by being unbalanced in the saddle. Making sure we are balanced is beneficial for horse and rider alike.
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