More Than Skin Deep
By Pennie Clayton
Last month I wrote a short article about how rider health, posture and how the presence of pain in the body may affect your horse. This month I would like to shift your attention to your horse.
Your horse is reliant on you not only for his basic needs but also for other more sophisticated reasons. Horses are not always very good at looking after themselves, and are not able to have much of a say when it comes to our demands on them.
The recent very bad weather we experienced in December meant that many horses were confined to their stables. They may well have had good quality hay, feed, fresh water and their rugs changed twice a day but muscles don’t like being still and need gentle but constant movement to stay “healthy”.
Muscles which are cold are far more likely to sustain damage even if body temperature is maintained.
This is where the owner needs to step in. When horses are healthy and confined to the stable, exercises are very useful to prevent muscles from tightening due to lack of use, and can lose tone relatively quickly, and if muscles are not used it affects their function. Even without the bad weather on any one given day it is up to you to monitor whether your horse feels a bit “off”.
The cold weather is particularly relevant here as muscles take a lot longer to warm up when the temperature drops. Any exercise regime which is implemented should allow for a longer warming up period for both your horses body and his mind.
When we talk about a horse feeling a bit “off” this doesn’t just mean the easy to spot things such as not taking a specific canter lead, but also changes which happen on a day to day basis, such as not responding to your leg in a transition or failing to react to a lateral aid. Many horses are considered lazy because they won’t “go forward” from the riders leg, but if the horse has never been properly taught how to move forward (without being hassled by an impatient rider) this can not only cause frustration for the horse but it can push him over and beyond his limits for his individual level of training.
The above is just an example but important to keep in mind. A more experienced horse may hesitate too and find it difficult to comply with the rider’s requests if he is experiencing discomfort or is just plain stiff.
Take stock and think for a while, if your horse is unhappy about something that he doesn’t normally bother about and start to look carefully at your horse; in fact get into the habit of using your sense of feel and touch to detect any changes in your horses muscles. Muscles should not feel tight and like a rigid piece of cardboard, and neither should they feel jellylike (unless your horse is very young and his muscles are weak). Muscles should feel pliable and you should be able to move skin easily over the top of the muscle, in a kind of sliding motion. There are areas of the body where the skin is stretched tighter (lower legs, or on the horses head) but checking on muscle pliability is a good habit to acquire. The reason for this is because this stickiness if it is present can cause restriction and inability to move correctly, a similar feeling to wearing clothes that are too tight to allow free movement.
Horse’s skin is a good indicator of all over health, but actually thinking about what the structure underneath your hands feels like is a very good day to day routine to get into. Skin acts like a layer that should spread smoothly over the muscles and layers underneath a bit little like a loose jumper. Not only should skin not “stick” to muscle and slide easily underneath your hands, but you will also start to be able to feel the presence of hot spots or particularly cold areas on and around your horses body. These differences in temperature may be a sign that your horse’s circulation or lymphatic system is a bit sluggish.
The lymphatic system is a bit of a mystery to scientists but the one thing which is definite is that it assists the removal of toxins from the body, and therefore needs to work efficiently for your horse to remain healthy and fit. If there are hot spots and cold areas around your horse’s body you may also find his work is affected, this can lead to muscle atrophy over time. The only way to monitor this is to be very aware of how your horse feels when he is well.
For overall health it is a very good idea to implement a few simple some stretching exercises into your regime. Simple and easy stretching exercises will be very useful if for some reason your horse can’t be worked (in which case they should be very low key) or put in after work when the muscles are warm and as part of the cooling down process. Start with simple carrot stretches and over a period of weeks your horse should be able to flex evenly on both sides and be able to maintain stretches for greater lengths of time. Do not be put off by thinking these kinds of stretches are “easy” because they are not.
Equine bodywork is also very important and can help resolve sluggish circulation, hot spots and tight muscles. There are many therapies available, so it is a good idea to do a bit of research, and perhaps sample the therapies yourself before settling for one particular therapy. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the measure of a good therapy is the amount of pressure which is applied to muscles; the brain is very good at recognising pain, stiffness and sore muscles and will process any information given to it. The outcome of this is that sore muscles can respond without excessive pressure being applied. Equine Bowen for instance is very good at detecting and helping to release muscle spasms particularly if toxin build up is present, as it promotes the release of toxins by stimulating the lymphatic system.
Please take time this winter to monitor not just the outside of your horse, but to find out what is going on underneath your horses skin, it may make all the difference between a good and productive summer or one that is curtailed by injury.
For more information on biomechanics, and how to improve your training regime, please call Pennie Clayton on 07910 720961 or email info@horseandhoundschool.co.uk.
