Keeping Horses Sound Part 1

Tips for Keeping Horses Sound- Part 1

Keep your lesson horses, performance horses, and recreational horses more sound and happy with these tips from a full time instructor and trainer of over 24 years who has lived at and ran a busy boarding and training facility for the past 14 years.

A good horse is worth their weight in gold, and takes years of training to replace. It’s pretty commonplace to find the usual information about having good farrier care at proper intervals, regular vet care, turnout, access to forage, and good nutrition. These are of the utmost importance, but since these topics are discussed in many places, I am going to share some of the things I have found through experience that are less commonly talked about- that have made a huge difference in our program.  In Part 1 of this blog I will share with you some of the changes I have made over the years that have resulted in much sounder, happier horses:

-Walk more

-Cross train

-Switch up the type of rider

-Rider corrective exercise

-Bodywork for the horse

-Knowing what is normal for each horse

Walk More

We have had much better moving horses and fewer incidences of lameness since we implemented 20 minutes of walking at the start of every lesson/ training ride. I have the students who use my lesson horses to lead them for about 10 minutes at walk, during which they gradually tighten their girths/ cinches, bit by bit (this keeps the horses happier and prevents “cinchiness”). This also helps the horse’s muscles and joints be a bit more warmed up before adding a(n) (often unbalanced) rider. We often have poles or mats out for further proprioception/ core engagement/ range of motion benefits. The students also learn ways of keeping the horse’s attentive and soft through various groundwork- rope or rein handling exercises, back up techniques, moving shoulders, haunches, faster walk to slower walk transitions, etc., so the horses are much more mentally ready for the ride, as well as physically. The horse is already gaining confidence in the handler as the leader, and the human is learning important horse communication skills, so everyone is really set up better for success.

We want most of this time to be walking with impulsion and long strides. The riders will be much better warmed up as well!

The riders then do a walk warm up mounted for at least 10 minutes. The riding lesson topic begins here, as even for advanced riders, whatever they are working on is performed at a walk before starting the exercise at the faster gaits. For a horse of any level that I am training, I begin gentle suppling exercises here, and some body control at the walk, seeing which areas are going to need more work as the ride progresses.

After 20 minutes of walking, the horse’s joints are warmed up and lubricated for better function during higher impact work- which we still gradually work up to through long trotting and slow cantering. We also make sure to have lots of walking breaks- most of which are in a long and low frame- throughout lessons and training sessions. (To learn more about working a horse “long and low”, see part 2 of this blog).

When I have asked our vets how to prevent soft tissue injuries, they have told me “more walking. At least 20 minutes at the start of every ride. Most people don’t walk their horses enough.” So we took that advice, and it has made a huge difference! I walk my performance horses for at least 15 minutes at the start of a ride as well, and it has really paid off.

Cross Training

Keeping variety in your horses’ program will help prevent mental burnout, as well as reduce the likelihood of repetitive strain injuries- from using the same muscles in the same way, day after day.

Horses of all disciplines have different pole exercises incorporated into their lessons, mats/ unstable surfaces, bridges, equibands, different obstacles to challenge their brain (both trail, ranch trail, and working equitation themed).

We get out on the trail to have them work on a difference surfaces, hills, ride in water, have a change of scenery. We have different footings in our indoor and outdoor arenas, and even including hand walking in the parking lot or other hard surface- just part of your warm up and cool down- can benefit the horse’s tissues.

Remember to scale back the intensity and duration of work significantly and build up gradually if working on a harder or especially a deeper surface than your horse is used to. Again, back to more walking to play it safe.

We teach different disciplines, so it’s really good for the horses do cross train and do different things. Riding in different frames is important. All the reining horses learn to work in more uphill frames during dressage lessons. All the horses are asked to change outlines several times throughout a lesson. It’s very hard on them to work in one specific frame for long periods, or do one specific exercise for too long. Instead of doing shoulder in for 20 minutes, do a few shoulder ins until the quality improves, then do some transitions, then a long and low walk break, a few more shoulder ins (or transitions in shoulder in), then a canter exercise, for example. Cross train within one lesson.

Cross training also includes switching up the type of lesson or student/rider the horse has (more about that in a moment).

Also, it’s important to have some exercise days without the rider on board- to give the horse’s body a break from the rider and the forces of gravity pushing down on them, and to use their body in different ways- that is what cross training is about. Maybe you build in a week or several of groundwork only during bad weather periods, periods in life where you have less time, or during the “let down” period between competitions or in the off season, or maybe you build in a groundwork only day or two per week. Use the ideas mentioned above to see how you can build more groundwork into your life.

Switching up the “type” of rider (a form of cross-training)

As riders, we all have various asymmetries (as do the horses), which is why I am always working on evening those right to left differences and stiffer or weaker areas out for myself with a rider corrective exercise program. I also encourage my riders to do the same, as it makes for a lot less wear and tear on the horses, and definitely enhances the performance of horse and rider. (Performance can mean your horse carrying you comfortably in the arena at home or on the trail too- it does not only mean executing smoother flying lead changes or canter pirouettes)!

For lesson horses, this will mean switching up the level of rider- so the horse is doing a variety of exercises and using their body in different ways. But it also means – if one rider has an easier time bending the horse left, and one has an easier time bending the horse right- I am going to try to alternate those riders. If the horse only gets riders on them who have trouble bending the horse left, that horse is really in trouble. This means that if YOU are the only rider your horse has, you have a greater responsibility to make sure your body is functioning as well as it could be! The good news is, you can improve a LOT, and I have put together the perfect resource to help you with all your needs.  (As a side note, you may need a vet and or body worker to check a horse that really has a stiffer side, but all horses do have some natural asymmetry. Check out my horse and rider asymmetry talk to learn more).

At one time I found all my horses bent well to the right, but were all stiffer to the left, and when I had another professional rider ride them, she found the opposite. Through doing the corrective exercise for riders program which included learning how to assess myself and learning what targeted exercises I needed to do to correct the differences in the muscle tightness and weakness on my right and left sides differently, I am now proud to say that many of the horses I ride feel almost identical on the right and left sides, and I even find some horses bit stiffer to the right- a more accurate reflection of the horses’ natural asymmetries- not me creating a left issue on all horses like before. Unlike before, the horses become more and more even as I ride them- which is what we are striving for. I recommend that all riders do this, as well all have right to left differences that affect the horse! If you want to use this program to help yourself, you can gain lifetime access here.

In the meantime, if you have a trainer who is very skilled at this and body aware, have them ride and assess the horse. If they don’t find the horse has a stiffer side, or don’t find it as bad as you do, or they find the other side a bit stiffer- YOU have some corrective exercise work to do!

Rider Corrective Exercise

In my experience, how the rider uses and looks after their body is the most overlooked, most under- utilized, but MOST IMPORTANT- factor in keeping the horse sound. Riders who are doing everything else right, but ignore this part- have more poorly moving horses, and more injuries- than riders who are actively working in a corrective exercise program or similar.

I spoke a bit about the rider corrective exercise above for asymmetry, and it’s obvious a rider who is crooked is going to cause a horse to use themselves unevenly- leading to problems. But corrective exercise has so many more benefits to offer as far as helping keep horses sound. I am only going to speak about one more really major one here, but for more info about other benefits of rider corrective exercise, go here.

Running a lesson horse fleet of 13 horses and watching them move a couple hours a day every day with different riders- in the exact same environmental conditions in a day- taught me something very important: the horses struggle more with riders with rigid joints (ankles, hips, and knees).  Even if the riders were lightweight- the bigger factor was how stiff in the lower half of their body they were. Horses doing the same type of lesson, in the same arena, ambient temperature, same exercises- with heavier weight riders – who were more supple, had better force absorption in their joints, and were more balanced/ had better core strength- had a much easier time, and less struggle, than the same horses, in the same conditions, on the same day- with a lighter, stiffer rider. I define “struggle” by- increased respiration rate, increased sweating, length of time it takes for both to decrease, length of time it takes for muscles to feel cool to the touch, and watching (and listening) to the horse’s quality of movement. The quality of movement being- how even are the horse’s legs moving on the right side compared to the left side, is the horse landing with their feet sounding loud and pounding heavily into the ground or landing lightly and quietly, how is their impulsion or push off the ground, how is their expression in their face, posture (hollow dropped back and braced up neck), tail swishing, crookedness, etc. The riders who were able to “spring” in their knees, hips, and ankles- on both sides of their body, and therefore use their legs like shock absorbers for the concussive forces coming from the horse’s limbs impacting the ground and the movements of the horse’s back- were far less hard on the horses. In other words- a light, stiff rider- can be very hard on a horse – harder than a heavier rider who uses their body better. People need to consider this factor more than the rider’s weight alone.

Corrective Exercise for Riders can fix this. To over simplify, if a muscle crossing any of these joints is shorter than it should be, the joint will not function as it should in acting like a spring or shock absorber. Sometimes this is due to a past injury, but very often it’s due to the joint being in one position for long periods of time (think- sitting), or due to a repetitive task (your right foot on the gas pedal driving), and muscles adapt to the demands placed on them. However the muscle being too short physically prevents the full range of motion of the joint, and if the muscle becomes chronically over- active and tight, it actually inhibits the muscles on the other side of the joint from being able to function correctly. If this is the case, just stretching won’t help, and just strength training the weaker muscles will not be effective either. This is a muscle imbalance, but the good news I corrective exercise can help you correct it! Corrective exercise (such as in our program made specifically for riders) shows you how to assess for muscle imbalances, and correct them using 4 steps- 1) releasing the tight muscle so it’s more able to be stretched, 2) lengthening the short muscle, 3) activating the under-active/ weak muscle (which is now accessible because of step 1 inhibiting the over-active muscle, and 4) Integration- putting these new movement patterns into practice into increasingly more complex co-ordination exercises similar to riding, and then while in the saddle as well. Learn more about Corrective Exercise here.

It’s about movement education and learning new patterns, as people will just keep using the incorrect muscles, as their compensations feel normal to them.

It’s pretty powerful stuff, and has made a HUGE difference in how my horses are moving, enjoying their work, and performing. Once you correct the muscles that are crossing the joints, the joints can function properly and absorb the horse’s movement properly, and put less wear and tear on the horse’s feet, joints, and back! If you would love to transform your riding and your horse’s comfort and performance- join our rider corrective exercise program here.

Regular Body Work

I took the equine bodyworker certification program through Equinology (the longest and most thorough in – person course and externship in the industry, it’s also evidence based and RACE approved) so that I could understand the importance of bodywork, and to be able to maintain my horses myself.

Like learning corrective exercise and assessing yourself regularly, having massage done regularly on your horse helps you see where problems may be brewing, and help you take preventative action before the problem becomes an obvious lameness. For example, certain muscles in the horse’s lower back and gluteals are commonly tight in conjunction with hock and stifle issues, so noticing that might lead you to involve a vet to investigate those areas. Or certain areas in the back showing compression may tip you off to a saddle fitting issue, and lead you to re-evaluate your saddle, and if you switch saddles- re-evaluating their back muscles to see if those areas improved- or any new issues came up- gives you feedback on possible saddle fit issues- before too much damage is done.

Differences between the right and left side of the horse may provide clues- especially if the horse has one main rider- into the rider’s crookedness, or way that the rider is impacting the horse, or at very least showing you the horse has their own asymmetries (for instance if the horse is only in groundwork and still showing these patterns) which need further investigation.

The massage and stretching can help tissues be more pliable and more resilient to injury, as well as the activations- in particular the various core activations, which can help support the spine for carrying a rider and enhance the horse’s performance in a variety of disciplines.

We have had success with PEMF followed by targeted stretching and activations as well.

I find the body work helps me as a trainer to pick different exercises for each horse depending on what I am noticing in their body, and re-assessing them at various intervals gives me feedback on what I need to adjust in their programs. I also watch how the horse is moving before and after each session and it’s amazing to see the wonderful changes in the horse- freer flowing longer strides, a softer neck and topline, and horses being able to relax and stretch down in trot that were not able to do so before.

Knowing what is “normal” for each horse

Work with your vet, farrier, trainer, and body worker to help understand what is “normal” for your horse. For example one horse’s gait anomaly might mean a new injury has occurred and they need rest and a vet visit, however another horse with a known weakness, mechanical deficit, or mild proprioceptive deficit- might benefit from (the appropriate) work. Consult your vet and trainer about this. There are excellent exercises to improve strength and proprioception (body awareness) for your horse. Jec Ballou and Hilary Clayton have some great books and resources for this.  Knowledge is power, and be sure to work with professionals who can help arm you with knowledge. And ask lots of questions!

For more tips on keeping lesson horses sound and happy, make sure to check out part 2 of this blog, where we will address: Saddle fit tips for lesson programs, learning about subtle lameness, the importance of long and low work, and how managing the student’s ground handling and having trainer tune ups on the lesson horses can improve horse welfare.