Feather was the first horse that gave me a true chance of putting in to practice my physio training AND my dressage training, to find the Goldilocks level of “just right”. This means balancing:
Maximum strength – Minimum work – Maintain technique
Since forever, Feather has been a stunning mover, with the most electric hindleg and quickest brain I have ever and possibly will ever have the privilege of riding. Now happily retired out in a field with her mate Horacio, I feel like I can be a little more open with some of what we managed with her.
An expressive hindleg is something that we all love as riders; it makes for an incredible feeling and, in theory, easier for these horses to develop strength and higher level training... plus some impressive movement and photos 😉! However, depending on your horse’s conformation, it can be a mix of a blessing and curse.
This was the case for Feather. Conformation-wise, Feather had asymmetrical hips (one higher than the other), was prone to Sacroiliac pain and weakness there, and on top of that, was a little crooked in one front leg. Her hindquarter engine was that big, she would end up over-powering and tended to get too heavy in front. I became focussed on finding a way to look after her legs whilst doing hard work.
She is gifted in the sense that no matter where her balance point was, she could be expressive in her legs and so could sort of carry it off (something a lot of talented horses are able to do… make up for the shortfall of their riders and their training!) … but if you analysed the picture, she was getting tight, stuck slightly behind the vertical, down in the shoulders and on the forehand. I would end up getting a little lost in the middle at times, but that's all part of the learning curve.
Years later, when we finally hit training for medium tour and consistently competing small tour, I had a good enough understanding of the feeling and the aids that I needed that I didn’t need to hammer the exercises as much, which was a huge relief for both of us! Feather also had enough understanding of the work that the goal became centred around simply playing with the exercises enough to maintain understanding and improve their accuracy.
So, then the time to experiment came:
How do we maintain the training to be as technically good as we could, whilst minimising the amount of work to achieve that, AND maximising the results in the form of strength and muscle mass?
1. Hill work.
SO much hill work. I was fortunate at the time that the property I rented was basically all hills. Before every ride, we went for a walk around the track before heading for the arena. Twice a week (if not more) would be a pure hill work ride, up to 45 minutes of walk, trot and canter up and downhills, when she was fit.
The targets:
Gluteal activation and strengthening. Crucial for the “push power” that every rider, trainer and judge wants to see more of.
Thoracic sling and back muscles' activation and strengthening. Crucial for the “lift” that we want to see from the forehand in all movements... Think about how much harder you work when you are walking up and down hills with control vs. letting gravity take over… this builds strength.
Benefits:
Natural surface. One of the best things you can do for your horses’ legs and longevity, is condition them to work over natural surfaces.
Avoids arena-sour horses… need I say more?
Natural balance. Without a flat surface and walls to bounce off or lean on, you’ll get a feel for how good yours and your horse’s balance is. Feather and I were embarrassingly bad at tumbling downhill when we first started this, despite being Small Tour level!
Test your straightness and your “corridor of aids”. Nothing highlights how reliant you are of arena walls like riding out in a field!
2. Pole work
Poles can be used to improve proprioception, strengthening, range of motion and balance. Feather’s priorities were strengthening and range of motion. Once per week I would use poles of different heights and layouts in walk and trot (rarely canter purely because it usually didn’t benefit her) to give her a day off from intense work, whilst still offering a workout. I would alternate between handwalking and occasionally use training aids or double lines to encourage a specific posture or target, or to ensure an active recovery.
Targets:
Poles increase the activation and strengthening of the spinal muscles, increasing their balance and weight carrying capacity.
Maintain and increase range of motion of limbs. Especially for Feather, with huge movement and hard training, she was more likely to develop arthritic changes sooner than later.
Benefits:
Gives us as riders/trainers a chance to see our horses’ movement from the ground, and to assess any new, changed or improved patterns in their movement. As an aside, this is another reason your horse’s physio/bodyworker should be seeing your horse MOVE in an appointment… so that they can help you monitor any changes over time.
3. Handwalking with muscle stim machine
Now this one is VERY niche to my skillset as an animal physio, so ALONGSIDE veterinary diagnosis to ensure no major problems/injuries around her SI, which there weren't, I went in on a NMES muscle stim programme whilst handwalking her once/twice a week. It’s a also known as Functional Electrical Stimulation, which aims to combine the functional movement of a body with the electrical stimulation that the machine can offer.
*This is not something I recommend to other horses; certainly not without out full veterinary and physiotherapy assessment! *
Targets:
Direct hindlimb muscle contraction and improvement in aerobic capacity and strength.
Benefits:
Muscle mass and conditioning without excessive and unnecessary mileage added to her limbs and joints. By the time I introduced this, she was around 12/13 years old, working at “baby” Medium tour, so I needed to limit unnecessary steps as much as possible.
When used specifically, this can offer greater muscle growth than targeted baited stretches (under clinical conditions!)
4. Stretches after work
Baited, retraction and protraction stretches, used to maintain and improve muscle health and extensibility.
Targets:
Forelimbs & hindlimbs – maintain optimal condition of limbs that are being heavily loaded in training
Baited stretches – condition her topline and back to maintain comfort and function
Benefits:
Healthier limbs and body with effective recovery & improvement.
5. Maximum turnout possible
The continual movement and freedom that comes with turnout cannot be underestimated in my opinion. Granted, winter in the UK made this nearly impossible, but as soon as it was, she was out.
Targets & benefits:
Continual movement for lymph drainage and movement around her body, improving lower limb swelling like windgalls.
Healthier hooves from not being parked on her own bedding for too long
It is important to note that because of what I know as a physio, I can assess which of these exercises were appropriate for Feather at the time. This was a case study that worked for her, and even then, there are improvements I would make since this time. For example, I think I needed a bit more strength and conditioning work when I was riding in the fields, to cope with the collection demands of the Dressage work. The bigger difficulty comes in the lead up to competitions when we feel the pressure to drill the dressage...and then lose the recovery and conditioning days.
If you are unsure of the balance of your current workload with your horse, I would thoroughly recommend contacting a vet and then a veterinary physiotherapist! Feel free to contact me for recommendations in your area, or to see if I can help you directly!
Bibliography/Articles for further reading:
The Effect of a Physiotherapy Intervention on Thoracolumbar Posture in Horses, Shakeshaft & Tabor: Animals 2020, 10, 1977; doi:10.3390/ani10111977
Equine Manual Therapies in Sport Horse Science; Kevin Haussler (who always seems to find topics I love!); 2018 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074907391830018X?via%3Dihub
Effectiveness of Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation and Dynamic Mobilization Exercises on Equine Multifidus Muscle Cross-sectional Area; Lucas et al.; 2022
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