Equine Body-Building, Exercise and Conditioning

Body-building, exercise and conditioning are different things. Exercise and conditioning consist of making a horse actively exercise in a round pen, working at walk, trot and canter on a longe line, or exercising under saddle while riding trails or riding in an arena, etc. Exercise and conditioning helps increase cardiovascular fitness, respiratory fitness, and muscle and bone strength.

Body-building is a dedicated work program designed to increase the horse’s muscling in specific areas. Body regions in which a horse might need this type of work include the top line, shoulders or hindquarters. We might focus on these areas or even on specific muscles when the horse becomes weak or falls off in development due to injury or inactivity.

In the perfect world, body-building and exercise/conditioning should always be combined in a horse’s training program. Work in each of these areas is required to bring your horse to a good level of fitness.

For example, I’m working with a friend’s mare to help the horse build a top line and increase muscling in her hindquarters. This mare has been out to pasture for about a year while my friend was undergoing cancer treatment. At 20 years of age, the mare has not been very active at pasture and has declined in muscling and fitness as a result. So our work with her is two-fold. She needs basic exercise to increase cardiovascular fitness and needs dedicated work to increase muscling in the areas that have dropped off substantially.

My friend would like to get back into riding; however, her mare’s back muscles are under-developed and so out-of-condition that she would not be comfortable working under saddle. So we are focusing on building the mare’s back and hindquarters from the ground while ensuring that other areas of her body increase in fitness as well.

My friend handles the basic exercise program which serves to help build cardiovascular and overall body fitness. Then, several times per week, I’m helping my friend learn specific work and exercise to encourage the mare to use her back and develop and strengthen her hindquarters and her abdominal muscles. We are also working with stretching movements to help keep the mare’s muscles supple and relaxed during the body building process.

We’re only a few weeks into the work now, but we are already seeing the mare’s top line and hindquarters increasing in development. As she increases in fitness, she is also able to work a bit longer during each session. Our preliminary goal is to get her to a stage where my friend can begin riding in the next month or so. Once the mare can begin ridden work, the plan is to have my friend continue combining conditioning exercises with body-building to encourage a higher level of fitness so her mare can continue to work well into her twenties.

It is wise to remember that basic exercise and body building are not the same things. We should always combine the two in our horse’s training program. If we monitor both, we can ensure that our horse has good cardiovascular fitness and stays strong, supple and healthy in overall body musculature.

Spring/Summer Equine Massage Class Dates

A quick note to let readers know we’ve added new spring and summer class dates to our website at http://www.equitouch.net.

As always, we at EquiTouch look forward to working with you and other new students coming to us from all over the country and from varied backgrounds this spring and summer.

Because our students get such great results during their hands-on training, some of our past “horse teachers” are becoming “maintenance massages” and have few muscle issues to present to our students. To correct this problem and to make sure you receive a great educational experience, we’ve added several new stables to our working list. As a result, we have even more horses available for you to work with as you continue increasing your massage skills.

Although we still work with many of our past “horse teachers,” working with new horses is always a great learning experience for both the students and our instructors. It gives us even more horse personalities to work with as well as horses that have varied muscle issues and problems. The change also gives us well over 50 horses of varied breeds and riding disciplines from which to choose. And, it allows us to more easily match your horse handling skills, massage educational needs, and personality to the correct horses.

Visit the EquiTouch website today and join us for a class or seminar this spring or summer!

Thoughts to Consider When You Observe a Handler Jerking on the Horse’s Reins from the Ground

How many times have you been to a horse show where you saw a horse owner or handler jerking on the horse’s reins from the ground as punishment for poor behavior? I would expect that most of you have seen this occur at least once if not many times. The following is a list of things to consider when you see someone jerking on their horse’s bit/reins from the ground.

The horse’s skull consists of many bones with most of the joints classified as relatively immobile. These are called fibrous joints or “sutures.” However, there is one major moveable joint associated with the skull. This is the temporomandibular joint or TMJ. There are actually two temporomandibular joints; i.e., there is one on each side of the skull. A simplified description of this joint is that it is formed by the mandible articulating with the temporal bone. Also included in this articulation is the joint capsule, articular disc and ligaments, and all can be subjected to damage.

Because the mandible is a lengthy bone, it can create what we call a long lever arm. According to the mechanics of levers, the longer the lever arm, in this case the mandible (jaw bone), the greater the torque force. Thus, an ounce of pressure, placed on mandible at the bars where the bit lies in the mouth, can translate to pounds of pressure at the TMJ.

Obviously, when we see a handler jerking on the horse’s reins from the ground, there is much more than an ounce of pressure being used. In fact, it’s much more likely that the handler is using a pound or more of pressure on the reins. Consider the repercussions of this.

First, the horse will experience pain on the bars of the mouth, followed by pain at the joints (TMJ) and quite possibly damage to the joint itself. The result may include chronic pain and inflammation surrounding the TMJ as well as tension in the muscles around the joint. Those muscles can eventually become hypertonic and may even become ‘locked’ in spasm. Thus, the pain-spasm-pain cycle well-known to massage therapists is now set up to begin.

The muscles involved might include the masseter, temporalis, occipitomandibularis, obliquus capitis cranialis & caudalis, longissimus capitis, etc., as well as restrictions in the surrounding fascia. Note that all muscles involved have not been listed, so have fun investigating and learning if you choose to pursue this type of study.

In cases where TMJ Syndrome/Disease is suspected, I always recommend veterinary intervention as there can be other causes for this problem. Among these causes are poor dentition, blunt trauma, or a trauma such as getting the face caught in a feeder, fence, etc. Veterinary care is paramount since proper care must include a correct diagnosis of the problem, assessment of the joint itself, dental assessment, and treatment to help decrease pain and inflammation at the very least.

Once the vet clears the horse for massage, the massage therapist should pay special attention to the muscles surrounding the TMJ and the muscles around the lower jaw. Areas of ‘referred pain’ should also be considered. Thus, you should investigate other facial muscles as well as the muscles around the ears and poll.

To find information about these muscles, their attachments, actions, etc., we recommend the study of a good equine anatomy book such as: Textbook of Veterinary Anatomy – Dyce, Sack, Wensing, or Anatomy of the Horse – Klaus-Dieter Budras. Visit the EquiTouch website and use the Book List button to find a more complete listing of anatomy texts.

Future blogs will continue this discussion to include other areas of the body affected and the muscles involved. We’ll also discuss the horse’s automatic response to the handler jerking on the bit as well as behavioral issues the horse may develop as a result.