Joint-Friendly Training For Your Horse

 
Heres how five top trainers keep their horses in top condition while protecting joint health and soundness.
Its a constant concern with horses in sport how to shield those allimportant fetlocks knees elbows hocks stifles shoulders and hips the list goes on! from wear and tear. Even the spine consists of a series of joints that are subject to injury. Thats a lot of working parts and working parts need regular maintenance to continue working.
One day you might notice that your horse isnt jogging as fluidly as usual or that hes less flexible when working cattle jumping a course performing a shoulderin or ambling down the trail. He might even start pulling up lame. Whether a horse is a greenie or a veteran stiffness heat swelling and lameness speak to the pernicious process of degenerative joint disease known as osteoarthritis.

So how to preserve these precious parts? Each type of horse sport carries with it different risks to the joints. Its a good idea to take stock of these risks and initiate steps to minimize them as much as possible. Here noted equestrians in different disciplines share some of their strategies for joint protection.
Suppleness and stability
One of the most elegant equestrian disciplines to watch dressage is training in the purest sense and a building block for other horse sports.
But at the upper levels in particular dressage horses can be vulnerable in the hocks and stifles due to the increased demand on those joints during movements that call for collection. So says Felicitas von NeumannCosel of Woodsboro Maryland who has trained horses to Grand Prix level In the front legs the joints from the ankle down can be affected from horses landing too hard on their front feet if they are not working in balance.
To protect joints from injury von NeumannCosel believes a careful conditioning program is essential. She recommends including a warmup phase in the walkparticularly with older horses. A change of scenery doesnt hurt either. I do like walking the horses outside when possible on trail believing that a change of surface and terrain can be helpful for conditioning as well as for proprioception she says.
Balance
Balance is important too she maintains. In the actual work I believe that a horse evenly balanced on four feet ridden in the right tempo with cadence so the feet hit the ground with springs help to preserve all joints. This work ridden with the