Equine Physiology & Fitness

As tempting as it is to use our riding skills and training expertise when teaching a horse to carry his body differently or when rehabbing postlayoff this actually slows the process down. Somehow many of us equestrians missed this crucial fact during our educations. The horses big fleshy gymnastic muscles that engage as we school him are not the ones where habitual patterns sometimes called muscle memories are stored. Nor are they the ones responsible for joint and posture stability. In fact they carry a low supply of nerves and have therefore a weak relationship with the horses neurosensory system. Working these muscles is not the fastest way to instate new patterns and habits.

When patterns need to be changed or introduced we must access the muscles close to his spine and around joints which carry a large supply of nerves and pathways that create the language for how a horse moves. This means using exercises outside our regular training routines ones that have direct communication to his central nervous system. These are what I call calisthenics or finely controlled movements that access these slow twitch muscles. In physical therapy they are often called corrective exercises. By bringing these muscles through specific movements without allowing the large gymnastic muscles to take over new neural pathways are established. Until this occurs we would be trying to speak a language for which the horse has no vocabulary.
For instance rather than getting on and immediately beginning to school a stiffnecked Thoroughbred that showed up recently for training I spent the first several days performing unmounted movement patterns and stretches like the ones suggested below. It can take six months or more to change distribution of muscle mass and tone but studies have shown that new pathways for muscle recruitment and a new language in the nervous system can happen in six weeks of consistent routines. The following exercises stimulate the nervous system in ways that when practiced consistently lead to permanent changes. Depending on the extent of the rehab or poor posture that youd like to change I recommend following a program that performs only the following exercises and avoid regular riding exercise where the horse uses existing patterns for a focused period of anywhere from seven days to three weeks. After that period continue practicing these exercises but also begin to add 20 to 30 minutes of regular gymnastic work flatwork trail riding
lessons.
Tune