Helping you help your horse by understanding posture

Written by Press Release | 14 July 2010
Posted in Articles

Equine Bodywork Specialist Understanding a horses posture is not very difficult when you apply three concepts. Function, Balance and Gravity. So let’s start with function as it pertains to our topic. Specifically what I am referring to is anatomical function. Every body part has a specific function (as written in anatomy books). Next let’s talk about balance as it pertains to the topic.

From the definition in the dictionary it says balance ; [the point of equilibrium]. In other words what ever object you are looking at does not have a greater stress to one side or the other. Gravity is something we all know and understand, it simply pulls toward the ground. So if you now apply these Concepts (not opinions) to three Components of the horse which include the TMJ (temporomandibular joint) , the muscles/joints and the feet(hooves) you have a much clearer understanding of why your horse may stand and perform the way they do. Let’s apply function to the first component, the TMJ. The function of the TMJ is to open and close the mouth , allow the jaw to move side to side in a variety of directions similar to our TMJ ( like a gyroscope ), and allows anterior/posterior (forward and backward movement). Now let’s apply function of muscles. Muscles contract creating either an extension (away) from the body or flexion (toward the body). Muscles work in a three phase pattern which is excitation-contraction-relaxation. And now we will apply function of the hoof (hooves). Firstly its function is to create a foundation. Next it dictates flight of limb(leg), followed by dissipation of concussive forces(the foot landing on the ground). And then, as the foot lands on the ground, it acts as a pump aiding in lymphatic drainage helping move the synovial fluid secreted every time the joint goes through its articulating motion. Lets now mention the horse that “stocks up”. Either there is too much pressure on the synovial capsule (think of a leaky faucet and/or the hoof is not making balanced contact on the ground limiting its capability to “pump” the fluid out ( performed by the compression of the bulbous tissue) From here we now include or apply the other two Concepts of balance and gravity which pretty much work hand in hand. If one of these components are NOT in balance then it’s easy to understand that gravity now takes over. Think of a picture hanging on a wall that is slightly tilted to one side. You would agree that it is not balanced. We agree on this because we are looking at it tilted. It’s tilted because it’s not at its point of equilibrium so gravity pulls it to the side of the tilt. Do you have, or know of a horse, that has a preference of direction? (be it right or left) . Well one of the reasons may simply be that his TMJ is out of balance. We have all heard of the saying “where the head goes…..the body will follow”. Well the TMJ dictates where the head goes. Do you know of a horse that likes to carry his/her head up in the air? Or perhaps the horse that travels with a lower head set. Any one of these scenarios changes the proposed weight balance of the horse. [ It has been widely noted in many anatomy books that approximately 60% of a horses weight is bore on the front feet] This imbalance of the TMJ then creates muscle tension to stabilize(support), thus putting stress to the musculature. When one muscle contracts [excitation-contraction] to support, its opposing muscle has to stretch [elongate]. So now that we have muscle tension supporting the imbalance, we obviously have a shift of weight. So now let’s look to the feet (hooves). How balance and gravity effect the hooves is easy for anyone to see by understanding this simple fact. The hoof is fluid encompassed and nothing more than a strong fingernail. I use this demonstration. Placing your hand palm facing up , take a finger and press it into your palm to recreate the shape of the hoof you are looking at (for instance if you have a horse with a low heel, you simply apply more pressure to the bottom pad of your finger and your fingertip turns red(where you have just forced the blood)( or think of squeezing one end of a water balloon and watch the fluid being forced to its opposite side) Low heel generally means long toe .Weight distribution dictates foot growth and foot growth is dictated by blood flow. This is what you can learn to do to assess your horse. Learn how to feel, look at and see the spacing and movement of the TMJ . Assess weight bearing by shape of hoof. Understand how to assess and understand muscle balance. Stretch / strength exercises using reflex points to engage (excite-contract) one muscle making its opposing muscle stretch [elongate] . Allow me to explain this technique in comparison to something everyone can understand. Your telephone has touch tones for each number and symbol. These tones are the same on every phone in the world, which is how we can call anyone in the world (who has a phone number). Every horse I have worked with in my career (thousands in the last 14 years) respond the same way when I touch them in the same place. So by stimulating the weak muscle into a contraction you are getting the tight muscle to elongate and relax (action/reaction). So understanding this allows you to shift hundreds of pounds with ease as you are helping your horse to a more BALANCED POSTURE which translates into BETTER PERFORMANCE. For more info see Dino’s website at dinosbest.info