The Equine Back Company

28/03/2021

A great article summarising the importance of rehabilitation after the correction of hoof balance.

07/12/2020

A recent study of the ESM Zurich revealed that almost one third of the assessed Swiss riding horses showed moderate to severe signs of back pain. At the same time, the horses' owners stated that their horse was fit and healthy. This discrepancy lead to the development of this fantastic video, which helps owners to recognise equine back pain. Enjoy! 🏇🏾

https://tube.switch.ch/videos/ccebb1e6


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02/12/2020

07/11/2020

When did we lose our way??!!

It seems as an industry we have largely lost our way as we continue to come across very high percentages of broken alignment & we are seeing NPA almost daily.

Just yesterday I HoofScanned 2 high grade eventers, shod by a qualified farrier with a good reputation. Both horses were significantly NPA in both hind feet caused by total caudal failure & the signs were so obvious it makes me wonder how a farrier of this experience & reputation misses this.

The owner is competitive & has spent thousands on one horse incl injections in hocks more than once, which often seems standard practice even if nothing pathological is found.

This week alone I’ve been sent 2 lots of rads from the UK, which were taken as the horses were going poorly. The vets found nothing of concern, yet the rads showed NPA in both sets, one in front & the other behind. Based on conversation with the owners the findings of NPA are consistent with the horses behaviours. Unfortunately both are now having difficulty convincing their farriers thst this is a concern & needs corrected.

Myself over the last couple of weeks have had similar issues. One was a set of xrays being sent to me by a vet who had breakover marked where he wanted it to the millimetre, yet didn’t mention the very broken back alignment. Whilst another vet attended one of my clients & felt the horse had too much heel (photo below) & took it upon himself to take a rasp to the foot & remove the heel

The amount of times clients tell me their farrier told them that lowering the heel & moving breakover back from the toe improves alignment is amazing. I’ve also been told this numerous times.

We seem to have lost the understanding of the importance of comfort to the horse when shoeing as we seem to be constantly removing heels & breaking alignment, even in horses with already broken alignment

How can we as an industry have moved so far away from the basic principles of farriery? And more importantly, how can we get back on track!

10/06/2020

This video highlights the importance of a thorough examination when horses display behavioural issues. Worth the watch.

28/05/2020

Does your horses back look like this?

07/05/2020

23/04/2020

If you have a spare hour....?

The first in a new series of video lecture discussions on equine sciences, talks about how the hoof affects the musculoskeletal system and vice versa. With i...

21/04/2020

18/04/2020

A cross section of the hoof which demonstrates where the nails sit when horses are shod...

19/01/2020

Research confirms that saddles fitted slightly wider are not better for your horses back.

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/saddles-fitted-slightly-wide-not-better-horses-backs-research-finds-hh-plus-705020

The practice of fitting saddles slightly wider than ideal to allow horses more freedom of movement is having an opposite and detrimental effect, a study has found. Researchers found using one tree width fitting narrower or wider than that set out in Society of Master Saddlers (SMS) guidelines had a....

16/01/2020

Which tactic do you use when your horse spooks?

13/01/2020

The Hoof - The Beginning and End of the Kinetic Chain... well worth the read.

Often horses and their teams of professionals struggle with perpetuating cycles. Vets, and physios in particular struggle with re-occurring, higher, musculoskel

09/01/2020

This video shows the fused bones of the lumbar spine in a 4yo sport horse.

01/01/2020

A.quick video showing how to mount your horse to minimise damage. In the video he demonstrates mounting from a block and the ground with a saddle that has no girth. https://www.facebook.com/1502345146687251/posts/2506718222916600/

26/12/2019

‘Tis the season for buying young horses. Along with the excitement of bringing home a new hooligan to cause you further stress and worry, come questions of when to start the youngster, and whether it makes sense to invest in a fitting saddle. Short answer? yes. Just because your horse is young or about to be backed doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to a fully fitting saddle. Infact, they are actually more in need of a fitting saddle than in 10 years time and I’ll explain why.

I imagine some of you will go on to say “When my young horse is used to a saddle or has been fully backed, I will get him a good saddle”. Which to be honest, is comparable to saying, “When my child learns to play sports properly, I will get her a pair of running shoes that fit her feet and she can make do with whatever size I can find for now”. Not a great comment when you put it that way.

Three years is recognized by the general public as being the optimum age for a horse to be started under saddle. However, their back shape will undergo major changes in their muscle, skeleton and neurological processes between the ages of three, five, and eight, and these changes will affect the saddle support area massively. During this time (approx 3-4), the topline changes, the withers come up, and the shoulders broaden upwards and move back. Finally, the horse’s growth plates close from the ground up, finishing in the spine (where the saddle sits) when the horse is six years old, no matter the breed or height of the horse. So comes the question- if theres so much change to come up until approx 6-8 years old- why bother getting one fit now if you’ll just have to keep changing or re-fitting?

A young horse’s saddle should have the freedom of motion to move downward and forward, even when his centre of gravity is still pretty far back. A well-balanced saddle plays an important role in helping the horse to learn from a young age because the problem is, once a saddle punches or hurts a young horse, it is very difficult to regain that trust and regain the freedom of movement you had. And often it comes back to bite you in the form of “bad” behaviour when the work progresses. Another way of thinking about it, is that I always wonder how young horses are supposed to prove themselves if the athletic equipment we ride them in doesn’t fit well. How are they supposed to be loose and relaxed and supple whilst also learning the basics of having a great weight on their spine if their saddles are pinching and uncomfortable? Just food for thought.

Further down the line, should you choose to buy a “backing” saddle, Often, bad behaviour stems directly from pain caused by a saddle. If a young horse is fitted properly through his development, pain can be kept to a minimum, allowing for positive development of muscle. Behavior learned in the first year under saddle is behavior that a horse is going to demonstrate throughout its life. Which means either the all too frequent passing about of a bad horse, or, consistent Physiotherapy/vet care and a complete ridden overhaul.

So yes, please, go and buy yourself your dream horse- it’s christmas after all! But please, don’t scrimp on the saddle just because he’s young. He deserves it, he’s relying on you to show him that his working life will be pain free. 🎄

27/11/2019

Many people use trot poles in their training programs, but what effect do they actually have on your horse’s musculoskeletal system?

Two studies conducted by Clayton et al in 2014 measured kinematics (movement of the back and limbs) of 8 horses trotting over poles on the ground, at 11cm and 20cm.

They found that:
➡️ hoof height increased over all heights in all limbs, but there was no significant change in the height of the withers or croup. Basically this suggests that the increase in hoof height is due to the limbs flexing more, rather than by the body raising higher. Many people recommend poles to help the horse lift through the back, however based on this particular study, we have to question if that is actually even occurring?
➡️ the increases in swing phase joint flexion indicate that trotting over poles is effective for activating and strengthening the muscles involved in flexing (bending) the limbs.
➡️ there was no increase in peak forces or the amount that the fetlock extended when compared to trotting on level ground, suggesting that using trot poles for rehab shouldn’t jeopardise the recovery process by over-loading the limbs.
➡️ the need to raise the limbs in order to clear the poles and place the hooves accurately requires visumotor coordination, which may be useful in neurological rehab.

It’s so important to design training and rehab programs with a specific goal in mind. Always consult with your vet and qualified therapist when it comes to implementing the appropriate program for your horse.

📷 credit - Horse Magazine

26/11/2019

ARE YOU RIDING "WITH BACK"? Riding education – whether dressage, eventing, show jumping – follows a certain pattern. Once the rider develops an independent seat, is able to stay out of the horse's mouth and does not disturb the horse in its movement, the rider learns how to "ride with back". Besides our rein and leg aids, there are seat (back) and weight aids. [ 912 more words ]
https://reinholdshorsewellness.com/2019/11/25/the-riders-back-muscles-part-1-erector-muscles/

ARE YOU RIDING “WITH BACK”? Riding education – whether dressage, eventing, show jumping – follows a certain pattern. Once the rider develops an independent seat, is able to stay out of …

22/09/2019

Are you crooked in the saddle and would like tips to improve??

14/08/2019

An interesting case study...

Lumbosacral instability

This is a unique story!

The horse in this case report is an 8 year old eventer. Since his owner has him (2 years) he is difficult to ride and lately has bucked off several people. When he does, it is unprovoked and violent and he keeps bucking until his rider is gone. Otherwise he is a sweetheart of a horse.
Initially we diagnosed him with damage to his Supraspinous ligament in the lumbar region. Rehab went well, and the lesion healed, but the horse’s behavior got worse after initial improvement.
At the next visit we found a weird pattern of sensation in his hind end, he seemed very sensitive at skin tests in the area from the lumbosacral junction to the tail, only on the right side. Even weirder, his a**l reflex was abnormal only on the right side.
This neurological pattern can only be explained with damage close to the spinal cord in the lumbosacral region with compression of root nerves as well as some spinal damage, only to the right side.
All other findings were normal, no lameness other than RH shorter stride, no abnormal findings at his lameness exam.
Imaging in this region is impossible (only MRI would give useful information, but a horse will not fit in a MRI scanner with its pelvic region), but at a repeated exam 2 months later the neurological abnormalities were exactly the same.
Based on our physical exam only, we had several options to explain this problem:
1/damage to the disk at the lumbosacral junction with protruding of the disk to the right side into the spinal ca**l and damage to the meninges (layers of tissue around the spinal cord)
2/tumor in the spinal ca**l, this was a grey horse, so a melanoma would be a possibility
3/possible EPM with very one-sided lesion.
Based on the fact we found the damaged Supraspinous ligament in the same region earlier, we thought trauma to this region causing damage to the lumbosacral junction was most likely.

The owner of the horse fully understood what was going on, and saw the horse was in pain and suffering from a problem we could not solve, and followed our advice to put the horse down.

At necropsy we found that the last lumbar vertebra had moved a bit downward from the sacral bone, causing instability. As a result, the disk in between the last lumbar vertebra and the sacral bone slipped a bit ( 1 in the picture)and was protruding into the spinal ca**l (2 in the picture). The spinal cord showed old and new bleeding in the same region (3 in the picture), damaging the meninges.
So finally the horse had major trauma to the lumbosacral region in the past (probably a fall) with damage to the meninges, which caused radiating pain in his right pelvic region and some swelling of the spinal cord, leading to the weird a**l reflex. Every time he would come under behind, the protruding disk would push into the spinal cord and the meninges, causing sharp burning and stabbing pain. No wonder he bucked so violently.

This case shows how important it is to do a good physical exam on any case with behavioral issues, this was not behavioral but caused by severe pain to the spinal cord! As you can imagine, this is not a problem that can easily be detected, so you need a specialist in sports medicine to find this!
(with many thanks to MSU Clinical Pathology for their work and pictures)

01/08/2019

Learning to sit straight is so important for both the horse and rider's long term health.

27/07/2019

A great free poster on the most frequent pain and stress points found in horses.

COMMON PAIN & STRESS POINTS MAP

Here are the most common stress and pain points Manolo finds on horses. Debranne Pattillo, owner of Equinology INC painted them on Clint during a presentation a couple of years ago. Here is a cheat list:

a: temporomandibular joint
b: poll directly behind the ears
c: head obliques and other “head” (capitis) muscles
d: cervical portion of rhomboid and trapezius muscles
e: muscles converging at the base of the neck and at the neck/shoulder intersection (serrated cervical muscle, multifidi of the neck, brachiocephalicus, subclavius muscle)
f: muscles at and behind the shoulder joint (often found with “h”)
g: biceps brachii; on the cranial surface of the check (front); pectoral muscles next to sternum
h: flexor of the shoulder; tensor fasciae antebrachii and the long head of the triceps brachii
i: ascending pectorals
j: rear (caudal portion) and pocket of the withers; shelf of ribs at the scapula intersection
k: transverse abdomen muscle and hip flexors
l: multifidi of the trunk (especially lumbar) and muscles over the thoracolumbar epaxial muscles
m: middle gluteal trigger
n: cranial edge of biceps femoris and semitendinosus
o: ischial segments of the biceps femoris
p: superficial digital flexor and gastrocnemius
q: accessory gluteal
r:caudal nerve
s: mid-shelf of the rib
t: last rib
u:subclavius
Y: saddle fitting point (illiocostalis and scapula junction)
X: rider

To learn more about equine bodies and wellness please visit www.equinology.com

Free Poster:http://www.manolomendezdressage.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Equinology-and-Manolo-Stress-Point.pdf

Our friend Dr. Fiona Mead, Azur Holistic Veterinary Services made the following suggestions:
"Check out these points on your own horse by gently palpating or striping over the areas indicated. If you horse reacts on several repetitive touches, there could well be a problem. Why repeat it? Because it could just be sensitive to touch to start with. If the reactivity gets worse with multiple striping/touchings, this increases the likelihood of a muscle soreness or issue being present. Be careful if your horse goes to bite you in any of these areas - some are less tolerant than others, potentially because they are more sore and cannot stand to be touched in any way! Depending on the sensitivity of your horse, if you start too softly, you could annoy the horse and they think you are like a fly that needs removing from the area. Be purposeful but gentle in your touch. If you know your horse to be sensitive, start more gently."

What is Manolo doing in the pic?

Manolo was demonstrating his "metric system" for evaluating posture by looking at the angles of the horses profiles and shoulders.
com

23/07/2019

An interesting perspective.......

After dabbling with positive reinforcement training with horses for about 10 years, I was unconvinced.

My own behaviour was the root cause of my circumspection because of my attitude to training at that time. I was training for ME rather than for the horse.

I was training to get my horse to behave better so that I could use him to do things that I enjoyed.

I thought I was entitled to use him to go out on rides in the countryside, and in situations in which he was anxious and not really enjoying it because I had been socially conditioned to think that horses are for riding. I tried to use food to get him to behave doing that as coercively as I did using pressure.

He wasn’t fooled!

Horses just want to be horses. Going out exploring in the countryside can be enjoyable for them, if they are allowed some autonomy to decide where and how far to go, and they are given the chance of eating novel food, rather than being forced to go in the direction, for the duration and at the pace that we decide.

Alison Willis and Vikki Spit are great examples of Horse Charming people who have got their horses to where excursions from home can be done with confidence and pleasure and a loose lead rope and washing line reins.

One thing that changed my attitude was training with trainers of other species and seeing how much effort they put into the more basic and fundamental aspects of animal care. Before they try to do anything fancy for their own entertainment or to impress others.

I began to notice that so many people were riding horses they had trouble catching, and that were resistant to basic handling, husbandry or healthcare.

Riding is icing.

Haltering, leading, touch acceptance, grooming, spraying, washing, wound care, hoof picking, trimming, shoeing, cleaning eyes, injections, fly masks, clipping, loading. These things are all essentials. They are cake.

They should be easy and stressless and restraint free.
It was when I witnessed a rescued sea lion present her eye voluntarily for eye drops in protected contact, with the carer outside her enclosure, no restraint, no use of any pressure, that I realised that most of us had it back to front.

We were riding horses we couldn’t even look after properly. Horses that were avoiding people if they showed up with a head collar.

Who went to the back of their pitifully small stable and tried to hide if a vet came in.

Who couldn’t stand still for a farrier or trimmer, or who tried to sn**ch their foot because they were too afraid of what might happen and wanted control of all their feet so as to run away.

Tattoo this on the inside of your eyelids.

Riding is icing.

It’s the thing we can think about doing once we get the horse to where everything else is easy.

Our priorities as horse owners need turning on their heads.

I don’t care anymore about flying lead changes or shoulder in or piaffe or jumping or endurance.

I care about catching, leading, loading, hoof trimming, injections, physio, patching up cuts and bumps, tick removal, fly masks, spraying and washing.

The catalyst for that was a sea lion and a bottle of eye drops and some fish.

What would it take to make us all turn the model on its head and put horse care at the top of the agenda of horse owners, do you think?

22/04/2019

Ouch!

What it looks like when horses are ridden with their heads pulled in too tight. Imagine that headache!!

26/02/2019

How wonderful is this!

23/02/2019

A great post about the Thoracic Sling.

Straightness: Why? Part 1: The Thoracic Sling

We often talk about making sure our horses are straight but we never talk about why. In this little 3 part series I’m going to explain a few reasons for the importance of basic straightness training for every horse.

The thoracic sling’s function is to suspend the rib cage between the forelimbs and is responsible for lifting the withers during locomotion.

When a horse is crooked; whether caused by an asymmetric rider, saddle, or by injury (usually relating to asymmetric riders/saddles!), the weight distribution across the forelimbs is unequal. One limb will carry more weight and have more of an influence on direction than the other. To facilitate this unequal movement, the muscle development will be asymmetrical- the more dominant forelimb will have a ‘bigger’ shoulder and the opposing shoulder will be flatter in appearance and sit ‘higher’ on the ribcage.

Transferring this into ridden work, horses with thoracic sling asymmetries usually present by being difficult to circle in one direction, falling in on the more weight bearing limb and over compensating by bending too much in their neck.

In order to rectify these issues, the horse will need to improve their vertical balance- learning to carry weight equally on both forelimbs.

Coming up in Part 2: the Feet!