08/03/2022
Lessons from a dissection – part 1
Loosen your nooseband!
I recently attended a horse dissection undertaken by Sharon May-Davis, the second one I’ve attended. Some of my friends and family made horrified faces when I explained what I was doing on the weekend. My Mum asked – “Why do you go to these things? Don’t you prefer the live ones?” I do definitely prefer the live ones. For them, I’m open to learning everything that I can. And boy, at a dissection you get such an intimate look into the workings of the horse. All the horse’s secrets are revealed.
This year, our horse was a 6 year old off-the-track thoroughbred mare who had lameness and behavioural problems which had been getting worse. She had become very stressed and anxious. Her owner had worked with her over time with healthcare professionals, but when the mare’s condition continued to worsen, her owner made the decision to euthanise her – a heartbreaking decision made with the horse’s welfare at its core. Present at the dissection were some 20-odd saddle fitters, hoof care professionals, body workers, trainers and others – all wanting to take away from the experience knowledge that would help the living.
In the dissection, we were all given a chance to palpate every aspect of the horse: muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments, fascia, organs and other tissues (with gloves on, of course). This gave us a degree of insight that it is not possible to get with a living horse. As the dissection commenced, muscles were removed one by one – done so precisely, each one looked like a little package. In no time the horse looked like a 3-D model.
In this first post my topic is what I learnt about tight nosebands from the dissection.
The skin had been removed from the horse’s head, and we were invited to palpate a long, smooth muscle starting some three quarters of the way up the head, which ran down to the horse’s upper lip. Sorry, I forgot what the muscle was called – but in any case, there are a lot of muscles running to the horse’s nose and lips. These numerous muscles are what allows the horse to delicately use his lips and muzzle to pick and choose what plants he’s going to eat – and also to sift aside all those expensive supplements we try to feed him! This particular muscle was soft, pliable and smooth to touch. Once we were familiar with its ‘tone’ and what it felt like, a volunteer applied a relatively tight noseband in the usual place – which happened to be about the middle of the muscle we were palpating. The effect on the feel of the muscle was really horrible! It went from being soft and pliable to feeling like a block of wood. The mechanical effect of a tight noseband made it feel like a braced muscle, even though the horse was not alive to actively brace it. When the noseband was loosened, once more we could feel the soft and pliable muscle. If the noseband was slowly and progressively tightened, first the muscle felt soft, then a little impinged upon, then a bit braced, then a block of wood.
One of the thoughts that occurred to me through this palpation is that if the living horse is bracing against us, first we should make sure that nothing is bracing against him – this includes the gear that we use on him, as well as ourselves. So – loosen that nooseband! In fact, you might consider removing it altogether.
For this series about the dissection, I’m going to use artwork from Alfred James Munnings (1878 – 1959). The reason I’m using historical artworks to go with the dissection articles is, well, pictures from the dissection itself are likely to be too confronting for people who are contemplating their cornflakes. I’d like to educate, not shock. The reason I’m using Munnings is that I was previously unaware of his work, but having discovered him, I think he’s awesome. This painting is “Study of a racehorse”. I chose it for the topic because I think the horse looks thoughtful and contemplative – which is what I’m aiming for. I hope I haven’t freaked you out.
Here are other posts relating to this year’s dissection:
Part 2 - The mouth is connected to the hind legs: https://www.facebook.com/1557697261196029/posts/2191131721185910?s=1217225203&sfns=mo
Part 3: The horse has no collarbone
https://www.facebook.com/1557697261196029/posts/2195550110744071?s=1217225203&sfns=mo
Part 4: The end of the line
https://www.facebook.com/1557697261196029/posts/2199951243637291?s=1217225203&sfns=mo