Huge thank you to generous show sponsor Abby Duncan from AD Equestrian! Abby is not only a SMS qualified saddle fitter but she’s just about to complete her bit and bridle fitting qualification to! Hope this short I did with Abby is helpful there’s more from her on our YouTube! Link for schedule and entries in comments
🥕Baited (aka carrot) stretches are a great way to activate the horses core muscles. 🥕This means, when they participate in ridden exercise, they are already able to engage their abdominals, lift through their back and bend around the leg. They are a fantastic tool to reduce the risk of injury, increase performance, during rehabilitation (if given the okay by the vet during box rest) and as an aid in improving core stability and managing back pain.The main stretches🥕 Bringing the chin between the knees/fetlocks - the idea of this is to engage the abdominals and stretch oht the top line by getting the horse to shift their weight back, ideally keeping the front legs straight as they open through their lumber spine all the way though to the poll (sometimes less is more with this one!) 🥕 Lateral Stretch’s - bringing their nose towards their hip/hock (doesn’t have to touch those areas they are just a guide) To ensure your getting as much bend through the body as possible and now just a fold in the neck stand at the horses shoulder/girth area and bring their neck around you.🥕 Lengthen the neck - keeping their feet planted bring their nose as far out as they can reach forwards then get them to follow your hand up so they stretch out the underside of their neck. Avoid stretching a horse cold, after exercise is perfect or if they have just come in from the field/walker. 3 reps of each stretch with a hold of 5-10 seconds 4 times a week has been scientifically proven to aid in muscle growth. However something is better than nothing so doing what you can in what time you have will always be beneficial!
