03/29/2025
The jaw, the Hyoid and the hind end
The most important thing to remember is we may manipulate the tongue position through our hands or bits but ultimately the position of the tongue in the horses mouth is mostly done subconsciously in a response to how the horse is perceiving a situation we often think a restriction in the jaw is due to mechanical strain when in reality its due to mental stress just because your horse is not showing an external reaction does not mean the internal is being overloaded
Where one is restricted the other will follow, so I am not going to do a generic post about the hyoid and the connections as there are many many posts out there, I am going to turn this upside down, or back to front
We often talk about restrict the tongue and restrict the hind end (and not forgetting the front limbs) and many of us who have been on dissections got lucky enough to feel this when pressure was placed on the tongue with a bit, ( remember it’s the restriction not pressure) and we could feel the hind leg move less and different bits gave a different restriction and it is a sort of you have to be there to really appreciate how restricted it was and again there are many posts out there just saying working on a certain line and viola all the problems will be solved, umm I don't think it is that clear cut because unless there is no other connection but a line you are going to come across many other structures as you travel from the tongue to the hind end, horses are just not that simple in design, for correct function of airways the tongue has to be depressed (no not sat in a corner telling you how rubbish it feels) but more towards the floor of the mouth for that action enables the intrinsic muscles of the tongue to create dilation and stabilization of the upper airways
Occipitohyoid, this tiny but very important muscle often gets less mention than the more favourable ones of the omohyoid, sternohyoid because often if something is small we think it less important but it is hugely important, when we think of the hyoid we think of the tongue but less so of the eyes, but it has connections to facial nerves, it connects the hyoid to the occiputs and in horses our desire to have balance then we have to think of the eye, occiput, hyoid, connection, now how many horses have issues at the poll and we only see it as a poll issue then we have to think of the muscles that feed off from the occipital and atlas area so when we omit the head when working are we forever addressing the afterthought and not the issue, I see many horses that lose the pendulum effect when moving the jaw, have bulging or uneven fascial muscles, eyes pointing in all directions, continual chewing to one side and if we cannot restore correct function at the tip of the iceberg nothing underneath will ever be long-lasting
And when we move further down into the omohyoid, and sternohyoid and the sternothyroid these are indicators of how your horses nervous system is coping for these are the true flight muscles and are responsible for respiratory and tongue movement so it makes sense that if your horse is tight mouthed, or tense then these will prioritise over others that we may visually see to know how they are feeling in that moment in time, the amount of times I have heard oh the horse is tight at the shoulder and when you look further towards the head we have that super tight mouth, wrinkles around the mouth and nostrils and that blank staring eye, again we have to look globally
So when we think about the hyoid and the connection to the hind end we always think of dysfunction in the hind end could be a result of restriction in the mouth but we also have to think of dysfunction in the hind end could result in tightness through the mouth, we have to think is pain from maybe hocks leading to a clenching of the jaw, is that restricted stride due to ulcers having a chain reaction back through to the hyoid, systems are designed to flow back and forth not just one way and let me tell you if you come across a horse that has that clenched jaw probably starting at the head may not be a good idea as they will be immediately on defence, we want to slowly work our way up to the area only when the horse is ready
Exercises you can do to help
Vary your feeding stations so your horse has to move from side to side while eating, this will help keep the horses jaw mobilised instead of feeding from one place all the time
Gently run the back of your hand down the edge of the front of the shoulder (you will feel the hard bony surface of the scapula) about midway down you will be in the area of the omohyoid (it’s a deep muscle) and leave the back of your hand there and wait, you will see your horse lower its head as we are in one place but affecting two areas (well more because we are also in the area of the subclavian and we talk about hyoid and hind end but it does affect front limbs too)
Gently place each hand on each masseter (cheek) and cup your hands and spread your fingers out so the bottom of your hand is cupping the underneath of the jaw and your fingers are spread out over the masseter and just wait, you will feel the horse drop the weight of its head into your hands
Gently make a fist with your hand and place it under the jaw (in between the jaw bones) you will feel a soft squishy lumpy above your fist and this is the tongue just rest your fist in there and let the horse dictate the pressure (if your horse has a teeny jaw you can do this with the back of your fingers) it's important we don't push up we allo w the horse to add the pressure it needs
Gently front and hind end mobilisation helps Aswell there are lots of videos found anywhere but often I incorporate small circles with the front limbs and increasing the size as the horse allows and little figure eights with the hind limbs again increasing in size as the horse allows
Seeking veterinary attention quickly if your horse has any intermittent lameness front of hind end is paramount for an early diagnosis for any changes in these areas the quicker the diagnosis the quicker the issue can be treated, and then appropriate work can be done for the rehab
So just to recap remember whole horse the hyoid is only a small cog in the huge machine of the body, Ying and yang by simply addressing one area we may be missing another area, if the jaw is tense the rest of the body will follow, look closely at your horses face it will reflect back to you how your horse is coping with what you are asking
