Triple H Equine Services specializes in happy healthy horses. Provided services: Equine Sports Massa
11/04/2025
Pectorals they are more than b***s
When we look at the pectorals we often only concentrate on the chest of the horse and forget how important all of the group of pectoral muscles are interlinked and also interlinked into how you can assess your horse's body, we can also forget bo***es can often tell us a story about the booty😀
No matter how a horse moves you will see it engage the pecs before It sets of so its why when assessing it's better to watch the halt rather than the walk for their it will tell you how the horse is loading and why it's important to see a 360 view (including underneath) to tell you why the horse may be showing an issue here as the problem may lie elsewhere
Why do we need to assess underneath as well as from the side and front?? Because the group extends into the torso of the horse, we visually see the descending pectorals from the front of the horse, but your horse will object mostly if the caudal deep (ascending) pectorals are agitated (as they are affected by the girth area) so while one may have visually clues the other may have Behavorial clues but all will be affected. Often if we ask for a belly lift it can be this what is sore and why your horse may object and even after we have addressed pain often the area is very sensitive so memory of pain can be very strong (and why I advise a different lift for these horses to disassociate from the perceived sore area) we can also do a test on the subclavian at walk to tell if your horse is on the forehand and loading incorrectly as this is also part of the pectorals, so there is lots of ways to tell rather than just the visual clue at the chest and then we need to ask what we are seeing and why is It like that
Double DDs often I refer if the horse is all b**b at front, then why is the horse wanting to push out with its chest rather than push up and not load evenly through the body, has it got an issue in the hind end is it sore in the hind end??? Cannot it not balance, or weight bare evenly?? Its why I ask for a check with the front limbs to make sure the horse can load evenly on the hind end
Handlers however gentle can subconsciously pull the horse forward so already putting them off balance.
Disappearing pecs, why is the horse constantly lifting even when at rest this is not normal has it got foot pain, is it holding itself in a brace position to lessen pain somewhere???s often the tell-tale sign is the horse goes saggy after bodywork as it can let down a little once pain is addressed
By looking at the whole horse the story often unfolds by taking pictures we can see if the once double DDs are now gone as the horse can now load back onto all four legs evenly
Often when we see something it doesn't make sense for a horse that may be loading onto the front end often, I give the exercise of rocking back and forth on the ischium and many people think why load more onto an already on the forehand horse?? Because they have to engage their pecs to do this so they learn they have a stop button they no longer just fall forward onto the left fore remember a good halt must always come before the movement.
What is happening to the horse in the pectoral pictures ?? the lower the head the more the forelimbs will teeter totter, you will see biceps and the Extensor Carpi Radialis begin to over develope, does the hind end then have to brace as the body feels the balance tipping forward. Often the hind end will compensate by bracing at the stifles loading the limbs with toes turned out.
FRONT VIEW PIC ;So how would you address this horse in the very bottom photo would you ask for a lift or back or first ask why the horse is loading incorrectly remember it's in the same position in both
?? We can all assume from a picture but often hands on, in person will give us better clue.
First address pain, the horses' hamstrings were sore so we need to ask why and relieve that pain first only then can the horse shift its weight back they will never want to load onto an already sore area but if we only address the hamstrings then it will keep coming back
Why would hamstrings be sore, yet loading through the chest?? Because the back was sore and the gut had issues
In the bottom pic we need to first ask why ?? If the feet have a size difference a horse cannot load equally if the foundation is faulty and vice versa a horse will not load evenly if pain is further up, so we have to address feet and body until there is a satisfactory conclusion, each professional can only go so far if there is something outside their remit that needs addressing, why is the horse loading onto the left fore ?? Is it only a left fore issue or was it the ulcers/hock athritis and kissing spine that meant the left fore was the end of the compensation cycle??
Time, how long has this horse been moving in this posture we cannot let go of all its stability in one
Think of the girth area and draw a line up as if one area is affected that whole segment is affected (like slicing a piece of cake and taken it away) this horse had surgery on its back and a direct line up from the girth was a continual problem once we freed up the area everything else fell into place but it took a long time to address that one point as so many other factors were being affected and why you can see the left fore lifted a little and hence why the right foot is different to the left you can even see the weight in the toe of the left fore and slightly bending the knee
Look at the scapula's the left fore is up and forward the right is down and out to the side yet on the other pic exactly the same position but a more even loaded front end
Do we want the horse to be evenly balanced straight away well for me no I want the horse to shift over and feel the difference and it makes sense that the normal is if the left hind is forward the weight would be in the right fore like in the after pic
Look at the angle of the sternum in the after its more straight which means weight is being distributed evenly through the ribcage
This didn't happen overnight it took 14 months of rehab, and I came in along with the trimmer probably about the same length of time from the original surgery, so the horse had already been established in this pattern for a long time
