15/08/2024
Great information!
Damaged Horses.....
Damaged is the new black, it seems that everywhere you look you can find a 'damaged' horse, a 'rescue' horse, a 'rehab' horse. So what are we doing about it? It's true, when you look around there are many horses that have physical problems, mental problems, or a combination of both. The truth is - if you look hard enough you can find something 'wrong' with nearly every horse that you look at. I mean, look at the research into ulcers - even foals have them!
Ulcers can cause a huge amount of issues including poor nutrition uptake, pain and discomfort, behaviour problems.
Then we can move onto other physical issues - many training techniques can cause physical damage and issues in our horses - can anyone say 'Rollkur'? The science is there - it causes (sometimes irreversible) damage in our horses, and yet it continues to occur, and be defended, at the highest levels of equine sport. And rollkur is just one example. Note that Rollkur was banned by the FEI in 2010 though the practice is still endemic in certain circles of equestrian training (not limited to dressage). The countless images coming from the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are further evidence that this practice is still not only common, but in many training camps, believed to be necessary.
Equipment. Our continued use and endorsement of tie-downs, drop nosebands, constrictive devices, Gags, and multiple devices available on the market that are designed to offer pain compliance - any of these can cause not only physical discomfort, pain and damage, but mental too.
Feed. Go to any feed store and there are multiple options for feeding your equine. But is it all really necessary? Do we need to be feeding our 'ride on the weekends for an hour' horse a feed that consists of 18 percent protein twice a day? Overfeeding not only causes physical issues due to excess weight carriage, but can lead to metabolic disorders, an excess of energy that can lead to behavioural issues when being handled and ridden, but also in the paddock issues like pacing fences, destroying rugs and other undesirable behaviours. Finally, an excess in feed leading to excess energy that is unable to be managed by the horse can lead to mental issues like anxiety and a lack of emotional control.
This leads us to Mental damage. We insist on continuing to keep horses in environments that are so far removed from their natural state, which can cause countless mental issues and behavioural issues, interact and train them in ways that are confusing and distressing, and then feed them like Husain Bolt leading up to the Olympics with the training regime of a chess player.
So I guess before we can talk about how we can help horses that are damaged, we need to start asking ourselves why there are so many, and what we can do to prevent it, or at the very least reduce it. The first step in prevention is to admit that the evidence is overwhelming - we are the cause of it.
Now, to clarify I'm not anti rugging, stabling, feeding, paddocking, riding, training or anything else - except for pain compliant devices and training, BUT I am for doing things that make existence easy for the horse, and in turn, for us.
Believe me, I get it - money, circumstances, locations, opportunities all add up to help or cause us to make decisions for our horses, but when we start letting things like appearance shape the way we care for our horses (oh he is paddocked by himself so he doesn't get scars, or, I feed him that much because I (and the judges) like him to be fat and shiny), then we start running into an ego-driven world - want to feed your horse so he is fat and shiny - sure thing! Just RIDE / WORK him so the feed is actually used in a functional way and doesn't have him running the fences or being destructive all day.
When we consider that a horse in the wild travels 10 - 15km per day, sometimes up to 20km in a day, and yet we will lock them in a 4 x 4 stable only bringing them out for a short workout. Of course, again, I'm not 'anti stable' but what we need to be considering is what the horse would be doing in nature, and trying to replicate that - so if you are stabling overnight when the horse is turned out in the morning, ensure that he is in a large paddock, with friends, which will cause him to travel and cover ground. Have the water and feeding stations at opposite ends of the paddock to cause movement, spend time causing movement via ground, ridden or liberty work.
A horse is a herd animal, he gets his sense of safety from being in a herd with other horses and develops and maintains important social skills when kept in a herd situation (translation - the herd will do half of your training for you!). Keeping them next door to another horse, but divided by a fence is not the same, and can actually cause mental issues through separation anxiety when the other horse is taken away, physical issues from pacing fences, it does not allow the horse to participate in daily norms such as mutual grooming. BUT it is better than nothing - Switzerland has had laws in place since 2008 that require all equids to be able to see, smell and hear other equids.
At the end of the day should we not be considering the natural existence of the horse, and then using those principals to help us maintain a happy and healthy athlete?
Of course, when it comes to riding, we must understand the horse's physiology - that he is on the forehand (for example), and understand that we need to change this in order to keep him sounder for longer when carrying a rider.
There are also intrinsic traits of the horse that we as humans change in order to keep us as safe as possible - the flight response, the horse's natural response to push into pressure, things like that. I'm not saying we should turn them all back out into the wild and be done with horse ownership, but what I am saying is if someone gave you a lion, would you try to turn it into a vegan? And yet that is how we relate to horses on a regular basis - we take factual knowledge about how they are by nature; social, ground covering, grazing prey animals and expect them to become athletes performing at their highest potential in isolation, restricted movement and eating grain - it just doesn't make sense.
That brings me to the training methods that are still commonplace, despite there being overwhelming evidence to support the short, and long term physical damage that it can cause to the horse - we still have high money futurities offered for 2 and 3-year-olds, despite knowing that this causes trainers to be riding and training horses that are just 16 months old. Yes, I have read the research supporting the training of young horses, with remodelling proven to strengthen bones. In the research papers I have read, conducted in the thoroughbred racing industry, yes it is shown that workload contributes to the strengthening of bones due to remodelling - remodelling that is occurring due to microfractures. Yes, you read that correctly, microfractures. Small fractures in the horse's bones. I don't know about you, but I am not comfortable fracturing bones in my 2 and 3-year-olds to make them stronger. I also haven't seen the research following up on these horses as 10, 15 and 20-year-olds and if they are still sound.
The fact is that competing a 2 and 3-year-old means that it costs less money. Less money to train them for 2 years VS 5 years, less money in feed, care, training, vets, entry fees - the lot. Again, in full disclosure, I have started, and taken people through the starting process for 2 and 3-year-olds. This was, however, a light start, with the horse in training for 30 days, and then turned out for 6 to 12 months. Not entered into a rigorous training regime to prepare for a futurity.
Back to training methods - most training methods are seeking some kind of 'frame' or 'outline' in the horse - and this in itself is where the issue lies. When you are chasing a 'frame / outline / shape / headset / body position / call it what you like - you will look for a fast track way to achieve that, instead of looking for a way for the horse to develop his body, with that being the result. I'll try to explain. When I was younger, and showing in the hack and dressage arenas, we were looking for our horse to be 'on the bit'. That was it. My judges told me the horse needed to be on the bit, my instructor told me the horse needed to be on the bit, so, my horse needed to be on the bit - what's that? I ask. "Its when he has his head down" is the answer.
Too easy - training sessions and lessons from that point forward were centred around the horse putting his head down - seesawing on his mouth, putting a pelham bit on him, using draw reins, martingales, tie downs, nosebands, yanking on his head until he put it down - you name it, I did it. And I was taught to do so. It was only in later years that I discovered that the engagement of the hind leg, the lift of the back, the completion of the 'circle of engagement' through the horse moving his body correctly - this resulted in him putting his head down - with no gadgets, no fights, no yanking or pulling. It was simply a result of him moving his body in a particular way!! But I wasn't taught that - and to be honest I don't even think my instructors knew it at the time, we just wanted the horse 'on the bit' and that was it. Well now I can achieve it at liberty, on the lunge or under saddle, by encouraging the horse and developing his ability to carry his body 'correctly'. I say 'correctly' because the horse only needs to do this for the rider, in nature - he is fine on the forehand.
So then we arrive at collection - this is the pinnacle, yes? Well no. We are seeing horses that are trained to only be in collection when handled and ridden, and they are presenting with early-onset arthritis in the hind, due to overuse.
The fact is that any 'extreme' is going to cause your horse damage in someway - you cant ride and train him on the forehand all the time or he will break down in the front end. You cant train him on the hind all the time, or he will break down in the hind. In training for longevity, we should be looking to find the balance in our training that develops the entire musculoskeletal system of the horse evenly, to avoid wearing out any area too early. I do not consider collection to be 'the pinnacle' as a pinnacle indicates that once you arrive there you should stay there - I consider collection to be an integral part of the balance in training your horse's body to preserve it.
So when it comes to physical damage - we need to ask ourselves, is my training harming, or helping?
Mental Damage. Caused by so many things, and presents in so many ways - from the mild 'naughty' behaviours like separation anxiety, wind sucking, weaving, pacing, pawing to the more extreme of aggression or self-mutilation, just to name a few. One of the main things to consider is that mental issues can be triggered and caused in your horse by something that you would not necessarily consider a 'trauma'. It is the horse's interpretation of the experience that defines a traumatic event and causes potential ongoing issues. It could be something as simple as what you considered to be an uneventful trip to a show, and since then, the horse has had issues leaving his buddy. I know that our herd, after being evacuated recently due to the threat of fires, really huddled up for a few weeks, and were quite concerned if one got too far away - we are now 9 weeks after the event, and they have almost returned to 'normal' with no calling or concern when we take horses away to ride or teach clinics etc.
Another major consideration is to understand that your horses mental issues are very real, and he is not just 'acting up' or being 'a naughty horse', he is acting in a way that he feels is either going to help him get through the event (weaving, pacing, windsucking), or in a way that is going to cause his situation to change (calling for his mate to come back for example). Some behaviours result in the release of chemicals in the brain which helps to soothe the horse, some behaviours are simply a display of extreme stress, and an inability to continue controlling himself.
So before we leap into helping our damaged horses, we need to consider a few things;
Our contribution to the damage
What ongoing factors are helping / hindering
How to assess the damage - both physical and mental
How to help repair the damage - both physical and mental
The best advice I can give you - get professional help! And if you are really wanting to invest in doing this right for your horse - that help is probably going to require multiple professionals - vet, trainer, bodyworker, hoof specialist, nutrition specialist. At the end of the day, each of those professionals may know a little about the other, but the fact is they are all specialized areas - trainers aren't vets, vets aren't trainers for example.
Every horse is different and the solutions for mental and physical issues can vary. I prefer to approach them in a holistic way and take into consideration all circumstances - nutrition, paddock situation, training, veterinary and physio care, hoof maintenance and human interactions. Often it is a combination of adjustments of all of these things that can assist in the horse significantly reducing or ceasing the behaviour in the case of mental issues, or improving in physical damage and restrictions, body issues, or movement issues.
In closing, working with a 'damaged' horse can be equally rewarding as it is soul-destroying.
Know that it is a long road that is paved with joy and tears.
Tk xo
GingerCoops and I Cowgirls Gathering Photo by Flash Pony
