14/07/2020
WHY IS MY HORSE SORE?
This is a question I get asked a lot, especially when there seems to be no particular or outstanding reason why. As a therapist I always look at a horse holistically and not just the affected area to try to uncover the issue or issues that could be causing the soreness.
I have found in most cases of muscle soreness unless it is a trauma, injury or paddock slip, bad saddle fit etc that has happened, that it is usually a combination of a few things that causes muscle soreness and not just one individual thing.
Like an onion with layers, one thing will build on another and it can sometimes be a process to strip everything back and get to the core again.
Every single horse will have the first issue I have listed below, then add another 2 or 3 of the other problems mentioned to the scenario or maybe even more and you start to get the picture that something in the body is going to get sore or uncomfortable eventually.
Some of these issues may only be very small or subtle or not much of problem if isolated on their own but start to add a few of these little things together and we start to create bigger problems unfortunately. We need to take all these into consideration when we are trying to determine why your horse is muscle sore with no glaringly obvious cause.
Every athlete will have some level of soreness but it is how we manage it and look at every other aspect mentioned below to make sure our horses are as comfortable, healthy and sound as possible to give them a long and happy riding life.
Have a read to see how many of the things could be affecting your horse if he is often sore or use this as a guide to help you if your horse becomes sore in the future.
1. Natural Asymmetry - every horse has this issue, full stop, no horse is balanced evenly over all 4 legs. Some are obviously more so than others but here is our very first base layer of things starting to happen in the body from day one creating tension and compensations. This will eventually start to show up at some stage in their life if not addressed with correct inhand and gymnastic/ridden training to supple and train the left and right sides of the body as evenly as possible.
2. Feet - unbalanced feet cause so many issues and strain through the body, please find yourself a good and knowledgeable farrier who is happy to discuss with you what is going on with your horses feet and give you a plan of how to get them back on track if things aren’t correct. Also find one who is happy to work with other equine professionals that care for your horse so everyone is on the same page and heading in the right direction for your horse.
I can’t stress enough how much your horses hooves affect it’s entire body and please get them done regularly!
Go out and really have a good look at your horses feet and find yourself a picture of a correctly aligned foot and compare, best thing you can do for yourself and your horse is to educate yourself on this subject.
3. Tack - ensure that every piece of gear or equipment you place on your horse fits it well, ill fitting saddles, bits, bridles, girths can do untold damage and stop your horses from performing correctly. Don’t use gadgets that hold and compress your horses head and neck in and make it hollow through the back and make the hind legs trail out behind. Get your saddles checked and fitted throughout the year and don’t assume one saddle fits all your horses, sadly they normally don’t.
4. Rider Skills and Imbalance - not every rider has the same skill set or level of knowledge which is totally fine, but please understand if you don’t have basic dressage training and are not schooling your horse to change these imbalances that you are riding a crooked and uneven horse and will not be showing it how to balance itself better so you will be increasing the chances of muscle soreness and possible strain or injury due to every horse having Issue number 1.
If you wish to help your horse become more balanced find a good dressage coach that is all about the horses wellbeing and has a methodical, step by step, building block approach to help you train your horse correctly.
We are also not symmetrical and have our own body issues and may lack core strength so our weight upon our horses back affects our horses way of going also, so try to be as fit as you can be and get yourself looked at every now and then too.
5. Diet - what a horse is or isn’t fed can affect their muscles, temperament and health. There are too many issues to discuss here, but things like grass affected horses, weight issues being over or under weight, lack of certain minerals or vitamins, can all affect our horses wellbeing and performance very much. Ensure your horse has a balanced diet with a good vitamin and mineral supplement, salt and good roughage available 24/7. Even foals need good nutrition from the day they are born, provide them a quality vitamin and mineral mix as they grow up to ensure healthy development and strong bones.
6. Conformation - some horses have various conformational issues that will affect their way of going and this will in turn affect their muscles, such a being croup high so the forehand is loaded even more than it should be putting extra strain through the front end muscles or a turned in hoof that puts strain on that side of the leg and shoulder more than the other.
7. Posture - some horses that are not ridden in a way that engages their core muscles can be slumped or hanging down between their scapula/shoulders and then will not use their back correctly. If your horses goes around with its head up in the air or flexed off this will become its normal way of going and bad posture creates sores muscles and loss of top line. Even if you are not inclined to do dressage training there are many exercises you can do from the ground to help improve posture and muscle soreness such a carrot stretches, tummy lifts and leg stretches to improve things for your horse.
8. Age - older horses can stiffen up more than younger horses and may need more time to warm up when ridden or may need to start on a joint supplement or injection to help them feel better and loosen them up. A stiff horse will restrict and contract it muscles creating soreness and become shorter striding or more shuffling in its movement.
9. Fitness Level - we can sometimes ask too much of our horses which contributes to causing sore muscles. If they have been out of work for a while we need to slowly build up muscle strength and cardio fitness again over a number of weeks. We can sometimes ride for a bit longer than we planned or teach new exercises or movements that use different muscle groups or over do the same thing. Young horses are also very weak and get muscle sore easily, riding on a softer surface than usual or on hilly terrain if they not used to it can all cause muscle soreness too.
10. Living Environment - conditions that horses live in can severely affect their muscles and general wellbeing. Your horse may be living on very uneven ground, or be on a steep slope or in muddy, slippery paddocks that will all have an bearing on his body and how it functions. Also if they are in a herd what is the pecking order, is he being bullied or a bully, again this can cause stress, tension and soreness. Are they a fence walker or running around a lot, these things can and do have an impact.
It is not always possible to move your horse or change things especially if you are agisted but do have empathy for how your horse is in his living quarters as that is where they spend the majority of their time and try to make it as stress free and comfortable as possible for them.
11. Regular bodywork - if you haven’t had your horse treated by a professional bodyworker of any modality then it is truly worthwhile to start as they can identify issues and help to release muscle soreness and give you advice and a program to follow between visits to assist with keeping your horse maintained. Find a good qualified bodyworker who is willing to work alongside your vet, farrier and other bodyworkers you may use to have your horses best interest as their top priority.
Look for someone who will tell you what they are doing as they treat your horse and explain what they are looking for or finding so you understand what is going on with your horse, don’t accept someone that turns up and just says “yep he’s out” and then only spend five minutes or so there and don’t even assess your horse properly, explain what was wrong or what they did, they are not doing either of you any favours.
12. Underlying issues - if you still have ongoing muscle soreness issues and have looked at each of the above mentioned topics and feel that they are not the main cause and that there could be more going on then please don’t hesitate to call your vet for an examination of your horse.
Things like ulcers, sacroiliac issues, arthritis, pssm and overdue teeth also cause muscle soreness in horses and no amount of bodywork, correct riding or training will be enough to ease the discomfort until it is addressed.
I hope this helps you to understand the many factors involved that could be causing muscle soreness and that it takes a team of committed professionals and owners to all work together to get your horse back to optimum performance and comfort. 🥰🐴👍
