Injury Care :: Injury Prevention

» Anatomy and Training | » Injury Prevention | » Injury Care | » Stretching

Injury Prevention in the working and competition horse

There are a number of basic principles that you can follow which will aid in the prevention of injury. The following points aim to broaden your knowledge and understanding of key issues which are not always obvious.

Overuse
This does not necessarily mean working your horse too much but rather doing too much of the same thing. Try to vary what you do with your horse every day, as this will keep him interested in exercise and help to prevent injuries. If you do similar things every day the same muscles and joints are used repetitively and won't have time to heal from micro trauma. This will result in overuse injuries such as ligament and tendon breakdowns, which take many weeks if not months to heal.

Warm up and Cool down
As tedious as this is for any rider it is one of the most important things to do. When your horses' muscles are cold they are completely un-elastic, leaving him prone to serious muscle pulls if you go straight into hard work. Warming up gets the blood flowing to all the muscles which increase elasticity making your horse more flexible. Following exercise your horse will have a build up of lactic acid in his muscles, a natural bi product of exertion. Unless you walk your horse out, which will aid the breakdown of this substance, lactic acid will sit in the muscles for many hours. This will cause muscle soreness and discomfort, which will leave your horse prone to injury next time you ride him. You should therefore warm up and cool down for at least 10 minutes before and after exercise.

Electrolytes
If your horse has a heavy workload or is in competition it is vital that you ensure his body's electrolytes are maintained at all times. Electrolytes are simply minerals that are dissolved in blood and cell fluids. They are vital to a wide range of normal body functions, including the regulation of all body fluid levels, muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, and many essential metabolic processes such as pumping of the heart, movement of food and water through the gut, and the filtering of wastes through the kidney and liver. The proper balance of water and electrolytes is essential for cooling the horse, and is absolutely essential for normal muscle function. Any electrolyte imbalance can risk muscular injury amongst other things. Both exercise and transport diminish electrolyte levels and energy due to sweat loss, dehydration, and muscle exertion. In a training situation, electrolyte losses cannot be corrected or prevented unless the horse receives some form of electrolyte replacement in its daily feed. In order to prevent a prolonged time for muscular recovery you should ensure you feed a good electrolyte to your horse.

Riding surface
It is the forelimb of the horse which takes the impact of hitting the ground. However, the wearing of an iron shoe and the fact that the forelimb does not roll with the impact means that the shock is carried in virtually a straight line through the foot, knee and shoulder to the spine. It is therefore essential to take into account the quality of surface you ride on. Because a hard surface risks damage to bone and joints, whilst a soft and deep surface risks damage to tendons, ligaments, and muscles it is preferable to find a surface which is somewhere between the two. In addition avoid lengthy trotting on tarmac and landing on hard ground after a jump.

Mounting your horse
Although it is standard practice to mount your horse from the left hand side, it is also compromising for your equine friend. Over a long period of time, pulling down on this one side will make your horse use the same muscles day in and day out to stabilise himself. This can ultimately lead to muscular imbalance making your horse stronger or stiffer on one side. Ideally you should alternate the side you mount from every time you ride. This will not only balance your stirrup leathers but more importantly your horse.

Balance your work evenly
A lot of horses at some point in their working life will develop a stiffness/inflexibility on one rein. Leaving aside the cause of this problem you should ensure that when you work your horse in the school you divide your time equally between the two reins. This may sound like common sense but I know all too well how frustrating it is when your horse doesn't understand how to bend when you ask him to. Don't be tempted to just throw the towel in after 5 minutes and then do 15 minutes on his good rein- it is the easier option, but will only worsen the problem in the long run. Perseverance will pay off!

Steep Hills
Prolonged trotting up steep hills is neither safe nor healthy for your horse. The pelvis is attached to the horse's spine via a joint called the Sacroiliac (SI) joint. During trotting up a hill the muscles around this joint are initiated far more forcefully than at any other time. The excessive strain placed on these ligaments can easily cause them to stretch making the pelvis move out of its 'normal' position. Although you can still ride your horse in this condition, it is irreversible leaving your horse prone to more serious injury in the future, as his hip/pelvis is now less stable than before. To avoid this happening to you, all you have to do is walk up steeper hills to reduce the stress on your horses' joints.

Transitions
It is common for riders to be taught transitions in the order of walk, trot, and then canter. Believe it or not it as actually much better for your horse if you go from a walk to a canter rather than trot, during your warm up as it is less exertive on the gluteal muscles, as the legs and stride fall closer together.

Boxing your horse
When your horse is transported by lorry or trailer it may appear that he is not doing any work but in fact the normal erratic movements of driving means that your horse constantly has to stabilise himself using isometric contractions. This is very hard work, tiring, and will make him ache-especially on a long journey or even a short journey over very irregular surfaces. It is important therefore that when you unload your horse you walk him round for at least 5 minutes before tying him up so that you loosen off the muscle and reduce discomfort. This will also enhance his competitive performance.

The above information is provided is by a qualified therapist in good faith and without guarantee. It should not be considered as a substitute for veterinary advice and care.

» Anatomy and Training | » Injury Prevention | » Injury Care | » Stretching