California Riding Magazine • September, 2008

Break the Cycle
Don’t just patch injuries,
be proactive in your horse care.

by Dr. Kim Sergent

How often are we proactive in our horse’s care? Most of us are guilty of patchwork. Instead of being proactive, keeping our horses in optimal health and acting when the horse is well, we patch our horse one injury at a time, until eventually the horse slowly breaks down. But we can have a successful performance horse with a long, working career; a career not plagued by setbacks and patchwork. How? First, we need to discuss the importance of optimal nervous system function.

The spinal column is the highway for all incoming and outgoing neurologic information. If there is misinformation in either direction the animal will be unable to maximize its performance, may injure itself or be unable to heal itself. When there is a minor injury without obvious clinical symptoms the horse will continue to perform, but not optimally. It has been shown that even pressure from a feather can decrease nerve transmission by 50 percent.

Can you imagine the problem if there is swelling around a nerve?
It will trigger compensatory change somewhere else in the animal, and a vicious cycle will begin where further micro insults will occur. At some point, these will add up, and result in a poorly functioning or injured horse. This is how people end up selling their once wonderful jumper as a flat horse or their cutter as a trail horse. Many of these horses are still very young but regular veterinary care (i.e. joint injections, bute, supplements) has failed them.

Where do injuries and poor performance come from? In any animal the muscles, tendons and ligaments all work together. When the muscle is shortened, and unable to stretch, the tendon will be constantly stretched and a tendon injury can occur. If the muscle is stretched beyond its physical limit (this can occur when one overuses extended gaits) a muscle strain occurs. When the limbs are in full stretch during the trot and gallop, any stumble or misplaced foot on rough terrain will overstrain or tear a ligament or tendon. It takes one year to regain 90 percent of its former strength with a ligamentous injury; that’s a really long time in rehabilitation.

Factors to Figure In

A second factor in injuries is fatigue. Fatigue increases more rapidly with tight, short muscles leading to decreased coordination and finally injury.

Another factor is the nervous system. Proprioceptors are nerve receptors that tell you where your feet and body are. Proprioceptive information comes from the limbs, feet, neck, mouth and head. For example: am I on a hill, am I standing square, do I know exactly where the ground is when I place a foot at speed or change direction?

The head and neck have the most proprioceptors in the horse. Ninety percent of the input from the brain that helps the horses evaluate gravity comes from the first three cervical joints and the head, especially the TMJ and periodontal ligaments (the ligaments around your horse’s teeth). Now can you imagine the importance good dentistry has on the horse’s health, and thus performance? It’s huge!
Repetitive exercise can also create strains called repetitive strain injuries. In humans, they are injuries to muscles or ligaments because of repetitive motions such as guitar playing or typing. The same applies for horses, if you ask your horse for endless repetitions in a confined area you are asking for trouble. Round pen training, for example, can be very repetitive and obviously is performed in a confined space.

Physical Therapy

Why is physical therapy, including chiropractics, acupuncture and stretching, important for enhancing performance? Where do I start my list?

First off, minor changes in stride length due to a tight joint, ligament, muscle or tendon can result in a significant reduction in performance. If you have a two degree change in the angle at the top of the leg and you have a horse with a shortened stride, the angle is not going to change as much as a horse with a longer stride. But remember, that minor two degree change works out biomechanically to two feet per stride. For a racehorse in a mile race that translates to 20 feet!!!! You are going to lose the race.

A steeper angle of impact on a leg will also increase shock to the limb, whereas shock absorption is improved with a longer stride. Increased shock will cause repetitive trauma to joints and can cause long- term problems such as osteoarthritis.

Physical therapy decreases muscle tension and therefore helps prevent muscle damage. As elasticity and flexibility increase the potential for pulling soft tissues decrease and there will be a reduced likelihood of injuring muscles and tendons. The horse will be able to adapt better to changes in speed, direction or terrain.

Joint mobility depends on stabilization and range of motion of ligaments and tendons. This also improves with physical therapy, and physical therapy helps create balanced muscles. Asymmetric muscles are a significant cause of injury and muscle pain.
This asymmetry develops when mobility and suppleness are not maintained in exercise or with inadequate exercise. The postural muscles used for stability and balance become short and muscles used for movement become weak. This starts another vicious cycle that leads to decreased elasticity of muscles causing strains especially in the pectorals, biceps, iliopsoas, hamstrings and back extensor muscles. Inflammation then occurs due to the increased strain on the joints which leads to pain.

Be Proactive and Prevent Injuries

There are lots of things you can do to improve range of movement. For example, upward fixation of the patella, i.e. rounding through the back and stretching. Stretching precedes strengthening.

As I pointed out earlier, physical therapy can also help alleviate pain from muscle spasms and prevent muscle stains. Chiropractic work also helps as it stretches and opens joint spaces, improves range of motion, increases circulation and decreases pain. In fact, recent studies have shown chiropractic treatments were more effective at reducing muscular pain than phenylbutazone or massage.
The point of all this, give your horse a break. If you would like to enhance your horse’s performance or you have a horse that needs some rehabilitation, try being proactive. Call upon your friendly neighborhood chiropractor, but remember to always consult your veterinarian. They are the only qualified professional to diagnose problems and outline a treatment protocol. Chiropractors and acupuncturists have specific talents, but unless they are also a licensed vet, they do not have that advanced training in diagnostics that your veterinarian does. For a list of certified veterinary chiropractors go to www.avcadoctors.com.

For more info call All County Equine Services (A.C.E.S.) at 619-659-3532 or visit www.acequine.com.