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                         Symptoms and Causes

Symptoms that could indicate muscular issues:

  Behaviour changes

  Bucking/kicking

  Cold backs and girth discomfort

  Difficulty with lateral bending

  Head tossing

  Muscular tightness at the touch

  Neck discomfort

  Refusing leads or simply preferring one side

  Resistance to touch

  Saddle slipping off to one side

  Short, choppy and uneven gaits

  Uneven tracking

  Unusual tail carriage

Horse owners sometimes say their horse has begun acting unusually and has started getting "an attitude". The truth is that most horses realise that people give them food, water and attention; horses understand that it doesn't benefit them to become uncooperative. And when you look at it from a horse's perspective you soon realise they are pretty compliant creatures. You realise that your friend's "attitude" was his way of telling you something well before an injury took place!

When I heard one of my teachers mention “good riders” as a possible cause of muscular problems, I was surprised until she explained: a very good rider can make the horse do exactly what he/she wants, surpassing the resistance of the horse. They “correct” the attitude of the horse but in the process could make a small physical issue a much bigger trauma. For example, one reason a horse may refuse the right lead is because his shoulder has a small spasm. Compliant, the horse will obey the commands of the rider, putting more stress on that muscle and the problem now expands to the leg and feet.

Possible causes of muscular trauma:

  A job not fit for the horse's condition, conformation and capacity

  Accidents: getting cast, slipping, pulling back, fights

  Aging related conditions: arthritis, poor blood circulation

  Behavioural issues: weaving, cribbing and resistance to trailering

  Conformation defects

  Cooling down too quickly, warming up insufficiently

  Dental problems

  Equipment issues: bad saddle fit, wrong bit.

  Footing: too deep, not enough variation, not adapted to the horse

  Hormones: mares in season

  Neurological issues: riding a horse too soon, nervousness

  Nutrition & supplements

  Over-, bad- and rushed training

  Protective splinting

  Repetitive movement training: overuse of aids such as draw reins, side reins, lunging

  Shoeing: not done often enough or done incorrectly

  Speed: increases fatigue in the muscles making them more susceptible to injury

  Stretching cold muscles

  Traveling: not walking horses after trailer ride

  Unbalanced riders

  Under conditioning

Did you know?

Every time a horse gets exercised, it causes some normal minor tissue damage, which is repaired by the body within 2 days. The whole cycle of this tissue breakdown and repair is what strengthens the soft tissues and builds it up. However, if training is too rigorous or too frequent, the breakdown will be faster than the repair and the horse becomes predisposed to injury.

Finding the fine line between maximum gain and over training is a tricky one, and poses a dilemma in all sports, especially the competitive ones.