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30 The Manitoba Co-operator | July 12, 2012
COLUMN
A healthy back is an indication of a sound horse
A horse’s spine is just not sufficiently developed to
withstand heavy weight bearing until it is fully mature.
Carol Shwetz, DVM
Horse Health
Horses were not naturally
created to bear the weight
of a rider, so conscious
effort needs to be taken to develop
and condition a horse’s back. This
conditioning will then allow it
to successfully and comfortably
carry a rider without sustaining
long-term damage.
Seen from the side, the horse’s
top line begins from the poll and
ends at the base of the tail. A
healthy top line is even, smooth,
and continuous with no breaks,
unnatural kinks, peaks, valleys,
or indentations in front of
or behind the withers. There is
a tendency to roundness, and
when seen from above healthy
backs are symmetrical with
smoothly contouring muscling
mirroring one another on either
side of the spine.
The horse must develop the
correct muscles which properly
engage his back and hindquarters.
Horses with poor carriage,
such as hollow backs or inverted
frames, place themselves in anatomical
and bio-mechanical
disadvantaged positions with farreaching
consequences. Damage
befalls not only the back itself,
but over time hocks, front heels,
dental arcades, and soft tissues
throughout the body are also
affected .
Growth plates in the back of a
horse do not fuse until the horse
is five to six years of age, so when
weighted prematurely the responsibility
for supporting the weight
of a rider is placed upon the connecting
musculature of the back.
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Unnatural strain sets the stage for
hollow backs or inverted/upsidedown
horses.
Although young horses cope
with physical weight bearing, they
fail to flourish and fail to remain
sound into their teen years. The
horse’s spine is just not sufficiently
developed to withstand heavy
weight bearing until it is fully
mature. Unfortunately for the
horse, it looks mature far before
they are mature.
A properly prepared riding
horse understands how to carry
himself. He must learn to coil his
pelvis, step deeply underneath his
mass with his hind legs, stretch
his back, and telescope his neck.
Once properly ground schooled
he can learn to carry this feeling
through while carrying the
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Saddles are a bit like
shoes. When they
do not fit they can
be uncomfortable
or painful, causing
other physical
problems as well. Horses with poor carriage, such as hollow backs or inverted frames, place
themselves in anatomical and bio-mechanical disadvantaged positions with
far-reaching consequences.
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weight of a rider upon his back.
Once schooling begins, development
of a horse’s back takes time,
a long time. It takes a year at least
to establish a strong top line in a
horse.
All tack used upon a horse
effects his movement. The type
of bit and nature of its use in
the rider’s hands impacts how
the horse carries his head, and
so has the ability to shape the
horse’s entire body and manner
of movement.
Saddle fit
Saddle fit is critical to healthy
movement of a horse’s back. A
rider sits on layers of living tissue
nourished by blood circulation.
Saddle pressure drives blood circulation
out of tissues, depriving
them of nourishment. The tiny
nerves that pass out of the spinal
column innervating the back
muscles are damaged greatly with
unforgiving pressure. The muscles
of the equine back are activated
by electrical impulses which reach
the individual cells through this
network of tiny nerves. Without
electrical impulses the muscles of
the back wither, waste and sink
away from the spine, leaving a
weak back. Over time the horse
loses its healthy top line, developing
deep holes behind the withers.
Healthy backs feel warm, soft,
and supple. They are quiet and
resilient. Signs of early damage
to a horse’s back include heat
bumps, uneven sweat patterns,
and flickering and flinching upon
touch once the saddle is removed.
Over time white patches of hair
along the back are testimony
to damaged tissues as pressure
harms the hair follicles, resulting
in a visible scar. Most often these
white patches are partnered with
the visible hollowing of top-line
musculature.
Saddles are a bit like shoes.
When they do not fit they can be
uncomfortable or painful, causing
other physical problems as well.
So, when saddles are not a good
fit horses will communicate such
with unhappy body language,
often increasing volume with
increasing discomfort.
Signs of pain caused by ill saddle
fit include, but are not limited
to, resistance to touch, pinning
ears, head tossing, lack of focus,
spooking, swishing or wringing
tail, grinding teeth, stiffness,
reluctance to stride out, unusual
posturing, lameness, cold-backed
behavior, rearing and bucking.
No amount of training or discipline
will ever overcome pain.
Adaptations for the pain under
saddle can create habitually poor
patterns of movement that may
remain long after the saddle as
been removed.
Carol Shwetz is a veterinarian
specializing in equine practice at
Westlock, Alta.