Ok so TheoryThursday is going to be seriously reduced during the month of November due to Nanowrimo (http://www.nanowrimo.org - for the uninitiated) and the fact that there’s only so many hours in a week! I suspect at absolute most only one level is going to get a post each week. Enjoy!
This week – evaluating soundness.
So there will come a time in every horse-person’s life when you’re riding around and suddenly think “hmmmm, that’s not quite right...” So you get off your horse, but now what?
First, bribe a friend. Get this wonderful person to lead your horse in a straight line at the trot. The leadline should have no pressure on it (giving the horse complete freedom of head and neck). Why the trot? Well because at the trot the horse moves in an even 2-beat rhythm, making it much easier to judge if something’s not right. They also tend to carry their heads very still – making it obvious if that’s not right either!
So your willing friend is trotting your horse in a long straight line so you can observe. But what exactly are you seeing? Well first thing – is the horse’s head bobbing? If so, there’s a problem. Next thing to ascertain – does his head seem to be going up higher than normal when it bobs, or is it pulling down lower than normal. I’ll give you a hint, if you’re new to this, odds are it’s going up. The down is usually a much more subtle movement. If it’s going up, you’re looking at a front leg lameness. If it’s going down, it’s the hind leg.
So every-other-beat the horse’s head shoots up in the air. Something’s wrong in the front. But which leg? Well, just imagine if you were limping. You have a huge blister on the ball of your left foot – when you step on that foot you’re going to step mostly on your toes and for as short a time as possible. This means your head will come UP when the SORE leg hits the ground. And as you limp, so does your horse.
If the problem is in the hind-end, you’ll see the horse’s head bob down lower than normal every-other-beat. The reason for this is he’s using his head and neck as a counter-weight so he doesn’t have to put pressure on the sore leg. So in this case the horse’s head goes DOWN when the SORE leg hits the ground.
Which of course makes the two seem like complete opposites and entirely confusing, but really all you have to remember is that the deviation from normal occurs as a result of the pain. So whichever leg is on the ground when the head is in the wrong position is the one you should be looking at. This is a skill that does take time to develop, but you would like it to be at the point where you can tell even without the head bob which leg has something wrong (ie when they’re just not stretching quite as far with one leg as the other).
Once you know *which* leg is sound is the time to try and figure out what is wrong and what to do about it. But that’s a post for another day!
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Showing posts with label Movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movement. Show all posts
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Advanced Movement
So you know how your horse *should* move, but one day, they're just not quite right. What could be causing the issue?
Pain - as you don't move perfectly when you're not feeling well, neither does your horse. Very serious lameness will have the horse's hooves seemingly glued, unable to move at all. If forced to move, the lameness will be brutally evident. Call the vet. However, far more common is the "maybe/maybe-not" lameness which is best evaluated at the trot. The lame leg will break-over faster because they don't want to put pressure on it. A horse who's very lame will be head-bobbing. As in, when he trots, his head bobs up and down (conversely, a sound horse's head moves very little). Front leg lameness is the easiest to evaluate -- the head will go UP when the lame leg hits the ground. Try this yourself -- pretend you have a sore foot and hobble around a bit (don't worry -- the Intermediate group had to make fools of themselves too!) As you avoid putting weight on the sore foot your head will go up. If the lameness is in the hind end, the head will go DOWN as the sore foot hits the ground (because they're using their head and neck as a counter-weight to avoid putting pressure where it hurts). Sometimes the lameness is more evident on corners or going one direction over the other.
Rider Imbalance - this one is often discounted, but if the rider is out of balance, it's hardly fair to expect the horse to move properly. Consider how you shift your balance when you're carrying a heavy backpack on one shoulder -- especially if it's the "wrong" shoulder.
Shoeing - shoeing can influence movement in both positive or negative ways. It can be used carefully over the long term to help correct certain issues, or incorrect shoeing can cause a previously sound and even horse to develop problems. More on shoeing another Thursday!
Footing - just like you would change the way you moved were you on pavement, in deep sand, or on ice, so too does your horse. If the footing is deep it requires significantly more effort. If it's slippery, the horse is likely to take a shorter stride or move more cautiously. If it's packing snow, the horse may get snowballs in their shoes causing them to walk very carefully (this is quite dangerous -- it's best to avoid riding when the snow conditions are likely to cause this condition).
Traction - this goes along with footing; if the horse is sliding every time her foot hits the ground, obviously her movement will be affected.
Age - young horses, like kids going through growth spurts, often don't seem to know exactly where all their limbs are -- especially at speed. Older horses, as with older people, may be stiffer or arthritic and their movement will be affected accordingly.
Training - a big part of training is building the strength and balance required to move straight and forward.
Tack - poorly fitting tack can restrict the horse's movement (more on fitting tack another Thursday). If it pinches it can stop them from reaching out fully through the shoulder. An unbalanced saddle will be have the same result as an unbalanced rider. Pressure points can cause pain for your horse, made worse with the addition of a rider's weight. A saddle that bounces when the horse moves will add stress to the horse's back. All in all, ensuring your horse has properly fitting tack will make things much easier all-round for the horse.
PMS - if your mare is seriously pmsy, talk to your vet. As with people, there are things that can help :) On a much lesser scale, this also applies to just having a stiff day (comeon, you know you have days like that, why shouldn't your horse? Mare, stallion or gelding). Esp if she's been stuck inside all day, or the extreme opposite of having been playing a *little* too hard out in the field, she may start out a little stiff or a little uneven. The difference is, usually they work out of this type of unsoundness by the time a normal warm-up is complete.
Read more...
Pain - as you don't move perfectly when you're not feeling well, neither does your horse. Very serious lameness will have the horse's hooves seemingly glued, unable to move at all. If forced to move, the lameness will be brutally evident. Call the vet. However, far more common is the "maybe/maybe-not" lameness which is best evaluated at the trot. The lame leg will break-over faster because they don't want to put pressure on it. A horse who's very lame will be head-bobbing. As in, when he trots, his head bobs up and down (conversely, a sound horse's head moves very little). Front leg lameness is the easiest to evaluate -- the head will go UP when the lame leg hits the ground. Try this yourself -- pretend you have a sore foot and hobble around a bit (don't worry -- the Intermediate group had to make fools of themselves too!) As you avoid putting weight on the sore foot your head will go up. If the lameness is in the hind end, the head will go DOWN as the sore foot hits the ground (because they're using their head and neck as a counter-weight to avoid putting pressure where it hurts). Sometimes the lameness is more evident on corners or going one direction over the other.
Rider Imbalance - this one is often discounted, but if the rider is out of balance, it's hardly fair to expect the horse to move properly. Consider how you shift your balance when you're carrying a heavy backpack on one shoulder -- especially if it's the "wrong" shoulder.
Shoeing - shoeing can influence movement in both positive or negative ways. It can be used carefully over the long term to help correct certain issues, or incorrect shoeing can cause a previously sound and even horse to develop problems. More on shoeing another Thursday!
Footing - just like you would change the way you moved were you on pavement, in deep sand, or on ice, so too does your horse. If the footing is deep it requires significantly more effort. If it's slippery, the horse is likely to take a shorter stride or move more cautiously. If it's packing snow, the horse may get snowballs in their shoes causing them to walk very carefully (this is quite dangerous -- it's best to avoid riding when the snow conditions are likely to cause this condition).
Traction - this goes along with footing; if the horse is sliding every time her foot hits the ground, obviously her movement will be affected.
Age - young horses, like kids going through growth spurts, often don't seem to know exactly where all their limbs are -- especially at speed. Older horses, as with older people, may be stiffer or arthritic and their movement will be affected accordingly.
Training - a big part of training is building the strength and balance required to move straight and forward.
Tack - poorly fitting tack can restrict the horse's movement (more on fitting tack another Thursday). If it pinches it can stop them from reaching out fully through the shoulder. An unbalanced saddle will be have the same result as an unbalanced rider. Pressure points can cause pain for your horse, made worse with the addition of a rider's weight. A saddle that bounces when the horse moves will add stress to the horse's back. All in all, ensuring your horse has properly fitting tack will make things much easier all-round for the horse.
PMS - if your mare is seriously pmsy, talk to your vet. As with people, there are things that can help :) On a much lesser scale, this also applies to just having a stiff day (comeon, you know you have days like that, why shouldn't your horse? Mare, stallion or gelding). Esp if she's been stuck inside all day, or the extreme opposite of having been playing a *little* too hard out in the field, she may start out a little stiff or a little uneven. The difference is, usually they work out of this type of unsoundness by the time a normal warm-up is complete.
Read more...
Intermediate Movement
Each stride can be broken into five phases:
1. Landing - when the foot hits the ground
2. Loading - when the foot bears weight; usually the fetlock is at its lowest position
3. Stance - the fetlock raises to the point it's at when the horse is standing at rest.
4. Breakover - lasts from when the heel begins to leave the ground until the toe leaves the ground. The heel lifts and the knee or hock begins to flex.
a. start - heel leaving ground
b. finish - toe leaving ground
5. Swing - the time the foot is in the air.
Movement Faults:
Now that you know the basic beats and how the stride works, it's time to realize it's not a perfect world *sigh*. I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you. >;-P And since it's not a perfect word, not all horses move correctly. So when you find a horse who's movement is creative, you need to be able to evaluate the risks of this and decide whether it's something you want to deal with.
Normal (or @ least ideal) is that the horse will be able to walk a straight path, with each foot staying equal distance from an invisible centre line. Let's be honest, this section is only here so that pictures of the next three examples make sense!
Winging is when the leg travels on an arch in toward the centre instead of on a straight line. This is often connected with horses that toe-out (more on that on conformation day :) Try it yourself -- turn your toes out ballet style and try to walk, you'll find your legs naturally swing toward each other. Seriously -- get up from the computer and go for a walk. You'll feel foolish, but you'll remember it :) Winging can cause a horse to kick himself (see brushing below), and may place extra stress on the inside of the horse's leg as the hoof hits the ground.
This fault also leads to brushing (when one foot hits the other leg, usually @ fetlock level, while moving). This can also be caused by poor shoeing. Horses that brush should wear boots.
Paddling - the opposite of winging in that the legs move away from the center line. To remember which is which, picture paddling a canoe - your paddle would go out of the boat and back towards it. Paddling is often caused by toe-in conformation. This too you can try without your horse. Point your toes toward each other and try to walk. Have fun :)
Plaiting - is when both front feet travel on the centre line (almost directly in front of each other). Horses that plait are often prone to tripping.
Over-reaching is when the toes of the hind foot hits the back of the front foot (injuring usually the heels). Horses that over-reach should wear bell boots. Over-reaching is seen most often in high-energy sports (jumping, xc, etc)
Forging is when the hind shoe strikes the front shoe as the horse trots. This is less dangerous than over-reaching but may cause shoes to be pulled or your horse to trip. This occurs when the hind leg moves too quickly or the front leg too slowly. Often seen in green or tired horses.
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1. Landing - when the foot hits the ground
2. Loading - when the foot bears weight; usually the fetlock is at its lowest position
3. Stance - the fetlock raises to the point it's at when the horse is standing at rest.
4. Breakover - lasts from when the heel begins to leave the ground until the toe leaves the ground. The heel lifts and the knee or hock begins to flex.
a. start - heel leaving ground
b. finish - toe leaving ground
5. Swing - the time the foot is in the air.
Movement Faults:
Now that you know the basic beats and how the stride works, it's time to realize it's not a perfect world *sigh*. I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you. >;-P And since it's not a perfect word, not all horses move correctly. So when you find a horse who's movement is creative, you need to be able to evaluate the risks of this and decide whether it's something you want to deal with.
Normal (or @ least ideal) is that the horse will be able to walk a straight path, with each foot staying equal distance from an invisible centre line. Let's be honest, this section is only here so that pictures of the next three examples make sense! 
Winging is when the leg travels on an arch in toward the centre instead of on a straight line. This is often connected with horses that toe-out (more on that on conformation day :) Try it yourself -- turn your toes out ballet style and try to walk, you'll find your legs naturally swing toward each other. Seriously -- get up from the computer and go for a walk. You'll feel foolish, but you'll remember it :) Winging can cause a horse to kick himself (see brushing below), and may place extra stress on the inside of the horse's leg as the hoof hits the ground.This fault also leads to brushing (when one foot hits the other leg, usually @ fetlock level, while moving). This can also be caused by poor shoeing. Horses that brush should wear boots.
Paddling - the opposite of winging in that the legs move away from the center line. To remember which is which, picture paddling a canoe - your paddle would go out of the boat and back towards it. Paddling is often caused by toe-in conformation. This too you can try without your horse. Point your toes toward each other and try to walk. Have fun :) 
Plaiting - is when both front feet travel on the centre line (almost directly in front of each other). Horses that plait are often prone to tripping. Over-reaching is when the toes of the hind foot hits the back of the front foot (injuring usually the heels). Horses that over-reach should wear bell boots. Over-reaching is seen most often in high-energy sports (jumping, xc, etc)
Forging is when the hind shoe strikes the front shoe as the horse trots. This is less dangerous than over-reaching but may cause shoes to be pulled or your horse to trip. This occurs when the hind leg moves too quickly or the front leg too slowly. Often seen in green or tired horses.
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Beginner Movement
Most horses have four natural gaits (there are, of course, exceptions to this -- you can't be surprised about that! :).
The walk is a four-beat gait. Which means each foot hits the ground independently of the others. The order of the legs is: inside hind, inside fore, outside hind, outside fore.
The trot is a two-beat gait. The legs move in diagonal pairs. This is what gives the up-down rhythm that makes posting so successful :)
The canter is a three-beat gait. The horse version of waltzing. The important thing to remember in the canter is the outside hind is the one that strikes-off. The order of the legs is: outside hind, diagonal pair (inside hind with outside fore), inside fore.
The gallop is a four-beat gait followed by a moment of suspension (all four legs off the ground). It is essentially an accelerated canter, but the diagonal pair hits separately. The order of the legs is: outside hind, inside hind, outside fore, inside fore.
(note the moment of suspension and how the diagonal pair from the canter is broken)
And now, what you've all been waiting for, the exceptions! Not necessary to know these at this level, but they're arguably more interesting so I thought I'd include them. There are many exceptions which are found in specific breeds (collectively referred to as "gaited"). There are pacers (a two-beat gait like the trot, where the legs on one side move together), the "running walk" is a favourite of the Tennessee Walking Horse where the legs follow the pattern of a walk, but much faster and smoother. The Icelandic horses (whom I've not yet had the opportunity to ride, but I'd very much love to some day :), have the "tölt" which is a four-beat gait slightly faster than a trot.
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Pacing
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The walk is a four-beat gait. Which means each foot hits the ground independently of the others. The order of the legs is: inside hind, inside fore, outside hind, outside fore.
The trot is a two-beat gait. The legs move in diagonal pairs. This is what gives the up-down rhythm that makes posting so successful :)
The canter is a three-beat gait. The horse version of waltzing. The important thing to remember in the canter is the outside hind is the one that strikes-off. The order of the legs is: outside hind, diagonal pair (inside hind with outside fore), inside fore.
The gallop is a four-beat gait followed by a moment of suspension (all four legs off the ground). It is essentially an accelerated canter, but the diagonal pair hits separately. The order of the legs is: outside hind, inside hind, outside fore, inside fore.(note the moment of suspension and how the diagonal pair from the canter is broken)
And now, what you've all been waiting for, the exceptions! Not necessary to know these at this level, but they're arguably more interesting so I thought I'd include them. There are many exceptions which are found in specific breeds (collectively referred to as "gaited"). There are pacers (a two-beat gait like the trot, where the legs on one side move together), the "running walk" is a favourite of the Tennessee Walking Horse where the legs follow the pattern of a walk, but much faster and smoother. The Icelandic horses (whom I've not yet had the opportunity to ride, but I'd very much love to some day :), have the "tölt" which is a four-beat gait slightly faster than a trot.
Pacing
Read more...
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