This week Horses Inside Out hosted part 2 of the 3 part series of webinars that is currently running with Performance Specialist Dr Sue Dyson. Prevention is Better than Cure.
Last week part 1 was ‘Conformation Assessment: What Does Good Look Like?’
You can learn more about this in my previous blog.
This week was ‘Promoting Longevity: Maintaining Soundness & Optimizing Performance’
Just like the previous week, Sue hit the ground running the moment the webinar started and I could barely keep up making notes. Even as a professional that has worked with and been around horses for over 35 years, there was lots to learn and also lots to consider about things many of us already know about as horse owners, riders & professionals, but from a very different perspective.
Sue covered many aspects in this webinar, including:
· Hoof care
· Saddle Fit
· Bridle fit
· Bit Fit
· Dental Care
· Nutrition
· Body Condition
· Management/Lifestyle
· Training plans, ridden & groundwork
· Surfaces & Terrain
· Horse Walkers
· Rider Asymmetry, fitness & balance
· State of mind – both horse & rider
As a horse person, do you consider each of these things in detail when you think about long term soundness and longevity of the horse?
Poor management in any of these areas can and will affect your horse’s well-being and lead to poor performance or minor discomfort at best but also possible serious injury or career ending discomfort.
I think the best part of this webinar is there is something for every one and each person that watches it, depending on their experience, will take different little nuggets of information from it.
I thought I would share with you some of the things I found useful, and this is not just from an Equine Massage Professional viewpoint, but as a horse owner myself that wants the best for my ‘heart horse’, he is 7 now and I hope he can stay in work well into his late 20’s like my mare before him.
Although it’s not actually directly horse related, one the really great points Sue shared was the importance of improving yourself to help your horse. Both in terms of gaining more knowledge in how to care for and train your horse but also taking care of your own fitness, asymmetry & balance in order to help your horse during training and not cause them to compensate for your issues. I think this is so important, we can put so much into helping our horses but if we then get on and ride them and we are not fit or balanced enough, we are then doing a disservice to them. And potentially affecting their longevity as a riding horse through no fault of their own.
Going back to the horse themselves, knowing how to look for a good balanced foot is also important, and making sure your horse is being trimmed on a regular basis. It really does start from the ground up, ‘no foot, no horse’ is so true. Sue goes into detail in this webinar of what to look for in a good, balanced foot. Whether shod or barefoot. And insists, if you are not happy with your horse’s feet, change your hoof care professional!
When it comes to saddle fit, you don’t need to be a qualified saddle fitter to work out if you need to get one to come and check your saddle. There are other indicators of poor saddle fit you can look out for. Such as ruffled hairs on the horse’s back after riding, dry patches in the sweat on your horse’s back, or on the underside of their saddle pad, any lumps, bumps or soreness if you palpate the back after riding. Easy things that anyone can look out for. Poor saddle fit can affect the longevity of your riding horse as it can cause your horse discomfort and also affect muscle development.
Did you know that persistent saddle slip can be an indication of hind limb lameness?
If your saddle consistently slips one way, check to see if your horse’s rug also slips to the same side – could your horse be lame, causing asymmetry and this slip?
Most horse owners have a saddle fitter but how many have a bit & bridle fitter?
Poorly fitting bridles & bits can cause your horse discomfort with pressure points or even mouth lesions. Bit & bridle discomfort can cause your horse to change their way of going to ‘cope’ with the pain. Rein tension can be a good way to monitor if your horse is having pain & discomfort and in fact asymmetrical rein tension can be an early warning sign of hind limb lameness. Being aware of this means you may be able to spot a lameness early and get veterinary intervention before your horse becomes visibly lame.
I am pleased that Sue includes footing & terrain in this webinar. As a therapist working with many sports horses, I often see injuries either due to poorly maintained arena surfaces or horses that are poorly prepared for working on a variety of surfaces.
Something owners can very easily do to help their horses become more robust and able to cope with a variety of surfaces and reduce the chance of injury is to carefully cross train. This could be a whole webinar in itself I think. But I am glad Sue brings this up to create an awareness of this. One of the examples she uses is taking a horse for a day’s hunting, on roads, soft ground, tracks etc. when the horse has not been carefully preparing beforehand by training regularly on these different types of surfaces. This is almost asking for injury and certainly not considering the long term soundness of your horse.
But also horses that are worked on the same perfectly prepared surface day in day out doing the same job can suffer from repetitive strain injury, these horses would also benefit from working on a variety of surfaces and also doing different activities, not just doing the same work day in and day out. Again, this would improve the chances of longevity for these horses.
Okay, I feel like I could go on and on – this webinar has sooo much detail!
Sometimes it can feel overwhelming caring for a horse, there is so much to learn, and it can feel stressful just trying to get it right. But you don’t need to know it all, the best thing you can do is surround yourself with professionals you can trust, that can help guide you through.
The absence of obvious lameness in your horse doesn’t mean no pain.
Sue recommends regular appraisal of your horse by a registered therapist to help you with early recognition of signs of discomfort and also maintenance of your horse – to help you with promotion of longevity.
I do think though that this webinar could be a Horse 101 and help so many people to have a better awareness of what to look out for and when to call the help of one of those professionals. It’s definitely worth a watch!
And part 3 of the series is to come next week - Not Quite Right: Improving Poor Performance. I already can’t wait!
Jess
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