'Hardening Tendons' using Concussional Force.

I think roadwork is an essential part of conditioning bones, ligaments and tendons. Concussive force is beginning to get a bit of a bad rap in the horse world but they do need it, just not excessively. So if you take an unfit horse that has barely been outside of the arena for a long hack with lots of trotting, then yes, you will cause problems. But I think the vast majority of us don't trot absolutely everywhere on tarmac and our horses' legs will be well-conditioned for it. IME soft arenas are far worse for tendons - they certainly put a lot of pressure on mine if I'm running around on one. As with most things, it's about everything in moderation - so no 'ammer 'ammer 'ammering, just a nice steady trot.
 
Illusion100 said:
I appreciate your explanation of Biomechanics and that the origin and insertion points are usually most commonly affected. My query is Physiological so how do you harden 'an inelastic rope'?
Click to expand...

Your Professional is using old-fashioned terminology that's all.
 
I trot on roads for fitness. I think it's important for keeping my hunter & eventer fit. She also obviously also trots on roads out hunting, however I do try to keep her on the grass verges if there are any, as she can then have a canter. I have to agree with the professional about strengthening the tendons by doing some trotting on road work, but entirely disagree about jumping on roads.

I think the key to healthy tendons is not do too much of one thing, i.e. only roadwork or schooling in the arena. All our horses are worked on lots of mixed terrain, fields, the arena, roadwork etc.
 
Mike007 said:
No ,they are not elastic.They obviously will stretch to a very minor extent ,but they are not elastic in the normal sense of the word.
Click to expand...

I'm confused Mike. If this is true, how does the fetlock sink when there are no muscles (and therefore no elastic soft tissue) below the horses knee?
 
I think is that people with an arena that over use it think an hours work in there is equal to an hours work hacking over uneven surfaces and road work. By their nature roads tend to be a consistent surface so controlled trotting building up over weeks allows all the lower limb to become strengthened, combined with hill work, slow work on uneven surfaces you are stressing the limbs in a controlled way. I find it much easier my self to run on tarmac than a rutted track. In the old days fittening took several weeks before you actually worked the horse. I had a horse that had loss of use due to navicular, with road work I was able to keep him fit a sound without bute and even cubbed him, the cubbing I classed as work as I had no control of the stresses that he would encounter on uneven surfaces.
 
khalswitz said:
Nope, tendons have to be inelastic to work. If they were elastic, then when the muscle contracted the tendon would stretch before reaching the force required to move the bone. Not only would it be extremely inefficient in terms of energy required to move, but also would make fine movements almost physically impossible. From a biomechanics perspective, tendons HAVE to be inelastic to work.
Click to expand...

But K, there are no muscles below the knee, surely the tendons we refer to as being hardened by road work are all below the knee and must be elastic for the leg to work the way it does to reduce concussion by dropping the fetlpck?
 
I have to agree with the professianal, i believe plenty of trotting on roads hardens the tendons, ive been doing this for 35 years with out any splints/lameness ever with any of my horses, and if my horses fancy a steady canter on the roads { very quite hilly lanes} i will let them.
 
A few years back I had a cob mare with a tendon injury so I read up loads on treatments and cures. I remember reading that a horse's tendon can only stretch approximately 16% (might be 19%, really can't remember) and that anything over that will cause damage. Not a lot when you look at slow-mo film of horses landing after show-jumps or racehorses galloping.
 
I don't agree with trotting on the road personally, as it can throw splints etc. and I think the concussion up the bone and leg in generally can't be very good. Yes it may help strengthen but just schooling gently in a field will do the same job IMO. I would agree that staying in a soft school all the time probably wouldn't do much good.
 
I was having a conversation about this with a friend this morning who had just attended a lecture on this amongst other stuff. The lecturer was describing a yard in Australia which has just installed a bitumen road to allow the trainers to trot horses on it for fittening. His words were that Shock Wave therapy was pretty much achievieng what was once achieved with steady trotting on the road.
I've always trotted on the road, steadily and for 5 or 10 minutes, especially uphill, but then I've never been a big fan of working too much on an arena.
 
I'd be interested to know where you're getting the information that the tendons are inelastic? What is the alternative theory to the spring/elastic potential one?
 
rara007 said:
I'd be interested to know where you're getting the information that the tendons are inelastic? What is the alternative theory to the spring/elastic potential one?
Click to expand...

Tendons being inelastic is something I've been told as fact since high school biology through to my veterinary science degree (and experimented with myself during dissection and biomechanics practically in loving measuring stretch) to my current Masters in Equine Science.

SOME tendons (only one in humans afaik and only two or three in horses iirc) are believed to show elastic properties to enhance forward propulsion (however this has only really been proposed and accepted over the last ten years I believe so possibly more to discover and discuss) however the majority of tendons HAVE to be inelastic to allow for movement of the body. Any precise movement has to be done by a muscle attached to an inelastic tendon, or else the tendon would stretch before the bone would move - simple physics.

Elastic tendons improve athleticism - but inelastic tendons allow you to move. Interesting case studies have shown that horses can still function after severing an elastic tendon, but NOT an inelastic tendon. I can look up the notes on this if you are interested :)

So in a horse's lower leg, all the extensor tendons are inelastic, as is the DDFT, there is argument about the SDFT, and the suspensory is believed to have elastic function. In humans, only the Achilles (although the equivalent in the horse is not).

Elastic tendons can't be conditioned, inelastic ones can - you can strengthen an inelastic tendon by laying down more fibres, but this would reduce function in an elastic tendon. However elastic tendons do suffer more injuries, especially in older horses whose elastic tendons naturally deteriorate. Elastic tendons also suffer more from work in deep surfaces (think how your Achilles feels after running through mud/snow/sand). Elastic tendons also suffer greater incidences of re injury.

Have a google of tendon function - most of the literature will accept the majority of tendons being inelastic.
 
Last edited:
khalswitz said:
So in a horse's lower leg, all the extensor tendons are inelastic, as is the DDFT, there is argument about the SDFT, and the suspensory is believed to have elastic function. In humans, only the Achilles (although the equivalent in the horse is not).
Click to expand...

Argh, too late to edit. sorry, to correct myself: the SDFT IS elastic, the suspensory is argued about but generally believed to be mainly elastic in function.

Even elastic tendons aren't *that* elastic compared to a rubber band. Most tendons fail at around 6% strain, human elastic tendons fail at around 12%, and the SDFT which stretches the most of any measured elastic tendon has been measured stretching to 20%.
 
Last edited:
Genuinely interested in the differences between trotting on the roads for shod and un shod horses if anyone could help educate me? I have been told trotting shod horses can cause concussive injuries, and that trotting unshod horses is no problem as it were??
 
cptrayes said:
But K, there are no muscles below the knee, surely the tendons we refer to as being hardened by road work are all below the knee and must be elastic for the leg to work the way it does to reduce concussion by dropping the fetlpck?
Click to expand...

No, there are no muscle below the knee. However those tendons still attach to muscles. If you want to move the lower limb, the muscle contracts, tendon pulls, limb moves. If the tendon is elastic, the tendon stretches rather than pulling on the muscle. Muscles that don't contract have elastic tendons eg the SDFT. However the majority of tendons have to be inelastic in order to move.

I made a fab model when at uni of how the tendons move, but most don't stretch, when the fetlock sinks. However I can't really translate that here. I will google.
 
Last edited:
Well don't know about anyone else but I feel awful during and after running on dry sand or gravel etc but can happily run on tarmac and hard grass/earth so long as I have reasonable shoes on. Even a hard uneven surface such as a mountainside feels much better underfoot when running than an arena. Sand or gravel lets my feet twist and stretch in a way that just feels wrong. I think extensive training on that type of ground would be more likely to cause an injury than prevent it. As fr as 'hardening' of the tendons is concerned I don't think that is the right word. Strengthening sounds more like it.

I think the benefits of 'concussion' to bone density are widely publicised in the sport world. My partner loves MMA and some of the fighters specifically target their bone and muscle density with shock exercises to reduce likelihood of injury. Plyometric shock training has been shown to increase bone density, reduce bone and cartilage injuries such as breakage and improve/maintain muscle strength, though how much of this would directly translate to horses I don't know. I expect some of it is relevant.

I reckon it is much healthier for a horse that is exercised vigorously for extended periods on hard surfaces to have bare feet. Shoes on a horse that works very hard on tarmac might cause harsh jarring over time.
 
Can someone point me to some clinical studies which show "fracturing of the bones" and tendon function improvement on hard surfaces please?
 
tankgirl1 said:
Genuinely interested in the differences between trotting on the roads for shod and un shod horses if anyone could help educate me? I have been told trotting shod horses can cause concussive injuries, and that trotting unshod horses is no problem as it were??
Click to expand...

when metal (the shoe) hits the ground the force creates concussion which travels up the leg-a hoof without out shoes expands and moves in accordance to what surface it makes contact with and being a softer material the concussion force is much less.
 
rara007 said:
I'd be interested to know where you're getting the information that the tendons are inelastic? What is the alternative theory to the spring/elastic potential one?
Click to expand...

Tendons are definitely elastic! If they weren't there would be lots of animals with broken shattered bones :D

It is length and thickness that determines HOW elastic.

Here is a good article with links to various evidence based on studies.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/12668/tendon-injuries-treatments-and-prevention
 
tallyho! said:
Tendons are definitely elastic! If they weren't there would be lots of animals with broken shattered bones :D

It is length and thickness that determines HOW elastic.

Here is a good article with links to various evidence based on studies.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/12668/tendon-injuries-treatments-and-prevention
Click to expand...

As defined by 'Nature', THE biology journal: 'Tendons are tough, inelastic bands of connective tissue.'

http://www.nature.com/subjects/tendons

Here for a brief overview of tendon structure: http://kirkham.tamu.edu/426-34 Tendons.ppt

Definitely inelastic! (The majority of). That's why you generally are more likely to 'pull' a muscle than a tendon, as these are the stretchable part - however tendons with elastic properties ie Achilles in humans or SDFT in horses are more likely to be 'pulled' due to this elastic property (although, again, we mean relative elasticity rather than actual elasticity).
 
Last edited:
khalswitz said:
Nope, tendons have to be inelastic to work. If they were elastic, then when the muscle contracted the tendon would stretch before reaching the force required to move the bone. Not only would it be extremely inefficient in terms of energy required to move, but also would make fine movements almost physically impossible. From a biomechanics perspective, tendons HAVE to be inelastic to work.
Click to expand...

There's been loads of biomechanic work into the energy saving benefits of elasticity in the structure of tendons. I vaguely recall watching one stretched to breaking point at some stage myself.
 
I think "hardening the tendons" is one of those horsey terms that doesn't actually mean anything, but everyone understands.
Like "he got a bit of a leg"

It means that by exercising on the roads the legs are conditioned to be able to stand up to fast work, hence the rule about road walking for a couple of weeks, followed by the gradual introductionof trotting on the roads, before including some canter work.
 
Really interesting thread! I always go by the maxim, fast walk, slow trot and yes, I keep my trots to uphill bits so the force is taken away from the front feet somewhat. But, i also think you need to take into account the horse. a hunting friend with a part French trotter always used lots of roadwork including trotting to fitten horse for the season. she may have "hardened" his tendons but unfortunately at the same time, she essentially knackered his feet with the concussion. My current horse has a very big trot, he's also quite big and heavy, frankly I'm not going to do much trotting on the road with him. Some horses have quite small trots so I guess the concussive forces would be much less, certainly in the saddle, I can feel a difference. As you can tell I'm not a scientist but just trying to apply some common sense. Surely it's working horses on a variety of surfaces in a variety of different ways, working them at a level that increases their level of fitness without over tiring them and knowing your horse, it's conformational challenges and history that's the essence of good management, not trying to design an exercise regimen that will work for ever horse.
 
I actually think ' hardening the tendons' might be the right way to describe it. If you feel the tendons behind the cannon bones in a fit horse, don't they feel much harder than those in an unfit horse?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top