Idiot question about getting backs checked

P

Polos Mum

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 September 2012
Messages
6,367
Location
West Yorkshire
Visit site
Please be kind - genuine question

What do people get backs 'checked' for? and what do you then 'do' to backs?

Saddle fitting - does the saddle fit? if not saddle can be altered to fit better. I have a rough idea but expert clearly useful and I can't reflock etc.

Teeth - domestic horses don't eat they way they were evolved to so they wear unevenly - dentist checks for sharp edges/ uneven wear and rasps to make them smooth again.

If horse is fit and well and performing well - what are we checking for?
 
Ok so had my girl "checked" and given a sports massage at the weekend, I could see from working her on the lunge that there was a slight (no one else could see a problem) difference in her movement so I booked her in.
I was right and she had tight muscles over the top of her quarter resulting in the movement I could see.
But she was still jumping and working fine for me.

I had a suspicion as we had been jumping and it was a deep surface so I wasn't overly surprised that was a problem.
So that's my reasoning behind it!
 
Thanks Dianchi - so a mild pulled muscle from doing something not ideal (riding in the deep) helped by a massage (which I totally understand is really nice - well they are for me so I'd imagine horses are the same) and presumably a little time off to rest to sore muscle. That makes sense.

Would you routinely 'check' if you hadn't spotted a problem
 
I don't know the "expert" view but mine get a sports massage every month because they are spoilt and my best friend is an equine sports massage specialist (and qualified human and equine physio)!! Seriously, when I was trying to get fitter I realised how tight my muscles became following a strenous workout despite stretching out at the end. As I see my horses as being far superior athletes to me I think they benefit from the same thing. As you say above we get teeth done because their lifestyle doesn't reflect their "natural" status quo...well I think it's the same for some (maybe not all) horses in their workload on their muscles eg I have been on plenty of yards where haynets are tied up v high in stables so the horse is inverting the neck to eat and then we expect them to flex the other way during work?. Where I have seen the most benefit is in a horse that we are trying to change from an "uphill" showjumper into a horse that stretches through her back into a true "self carriage" - the whole process of trying to work those hitherto unstretched muscles along the back is a slow process which is being assisted by my friend working through those tight muscles manually. For a horse that has never worked long and low in her life those muscles are going to need some stretching out!! It's like a lot of things with my horses - I may not be an expert on anything but I do know that my horses really enjoy it and feel a lot better afterwards. Not sure that answers your question...but maybe another perspective??? ;)
 
Last edited:
My physio comes regularily when the horses are in work.
She checks the horse foot falls in walk and trot looking for any peculiarities in the gait and sometimes I ride or lunge the horses.
She then checks for any areas of spasm in the muscles and checkes the range of movement in the limbs and back and neck
She also checks all the joints and muscles in the head .
She then treats depending on what she finds.
 
I get my youngster checked every 3months, that's because he is changing shape so quickly and I'm going though saddles at an alarming rate. Only showed up a little tension but I've had horses with very problematic backs so would rather be very careful on this horse, especially as hopefully he will be my horse for life
 
Thanks almostthere - I can definitely see the benefits and like you say undoing some of the odd things we get them to do. That sounds more of a nice to have luxury for them rather than something they critically need ? would that be fair?
 
Goldenstar said:
My physio comes regularily when the horses are in work.
She checks the horse foot falls in walk and trot looking for any peculiarities in the gait and sometimes I ride or lunge the horses.
She then checks for any areas of spasm in the muscles and checkes the range of movement in the limbs and back and neck
She also checks all the joints and muscles in the head .
She then treats depending on what she finds.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this - I dont really get the just checking backs thing but my Osteopath checks the overall movement of the horse either on the lunge or just in hand trot up, walking in circles etc. She checks to see if the horse has a normal range of movement in all areas from the legs, shoulders, back, poll, neck etc and if a bit of 'tightness' in an of the muscles is causing a restriction anywhere. Sometimes a restriction in the neck could cause a shoulder to not move effectively or a tightness in the back cause cause a leg not to follow through properly - its all connected. Proper bio-mechanics.

Horses are athletics at the end of the day - they need to be treated like such. You dont think rugby players or runners are able to compete without the aid of physio & proper care & attention for their muscles/tendons/ligaments. Horses do much more physical work even at low level - the have to weight bear at the very basic level, so we need to ensure they are feeling their optimum in order to be able to go their work effectively :)
 
Polos Mum said:
That sounds more of a nice to have luxury for them rather than something they critically need ? would that be fair?
Click to expand...

I think that it would be unfair to ask a horse to work the way we want them to if they are sore or holding tension somewhere because of what we ask them do. I see it as essential for my horse - he is an athlete, even though we only do RC level. He has to carry me around & its my responsibility to ensure he can do that with ease otherwise I'm actually causing him pain without helping him! Plus I always make sure my Osteo checks me for any issues aswell - any crookedness in me is only causing him more discomfort. Pretty damn essential in my book!!
 
Goldenstar - If I die and come back as a horse I think I'd like to be one of yours - so almost a specialist soundness work up to identify little niggles , then massage/ exercises to strengthen/ stretch muscles and iron out niggles.
Are your horses in proper work?
If I hack 3/4 times a week and have the odd low level schooling session and horse is out 24/7 (so constantly moving and stretching naturally) - other than to spoil them is a back check essential in the same way a teeth check is?
 
Thanks Legon - horses are often tough enough to carry on with a little pain/ tension without showing it so I do understand that. An all over body work up sounds much more useful than a 'back check' - I can understand that.
 
Im lucky as I know my girls movements and can tell when she is struggling so she probably only gets seen once every 2/3 months, but I do stretches with her everytime I ride- like a human athlete would so I think this aids the time between sessions.
She is in full work, plays horseball and competes at least twice a month.

Polos Mum- I would say a check once every 6 months would probably be a good idea- its not really spoiling them but keeping everything in place and working right- bit like a car service!
 
Polos Mum said:
Thanks almostthere - I can definitely see the benefits and like you say undoing some of the odd things we get them to do. That sounds more of a nice to have luxury for them rather than something they critically need ? would that be fair?
Click to expand...

It's no luxury IMO a good physio can pick up issues early and liaising with the vet you can be on top of issues before they become more serious ones .
An example would be when my horse had his tooth removed ( long story ) he came back from the uni horsepital and after two weeks from passed fit to work by the vet he seemed quiet to me so I got the physio in early she put her hands on his jaw muscles he nearly hit the roof during the extraction he had pulled all his jaw muscles three different vets had been seeing him non had picked it up.
The more I use my current very well qualified physio ( I am not talking chiros or osteos or mctimothys here , I now will only trust a ACPAT physio ) the more I realise they know far far more than the vets in this area I do wonder how many kissing spines and knackered suspensories in the hind leg etc etc could be prevented by regular physio combined with correct work that's the other things my physio does gives imput on the work the horse should be doing on the gymnastic side.
 
Thanks all - interesting I come from the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' camp, but was wondering if I was missing something

As an example I've been to the dentist once in 15 years (just before I got married for a clean) hadn't been for 10+ years as my teeth work fine - dentist said I had great teeth no I won't be back for another 10+ years.
 
Slight difference with your dentist example is that (I presume) you clean your teeth daily, so that is your preventative measure.
What would/is your preventative measure for your horse?
 
well my preventative measure is to do extensive carrot stretches every morning before i ride my boy,and make sure he works over his back correctly-i also get his saddle checked every month (my YO is a fitter) and adjust the thickness of numnah underneath to make sure hes spot on. my mctimmony came out a year ago and said she thought he had suffered a rotational fall at some point in his career - but after this years visit she said he was now completely even and no longer one-sided. i also do lots of work on my self to make sure im not one sided anymore ,which would have a huge impact on the horses back im sure (and a lot of people dont consider the massive influence a wonky rider has)
 
I guess my preventative measures would be to keep them as naturally as possible (little time in and only eating from the floor, no cereal feed), when I work them I do lots of long low work, I don't run then on ground too hard or too soft, I watch them a lot and if the felt uneven or were standing strangely I'd investigate.

But I will investigate a qualified chiro and maybe have them out and see what they can spot
 
See, in my view no matter how 'naturally' they live, what damages them is the inherently unnatural act of carrying a person let alone do half the stuff even the average RC rider asks of them...
 
I bought my gelding in January and now he is back in proper work after a holiday and a few months pottering about I got his back checked, as I was convinced he was lame behind but the vet and farrier couldn't see anything. She pointed out some tense areas on his back, one big one most likely from having such an ill fitting saddle for a long time, and a few down his hindquarters which would point to why I thought he was lame behind. She also pointed out an old, probably gone unnoticed, hamstring tear which would help explain things too. She has given me some exercises to do with his hind legs before I ride which has made a huge difference, and shown me how to beneficially massage the tense areas which he really enjoys.

Next step is getting the saddler out, then I will probably get him a massage maybe three times a year unless I feel there is something else going on with his back, but a properly fitting saddle will do wonders!
 
When I am assessing a horse, I am not just looking at a particular area. I look at evenness of the barrel swing, front limbs, hind limbs, track up, evenness of the hindquarter dip, head bobbing, tail carriage, muscle wastage.... Things that don't quite look right. I then assess with palpation, looking for signs of discomfort - skin rippling, tail swishing, biting, ear pinning, stamping, pawing, basically any signs the horse isn't comfortable when I run my hands over an area.

Injuries and pain can present somewhere and be caused by something else entirely. Eg; My gelding was humping over and bucking - you'd automatically thing "back" right? It wasn't, it was actually coming from his pectoral muscles. They were sore and he was compensating for his sore pecs by using his back more which was hurting him causing the bucking. If I had just treated his back, the issue would be re-occurring until the actual cause was addressed.

Quite often you find if a horse is lame in say his front right, he will end up being a bit sore in his left hind due to compensation sort of like in people how if you hurt your back, you can end up with neck pain.
 
LegOn said:
I think that it would be unfair to ask a horse to work the way we want them to if they are sore or holding tension somewhere because of what we ask them do. I see it as essential for my horse - he is an athlete, even though we only do RC level. He has to carry me around & its my responsibility to ensure he can do that with ease otherwise I'm actually causing him pain without helping him! Plus I always make sure my Osteo checks me for any issues aswell - any crookedness in me is only causing him more discomfort. Pretty damn essential in my book!!
Click to expand...

PM - I think LegOn has answered perfectly for me (thanks LG :)). I do consider my horses to be athletes and therefore I do see it as necessary for keeping things in optimum working order. And just to be clear, she does a full body assessment (not just back), trot up, range of movement etc. She also leaves me with ongoing "homework" stretches etc to help strengthen weaknesses or tightness she has found. She is NOT a chiro but has referred me to one in the past when she has suspected there was something going on that she couldn't deal with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top