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equine pain grimace scale
It is my (humble!) opinion that every horse owner should have an understanding of the equine grimace scale aka equine pain face. It is one thing that really is a welfare basic to be able to see these predictable signs of pain in a horse and therefore be able to investigate that.
Remember that these signs are indicative when they are seen simultaneously, and also when they are seen over a period of time. Seeing progression of these signs in the same horse may indicate a greater degree of pain, but again the perception of pain may vary from horse to horse!
Also remember that it does not tell us where the horse is experiencing pain, and nor does the absence of the grimace tell us that the horse is not experiencing pain.
exercises for posture
rib hold/breathing
This is one of the most underrated exercises I give people, and I know it, but I beg you to try it and keep at it!
Breathing really is the biggest part of improving core stability, and it is so so so important if you want to turn “jamming on my abs” into actual core work. It is one way you can improve your own core stablity, back pain and posture… and not working on breathing will sabotage any other attempt you make.
Same deal here! Please please please do it!
It’s simple, you are placing your hand on the horse’s belly, at the end of the ribs (we are aiming for the diaphragm area) and just staying there. In general the horse will start to breathe differently, often shallower or quicker, before slowing, sometimes taking a big breath or sigh, then gradually breathing more deeply “into” your hand.
I always start in this spot, but you can then move it around to target new areas that could use softening and expanding.
“inchworm” spinal release technique
This is a lovely TTouch technique. Essentially we are taking soft hands, and as we breathe out, we are moving them slightly apart, just enough to gently shift the skin. As we breathe in, we are allowing the skin to return to normal again. We then move our hands a little down the spine and repeat. You can go from wither to tail, or wither to sacrum.
It is designed to improve blood flow to the fascia surrounding the spine. It simultaneously “wakes up” but also relaxes the muscles and fascia… perfectfor horses with back pain and restriction. I personally use it before and after riding, but I also love it in this rehab phase as a daily exercise to improve the entire neurofascial relationship within the horse’s back.
belly lift
This one can be a little hard to find, AND please do be careful as some horses will want to kick or bite!
The aim is only to ask them to lift a few millimetres, for some horses that will be plenty difficult enough. The aim overtime is to release the back and improve the range of movement enough that they CAN lift more.
Bladder Meridian Sweep
This is great for relaxation over the back, but also for a ‘detox’ of the fluid system of the body. It is also wonderful for getting more in tune with where your horse actually feels restricted or different or simply where they would like some attention, as opposed to where we think they should.
exercises to improve movement
- All in one video at the bottom -
rolling stretch exercise
This is designed to be a dynamic stretch. While I’m not a fan of carrot stretches in general - reach out if you want to know why so I don’t waste time here! - I am a fan of this dynamic stretch.
Essentially you ask the horse to roll their nose from neutral, to their chest, to their knees and back to neutral. The aim is to have them standing as square as possible, keep their head and neck as straight as possible (not tilting or twisting) and have them do it as slow as possible… but it takes a while! Start where you start and just aim to slowly improve it!
As we ask the horse to roll their nose down from chest to knees, we are stretching over the back and simultaneously rocking the weight back, as they roll their head back up they are engaging their core to stabilise, whilst activating those muscles over the top line. When they become particularly good at it, we can add in a “lift” at the end, where we actually ask them to lift the neck and wither, and rock further back onto their hindquarters… but they need to be very solid in the first stage before adding that in!
“labyrinth”
Excellent for building in mindful movement that helps symmetry, balance over all 4 legs, rocking the weight back, correcting lateral crookedness, developing core etc. If you did nothing but this, and did it well, you would see phenomenal results (I can say this because I have seen them, over and over again!).
It is one of the many TTouch techniques that I really like because they work on building neural pathways. They do not force the horse to do anything, but they simply set them up where they will reach the correct “answer” themselves.
This one is also great for building your own awareness in terms of how clear your aids are and how you position your body. How well your horse does it is entirely up to your ability to guide them through it… So it’s a great way to learn how to be a good guide!
“pilates poles”
These can be done in hand or ridden, and they can be increased in difficulty.
The aim is for you to simply ask your horse to walk over the poles on a slight curve, so that the horse walks over the same part of each pole. Ie if they walk over the middle of the first pole, they also walk over the middle of the next two. You will choose a point along the pole where the horse is not having to stretch, nor excessively shorten. The aim is for you to do as little as possible except asking them to stay on a particular line. If you are riding, this means long reins!
Go through three times each way, and ideally using a turn on the forehand to change direction.
Once you are up to doing it ridden, you can then raise the middle pole, on side closest to the inside of your “circle” slightly off the ground (15cm max) and continue.
This exercise is great for starting to build more strength through the core, while keeping the body upright and keeping awareness of where the limbs are in space. For me, I find it takes 10 minutes off my warm up in terms of asking the horse to lift their back and use their hind end more.