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Musculature of the Horse

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Further equine anatomical references. It is important to know, or at least know where to find information on, equine anatomy in a good amount of detail in order to truly understand how we seek to balance the horse.

thescienceofequus

Ulcers were more prevalent in domestic horses than feral ones, but the latter group wasn't immune to these lesions.

[ Equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) ]

Researchers have been telling us that we sometimes create health problems, such as gastric ulcers, in horses because we don’t manage them as nature intended—eating small quantities of grass almost continuously throughout the day. But are wild and feral horses really ulcer-free? And how do those rates compare to domestic horses?

At the 2015 American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine Forum, held June 4-6 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ben Sykes, BSc, BVMS, MS, Dipl. ACVIM, ECEIM, MBA, of BW Sykes Consultancy in Upper Orara, New South Wales, Australia, presented those study results in a poster presentation.

A horse’s stomach consists of two sections: the acid-producing glandular region (the bottom half) and the smooth squamous region that has a lining similar to the esophagus (the top half). While traditionally ulcers were thought to occur most commonly in the squamous region, it is becoming increasingly apparent that ulcers can affect the glandular region, as well.

“Equine squamous gastric disease (ESGD) has been reported in 50% to 100% of performance horses in various studies, while the prevalence of equine glandular gastric disease (EGGD) has been reported as being between 30% to 65% in a number of different horse types,” Sykes explained. “But, to date, littler information has been published on the prevalence of either in feral horses.”

So Sykes and colleagues from Oxford Brookes University, in Oxfordshire, and Abingdon and Whitney College, in Abingdon, in the United Kingdom, conducted a study in which they evaluated the prevalence of ESGD and EGGD in feral and domestic horses presented to an abattoir (slaughterhouse) in the U.K.

The team classified horses as feral (all of which originated from the Dartmoor and Exmoor regions in this study) if they were free-ranging with little to no human contact and domestic if they’d been under human care with a designated purpose. Sykes said the team did not have any history on the study horses, such as their ages, sexes, breeds, or what disciplines they were used for.

Following processing, Sykes graded the lesions present in all horses’ stomachs on a scale of 0 to 4 (with 4 being most severe) via photographs; he was blinded to whether the horses were feral or domestic. He classified horses as being ESGD or EGGD positive (scoring 2 or higher for each region) or negative (scoring 1 or less).

The team evaluated data on 51 domestic horses and 27 feral horses and determined that:

22.2% of feral horses and 60.8% of domestic horses had ESGD; and

29.6% of feral horses and 70.6% of domestic horses had EGGD.

“The results of this study suggest that the prevalence of both ESGD and EGGD are higher in domestic horses than in feral horses,” Sykes said.

Interestingly, he added, while researchers have long known that the risk of ESGD rises with increasing human intervention in their care, “this report is, to the authors’ knowledge, the first documenting that a similar effect may be present for EGGD.

“The … prevalence of ESGD in the feral horses was surprising,” Sykes told The Horse. “However, it has been previously shown that ESGD may develop rapidly with fasting and transport, both of which the feral horses were exposed to.”

Similarly, he said, the finding of an EGGD prevalence of 29.6% in the feral horse population was also surprising.

“Factors such as fasting and transport are known to be associated with the development of ESGD, but, to date, have not been demonstrated to cause EGGD,” he said. “A further understanding of the factors that cause EGGD is needed before this finding can be explained.

“The findings of this study support the idea that factors imposed through domestication and intensive management increase the risk of both ESGD and EGGD,” he relayed. “Risk factors for ESGD are well-described, and simple management changes such as permitting free-choice access to good-quality roughage (forage), increasing pasture turnout, and reducing grain intake are likely to reduce the likelihood of disease.

”In contrast, he said, despite several research groups’ ongoing efforts, we still don’t understand the risk factors for EGGD.

“The findings of this study suggest that intensive management may play an overall role in increasing the risk of disease, but the individual risk factors are not known,” Sykes said. “As such, it is not possible at this point in time to make specific recommendations to reduce the risk of EGGD. It is logical to follow the dietary and lifestyle changes advocated for the prevention of ESGD, but their efficacy in reducing the risk of EGGD is questionable.”

equitation--science-blog

So what can we DO with this information? In order to work happily together, we need to keep our equine partners in tip-top shape. At the very least the ability to be exposed to a herd environment, daily self-exercise, and free-choice roughage can all lower the risk of ESGD. The fact that those things are removed for the “horse’s safety” seems oxymoronic given the health risks - both mental and physical - present in those horses that are removed from their natural behaviors.

xyprogramming

Thermal Infra-Red image of a horse cooling itself by swishing its tail.

equitation--science-blog

THIS is cool stuff.

theclassicalhorse

Sorry if you have already answered something like this, but what are your thoughts on Tommy Turvey's training methods?

Ive heard of him and I know he does a lot of horse training for films and commercials, but I have know idea how he does it. I briefly viewed his website looking for kew words and phrases but theres nothing for me to make judgements. Are any of my followers familiar with him?

equitation--science-blog

My only experience with him was watching his performance at Breyerfest last year. It was a complete mess. His wife almost got bucked off and couldn't keep control of her horses. He tried to roman ride over a fire jump and got launched head first into it. His response was to come around again and repeatedly whack the horses he was standing on as they approached so they would jump.

classical-equitation-deactivate

Many top horses show signs of being ridden consistently behind the vertical. Hollow backs, unable to reach forward with the hind end, more weight remaining on the front end, improper muscling of the neck, broken at the third vertebrae etc. Horses “relax” into this position because the hands are not following. Their choice is to use an exhausted muscle group to hold their head up and against the bit, or to drop down and behind to release bit pressure and those exhausted muscles, but engage a whole new set of incorrect muscles and painful side effects. However because the hand does not release and send the nose forward from the seat and leg, it has to come down and back.

Classical masters (Nuño, Beran, Branderup) all demonstrate a following hand and a forward seat. The horse is asked to reach under with his pelvis and elevate the withers to the poll, which allows the head to “drape” into a position just ahead of vertical. If the horse needs to stretch his back, the nose comes down and forward as the spine lengthens from poll to tail. Think of it like hanging a lantern from your hand. Whether you hold the lantern up above your head or straight out or down, the lantern will always seek to hang straight down.

Due to anatomical constraints of musculature, vision and trachea placement, horses’ true relaxation falls just ahead of vertical, but the analogy is the same.

— Erin Long, of Cairdeas Horsemanship.

I love her analogies and ability to simplify seemingly complex concepts, without losing the importance of what she is trying to convey. 👍🏼

equitation--science-blog

Reblogging my own original quote. 😂😂

theclassicalhorse

Claudia Strauss

theclassicalhorse

The drive to allow bitless bridles in dressage picks up steam—and controversy.

“Though her educational system, “Dressage, Naturally” includes natural horsemanship principles, Rohlf isn’t a flag-bearer for bitless bridles. “I’m for what works for the particular horse and helps you achieve your goal, with the goal being to fulfill the object of dressage as written by the FEI.” Rohlf says that she wishes bitless dressage wasn’t viewed as something different than regular dressage. “We wouldn’t say, ‘I’m doing snaffle dressage’ or ‘I’m doing double-bridle dressage.’ It’s just dressage,” she says.”

equitation--science-blog

I think it's important to note that dressage originally was not about submission to a bit, it was about submission to the hands. The masters happened to use a bit, but so much of their in hand training was also completed in a cavesson. People get hung up on the whole "bit vs bitless" discussion, and miss the actual point of the aid itself. If the horse is light and submissive TO THE HAND, the way that aid is translated to the horse should not matter.

anatoref

Horse Anatomy

sanddancingwithanxiety

Hello! I'm very interested in classical dressage and am looking for some good books on the matter. Can you recommend some?

i’m not going to lie, i haven’t read any books (beyond quotes) on the matter. i only became interested in classical dressage once i was in uni (which leaves me not enough time to do my compulsory readings, let alone reading for leisure… but enough time to go on tumblr… and i did read ASOIAF but you know that’s a very special exception…. anyway let’s not go into my time management issues and hypocrisies! :P).

i learned mostly through web resources and the quotes on those websites and what my classical fanatics on here post - articles, more quotes etc. it’s been a long time since i trawled the websites, and there are some with some really good diagrams which are really educational in teaching you what to look for - i think this is the site which i found most educational when learning maybe. other ones that could be good is this site and this one [the second is linked to a list of books they recommend too, just for you].

concerning books, i will send this on to theclassicalhorse and heartofhorselords as they will be able to give you far better than i can. i’ve adored everything i’ve read online as quotes from nuno oliveira’s books, so i would recommend something from him - but as i said, haven’t read it from experience! there are probably some books that give clear cut difference between modern/classical dressage to make it clear as well - maybe this one?

followers, please comment with any recommendations to make up for my lazy butt!

theclassicalhorse

The thing about “classical dressage” is that everyone who claims to train dressage under that specific label has a different method. Each method is backed behind different belief systems, some which have science on their side and some which are more based on tradition and feeling. So every book you read by a different master or even contemporary trainer will for the most part contain contradictions to beliefs you may already hold or have gained by reading another book. You will find that some classical masters like to subtly shit on each others methods by pointing out flaws in logic or giving alternative methods. And thats the fun of it: forming your own idea of what “classical dressage” is all about and figuring out which angle you want to approach it from!

To begin, I would recommend Marijke de Jong’s free e-book “An Intro to Straightness Training”. I recommend reading this first because its written in a way that assumes the reader is a novice horse person with no former knowledge of horse asymmetry and how to go about correcting it. It sets the base for the other books I recommend because they ALL have the “our goal is to straighten a crooked horse” theme. If you’re interested in the Academic Art of Riding spears of “classical dressage”, you could go ahead and also read Marijke’s free e-book “Academic Art of Riding” and of course Bent Branderup’s beautiful book “Academic Art of Riding”.

Then, you’ve got the classic “The Art of Horsemanship” by Xenophon. I thoroughly loved reading this one. Authors of the other books I recommend usually quote Xenophon because classical dressage pretty much has its roots in Xenophon’s time. He is known as the first master. Books like this are more of a fun read. It primed my interest in riding history which is why I love dressage in the first place. HISTORY and HORSES.

Some books that give you the “start to finish” rundown on their methods:

“The Compete Training of the Horse and Rider” - (loved this book but I had to take everything with a grain of salt. I wasn’t sure about some of the methods employed on the horses. Its very theory heavy.)

“Classical Schooling with the Horse in Mind” - (absolutely hands down one of my favorites.)

“Twisted Truths of Modern Dressage”- (contrary to what the title suggests, its not really a hate fest on “modern dressage’. It just points out some of the many contradictions in popular equine literature including things I read from complete training of horse and rider and some academic art of riding beliefs. Its definitely and interesting read. It really gets you thinking about todays training practices.)

You’ve got the classic “Classical vs Modern Dressage”, and I wish it had a different title. People who ride “modern dressage” probably roll their eyes every time someone recommends that book. Its a good, quick read. Its kind of anatomy heavy from the light readers but I think its worth it.

Another book that I enjoyed but never got around to finish is “Balancing Act” which is mostly a riding/training philosophy book. I probably underlined half of the text because I can relate and understand so many concepts. Its really not a “how to” book and more of a “why do we do it this way?” book.

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