Dressage Horses
Your dressage horse needs to combine athleticism and grace, performing movements that display strength and balance, while remaining supple and relaxed. Athletes need their bodies maintaining and bodywork is essential for these horses, to ensure that they are capable of doing what is asked of them with excessive effort or tension.
Basic biomechanics dictate that every part of the horse's body affects the whole. Stiffness leads to crookedness, with soft tissue tension restricting movement and limiting joint action. Tightness through the back hinders limb action, which may in turn lead to lameness and, in the future, possible joint degeneration, particularly in the hocks. Tight muscles are shorter and so then are paces – when the rider responds by asking for more energy, existing tension increases, leading to further issues as the muscles hit their limit.
My approach to bodywork addresses all areas of the horse’s body and, by easing soft tissue tension, brings about looseness and increased suppleness. With greater mobility, the horse is better able to achieve collection and lengthening of the topline, as well as bending and lateral work. It also opens up the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, enabling the enhanced oxygenation needed to perform high power movements with lightness and impulsion.
Back Pain in Dressage Horses
More than any other discipline, I urge dressage riders to have their saddles checked regularly. Working extensively in collection means that restriction of the long back muscles can cause acute pain in a very short period of time. I find that many saddles are fitted at the gullet but not at the back, leading to high incidences of middle back and lumbar pain. This causes immense distress to the horse, changing its attitude to work, compromising performance and leading to further physical issues down the line.
