Lesson Three

I. Equine Gaits and Movement Patterns

II. Common Stresses and Injuries

III. Recognizing Discomfort in Horses in Motion

I. EQUINE GAITS AND MOVEMENT PATTERNS

Lesson two described the horse’s skeletal and muscular anatomy, emphasizing how the muscles work to move the bones. Now, we’re going to focus on the specific movement patterns.

When evaluating a horse’s movement, it is important to know the correct sequence of foot falls in the different gaits. This allows us to assess the extent of the deviation from normal and therefore, the extent of a problem. The greater the deviation away from normal correct movement, the greater the problem and the less satisfying the horse’s performance - ranging from not quite up to standard to actual unsoundness that may require a veterinary exam.

Horse’s movement patterns fall into two basic categories—trotting horses and gaited horses. Let’s start with horses that walk, trot and canter.

The Walk

The walk is a four beat gait in which the horse moves one foot at a time, so there are always three feet on the ground at any time. This makes the walk a smooth, even gait that is easy and comfortable to ride.

The hind legs swing from the hip joint with no, or very little, lowering of the pelvis as the hind legs come forward. There is a rhythmic downward nod of the head and neck that is in time with the footfall. Any upward swing of the head, rather than downward, indicates stiffness in the horse’s back and forehand.

All of a horse’s movement initiates in the hindquarters. The natural walk starts with a push from the hindquarters. The horse begins moving his mass forward by driving off a hind foot. As the horse loses his balance, a front foot moves forward to catch and rebalance the horse. Even though the action has started in the hindquarters, it appears the front foot moves first—this is because it must move out of the way of the forward moving hind foot which will over stride the front foot print if the horse is without pain or stiffness. The sequence of strides is actually, right hind, right fore, left hind, left fore. A hind leg begins the sequence with a driving movement even though it appears that the fore leg is the first to move.

Ideally the speed with which each leg comes forward and the length of the stride of each should be the same for all four legs. If this is true there will be a regular four-beat rhythm.

Many times this is not the case, and there will be variation in the timing of the beats. A good way to initially sense this is to listen to the horse walk on pavement or bricks and you will hear the rhythm variation and irregularities clearly.

Sometimes the front legs will take longer strides than the hinds, or vice versa. Another common sequence is one in which the horse takes even strides with three legs and a short stride with a single leg.

An all too common irregularity that we see is the one in which the two legs on one side stride forward at the same time. This is called a “pace” (two beat lateral gait) and it gives an uncomfortable lurching motion to the walk. The foot fall pattern of the pace would be the left fore and left hind coming forward together and then the right fore and right hind coming forward together. Camels pace at the walk and Standardbreds trot or pace very rapidly as they pull sulkies in races.

The human movement pattern that is the equivalent of the horse’s walk is our crawl. As a baby crawls, it moves its arms and legs in the same sequence as the horse’s walk. Get down on the ground and experiment with crawling. Try variations, especially the pace; see which is the most comfortable.

The Trot

The trot is a two beat gait in which a diagonal pair of legs (hind leg on one side, fore leg on the other) comes forward at the same time for the first beat and then the other diagonal pair comes forward for the second beat. In between these two steps there is a moment when all four legs are off the ground at the same time. This is called “the moment of suspension” and it is a crucial phase in the trot sequence. Any interference with the moment of suspension will be indicative of irregularities in the trot.

Again, as in the walk, the ideal is to have the length of stride, the time interval and the speed of both pairs equal. This produces a fluid, cadenced trot of complete regularity. Deviations from this will vary from slight to severe.

Slight might be that the legs of a diagonal pair do not leave the ground or land at quite the same moment. A horse that carries its body in an asymmetrical configuration (crooked) will often show this type of deviation.

Severe would be when a leg does not complete its forward stride, but puts the foot down out of time with its diagonal partner. This could happen when a horse is very sore in a limb or there is a clinical unsoundness.

The human equivalent of the trot is our walking and running.

Notice as you walk or run, that as the leg on one side comes forward the arm on the opposite side swings forward at the same time. Try other patterns. Swing the arm and leg on the same side together. Tighten up your arm swing and see if that affects your body as you walk.

The Canter

The canter is a three beat gait with a moment of suspension, (all four feet off the ground) after the third beat.

For the first beat of the canter one of the diagonal pairs of the trot is broken up and the horse will push off with the hind leg of that diagonal without moving the front leg. The other diagonal pair will come down together (just as they do in the trot), and then the fore leg of the first pair will finally move forward (this is what we call the leading leg). There is a moment of suspension when all four feet are off the ground. I think of it as if the horse vaults from a hind leg to the opposite fore leg and puts the other two legs (the other diagonal pair) down together to support its body in the middle of the vaulting stride.

The most common irregularity in the canter is what is called a “four-beat canter”. When this occurs, the legs of the diagonal pair that should land together as the second beat (the one that supports the middle of the vault) do not land at the same time. The foreleg of this pair touches down before the hind leg, giving the canter four beats instead of three and there is no moment of suspension. This restricts the movement in the horses back to a tight “lurching” feeling under the rider’s seat.

Another incorrect variation of the canter would be one in which the canter is slowed down to such a degree the horse uses a canter sequence in the front legs and a trot sequence in the hind legs.

If you have ever watched children skipping or playing “horsey” you will see they use the same foot sequence as the horse’s canter. And, if you watch carefully, you will see that one of their arms will actually move in a slight forward/back motion just like a horse’s leading leg.

Gaited Horses

In your massage work you may be called upon to work on gaited horses.

Gaited horses have a normal walk and (sometimes) canter sequence, but there is no trot.

The thing that the different gaits have in common is that the horse always has at least one foot on the ground. There is never a moment when all four feet are off the ground - therefore the gaits cannot be variations of the trot. The trot, by definition, has a moment of suspension.

The gaited horse actually walks when it is “gaiting.” Even the Missouri Fox trotter walks rather than trots.

The fast walk (a “single-footer walks so fast that at times he only has a single foot on the ground) gives a smoother, softer gait that is usually very comfortable for the rider.

Almost all of these “gaits” are the product of training rather than in-born. The major exception that I know of is the Paso Fino. They have a walk and a canter, but no trot or variation of the trot (they can be taught to trot, but this, then, would be a learned gait). All of the Paso Fino’s gaits are the four-beat walk pattern done at different speeds.

Some horses, like the five-gaited Saddlebred, will have the three natural gaits plus two man-made ones.

The important thing to understand when evaluating a gaited horse’s movement is that the “gait” may not give you a good idea of what is going on in their bodies, but the walk and canter should give good information.

When we do the lesson that includes evaluating a horse’s movement prior to doing a massage, I will go into greater detail about the things you should be looking for in the gaits that indicate a problem and where it might be originating.

II. COMMON STRESSES AND INJURIES

The first part of this lesson has described the natural gaits and movement patterns of a horse, but these can be disrupted by outside factors. Injuries are one of these factors, but even more frequent, and important, are muscle strains and soreness that can be caused by the type of work we ask of horses. In any given riding discipline there are certain stresses and injuries that will be fairly common for that particular discipline or sport. These problems will usually center around a specific area of the horse such as the forehand and front legs, hocks and hindquarters.

These are some of the common problems encountered in our more popular forms of riding:

• Excessive pressure or concussion to the forehand.

• Excessive pressure on back muscles.

• Excessive pressure or concussion to the hindquarters.

• Co-contraction problems.

• Stress from riding and training styles that emphasize forms of balance and movement that deviate from the anatomical norm.

• Outside trauma (accidents, falls)

The majority of problems in a particular riding sport or activity will usually involve one of the above categories, but some may show a pattern of multiple categories. Some of the problems that occur will be of a nature that requires veterinary care and the massage work will need to wait until the injury has healed and rehabilitation has started. Many problems will simply involve muscle tensions and soreness that results in a general deterioration of performance and a loss of free motion and flexibility—these are readily responsive to massage.

Excessive Pressure or Concussion to the Forehand

Race horses - Injuries to race horses are centered, to a large extent, in the lower front legs and are usually of a nature that requires veterinary attention, but along with the lower leg injuries there will be soreness and cramping in the shoulders, withers and back muscles. A regular maintenance massage schedule can help alleviate much of the muscle soreness that is inherent in the intense training schedule of a racehorse. (Many of the problems seen in the forehand actually originate in the hindquarters—so never dismiss the possibilities without thorough investigation.)

Show-ring hunters - Injuries to these horses, because they jump, will most often be the result of concussion to the front legs and shoulders when landing after a jump. These horses are usually confined in a “frame”, both on the flat and over jumps, that limits any variation of stride. This can eventually result in muscles losing flexibility from being confined only within the range allowed by the striding between jumps. This confined striding can also affect hock movement and many jumpers will have had injections for sore hocks. Another factor that often contributes to the show-ring jumper’s soreness and muscle problems is the use of a short standing martingale that inhibits the horse’s full use of its body over the jumps.

Jumpers - Landing from the heights of the jumps taken by jumpers can cause soreness to the forehand and front legs. They can also suffer from stress and soreness to the hind legs from the tremendous thrust they have to exert to push their bodies up and over the jumps, and many, like the show ring hunters, will have had their hocks injected. When you add to these stresses the quick adjustments and movements required to be done at speed around a course this can cause over-all tension and body soreness.

Western Pleasure horses - In the western pleasure jog the forehand tends to “brake” the horse’s speed. The shortening, in many cases the extreme shortening, of the stride to achieve the western pleasure jog puts great pressure on a horse’s front legs, and is intensified when the horse is also asked to keep its head very low. The hindquarters also suffer in this slow, heavy gait. The hind legs work primarily in an up/down motion (very little forward/back swing) that restricts the full range of motion in the hip joints. Another common problem occurs when a rider, in trying to achieve a very slow jog and lope, actually break up the gaits. The most common of these gait abnormalities is the four-beat lope, but other, more serious ones are when the horse jogs with the front legs and is walking with the hind legs and at the lope the horse lopes with the front legs and jogs with the hind legs. This break-up of the correct biomechanics of the jog and lope can cause stiffness and muscle soreness, co-contraction and even unsoundness.

Excessive Pressure to Back Muscles

It could be said that all forms of riding puts pressure on a horse’s back simply because the rider sits on this bridge between the two ends of the horse. But most riders are able to harmonize with the movement of the horse’s back muscles in such a way that both horse and rider can be comfortable. The kind of riding that I’ll be describing here as excessive pressure to the back muscles is that which interferes with the free contraction and extension of these muscles.

Distance horses (Endurance and Competitive Trail) - The distances involved (up to 100 miles) and the use of the trot for long periods of time combined with the long, extended frame usually seen in these horses can tighten the entire torso in an extended state with the abdominal muscles unable to contract properly. When this happens, the hind legs cannot swing up under the horse’s body to a position that gives support to the torso. The back muscles then have to stiffen excessively in order to carry the rider’s weight without help from the hind legs. Sore back muscles are common in these horses. Also, many distance riders stand and brace in their stirrups in order to avoid having to deal with the horse’s movement in the long extended trot. This constant, heavy pressure at the front of the saddle can produce additional soreness in the wither and low back area.

Saddle Seat (Park Pleasure, English Pleasure) - This style of riding affects a horse’s back in much the same way as distance riding in that the back muscles have to stiffen because the hind legs are not able to travel far enough up under the torso to provide support. In addition, the high position of the neck will also contribute to the stiffening of the back, causing upper shoulder tension as well as back problems. And the long, weighted feet that is the norm for this riding style puts even greater stress on the shoulders and back. It is rare to see a horse that is ridden in this style that is not significantly sway-backed by the time it is over 12 years of age; this is not the norm for other riding styles.

Dressage - In dressage many riders lean back behind the vertical and use a heavy driving seat to drive the horse forward. This is very hard on the horse’s back and can cause sore back muscles. This type of rider will continue to use this heavy driving seat in a mistaken effort to obtain collection. Collection compresses the horse’s length from nose to tail and transfer more of its weight onto the hindquarters. The correct anatomical way to do this is to have the abdominal muscles contract and lift and lengthen the long back muscles. In the collection process it is crucial that the long back muscles elevate. In their attempts to collect a horse many riders use the heavy, driving seat that will actually depress the horse’s long back muscles. The nose and tail will come closer together in this type of attempt to collect, but done in this way it becomes difficult for the horse’s hind legs to come up under its torso. There will not be a weight transfer to the hindquarters and control ends up being done by the rider’s hands. All of these factors can produce sore or weak backs, tension and stress in the shoulders and muscle strain in the loins and upper areas of the hindquarters. If collection has been done correctly and there is a correct transfer of weight to the hindquarters, it is the hindquarters and hind legs that are more likely to experience muscle strain and soreness.

Race Horses - The tremendous stretch of the back muscles in the racing gallop puts great strain on them, especially in the loin area. Sore backs are common in racehorses.

Excessive Pressure and Concussion to the Hindquarters

There are some riding disciplines whose ultimate aim is to transfer more of the horse’s weight to the hindquarters. Since this is not normal for the horse in its natural state, except in moments of great excitement, doing this as a deliberate training aim can put great stress in that area, especially to the joints of the hind legs.

Even when done carefully and correctly there is a good possibility of stress to the hind leg joints. The joints that are particularly susceptible to injury are the hocks and fetlocks. Some of the riding disciplines where this occurs are reining, cutting and dressage.

Driving horses, particularly draft horses, will often develop soreness or movement problems in their loins and hindquarters because of the way they use their bodies when pulling weight.

Riding horses have to support the weight of a rider on their backs; they can do this best when their hind legs swing under the torso, thereby offering support to their backs and a rider.

Driving horses, when pulling weight, use their hind legs from a perpendicular position to behind their bodies. In this type of movement the horse stiffens its back and puts stress on its loins and hindquarters. Hindquarter soreness and hock problems are common. Because of shoeing procedures that enable most driving horses to have more lift than extension in their front legs, they may also be prone to soreness in the shoulders.

Co-contraction Patterns

The automatic response of one muscle lengthening as its counterpart contracts can be deliberately over-ridden under some circumstances and a muscle will stay in partial contraction even as it’s opposite attempts to contract. This puts strain on the muscles attempting to contract.

If this process of only partial release continues, muscles will gradually tighten into a smaller range of motion and lose much of their ability to stretch. This process is called co-contraction. This tightening will build muscle strength, but it does so at the expense of mobility and free movement as well as causing constrictions around joints that, if left without release, can eventually lead to joint deterioration (arthritis) and unsoundness.

Any type of training that emphasizes a particular form or “look” rather than free, flexible movement is a prime source for development of co-contractions. It can be seen often in dressage, western pleasure and show-ring hunters, but can also occur in any area where freedom of motion is sacrificed for static, repetitive movements.

Even the technique of “head setting” and overly tight side reins can produce co-contractions.

It is important that horses ridden in ways that produce harmful co-contractions have some way to release this tension periodically before it can cause soreness, or unsoundness.

Deliberate Deviations from Anatomical Balance and Correct Movement Patterns

Some riding styles train horses in ways that deliberately seeks to achieve a certain “look”, posture or movement the deviates from correct biomechanics and posture. This puts abnormal stress on parts of the horse’s body that are not capable of supporting what is being asked.

Horses trained in this way can be effective at what they do, but are limited by these abnormal patterns, and as they age the imbalances will begin to adversely affect their muscles and movement. The horses in this category differ from those I discussed under Co-contractions in that the problems these horses will experience are not just side effects of poor training methods, but are deliberate attempts to produce a look that is totally our of sync with the correct bio-mechanics of any horse.

Some of these training styles are described below:

“Parking out” - a part of saddle seat training which takes both the horse’s front and hind legs away from their support positions. The back muscles have to try to do the whole job of support.

Horses with man-made gaits will experience problems related to the break-up of the natural trot. In the training of five-gaited Saddlebreds, the sequence of footfall of the trot is deliberately broken up to produce the rack and slow gait. Other types of gaited horses also have altered trot patterns that can produce stress in their bodies.

Halter horses that are taught to park out behind, particularly Arabians, often suffer from weakness in some of the joints of the hind legs, especially the stifle joints. From a very early age the muscles that are necessary for pulling the hind legs forward are under-developed and the muscles that pull the hind legs back are tight and overly contracted and do not stretch forward easily. This parked-out posture also puts excessive stress on the horse’s loins.

Deliberately slowing down the western pleasure gaits until they lose their correct footfall patterns is another example of deliberate training that disrupts the gaits rather then enhancing them.

These training techniques all put excessive tension on the horse’s body and massage can be beneficial.

When doing massage on these types of horses you must be aware that your job is to loosen the muscle strain inherent is the training, but you’re not going to bring these horses into a different posture or balance while still in training.

Massage done on these horses on a regular basis will help maintain the level of performance desired by the rider and still keep the horse as comfortable as possible.

Outside Trauma

Any horse, in any discipline, can hurt itself in performance, but some disciplines run a higher risk than others. Most of these involve speed, quick movements and obstacles. Horses likely to fall into this category would be event horses, jumpers, games horses, field hunters, steeplechasers and point-to-point horses.

Many of these injuries will require veterinary care, but just as many will result in muscle soreness, strains and pulls that can be helped by massage.

III. RECOGNIZING DISCOMFORT IN HORSES IN MOTION

As you start looking at horses with the information you have been given, it is also time to begin to look at more than just the mechanics of gaits.

Start looking at what kinds of work the horses do, what kinds of training techniques are used, how the horses use their bodies and how their bodies look.

Are movements stiff and stilted or fluid and supple? Does the horse look angry and unhappy?

Does it just “plod along” without interest or eagerness, or does it look interested in its work and content to be working with its rider.

Negative answers to these questions are all indications that something is wrong.

A horse that is unhappy, uncomfortable or hurting in its body will show its discontent in a variety of ways and it is important for you to be able to recognize behavior that indicates a problem. Horses are amazingly willing to do the myriad of things we ask them and the root of most problems involving unwillingness is usually pain or discomfort that we may not even be able to see or feel and or mistrust due to us not listening.

Some problems will be physical and some will be mental, and often it is a combination of both.

Watch the horse’s eyes, ears, mouth and tail. All these are good indicators of discomfort. Are the eyes soft and relaxed or wide, frightened and angry looking? Are the ears pinned flat back against the skull or up and moving around interested in the surroundings? Does the horse grind its teeth or play incessantly with the bit or is the mouth soft and relaxed? Is the tail wringing like mad or is it in a nice soft arc behind the horse swishing softly?

Click Here to Take the Quiz

ASSIGNMENTS

1. I want you to go out and watch as many horses as you can. Watch them free in the pasture, watch them under saddle, watch them lungeing. Can you identify the different gaits you see? Look for the footfall patterns that were described in this lesson - were they easily identifiable, or did you notice variations or abnormal gaits? Try to figure out why some horses look different even when they’re doing the same movements. Write a report on your thoughts and observation.

2. Talk to numerous owners about their horses. Find out what they like about their horses and what they might like to improve. Find out what kind of riding they do and any injuries or problems their horses have. Can you equate any of these problems with the kind of work these horses do, as was described in the lesson? Give me short, general overview of some of these horses and any problems you see. Please do not discuss your thoughts with the clients as yet as this would be inappropriate at this point of your learning. It is ok to let them know that you are in a training program for massage and just gathering information at this point for some homework. Often they will offer their horses up for your field work at the end of the course.

3. Pick out three specific horses doing three different types of riding or work and describe in greater detail the kind of work these horses do and how they seem to be using their bodies. Particularly notice the footfall patterns in the walk, trot and canter (walk, canter and “gait” in gaited horses). Are these gaits true, or did you see any of the variations I described? Ask questions about how these horses are trained and describe any injuries or problems these horses have had. Notice these horse’s dispositions. Do they appear calm and willing or agitated and defensive? How does the owner describe their horse’s work ethic and attitude?

4. In lesson 2 you learned how similar human and horse gait and movement patterns are. As you progress through this course you will learn the importance of being able to identify where a horse’s body problems are coming from and how these problems cause discomfort or pain and affect movement. One of your most important tools for doing this is to be able to duplicate with your own body the way a horse is holding its body and the way it feels when it moves its body. In this exercise I want you to duplicate the horse’s three gaits with your own body. Notice how your body feels and how it organizes itself. Try some of the variations and gait abnormalities described in this lesson and notice what kinds of changes you feel in your body. Duplicating the horse’s trot (our walk and running) is best done standing up, but the horse’s walk (our crawl) needs to be done on all four’s. Practice the canter (skipping) standing up, but also experiment with the organization of your body for the canter and the foot sequence on all fours. Some things to notice as you do these exercises are: (a) in your walking and running, notice how the leg and diagonal arm move forward together – try moving the arm and leg on the same side at the same time, try tightening your arms as you walk and run: (b) when starting your crawl, which limb seems to want to start the movement, experiment with different sequences of moving your limbs in the crawl; (c) when skipping to duplicate the canter notice if your “leading arm” moves slightly in front of your other arm, practice canter departs and notice what your legs do in the departs, practice “flying changes”. When you’re on all fours feeling the organization of your body in the canter sequence, can you feel the diagonal stretch in your body from your shoulder to the opposite hip as your “leading leg” (the third beat of the canter) is put forward? Get your friends or children involved in this exercise – watch how they walk, trot and canter and have fun while you are learning this piece. Get their feedback and thoughts. Write a report on how these exercises may have influenced your understanding of a horse’s movement patterns.

5. It is the similarities in the movement patterns of horses and humans that allow us to harmonize with a horse’s body positions and movements and makes riding comfortable for both the horse and the rider. Because of this close similarity in movement patterns, it is also possible for a rider’s incorrect body mechanics to have a profound influence on how a horse uses its body under saddle and the movement problems and soreness that can develop in the horse from incorrect riding and lack of harmony with the horse’s movement. This is a good time to begin to be aware of how riders organize and use their bodies. Watch them (discretely) as they walk and move around on their horse. Share with me some of your observations and thoughts on this.

Send your detailed report to: Horsemassage100@gmail.com