Some one come to our Aid

As an Equine Body worker we are often asked to perform some miracles. Just a reminder we can not diagnose but we can suggest possible issues and ask that you seek further advice from your vet.

However one of the biggest bug bare of mine that we use riding aids in order to control the horse which have some sort of issue rather than sort out the issue. We are all time poor today but these aids resolve one issue only to create other issues.

Take for instance an anti-grazing strap, used for those horses who want to put their head down to graze on a ride. See below

My heart sinks looking at this, firstly what is the issue with a little grazing on a ride?

*Certainly, you can risk choke with a horse eating with a bit in its mouth but limit the eating.

*You as a rider might not be ready and almost go over the horse’s head- not the horses fault.

* Horse should be focused on the task? He is he wants grass but you have not been able to lift his head or get him focus so are you?

It is an instinct to graze. (remember they graze 80% and browse 20%) so you are telling them to fight their instinct which has psychological problems. The second issue is the pressure you are placing on the poll, the splenius , the cervical trapezius and then it is connected to the saddle so the horse gets a different message from the muscles under the saddle. Keep in mind a horse can feel a single tiny fly land on them, so this change ends up having huge repercussions on the muscle then causing unbalance, head throwing etc etc. There is a head tie that is used in harness racing but nowhere for as long periods (ie 4-6 minutes of a race) and then removed.

Another one is a tongue tie used for what? To help stop abnormal noise and stop the airway being blocked or the palate being loose again obstructing airflow. So believe me all in a horse is interconnected. I can do a pelvic tilt and you can watch the pectorals in the chest react. Some goes for the tongue you inhibit this, and you disengage the hind causing more muscular issues. It also cause reversible damage to the tongue nerves. Not to mention that Hyoid Appartus can be damaged, and it interlinks in to a lot of the ventral neck muscles down along the sternum.

So whilst you think you are getting a quick fix for something you are actually causing a lot of issues that can not be fixed and in the end can make a horse unsound and in poor health.