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WILSON MEAGHER SPORTS THERAPY NEWSLETTER |
Spring |
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Welcome!
Conformation
known as form, is the skeletal system made up of bones and joints. The
bones and joints must be located at specific angles. Different angles
such as hip, shoulder or pastern angle create different degrees of movement
in the horse’s body. The bones are the back drop for the muscles. Muscles
move the bones, contributing to the musculoskeletal system responsible
for movement. However, there is a very important neurological system
hidden from our view that is ultimately responsible for good movement
supporting good performance. The system is similar to the electrical
system in all of our homes that works to allow all of the appliances
to function in perfect order. It is similar to the perfect timing and
synchronization of the pistons in the engine of our cars, so the
engine
runs smoothly. This intriguing neurological system is called proprioception.
This is the neuro-muscular process by which the body synchronizes itself
into the proper sequence of motions. It basically let’s the body know
where its limb’ s are in space through proprioceptors which are tiny
neurological sensory receptors that provide information about joint
angle, muscle length, and muscle tension. It is what synchronizes movement
into perfect timing. It is what makes a great dressage horse dance fluidly.
It is what makes a top cutting horse slice impeccably through an arena...
I
received a call from a very worried client. She just purchased her new
horse 3 weeks ago and recently, she was unable to get her horse to pick
up the left lead at the canter. As a result, the horse would not do
a proper lead change. I asked if her horse was lame. She didn’t think
he was weight bearing lame. Therefore she didn’t call a vet first. She
wanted to rule out simple muscle tightness as the reason for the new
problem. I appreciated her worry since she just purchased the horse
and she was fearful that there might be a deeper problem that was not
picked up during the pre purchase vetting. I thought it might be kind
to inject a bit of humor to try to calm her nerves, so I told her my
father’s old saying: “Worrying is using your imagination to create what
you don’t want”! 
that it appeared harder for the horse to bring his left shoulder forward,
resulting in a shortened stride in the left front leg. I assumed that
the right hind shortness was compensatory for the left shoulder. Since
the dynamics of motion occur on a diagonal, the left shoulder and right
hind would be the effected diagonal pair...|
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TRAINER'S TIP
Trainer: Barend Heilbron, originally from Holland, owner of Capstone Farm in Madbury NH, USA, is a longstanding horseman, rider and trainer of all levels of dressage horses.
Question: Since you live and train year round in southern New Hampshire, USA which is a cold climate in the winter, will you offer your comments and guidelines on training and maintaining a fitness level for horses during cold weather conditions?
RIDER'S TIP
The Benefits of Eating Breakfast
We all make sure our horses are fed and watered in the morning before we consider starting their day. It is unusual to train a horse, or even compete without feeding them breakfast. We hold the care of our horses to a high standard, but does the same standard apply to the rider, or horse owner? I'm not so sure.
Breakfast is one of the most important meals of our day, yet we often find ourselves neglecting to fuel our bodies and minds properly before we begin our work and chores. The meaning of the word "breakfast" is to break the fast between dinner and the meal eaten after a person wakes up the next morning.
These are busy times. Many of us are multi tasking and tend to grab a cup of coffee and a yogurt or power bar, or just a diet coke before or after we feed our horses a well balanced meal. Here is a really good link titled "Top 10 Benefits of Eating Breakfast". Check it out. I found it a very helpful list of reasons to eat a nutritious breakfast, since I am one of the guilty breakfast breezer’s.
I also welcome you to check out an article I wrote for the Chronicle of The Horse in 2009 titled "Who Cares About the Rider". You may click on the link below for the article. The article appears at the top of the page listed under Chronicle of Horse.