all good horses must have decent ground manners, and should be willing to be directed in a controlled manner. it is wonderful for horses to be able to do all of the grand prix movements or spins and sliding stops, but they also need to load well in a trailer without being difficult. this applies to stallions too. a stallion that is being used to cover mares or is going to be used to cover a mare s...hould learn to mind his handler until the handler gives the green light to mount the mare. mare with babies at their sides should be willing to stand tied and patient if their offspring suddenly go out of sight, while some mares naturally don't care, others must me trained to stay calmer than they normally would. babies will need to learn to be caught in an open field, to be groomed, clipped, bathed, and have their feet trimmed without resistance. all riding horses must know to stand still until they are given the command to move out. a horse that pulls away while tied will need to learn to stop this vice before training him under saddle. no time in basic work is a waste of time, ever. the best time to start teaching our horses good manners are from the first day we, get our hands on them. we must be careful though not to punish the horse if he does not understand and to punish immediately if the horse presents deliberate insubordination. to do this we need to be able to understand exactly the difference between the one and the other, otherwise we will unjustly punish and this kind of punishment can very easily turn to abuse, due to lack of knowledge. a horse that is regularly turned out to play must be willing to have his halter taken off and put on, in an open field. if a horse runs away from the rider or handler in the field, because he is being worked hard every time he is caught, the handler must not chase the horse or rope him but rather bribe him with a handful of grain and given another treat immediately after work, or ignore the work all together and just bring him in to brush and groom him while he enjoys a good portion of grain or oats, then he must be put out again. manners friends, are for all of us and all our horses regardless of our sport, breed or experience. if you need help with your horses and would like to set up a clinic feel free to give me a call.
Based on my experience I have been asked to write a blog. So here we are now, the place where I talk about horses. Here I will give my personal opinions and comments, about horses, horse training, classical riding, etc. I will also talk about classical dressage training, and other things relevant to horses. Join me.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Equine Anatomy VS Equine Anatomy- taken from FB
Equine Anatomy verses Equine Anatomy
There are two types of horse’s anatomy, the one supporting the thought that lowering of the neck stretches upper neck and back muscles and the real horse’s anatomy which contradict such beliefs. Even i...f they theoretically refer to the same horse, the two anatomies are totally different. One of the strong arguments of long and low proponents is that elongating the head, reaching with his nose forward increases the stretching of the upper neck muscles. The expression commonly use is “stretching through the bit.” The problem with the claim is that the muscles that move the head are not the muscles that lower the neck. There are 21 pairs of muscles moving the head, including reaching the nose forward. They do not elongate at all the upper neck muscles. In fact, reaching with the nose forward shortens the upper element of one of the upper neck muscles.
The two main muscles involved in the lowering of the neck are the splenius and the semispinalis capitis. The splenius is not even inserted on the skull. The muscle is inserted laterally on the nuchal crest. Beside its main function, that is resisting the lowering of the neck, the lateral insertion of the splenius on the upper end of the nuchal crest allows the muscle to bend the head and neck laterally. Instead, the muscle does not elongate at all when the horse nose reaches forward. The other main upper neck muscle, which is the semispinalis capitis, does have its upper element that is inserted on the upper crest of the skull. However, in order to move the horse’s nose forward, the upper compartment of the semispinalis capitis has to pull the skull back and therefore the muscle does not elongate but at the contrary shortens in concentric contraction. I am talking about compartment because the semispinalis capitis is built in numerous compartments. The muscle does have an internal tendon and there are 6 elements situated below the central tendon and 7 compartments situated above. Such architecture is convenient for the horse as it permits numerous variations of movements such as lateral bending, rotations, etc. By contrast, the construction contradicts the stretching theories which think that the muscle elongates as a whole. Due to its architecture of compartments, the compartments situate at the base of the muscle can have a totally different action than the compartments situated at the top.
Most of the stretching theories believe that the lower neck muscles, which are the muscles situated below the cervical vertebrae pull the head and neck down stretching the upper neck muscles. The reality is totally different. The lowering of the neck is not created by the lower neck muscles because they don’t have the power to elongate the upper neck. Instead, the lowering of the neck is created by gravity. The horse’s head and neck weight about 10% of the horse’s body mass and gravity is pulling the neck and head down. The upper neck muscles resist the attraction of gravity and therefore allow some lowering resisting attraction of gravity. Some studies define the upper neck muscles’ resistance as isometric hold, which means that the muscle contract without elongating or shortening. Other studies refer to the muscular work as eccentric, which means that the muscles contract while elongating. Eccentric contraction is also called active stretch. This needs to be soundly interpreted. Active stretch or eccentric contraction is the most powerful type of muscular contraction. Such contraction can be between 15 to 50 times stronger than concentric.
The term relax is often used in the stretching theories. Whatever the neck position, the splenius stiffens as the front hoof impacts in order to resist the acceleration of gravity created by the impact forces. This stiffening that occurs twice per stride is part of the locomotor mechanism at the walk, the trot and the canter. If the neck was relaxed, the head and neck would drop at each impact.
The main argument of the stretching proponents is that the horse “stretches” naturally lowering the neck after work. There is a strong ligament named nuchal ligament that connect the cranial thoracic vertebrae and the skull. The nuchal ligament is not under tension when the neck is up into an alert position. The ligament comes under tension when the neck is lowered into a more horizontal position. The purpose of the nuchal ligament is reducing the work of the upper neck muscles. At the walk, the nuchal ligament eases the work of the upper neck muscles by 55%. At the trot and canter, the nuchal ligament eases the work of the upper neck muscles by 32 to 36%. The horse does not stretch the neck, he simply eases the work of the upper neck muscles placing the neck into a more horizontal position and therefore using the passive resistance of the nuchal ligament.
Proponents of the long and low theory make statements but rarely explain how it works. When they do, they invent a horse anatomy that fit their beliefs. Recently was published a perfect example of “convenient” anatomy. The type of anatomy that fit the belief but is not even vaguely related to the way the horse physique is effectively built and functions. “Since the neck is attached to the withers and the withers to the large muscles over the top of the back, the stretch can reach far back toward the hips.” This is plain false. The two main back muscles are the longissimus dorsi, which is in fact composed of several muscles following the same line, the longissiumus cervicis, capitis, thoracis, lumborum etc. The fasciles of the longissimus system are inserted in oblique down and forward from the dorsal spines to the articular processes on the vertebrae. The fascicle bridge approximately 3 to 5 vertebrae. The fascicles of the Multifidius muscles are oriented in the opposite direction, oblique, down and back covering about 3 vertebrae all along the thoracolumbar spine. During locomotion, there are many circumstances where the fascicles of the thoracic region contract differently than the fascicles of the lumbar region.
Every time that we publish an educated discussion about lowering of the neck we came under nasty attacks of uneducated riders and trainers who want to believe in their stretching theories. Truly, this does not change the real horse’s anatomy. We are willing to explain a little further if you want to know more about the horse’s functional anatomy as advanced research study explain it today. Anyone interested to understand how neck alignment affects or helps the horse is welcome. We have created a course which provides advanced understanding of equine functional anatomy and how to apply new knowledge. Instead, if you think about lowering of the neck as a cult that should not be question and therefore are going to argue base on a horse’s anatomy that does not exist, we are not going to respond because we will not be talking about the same creature. We will simply push the delete button.
Jean LucSee More
There are two types of horse’s anatomy, the one supporting the thought that lowering of the neck stretches upper neck and back muscles and the real horse’s anatomy which contradict such beliefs. Even i...f they theoretically refer to the same horse, the two anatomies are totally different. One of the strong arguments of long and low proponents is that elongating the head, reaching with his nose forward increases the stretching of the upper neck muscles. The expression commonly use is “stretching through the bit.” The problem with the claim is that the muscles that move the head are not the muscles that lower the neck. There are 21 pairs of muscles moving the head, including reaching the nose forward. They do not elongate at all the upper neck muscles. In fact, reaching with the nose forward shortens the upper element of one of the upper neck muscles.
The two main muscles involved in the lowering of the neck are the splenius and the semispinalis capitis. The splenius is not even inserted on the skull. The muscle is inserted laterally on the nuchal crest. Beside its main function, that is resisting the lowering of the neck, the lateral insertion of the splenius on the upper end of the nuchal crest allows the muscle to bend the head and neck laterally. Instead, the muscle does not elongate at all when the horse nose reaches forward. The other main upper neck muscle, which is the semispinalis capitis, does have its upper element that is inserted on the upper crest of the skull. However, in order to move the horse’s nose forward, the upper compartment of the semispinalis capitis has to pull the skull back and therefore the muscle does not elongate but at the contrary shortens in concentric contraction. I am talking about compartment because the semispinalis capitis is built in numerous compartments. The muscle does have an internal tendon and there are 6 elements situated below the central tendon and 7 compartments situated above. Such architecture is convenient for the horse as it permits numerous variations of movements such as lateral bending, rotations, etc. By contrast, the construction contradicts the stretching theories which think that the muscle elongates as a whole. Due to its architecture of compartments, the compartments situate at the base of the muscle can have a totally different action than the compartments situated at the top.
Most of the stretching theories believe that the lower neck muscles, which are the muscles situated below the cervical vertebrae pull the head and neck down stretching the upper neck muscles. The reality is totally different. The lowering of the neck is not created by the lower neck muscles because they don’t have the power to elongate the upper neck. Instead, the lowering of the neck is created by gravity. The horse’s head and neck weight about 10% of the horse’s body mass and gravity is pulling the neck and head down. The upper neck muscles resist the attraction of gravity and therefore allow some lowering resisting attraction of gravity. Some studies define the upper neck muscles’ resistance as isometric hold, which means that the muscle contract without elongating or shortening. Other studies refer to the muscular work as eccentric, which means that the muscles contract while elongating. Eccentric contraction is also called active stretch. This needs to be soundly interpreted. Active stretch or eccentric contraction is the most powerful type of muscular contraction. Such contraction can be between 15 to 50 times stronger than concentric.
The term relax is often used in the stretching theories. Whatever the neck position, the splenius stiffens as the front hoof impacts in order to resist the acceleration of gravity created by the impact forces. This stiffening that occurs twice per stride is part of the locomotor mechanism at the walk, the trot and the canter. If the neck was relaxed, the head and neck would drop at each impact.
The main argument of the stretching proponents is that the horse “stretches” naturally lowering the neck after work. There is a strong ligament named nuchal ligament that connect the cranial thoracic vertebrae and the skull. The nuchal ligament is not under tension when the neck is up into an alert position. The ligament comes under tension when the neck is lowered into a more horizontal position. The purpose of the nuchal ligament is reducing the work of the upper neck muscles. At the walk, the nuchal ligament eases the work of the upper neck muscles by 55%. At the trot and canter, the nuchal ligament eases the work of the upper neck muscles by 32 to 36%. The horse does not stretch the neck, he simply eases the work of the upper neck muscles placing the neck into a more horizontal position and therefore using the passive resistance of the nuchal ligament.
Proponents of the long and low theory make statements but rarely explain how it works. When they do, they invent a horse anatomy that fit their beliefs. Recently was published a perfect example of “convenient” anatomy. The type of anatomy that fit the belief but is not even vaguely related to the way the horse physique is effectively built and functions. “Since the neck is attached to the withers and the withers to the large muscles over the top of the back, the stretch can reach far back toward the hips.” This is plain false. The two main back muscles are the longissimus dorsi, which is in fact composed of several muscles following the same line, the longissiumus cervicis, capitis, thoracis, lumborum etc. The fasciles of the longissimus system are inserted in oblique down and forward from the dorsal spines to the articular processes on the vertebrae. The fascicle bridge approximately 3 to 5 vertebrae. The fascicles of the Multifidius muscles are oriented in the opposite direction, oblique, down and back covering about 3 vertebrae all along the thoracolumbar spine. During locomotion, there are many circumstances where the fascicles of the thoracic region contract differently than the fascicles of the lumbar region.
Every time that we publish an educated discussion about lowering of the neck we came under nasty attacks of uneducated riders and trainers who want to believe in their stretching theories. Truly, this does not change the real horse’s anatomy. We are willing to explain a little further if you want to know more about the horse’s functional anatomy as advanced research study explain it today. Anyone interested to understand how neck alignment affects or helps the horse is welcome. We have created a course which provides advanced understanding of equine functional anatomy and how to apply new knowledge. Instead, if you think about lowering of the neck as a cult that should not be question and therefore are going to argue base on a horse’s anatomy that does not exist, we are not going to respond because we will not be talking about the same creature. We will simply push the delete button.
Jean LucSee More
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