Core Strength in the horse: A popular 'fad' or ESSENTIAL for your horse?

Core Strengthening work to improve horses posture is an area that I have worked in extensively, and it's a large part of my job as an Equine Physiotherapist & Rehabilitation Specialist. 

Horses are not a good design for riding and sports, and certainly not evolved to be doing 'human' activities. We sit on the lowest part of their back, which is a common area for 'kissing spine' to develop, and in a lot of cases horses aren't strong enough in their back to carry a rider - definitely not at 3 years old when commonly started in training. 

So in my opinion, there is a LOT against our horses, in terms of body shape, evolution, not a good design for what we are doing, how they cope in domesticated setting, modern training methods, being started too early etc, and therefore a LOT that we need to help them with! 

I find the 'bike chain' really helpful when talking about core strength in horses...imagine a bike chain, made up of lots of small links joined together to make a whole chain that works to propel the bike forward. If one of the links isn't working, the whole chain can't work. Same with horses...if one 'link' (an area of the body) isn't functioning, the body can't function as a whole. 

So if we consider the horses core not functioning, the horse is basically split in half, and the whole body can't work together. 

There is now lots of information and training available around strengthening your horses core, which is great, and it's definitely a popular topic right now - BUT my belief is that this type of work, strengthening your horses core so that he is actually strong enough to carry a rider, before you even get on to ride, is ESSENTIAL and should be a lifelong part of day to day horse ownership. 

We owe it to our horses to train them correctly and sympathetically, and develop their body in such a way that they can carry us without risking injury to their own body. 

Core strengthening work can be absolutely transformational for horses! They change shape, from a hollow topline lacking muscle, to a strong well muscled even topline, lifted back and core, a leg at each corner posture, muscle developed along the top of the neck, not bulging underneath the neck, AND a much happier temperament as they are so much more comfortable in their body! 

I like to add core exercise in as a foundational part of training, so stable based exercises are added in every day, alongside corrective school work, which can be weaved into your usual routine, whether it's lunging, long reining, in hand or ridden work. 

Focussing on core strengthening work will tend to make the rest of your work with your horse much improved as they are stronger, more comfortable, more flexible, and more symmetrical. 

Do you work on your horses core strength? Is it something that you would like to learn more about but not sure HOW? 

I have various ways that I can help you to learn more about posture and core strength, including training videos so that you can learn HOW to implement the right exercises with your horse, without them cheating (!). 

*Core Mobilisation & Core Activation Exercises EBOOK: these are the sets of exercises that I use, recommend and teach. CLICK HERE FOR EBOOKS 

*Core Mobilisation & Core Activation Exercises Online Course: lessons and videos to show you HOW to do the exercises! CLICK HERE for Core Exercises Course

*If you would like any more help, do get in touch through the Contact page of my website*