The Multifidus muscles...small but VERY important!

The multifidus muscles in the horses spine are small muscles, but of HUGE importance to the horses back health. 

I talk about them a lot in my groups, and when I'm talking to clients about Kissing Spine prevention...I love that my clients ask me about this, as it means that all of the blogs and posts and talks that I put out are reaching horse owners that want to do the very best for their horses! 

So I wanted to explain about the multifidus muscles, what they are, why they are important, and WHY we need to strengthen them, and how to do this! 

The multifidus muscles are what we term as postural muscles, short and strong muscles, they sit alongside the DSP's (dorsal spinous processes - the long bones that point upwards and give the shape of the horses back), and create stability for the spinal column, including the neck. 

What happens in horses with 'kissing spine', where the DSP's touch, is that these muscles have wasted, which allows the bones to touch. 

Looking at the image above, the multifidus muscles sit alongside each of the upward pointing bones, so hopefully it's easy to see how the bones can come closer together and touch, especially under the weight of saddle and rider, if there was little muscle in between the bones. 

This is really important to understand about horses, especially if we want to ride, that we need to thoroughly condition and strengthen these muscles to prepare the horses spine for ridden work, so that we don't risk the bones touching, this is painful for the horse. 

The DSP's are already close together, naturally, and unfortunately the horse isn't a very good design for riding. Coupled with rushed 'starting' processes, horses being started age 3 as standard in modern times, and a lack of steady non-ridden strengthening work, it's no wonder so many horses are being diagnosed with kissing spine. (See last weeks blog too, on the 'big picture' when it comes to kissing spine). 

WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP OUR HORSES? 

I start with core exercises...no surprise here if you have followed me for a while! This is my number 1 intervention with all horses that I see, and it's Step 1 in my online programmes...'carrot stretches' have been PROVEN to increase the size of the multifidus muscles!!

This is amazing information to know, because we now know that if we apply these specific exercises, with good technique (horses know how to cheat!), 5 days per week, for a 12 week period, the size of the multifidus muscles WILL INCREASE. So adding these exercises to your daily routine with your horse, ensures that you are targetting these important muscles.

I see really positive changes with horses that do these exercises, especially over the slightly longer term. You can normally start to see and feel a difference in your horse over a couple of weeks, they become more flexible, the exercises become a bit easier for the horse, more symmetrical, and they can start to lift their core a bit more effectively in movement. But muscle does take 6-8 weeks to build properly, so it's over a couple of months of sticking at it, that you will see the real results, externally.

We now have lots of studies to back this information up, so it's not a 'nice to have' for horses...in my opinion, for any horse that is to be ridden in particular, we should be spending our time on this level of work for a couple of months before we even think of sitting on them. This applies to young horses, horses that have had time off, horses going through injury rehab, been on box rest, horses going through kissing spine rehab. 

But actually, if we apply these exercises to ALL HORSES, especially ridden horses, we know that we have spent time increasing the size of the multifidus postural muscles along the spine, and this is an important step to KISSING SPINE PREVENTION in our horses. 

WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEARN FROM ME, HOW TO DO THESE EXERCISES, AND UNDERSTAND HOW HORSES CHEAT, TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE DOING THEM EFFECTIVELY? 

I'm an Equine Physiotherapist and Rehabilitation Specialist, and have been working with horses with kissing spine for a number of years now, and have been using these exercises for years now too. 

I have added them as Step 1 in my online programmes, for ALL HORSES. So I have a detailed module on posture and the technique of the exercises, including videos, so you can start to apply them from Day 1. 

Strength & Straightness Programme: click here for more details...Strength Programme You get my full support in this programme and members group, to help you with implementing the training! 

Core Exercises Ebook: for anyone just wanting the images and descriptions, click here for the Ebook...Core Exercises Ebook

Core Exercises Online Course: if you just want the course and not the ongoing training group for support, click here...Core Exercises Course

AND as always, if you need any further help, please get in touch through the Contact page here on the site.