Care for Horses' Backs
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| CARROT STRETCHES |
We want our horses to be able to bend. By this we mean the ability to bend throughout the horse's body, uniformly and smoothly. Bending gives the rider control and keeps the horse's spinal joints "well oiled". One must realize that while the horse can consciously flex a knee or pastern, he does not have conscious control over most individual joints in his back. Thus we set up exercises to get them to move.
This is one of the few times that we use food for bait, but it is a great motivational tool, especially since the horse needs to "relax" into the bend, rather than be forced into it, for the exercises to be really effective.
It is the purpose of this information sheet to provide some easy "do it yourself" ideas to keep your horse supple and free-moving.
In the first stretch, we present the carrot so that the horse will
bring his head down past his foreleg. Note that the horse's neck is
bent and also slightly rotated.
In the second stretch, we will draw the horse's head to his rib cage. (In
this photo, Teego anticipated this move and bent his neck before I got
the carrot out.)
Note the various bending curves we create in his neck when we draw Teego's head
back to his hip. This is quite a stretch for an older horse.
As you can see, by my just laying my arm across Teego's back, he's
already in position for his next carrot reward, resting his chin on
top of his back.
We'll finish this side with a "bow" command and a treat offered against
his chest behind his front legs. Of course, we will repeat the same
exercises on the other side.
We like to give occasional treats, however we want to get some "mileage" out of them, and the horses do seem enthusiastic about this game!
Could that chiropractic |
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