What is a gait analysis?

So many times in my riding career, when I was out and about competing, I’d hear lots of the same things:

• Horse needs to be rounder;

• Deeper frame;

• More bend;

• Get them off your leg;

• Ride with more forwardness.

And while these do go a long way in helping our horses develope, it we focus purely on these as our gold standard, it means that we end up compromising our horses:

• soundness,

• quality of gait,

• longevity of riding career,

• competitive potential, and

• overall comfort when being ridden.

I have seen a number of horses developed to these “gold standards”, and ended up watching their strides shorten & become irregular, to the point of causing the horse to become unsound and causing long term lameness issues.

I have even seen horses that have had to be euthanased because their quality of life has significantly reduced due to developing them under these “gold standards”.

Just because a horse is in a rounded frame or on the bit, doesn’t mean it is working soundly!

How then, you ask, can I ensure my horse is working with and for soundness? How can I make sure I am riding my horse in a way that will help protect their riding career longevity?

That is where the gait analysis comes in.

The gait analysis can spot:

• how much our riding is interfering with the quality of the horses movement and their overall soundness;

• an indication of what lameness issues are most likely to come up in our horses future if they continue to work in the same way;

• shows us how we can change their exercise program so that we can not ony ride them for soundness but increase their expression of movement; and

• it can show us what exercises to revisit when the training plateaus, so we can revisit and then continue the progression through the training scale.

At Equestrian Movement, we actually strive to ride horses in a way that the horse itself WANTS to be ridden, and that the action of riding and movement FEELS good.

When the quality of how we ride is judged on head carriage instead of self carriage, quite often we end up seeing horses that are, at best, ridden in discomfort, and at worst, ridden in pain and in a way that they will break down and have to retired or meet an untimely end to their life.

The purpose of a gait analysis is to keep us accountable - that the riding is happening FOR the horse, not to the horse.

So if you want to take steps towards a horse that is sound, happy and working really well in self carriage, click the image below to view our virtual gait analysis package.

Your horse will thank you for it.

Sacroiliac Pain - the Quiet Lameness

We all know what a lame horse looks like.

You’ve probably seen it in your own horse if they’ve ever had a bruised sole or hoof abscess.

They hobble around, and we often see the characteristic head bob. Most commonly this kind of lameness has something to do with their hooves and some kind of trauma to the hoof or leg. Frequently, this can be corrected by a good Farrier and a spell.

The kind of lameness that doesn’t show up with the characteristic lameness symptoms can often be due to the way we are riding and the way the horse is developing - and most commonly I see start with the pelvis not being aligned. This lameness is known as Sacroiliac Pain.

As riders we put a lot of stress on the horse’s sacroiliac joint. It is designed to be a very flexible area of their body but it also gives support to the rest of their back.

Misaligned pelvis, riding crooked, and lacking engagement of the postural muscles can all increase this pain.

“Long the neck, shorten the body”, Manolo Mandez

 Rectifying this lameness will need the incorporation of veterinary and chiropractic attention along with physical redevelopment through correct training methods.

Sign up to be the first invited into our course Foundations to Equine Development: Green to Self Carriage, where we go step by step through the exercises horses need for a sound back.