Not everyone looks at riding horses as an athletic endeavor. Many horse owners feel their horse, is more of a pet. Especially if they don’t follow competition pursuits. Whether you do light, dressage, take jumping lessons over small jumps, fox hunt or go on long trail rides over terrain or any level of work above that our horses deserve to feel their best. If we are asking our horses to do anything that might break a sweat or breathe hard we are asking them to be athletes at some level. Athletic bodies need care. Think of any athletic team; football, basketball etc. These teams all have care workers on staff!

First and foremost good nutrition is a must. Good quality forage is the most important factor. Supplements also have their place. There are so many out there. I have my horses on an amazing collagen product that helps support them on a cellular level that helps with digestive support, joint, skin and hoof. Digestive support is the most important. Most horses have been found to have ulcer issues. These can cause so many behavioral and health issues.

Also properly fitting tack and good shoeing is a cornerstone of good equine care.

On a daily basis it is imperative to properly warm up your horse and yourself. A short routine of stretches before you mount and/or after you mount can make you feel so much more grounded in the tack. Also a few stretches and a little groundwork for your horse during their grooming routine and before mounting can help them be so much looser. Even 5 minutes of this can help your ride be that much more pleasant.

Walking is the most important part of your ride. You wouldn’t jump out of bed and immediately start running, would you? You can’t ask your horse to either. Doing a 10 - 15 minute walk warm up allows you and your horse to be soft and supple before your work. Walking is where so much training can be obtained. Allow your horse to stretch and get relaxed. Go through lateral work and transitions between halt and walk and even backing. Ask for bending to stretch each side of the horse. Change pace at the walk. Change the length of your frame by engaging the hind into contact and then allowing them to stretch.

Another important facet of the care of the athlete is bodywork. I like the horses to be seen by the bodyworker regularly, every 4 - 6 weeks. Their feedback is invaluable in how the horse is feeling and if there is something going on that I need to adjust my training to accommodate or if I need to have the chiropractor or vet out sooner.

The second line of defense so to speak is chiropractic care. I like the horses to be seen by the chiropractor every or every other month. Chiropractic in conjunction with bodywork can keep the horse's bodies quite healthy and help avoid compensation patterns which will in turn extend the time that vet work may be needed.

There are also many modalities available that can support this care. There is Bemer, Pemf magnawave, Centurion, red light therapy, and Equisage to name a few. If you are able to bring these therapies into your program it can also drastically help the horses stay feeling good. I find every horse responds a little differently to different modalities so it helps to experiment.

Regular vet wellness exams are the final yet most important cog in the athlete’s care wheel. DO NOT wait until your horse is sore or lame to have the vet come out. Very often something can be caught much earlier and addressed before it becomes an injury. Not to say that horses won’t injure themselves in a heartbeat but wear and tear type issues can be helped more easily much earlier. Horses develop compensation patterns. So say they are a little sore in the hocks but enough to notice much then they will dump more of their weight to the front end thus making their coffin joints sore. Or maybe the RH is tweaked then they dump to their LF. If this pattern is left unattended pretty soon they are sore everywhere. Somewhere along the line your training has become difficult and the whole downward spiral could have been avoided. For healthy horses in light work the vet should do a soundness evaluation every 6 months. For horses in medium to harder work every 4 months. For horses that are competing regularly or in hard work I have the vet come quarterly. This absolutely doesn’t mean they get injections quarterly. Sometimes its a matter of they should have a little time off, maybe some topical care or medicating is in order, maybe an adjustment to supplements, or the bodyworker or chiropractor should come out an extra time, or a shoeing change. Any number of things can be adjusted to prevent an injury or lameness from surfacing.

To recap your athletic care regime for your horse to keep them healthy is ...

Nutrition
Warm Up
Bodywork and Therapies
Chiropractic and Acupuncture
Regular Wellness Exams with your Vet

It is also important for you as the rider to maintain your own health. If a rider is asymmetrical it can have a detrimental effect on the horse. I find yoga to be extremely beneficial for me as a rider for strength, suppleness and awareness in my body. Bodywork, chiropractic and cross training for the rider can go a long way in helping the horse.