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On the Contact 1: General Anatomy with veterinary references |
| Long & Low Exercise Positions | Rollkur/Hyperflexion/Deep Fascia |
On the Contact 2: Specific Injuries to Dressage Horses
From Being Ridden Behind the Vertical for Prolonged Periods
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A. With a change in head position, the airway changes its diameter, shape and its physical properties!
Art, T., Reger, H.P. and Lekeux, P. Pulmonary function in the exercising horse. In: Lekeux P. (Ed.), Equine Respiratory Diseases. Ithaca: International Veterinary Information Service (www.ivis.org), 2002; Document No. B0302.1002. A and B are drawn after the data and images in the above publications. |
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B. Path of air through nose: soft palate shifts position, breathing through mouth as well as nose is an option (very close tolerances between bone and soft tissue structures). "A normal horse at rest breathing 20 times a minute with a tidal volume of 5 liters [processes 100 liters of air]. As exercise begins, respiratory rate and tidal volume increase [this to] approximately 1,500 liters/minute. The upper airway must accommodate this large increase in airflow by undergoing changes in caliber, rigidity, and shape. In spite of these adaptations to exercise, evidence suggests that in exercising horses upper airway resistance becomes a large portion of total respiratory resistance and that this increase in resistance may limit performance." |
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C. "Teapot Neck." Red stars indicate areas where damage can occur in horses consistently worked behind the vertical. There can be structural alterations (calcifications) in the bone of the vertebrae or skull combined with trauma to the nuchal ligament, choking where the windpipe traverses the bones of the hyoid and overstretching of the cervical serratus muscles attached to the scapula.
Weiler, Horst. Zur Diagnostik der Insertionsdesmopathie des Funiculus nuchae an der Squama occipitalis. In: Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung (Hrsg.): Diagnostics in horses. Warendorf: FN-Verlag, 1997. 106-108. |
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Radiograph of insertion desmopathy at the poll (red arrow).
This radiograph and more excellent images of desmopathies and associated injuries to legs, shoulders and the neck may be found at http://equivetinfo.de/html/rontgen1.html You may wish to use the search engine Google to translate material on that site. All images are copyrighted to Dr. C. A. Bingold and are for private use only. |
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Thermograph of an insertion desmopathy in the neck connecting structures. Note areas of bright yellow. These correspond to strains at poll, hyoid region and jaw attachment of sternomandibular muscles as well as part of the cervical serratus. You can also make out pinkish indications of the cervical vertebrae aligned as for the cramped position of "teapot neck."
http://equivetinfo.de/Pictures/Thermografie/Mvc-007f.jpg Images are copyrighted by Dr. C. A. Bingold and are for private use only. Infrared cameras produce thermograms (these are technically different from photographs) on monitors, printers or video that may be translated by software into grayscale or color codes. The thermogram indicates relative blood circulation for skin and underlying structures. It also indicates metabolism in the anatomy under the skin. Differences of more than 1° C with the neighboring anatomical structures are significant. In addition, an increasing number of veterinary clinics are performing thermography as a means of diagnosing painful injuries. |
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VERY EXAGGERATED FLEXION (rollkuer, rollkur): An Olympic horse worked on a tight rein with neck shortened to "teapot neck." The gait is altered in tempo (less than 50 strides per minute) by breaking the diagonal pair of passage. This not only strains the airway and axial skeletal structure, but requires the horse to drop its entire mass on one leg during each stride. Posture recorded by matching the computer model with video frames. According to the estimates of the model, the spine is level, although the outline an observer sees gives the impression of very marked positive relative elevation. |
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EXAGGERATED FLEXION: Changing head position of horses changes the shape of the airway (A and B above) as well as straining the nuchal ligament and stay apparatus (C). Tension occurs during long and low exercises if the horse is not allowed to stretch into the rein, but is held in position by the rein. Riding toward the rein is "riding from back to front" or "into the bridle." The horse can take long strides in this position, but occasionally shows disassociation of diagonal pairs (especially in trot). |
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FORWARD, DOWN, OUT A position for "on the contact" between the deep position above (left) and the position below (left). This is my personal preference for working horses that are green or for advanced horses in warm-up, or in between periods of collected work. I like to assess the willingness of my horses to stretch immediately into a rein without "rooting" or jerking at the bit. I also ask them to come into a posture with the poll higher when I stretch my body as an "elastic pillar" type of half halt. The horse remains in the "circle of aids" for an entire cycle of lifting and stretching. |
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Head shaking, reluctance to bend the neck and serious resistence to the reins are signs of problems that may have their origin in the nuchal ligament area. Some of the resistances may also be due to overstretching other structures in the forehand. In normal position, the serratus, windpipe and nuchal ligament are carried within, rather than near a limit of, elastic performance.
WHILE THIS IS STILL CONTROVERSIAL, MY OBSERVATION FROM VIDEO RECORDS OF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP WARM UPS IN PUBLIC RIDING VENUES IS THAT NONE OF THE HORSES RIDDEN IN VERY EXAGGERATED FLEXION HAD CORRECT WALKS. SPECIFICALLY, THE WALK STRIDES WERE SHORT, TEMPO WAS QUICK AND THE RHYTHM WAS SYNCOPATED RATHER THAN EVENLY DISTRIBUTED OVER 4 HOOF BEATS. |
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| Smoke under saddle at 4 1/2 years. His work in hand and long and low has prepared him to stretch into the rein. His walk is free, eager, forward. | Long and Low, Free Longe (forward, down, out) Raynyday Smoke ‘n Mirrors (4 year old Morgan gelding) trained by voice command with hand signals to stretch long and low. He has been performing this free longe exercise from about 10 months of age before being trained to drive and ride at age 4 1/2. He has gradually developed the ability to drive from behind into a maximum stretch with a very slight positive disassociation of a LH-RF diagonal pair. The position of his head and neck stretches neck muscles and ligaments while maintaining an open pathway for breathing. A stretch this low reshapes his neck and the arc of the neck vertebrae. The smooth Complexus roll of muscles from poll to shoulder is the external manifestation of this reshaped neck. |
Smoke’s long and low work is the foundation for his work at 4 1/2 years old in harness. |