To stretch or not to stretch?
Q How helpful are stretching routines for my horse and what impact do they have? Tanya Hine, Monmouthshire A Stretching routines are an important part of the day-to- day training of any horse and rider. We need to think of our horses and ourselves as athletes and try to utilise a variety of
work in our training. This includes stretching, strengthening, core stability and fitness. As a whole, stretching routines aim to move the body through the available range of both joints and soft tissue, and thus are used to keep the body supple. If joints or soft tissue are stiff or restricted, and are pushed into a range of motion that they’re not used to, this can cause pain and potentially injury. In these cases, specific stretches can be used to gently increase the range of movement in the area so that it can move through the range that is needed.
Safe, effective stretches
Stretching may be done statically (holding a stretch and keeping still) or dynamically (moving through range or stretching during exercise). As horses are large animals, it’s difficult to perform an effective static stretch simply because it’s hard to get the body part to the end of available range, and then hold it there. Research has also shown static stretching prior to exercise can actually decrease the performance of the muscle. Instead dynamic, activity-specific stretching may be used, such as a loose walk/trot/canter with the horse’s head in a low, relaxed position, to stretch over the topline and increase blood circulation to the whole body, gently taking all joints through their range of motion.