Besides the following, what are some of your favorite treatments for tight/tense muscles?
- Linaments
- Stretches
- Massages
- Trigger point therapy
Just wondered if you ever had a Selenium test done on the horse? It is amazing how much a lack of Selenium can affect the working horse’s muscles. The muscles will fatigue easily, can be tight, get crampy, and horse should be fit but tires easily.
We have gone thru this kind of problem in the past, usually with newly purchased animals who have been working. Always found it to be a lack of Selenium each time. Horses use up Selenium in work, it has to be replaced constantly. Goes even faster if they get sweaty often, which ours do.
We do not feed commercial feed so we supplement Selenium and Vit E daily on their grain. Selenium won’t absorb in the body without the Vit E. We have no Selenium in our soil or locally grown hay and grazing. We learned our lesson about the need to supplement years ago with a performance horse getting dangerously low test results. She came back well with Selenium shots and then the daily supplements. It is quite amazing how many body functions Selenium is used for, so being low can cause weird problems like poor heat cycles that equal sore backs!.
We think getting a Selenium test is well worth the cost. If levels are good, you have ruled out a source of problems. That mare WAS getting Selenium daily, but without the Vit E and not enough. Insufficient quantities for the work she was doing. Pretry much wasted money because her body could not use it without the needed Vit E.
Yep, dietary input.
What’s listed are treatments for symptoms, not necessarily for the causes. Actual treatments might include a better saddle fit, better hoof balance, and a better diet.
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I only treat when I know what I’m treating. At which point it’s less about favorites and more about what’s effective.
Tight because of a micro or macronutrient deficiency? Do blood tests for selenium and Vit. E. Supplement appropriately if needed. Or try supplementing magnesium, which is harder to blood test but can have positive effects on muscle issues.
Tight because the horse is overworked? Cut back on the strenuousness of the exercise. Give horse more turnout if they aren’t already out 24/7, re-evaluate exercise to get it more fitness level-appropriate.
Tight because of incorrect movement or training? Figure out why the horse is moving this way, or what training tool is causing the horse to get tight in that area. A lot of times this is something the rider is doing. Change the way the horse is asked for something to work towards fixing the imbalance in the rider that’s causing the tension for the horse. Maybe bring in chiro or bodywork to help horse over hump of re-learning how to move. Evaluate hoof care, perhaps check tack fit if that is questionable.
Tight because of past injury or chronic weakness? Develop a slow, methodical plan to target that area to appropriately strengthen the weakness or help bolster support for the formally injured area. Maybe bring in chiro or bodywork or use tools like Back on Track products to help support weaker or previously injured areas.
But again, the core piece is identifying the causative factor first. I never understood why people throw money at jugs of expensive liniments, braces, wraps and therapies galore when they don’t actually know what is causing the problem to begin with.
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I’ve had similar issues with my mare and had the vets out many times. It seemed she just gets stiff in the cold weather. We got her a Back on Track sheet and it really helped. I continue to give her different supplements in her grain but since getting the sheet I no longer give her any of the injectable treatments the vet has recommended over the year.
I second the Back on Track sheets makes a huge difference. My gelding had been really stiff tight every morning. Now after a 6 hour day of hard work I put his bot sheet on. No more stiff tight muscles in am.
Locally, I would check for Lyme disease.
