Loosening Up a Stiff Horse

[hunterjumper98]

I have a gelding that is stiff as a board under saddle. It is almost like riding a rock at times haha! I have determined that it is NOT due to anything health wise because he is regularly seen by the chiropractor and has a custom saddle and well fitted tack. He is an older guy, but he is well maintained. I have had him for a few years and developing suppleness has always been a struggle due to his less than stellar bringing up. Now to the problem…

When ridden, he is very stiff throughout his whole body and as a result, struggles to maintain any kind of proper engagement and roundness through the body. He tends to travel very stiffly through his neck and back and is very hard to encourage to travel long and low. I allow plenty of time for warm up, so it doesn’t seem like that kind of stiffness. It is more of just a tenseness. I would love to see him become more relaxed and eventually be able to travel in a correct outline, but for right now my main goal is just to develop suppleness through his body.

Have any of you found any great exercises that helps to encourage suppleness or had a horse with this problem? Any advice would be very appreciated as he is a difficult horse!

[Renn_aissance]

You mention two similar issues with different root causes. Do you think he is at root a stiff horse because he lacks muscular flexibility, or do you think that he is a tense horse who carries himself tightly? If you’re not sure, how does he carry himself when he’s farting around in the pasture?

Either way, Horse Yoga as I learned it is not a revolutionary method, but consistently applied, it will teach your old dog some new tricks.

If he’s not physically supple, he’s got to start on the ground. You can do carrot stretches to help him loosen his neck, stretch his shoulders forward (especially after you tighten the girth,) belly lifts to have him raise his back and activate his abdominal muscles, and rump tucks to loosen his gluteals and shift his SI. As he loosens up, if his hips are stiff, try turn on the forehand in hand, asking him to step his hind legs underneath his body. You’re looking for incremental gains in flexibility here. Under saddle, walk him forward into a light contact. Alternate leg pressure, focusing on activating each of his hind legs at the moment he pushes off, and visualize swinging his ribcage from side to side between your legs. Bend his body to the left, bend his body to the right. Don’t keep him bent or counter-bent for too many strides in a row. In between changes of bend, ride him forward and absolutely straight. (Where are his haunches? Where are his shoulders?) As he progresses, develop to changes of bend while riding a large circle. You’re developing a couple of things here: his flexibility from left to right, his ability to shift his balance from shoulder to haunch and from inside to outside, and the engagement of his abs and back muscles as he swings his legs forward. Lather, rinse, repeat at trot; lather, rinse, repeat at canter.

If he is a tense horse, I’d do the same exercises under saddle, but I’d really focus on the repetition here. Ask for incremental stretches again and again, and really reward him when he understands and gives you an inch. You want to give him a stretching routine so that he knows what to expect. Meanwhile, your job is to stay loose in your own spine (and brain! :)) so that he can’t pick up any of his tension from your body. You are teaching him that life is one big predictable yoga class and he can expect a consistent experience. He’ll relax into the groove.

[RedHorses]

Check into health issues like EPSM/PSSM. A blood test to check for elevated muscle enzymes will show if this might be the problem.

Consider a joint supplement experiment (two weeks double dosing - if you don’t notice a change the supplement is not helpful for your horse’s needs).

Consider a longe warm-up. Does it make any difference?

Consider a Back on Track saddle pad, or back warmer (during pre ride prep).

Consider an impact reducing pad like a ThinLine.

Consider a loosening excerise for your warm-up - something repetitive that changes rein constantly. This might help him relax if you can keep yourself from nitpicking at him. Look for incremental improvements in the bends and changes of rein. Your job is to ride him forward (not fast) on the track of your exercise, and gently lead him into the hands, while you stay straight and balanced in the saddle. A serpentine is one example of this type of exercise. Threading needlepoint from 101 Dressage Exercises is another.

[hunterjumper98]

Thank you, Renn/aissance! It is kind of a difficult situation in the sense that it seems to be a combination of slight muscle inflexibility and tenseness! My chiropractor has noticed that he seems stiff throughout while even on the ground, but it worsens under saddle. In the pasture, he seems pretty loose and willing to move forward, but there is some stiffness to be noted. I will definitely try to incorporate some horse yoga into our pre-ride routine! That is a great idea!

RedHorses, he has been vet check and comes out relatively clean besides some noticeable arthritic changes which is being managed with a joint supplement. He currently has a BOT saddle pad that I use regularly, and that does seem to help some! I have also tried a Thinline pad, but my saddle-fitter told me to ditch the pad since it was affecting the fit of the saddle. I will definitely try more of those types of exercises in his routine. Thank you for your input!

[Jeannette_formerly_ponygyrl]

Does he feel looser, better able to engage after you do a little canter, either on a straight line or a circle? How about after some leg yield , turn on the forehand, , bunches of carefully ridden changes of direction and bend??

Does he relax more when you “swaddle him” with your aids, carefully giving him lots of direction, or when you loop the reins and leave him alone a bit?

How about differences in engagement or relaxation when you sit, post, and two point?

[Manni01]

If he is more tense and stiff under saddle maybe he does need another way of warm up.

My recommendation. You should ride about 40 min walk. Walking is best for the joints and everything else. During this walk period. I would just walk with long reins for 5 min. Then I would pick up the reins and start to do leg yield. That is a very very useful exercise for loosening up everything. Its like a stretching exercise as well. Start very slow without forcing him to cross over a lot. (but he has to react to your legs to move over) do this for about 10 min and just watch what happens. Afterwards you can walk him over poles, (3 or 4 in a row) that will catch his attention and you can use it to get rhythm into his walk without having to pull. Afterwards I would interchange leg yield again with poles.

It will be a change to his daily routine, he will get a nice stretch, will have to focus and doesn’t need to be stressed out.

I use this routine for my old pony which is rather hot. In the leg yield part she has to give in and watch for my aids and that loosens her up and makes her listen to me.

Good luck and believe me you get really loosen up a stiff horse whatever age with the right exercises. And only start to trot when you feel your horse is loose…

[Dressagelvr]

Manni is right about walking, though I disagree that 40 minutes necessary. I think about half that should be enough. Even better, start and end each ride with a walking hack outside the arena. That will produce a better walk.

If that doesn’t help, I’d have the vet take a closer look or think about retiring the horse.

[Manni01]

[QUOTE=Dressagelvr;8923538]
Manni is right about walking, though I disagree that 40 minutes necessary. I think about half that should be enough. Even better, start and end each ride with a walking hack outside the arena. That will produce a better walk.

If that doesn’t help, I’d have the vet take a closer look or think about retiring the horse.[/QUOTE]

I think the length of time is difficult to recommend, but I think in the beginning longer is better… once the walk routine works you can shorten it…

[hunterjumper98]

He does feel a little looser after the canter and some changes of direction, but the stiffness is still there.

He relaxes his neck more when the rein is long, but when he is allowed to do that, he tends to fluctuate between allowing his body to relax and hollowing his back. It is never a consistent state of relaxation.

He seems to tense up when asked to do anything more with his body such as engage his hind end and seek the bit, but there also seems to be a component of muscle inflexibility thrown in there as well which I will try to solve with some stretches. Again, there is nothing physically wrong with him according to the vet, so I am certain that he isn’t shying away from pain.

I wonder if it is possible that he has a mental block due to any kind of pain when he was ridden before I got him or if he is just stubborn?

I think I should also mention that he is no longer shown, but I would like to keep up with his training to keep him fit any happy! He gets very restless and grumpy when not in regular work. He likes having a job!

[RedHorses]

Unless your vet specifically looked for an EPSM/PSSM type of issue it is not something that would show up in a check. It is worth asking your vet if there was a muscle enzyme check, especially since your Chiro noted stiff muscles. At the near normal end of the EPSM/PSSM line it can manifest as simple muscle stiffness without ever approaching tying up.

At the extreme other end of the EPSM/PSSM line the foal dies within days of birth because it can’t break down the stored energy fast enough to meet bodily needs.