Noseband too tight?

This week's Brain or Pain newsletter included a comment about nosebands being too tight on so many horses, and how this could potentially affect performance. Can you imagine the professionals on Strictly Come Dancing being able to move so freely if they had their jaws clamped shut? There is a direct link between tension in the muscles that close the jaw, and tension throughout the rest of the body. A tense muscle cannot extend to the end of its range of movement, and since in horse competition range of movement is a factor in performance, this causes reduced performance (think of how restricted your movement is when your muscles are tight and sore the day after you've exercised too hard, as an example). A jumping horse needs to be able to stretch over the fence, a racehorse needs to be able to stretch his stride to gallop faster, the dressage horse needs to be able to extend his forelegs, the hacking horse needs to be able to move freely up and down hill, and that's just the beginning.
This comment has brought several responses, all agreeing with me that strapping a horses mouth shut to hide unwanted behaviour is not the right thing to do. There aren't necessarily any other easy answers, but as responsible horse owners, for the sake of our horses comfort, we should do our best to identify the cause rather than ignore it.

Thanks from a grateful horse owner (and probably her horse as well)

In my last post I gave my reply to a recent email from a client, and you may have noticed that I asked her if I could post her original email.  She has given me permission to do so, and here it is:

Both your recommendation of Janine Wilbrahim's Book & Julie Houghton's ECST have helped

"I discovered Janine, through an article in Sue Palmer’s weekly newsletter ‘Holistic Horse Help - Pain or Gain’ that recommended Janine’s book ‘’Can You Hear Me’’. 
I was fascinated to read about her ability to communicate with horses and as I had been troubled by my horse’s resistance to be tacked and rugged up, which could not be explained by the normal checks such as saddler, dentist, vet etc I was keen for her to do a psychic reading for him. 
I was amazed at the amount of detail she was able to provide just from a photo of him, from the fact that he is a clock-watcher, likes the smell of my fruity shampoo and more importantly was saying ‘’Something hurts’’ and describing pain at the base of his spine. 
Having had my saddle checked by 3 different saddlers who all confirmed it was a good fit, I was concerned about what this pain that Janine had told me about was and how to pinpoint it, as he showed no signs of lameness, had his teeth done recently and is seen annually by an osteopath and a physiotherapist. 
This weekend saw a ‘eureka’ moment when Ned was treated by Julie Houghton (a colleague of Sue Palmer) who is an Equine Craniosacral Therapist (ECST), who discovered that his left hip was unlevel which was causing a lot of tension in his quarters and tightness in his ribcage. 
After just 1 treatment, Ned is already much more comfortable, far less grumpy being tacked up and having his rugs changed, and with on-going massage and a couple more ECST treatments, will be back on form in no time !
I am amazed that Janine was able to pin-point the trouble-spot so accurately and easily through communicating with Ned via a photo and helped me solve the mystery regarding the underlying problem that more conventional checks had missed. 
I am also extremely grateful to Sue for initiating the discovery through her HHH articles that emphasise that a horse is trying to tell you something when he acts out of character and also to Julie for finally pinpointing and treating the problem area. 
Very many thanks to Janine, Julie and Sue from both Ned and I, your help is hugely appreciated!"

She replied to me:

"I'd be more than happy fo you to share my email with other readers of your newsletters as it was through reading it myself that I persevered to find out what the issue was, as your constant philosphy is that if the horse is behaving strangely he is trying to tell you something. I just wish I had investigated further earlier but it is hard to know what to do when all the normal routes failed:-
- osteo that saw him last said that he only needed a check annually
- physio that saw him in the spring didn't recommend any follow up treatment
- teeth all good as done in July
- saddle all good as done in Aug"

How often should your horse have his back checked?

Below is the reply I sent to a lady in response to an email thanking me for some contacts she made through my regular newsletter who were able to help her find and address the cause of her horse's unhappy behaviour. It's worth remembering as you read this that Carl Hester's horses are treated every 2 weeks - clearly he believes (and I would say has proved) that regular physical therapy is beneficial for horses!

"I'm so glad we've been able to help your horse between us all. However, I am saddened by the fact that the issue was missed by your regular [yearly] physio and osteo. This is something I come across all too regularly. It seems that behaviours such as those your horse was demonstrating (and many other horse behaviours) are just taken to be 'normal', and so the practitioner doesn't place enough significance on the areas of soreness they find. All too often they just report to the owner that the horse is 'fine', when in my opinion he clearly isn't (or perhaps that's how the owner interprets the message, and its a communication problem).

I also find it sad that so many practitioners recommend yearly or six monthly check ups for horses that have pain issues that I believe they need maintenance treatment to help with. It seems to me that practitioners are frightened to offer the treatment that the horse needs, maybe because they are frightened that the owner will think they're being greedy. In my opinion a horse that is doing a reasonable amount of work (I.e. most riding club type horses) should have a physio assessment and treatment every 3 months, unless they are particularly healthy in their musculoskeletal system. That way any pain issue has not been there too long before treatment, and if no pain issue has arisen then the treatment will enhance the horse's performance, improve his willingness to work, and reduce the risk of injury and the chances of a pain issue arising. Of course, if the practitioner is not actually spotting the problem in the first place, this doesn't help! Horses didn't evolve to live in restricted areas, eat from haynets, or carry the weight of a rider, so no matter how careful we are, they are likely to suffer strain through their musculoskeletal system. Only a well trained, experienced and empathetic practitioner can assess the effects of this strain (I.e. not the average horse owner, although I do have many people telling me that they've felt their horse's back and there's nothing wrong - would they go to a lay person if they had a back problem themselves, or would they go to a professional?!), and treat and advise appropriately.

I'm sorry to have gone on, as you can probably guess this is a source of frustration to me on a daily basis! Particularly when I am called to address a horse's behaviour who has supposedly had his back checked, but to my eyes the behaviour is clearly pain related - I have dozens of stories of that being the case. Would you be willing for me to share your email with readers of my newsletter to encourage others to look for the solution that's right for their horse, and to trust in their instincts?"