Most of us are familiar with the stereotypical image of the sway-backed, pot-bellied, old broodmare in the pasture. Unfortunately it is the eventual fate of many broodmares’ bodies to lose that nice topline after years of carrying foals to term. But your mare doesn’t have to be one of those. There are some very simple exercises that you can do to help your broodmare improve abdominal tone and retain or even recapture that girlish figure.

What Causes A Sway-Backed Posture In Horses?

Many people are under the misconception that the sway-backed posture is caused by loss of muscle tone in the muscles along the back. However, this is not the case. What actually holds the horse’s belly up are the same muscles that hold our bellies in – the abdominal muscles. I’m sure you’ve heard people in the fitness world talk often about having a “strong core”. The same holds true for animals. The large abdominal muscles of the horse, in conjunction with some other core muscles such as the psoas group, are what lift and round the horse’s back into that lovely, strong-looking topline.

When the horse loses that core abdominal strength over time the weight of the abdomen draws the back downward with gravity causing the horse to look “sway-backed”. Some horses develop this posture simply because they learn to carry themselves hollow out of habit and never learn how good it can feel to move with a strong core, just as with us humans when we become lazy in our own posture. Broodmares develop this posture due to the process their abdominal muscles go through having to stretch and accommodate the weight and bulk of their foals. Over the years of stretching, the abdominal muscles “forget” what it was like to be firm and eventually stop springing back to their original tone following the birth of the foal. You all have heard the term “use it or lose it”. That is exactly what happens.

How Do You Strengthen A Horse’s Abdominal Muscles?

There are several simple exercises you can do with your horse to help them improve abdominal tone and develop stronger core muscles, building a strong topline. Some of them require a bit of effort on the part of the horse and some can be done reflexively for horses that are on stall rest or if you simply do not have the ability to get your horse out and moving, such as in bad weather.

• Hill Therapy
• Cavaletti Work
• Backing Up Hills
• Reflex Point Exercises

• “Head-Down” Exercises

Hill Therapy And Cavaletti Work

Hill therapy and working your horse over cavaletti or “trot poles” is an excellent way to help your horse learn to move in a balanced and collected manner, overcoming the muscle memory to improve abdominal tone and building a strong core. If you have access to low rolling terrain, you can circle your horse for a few minutes at a time at the walk or trot, depending on what level of fitness your horse is at, in each direction. This causes the horse to lower its head in order to watch where it is going and it has to really use its abdominal muscles as it moves on the upward slope. At first your horse may have a difficult time with this and will probably have to break to the walk, but eventually they will build the proper muscles and it will start to feel good to them to move that way. You’ll see them lower their heads more and more and be able to trot for longer and longer periods of time. Linda Parelli has provided some excellent material on hill therapy, along with detailed instructions and diagrams of how to use it at http://files.parelli.com/hilltherapy.pdf.

For those that do not have access to hills, cavaletti are a good alternative. They provide the same function of causing the horse to look where it is going and cause the horse to really lift and reach under itself with the hind legs to clear the poles. The most effective layout of your cavaletti is to have three poles on one side of your circle in a fan shape and one small jump pole (6 to 12 inches in height is all that is requried) on the other side of the circle. You will have to gauge your speed and duration to your horse’s fitness level and gradually increase the speed and duration as your horse progresses.

It is best to start off with more frequent shorter sessions and each week you can lengthen the amount of time on each side by a minute and do it one less day per week. You will want to end up at about 2 to 3 days per week and about 5 minutes on each side with a 2 to 3 minute break in between.

Backing Up Hills

Backing up hills is another exercise you can do with your horse to get them to really round their backs and use those abdominal muscles. At first your horse may back with its head high in the air until it learns that it’s much easier to lower its head and tuck its hindquarters. Be patient with your horse when teaching this. Start on the flat and teach your horse to back with a lowered head first, then you can add the hill. Only ask for a few steps at a time. There is a great video by Christi Rains, 4-Star Parelli Senior Instructor, demonstrating how to teach this to your horse at: https://youtu.be/Y2haAOfh8ic

Reflex Point Exercises

Your horse has various reflex points on its body similar to our own. When pressure is applied to them, you can cause various movements of the horse’s body involuntarily. You can use these exercises every day and they require no effort on your or your horse’s part at all. The reflex points we will focus on for the purposes of this article are the pelvic reflex points. You can find the ones we need by placing your thumb on either side of the tail head and taking your index fingers approximately 3 to 4 inches and 45 degrees laterally from that point. It will vary a little bit for each horse. Once you’ve pinpointed that spot, you can push in firmly with either your fingers or a blunt object like the handle of your hoof pick on both points at the same time. You will see your horse tuck its rump and contract the abdominal muscles. This in essence is getting your horse to do abdominal crunches. Repeat this move 5 to 10 times in a row every day.

These are just a few simple ways you can help your horse improve abdominal tone and learn to move in a collected and athletic manner. Your horse doesn’t have to lose muscle tone with age. They can grow old gracefully and maintain a great body at the same time. Just remember…”use it or lose it!”