Horses being the athletic creatures that they are means they can be prone to many imbalances of the body which can limit their range of motion and even cause severe pain.  Picture the frisky horse playing in the pasture, tossing it’s head around, bucking and streaking across the pasture and it’s no wonder they have problems!  A common issue that occurs in the horse is being “out at the poll”.  This term is a generalized term used to describe when a horse has a subluxation or imbalance at the joint between the first cervical vertebrae and the skull, and sometimes including the second cervical vertebra.  Here are 3 steps to helping you determine if your horse is “out at the poll” and whether you need to bring in an equine professional such as bodyworker, chiropractor, or even dentist for help. 

Without going into all the technical reasons why a horse might be “out at the poll”, it is important to note that there are a variety of underlying causes for this condition.  The source of cervical imbalance in the horse can range from a direct trauma to the area and associated subluxation and/or muscle spasm, an imbalance in the mouth that is obstructing the full range of motion of the head, and even problems in other areas of the horses body transferring to the cervical spine just to name a few things.  Once you’ve determined that your horse does have an imbalance, it will be important to engage the help of a professional to determine the exact source driving the underlying imbalance. 

Most Common Symptoms:

• Pain/sensitivity at the back of the skull and around the first and second cervical vertebrae
• Braciness during lateral flexion
• Unable to fully flex or extend at the poll
• Grinding of teeth when put on the circle or during lateral flexion
• Problems picking up a particular lead
• High headed

Checking Your Horse’s Poll

Step 1 – Check For Tension

The first thing you can check is for muscle tension at and around the poll.  When you run your hands at the base of your horse’s neck, just behind the ears on either side of the spine, are the muscles very tight?  You may find that one side is tighter than the other.  The muscles may bulge prominently in a particular area around the vertebra which may indicate excessive tension or a subluxation.  You may find that one side of the neck feels different from the other indicating a possible imbalance.  Your hand should smoothly move from one muscle to the next.  When you feel prominent muscle bulges and/or depressions, this is an indication of imbalance.  Even when you are dealing with a large-muscled Quarter Horse, the muscles should smoothly run one to the other almost seamlessly.  Is your horse painful or sensitive to you palpating the area around the base of the neck?  If you are finding tension and/or imbalances during your assessment, then this may be an indication that you need to bring in your bodyworker or chiropractor for further help. 

Step 2 – Check Spacing At The Poll

Next, stand next to your horse’s head, facing the same direction as your horse, and place your fingers on either side of your horse’s head, just below each ear.  Let your fingers fall into the grooves created between the back of the jaw (ramus of the mandible) and the first cervical vertebrae (wing of the atlas).  Make note of how many fingers of each hand fill in the gap, making sure that your horse is facing forward and not looking to one side.  If you find that one side is filled by only two fingers and the other side you can fit three fingers, then you probably need to have your horse evaluated by a bodyworker or chiropractor. 

Step 3 – Check The Teeth

The third thing that you can check fairly easily and can help you determine if underlying dental issues are driving the problem is checking for range of motion in your horse’s jaw.  In order for your horse to have full range of motion at the poll, it must also have full function in the mouth.  Your horse’s lower jaw MUST have the ability to slide back and forth to get out of the way during vertical flexion and extension.  During flexion, the lower jaw slides forward and during extension it slides backwards.  Obstructions caused by uneven tooth wear can interfere with this process, making it impossible for your horse to fully mobilize at the poll.  Likewise for lateral flexion.  If your horse has pointy hooks jabbing it on the inside of the cheek or rims that obstruct the side-to-side movement of the lower jaw in relation to the upper, you are going to see loss in mobility laterally.  Your horse’s braciness may simply be how it is protecting itself from pain originating in the mouth. 

Check your horse’s large masseter muscles (large muscles covering the cheeks) for lumpy adhesions that might indicate it is using one side of the mouth over the other or may have sores on the inside of the mouth.  Look at how your horse’s incisors line up at resting position, then ask your horse to lower its head toward the ground.  Check to the alignment of the incisors with the head low and compare this to how they looked at rest.  The lower incisors should have moved forward (amount will vary by horse – usually 1/4 inch or so).  Do the same in the opposite direction – lifting the head upward.  The incisors should have dropped backward in relation to their resting position.  Next check the side to side movement by grasping the lower jaw under the chin with one and and the upper jaw just under the nose with the other.  Gently move the lower jaw from side to side.  Take note of the amount of movement from one side to the other.  If you are noticing limited movement in any direction, you probably need to bring in your equine dentist to check your horse’s teeth for possible problems. 

Obviously there are many other things that you can check to pinpoint where issues at your horse’s poll might be originating from, but they are too many to cover in the scope of this article.  The 3 steps covered in this article cover the most readily detectable symptoms by the layman and address the most common causes of horses that have limited mobility at the poll.  When in doubt, always consult your veterinarian or a qualified equine professional to help you determine the best treatment plan for your horse.  After you have checked your horse using the steps outlined above, go over to my Facebook page and tell us what you found here:  http://www.facebook.com/HeavenlyGaitsEquineMassage. 

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Lisa Generali-Perez is a Certified Equine Massage Therapist (CEMT), with multiple certifications from several different equine bodywork schools.  She incorporates her knowledge and experience with Parelli Natural Horsemanship, equine bodywork and as a veterinary technician to provide her clients with the resources they need to make informed decisions for their horses.  She encourages and facilitates network building between equine health care professionals, working together to find the best combination of therapies to meet the needs of the “whole horse”.  

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