Pilates for Horses?

Preliminary results from research suggest you can strengthen your horse’s core muscles to help him be healthier, no matter his job in life.
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Preliminary results from research suggest you can strengthen your horse’s core muscles to help him be healthier, no matter his job in life.

“One of the things we know from human medical research is that when people get back pain, the deep stabilizer muscles turn off. When the back pain goes away, these muscles don’t turn on again. There is a very high recurrence rate of back pain, something like 70-80% in people (Hides, et. al, 2001). But if they go to physical therapy and learn how to turn on these deep stabilizer muscles, then the rates of recurrence of back pain are reduced to about 30%. We suspect the same thing is happening in horses.

“So far our studies have found that when the horses have done core training exercises for a few weeks, they have better posture, they stand better, they’re rounder, they’re more elevated through the withers, and they perform better, especially in the collected movements.”–Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, MRCVS, Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University

Clayton wants her Arabian horses performing at their best. She competes in dressage (and has earned U.S. Dressage Federation Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals), is a certified equestrian coach in the United Kingdom and Canada, and has been a member of the Canadian National Coaching Committees for the sports of dressage, jumping, and eventing.

But Clayton also inhabits a world of science and facts. Her day job involves researching equine locomotion, gait analysis, sport horse conditioning, and lameness biomechanics at Michigan State University. Clayton is also a past president of the Association for Equine Sports Medicine, is a member of the International Equine Veterinarians Hall of Fame, and lectures on equine biomechanics and locomotion issues to both academic individuals and horse owners around the world

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Marcia King is an award-winning freelance writer based in Ohio who specializes in equine, canine, and feline veterinary topics. She’s schooled in hunt seat, dressage, and Western pleasure.

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