How risky is riding a horse to the horse?

We know that horse riding is risky. Falling off a horse can sometimes cause pretty severe injuries, such as happened to Christopher Reeves. Even being around horses can lead to injuries, they are large animals that weigh much more then us mere humans and they can pack a very powerful blow.

But what about the horse? Is the horse at risk of injury when we ride? Well about 25% of horse owners this year will experience a lameness in their horse – is it from riding?

The answer to that question is… it depends.

Risk of Injury while riding depends on the following factors –

1. Discipline
2. Level of riding
3. Conformation
4. Ground Surface
5. Previous Injury
6. Fatigue

Discipline - Obviously a race horse will have a higher incidence of injuries than a trail horse. Jumpers, Barrel Racers, Reiners, Eventers, Dressage horses all have different common injuries related to the discipline in which the horse performs.

Level of Riding – The higher the level of riding the more likely for injury – A Grand Prix jumper is more likely to have a serious injury than a training level horse.

Conformation - A horse with crooked legs will more likely to move incorrectly and cause injury to itself.

Ground Surface – Uneven ground, deep footing in an arena, wet ground will be more likely to cause injuries when riding.

Previous Injury - an old injury or even an existing unhealed injury that may be unknown to the rider is more likely to be reinjured or more injured.

Fatigue – A tired horse is much more prone to injury.

Of all of these factors the one that is in complete control of the rider during competition is fatigue. It is up to you as a rider to monitor your horse. If your horse is tired and has signs of fatigue, YOU are in control, then it is up to you to slow down or even stop. A common injury in competition horses is damage of the Suspensory Ligament and/or the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon and it is much more common to have this injury in a fatigued horse. Is it really worth another class at a horse show to risk injury to this ligament because your horse is tired?

A suspensory ligament injury or in more technical terms the proximal suspensory ligament disease (PSD) is an extremely common injury in performance horses. The Horse magazine has a good article giving an overview of what Dr. Sue Dyson, head of Clinical Orthopaedics at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, England, presented at an AAEP focus group in Colorado. The article, Proximal Suspensory Ligament Disease of the Forelimb goes over the diagnosis, the complications, and the treatment for this injury; however it does not go through any prevention steps. Now I was not at this meeting so I do not know if it was discussed or not but in my opinion this would be an important topic and some research would be great on this subject.

Here are some of the horse sense steps that you can take to prevent the suspensory ligament injury -

– this goes a long way in prevention, proper balance of the horse’s hoof not only improves most movement and over better health of the hoof but will cause les strain on the ligaments and tendons when the horse moves. A good farrier that understands hoof balance and horse movement can easily help in prevention of suspensory ligament damage. Low heels and long toe, a long wall on one side, a flare, high heels and short toe all are imbalances that can cause more strain on ligaments and tendons.

– proper footing for the horse is a must in preventing injury. Deep sand or uneven arena surfaces are definitely causes of strain and injury. My opinion here is also that you should train the horse on, what you show the horse on. Even though the rubberized surfaces are great and are very cushy for your horse it also does not allow your horse to condition up to the arena surfaces that they will be showing on.

– overtraining is a big problem in the show world and it is the cause for many chronic injuries of the suspensory ligament. Your horse needs to rest, working 7 days a week, or heavily training for three consecutive days will not improve your horse, more likely it will break your horse down. Other conditioning tips would be to actually stretch your horse on a regular basis. Stretching just prior to going into an event is not going to prevent injuries however stretching on a consistent regular basis will. I recommend stretching your horse everyday, but then I do realize the time commitment and some people can not accomodate so, you need to stretch your horse before or after every ride and if you do it prior to riding warm the horse up first.

One specific stretch for the suspensory ligament and flexor tendons is to take a small flat board about 3/8 to 5/8 inch in thickness and place it so that the horses toe is just on the edge of that board. Next go over to the opposite front leg and pick it up. Hold this position for 15 to 30 seconds to stretch out the flexor tendons. To give you a visual – think of stretching out your calf by placing your toe on the riser of a stair and sinking down. I will post a picture soon.