Saturday, August 25, 2012

Keeping Your Horses Injury Free

By Heather Toms


Ideally, your horse's footing should be well adjusted to its physical and geological environment and the locations where it is put to work, trained and exercised. If the pony is used for events, the type of event will also make a difference. Almost invariably, it is easier to settle down to one footing style, rather than try to accommodate various requirements, particularly in open air arenas. Your horse's style of movement is a crucial consideration in going for the right footing.

Researchers in biomechanics would be in a position to give you accurate details of just which parts of a horse's limbs face stress at any point in a stride and what degree of stress each part is subjected to. These researchers have managed to apply a large amount of their discoveries about humans to horses, where these observations are relevant to both species. Humans develop assorted bone related afflictions like joint issues and osteoarthritis because of repeated jars arising from hard impact on the ground; horses are susceptible in a similar manner. Any activity that puts the limbs through airborne and ground based cycles in hard repeated motions is more liable to cause these conditions.

Correct footing muffles the shock of impact to a discernible extent. When picking the right footing for your pony, you should take account the surface of operation and its impact resistance, which pertains to its capacity to absorb the hard jars. This is a critical part of the hoof's motion. Concrete has low absorb resistance, which is why doctors counsel you not to jog on concrete surfaces. The same logic also applies to horses. Soft surfaces like those comprising wood chips absorb impact energy much better, which means the limb is jarred much less on contact. Not surprisingly, sand has an exceedingly low impact resistance, nevertheless it creates other issues due to its inclination to shift. While labouring on sand, heart beat rates can go up by as much as 50%; this is why horses, and all other animals, tire so fast when operating on sand.

One of the very finest surfaces is turf, which contains high proportions of moisture. Turf that's well looked after can be heaven for a horse's limbs, but it should be just right. If it is too damp, it may lead to slipping, and if it is too dry, it hardens and may lose quite a bit of resistance to impact.

A mix of soil and sand would make for ideal footing in arenas. Good arena maintenance involves groundhog work and watering; this leads to a soft, moist footing. Such surfaces permit high degrees of absorption of impact energy, which means horses are safe from injuries and the occurrence of conditions like osteoarthritis.

There are one or two steps that you can take to reduce risk to your horse on any kind of footing.

Try as far as possible to train your horse on the exact same footing that he will be competing on. Regularly injuries arise as the result of changes in footing. Stay away from footings with alternative soft/hard and deep/shallow spots. Slick spots can be particularly threatening. Keep your pony properly trained and in top physical condition. If you over apply him, he is going to land up with injuries stemming from fatigue. Ensure you reduce his risks with the right coaching and conditioning. Give him appropriate shoes. Keep close watch on his confirmation. Ensure any injuries are well healed before permitting participation in any event.

You can gain advantage from the help of any number of footing companies to develop a footing eminently suitable for the intended event. Aside from this, do your own homework to make extremely sure that your pony can function free of injuries.




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