“The high
destiny of the individual is to serve rather than to rule.” – Albert Einstein
It’s Toby, such a fine
fellow! This 9-year-old Percheron/Thoroughbred cross has recently begun his
journey as a dressage horse, having been acquired and evented by his loving and
devoted owner Lisa 3 years ago. Prior to their meeting, Toby tried his hoof briefly
at foxhunting, but for the majority of his young adult life, he was a driving
horse.
What do driving horses do?
They pull things: carriages, wagons, plows, carts, sleighs…anything that is
attached to the horse by a hitch and other rigging. Generally, larger-boned
horses (like Clydesdales and Percherons) pull heavier equipment, like plows and
wagons. Finer-boned horses (like Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds) pull lighter
equipment, like carts and buggies. Driving can include work- and
agricultural-related practices (like logging or plowing), agility and speed
events (competitive driving), showing, pleasure and entertainment (like
weddings and city carriage rides), and many other subcategories.
I see many horses that are in
the process of transitioning from driving to another discipline. Physically,
there are lots of variables contributing to the complexity of that transition,
such as the horse’s own conformation, the age when he/she first began pulling
equipment, the nature of the work itself, and how long that lifestyle lasted.
As you would imagine, the
journey can be demanding at first, but there are ways of approaching it so that
a new way of being is attainable, enjoyable, and successful for everyone
involved.
Luckily, the vast majority of
these horses are very agreeable partners during this process. For safety
reasons, an amenable and unflappable temperament is bred into horses intended
for driving. Generally, they have also been handled quite a bit in their lives,
so they are not typically apprehensive about touch or manipulation of their
bodies. That said, you can believe that if an otherwise stoic or mellow horse
reacts during bodywork, there is good reason!
What I find most frequently
in ex-driving horses are two things:
1.
Asymmetry
in the development of the musculature of the body.
Because they’ve been required
to constantly pull against a breastcollar, harness, or other equipment, and
generally bred to be wide-chested, driving horses are often over-developed in
the front end and resistant to pressure (because they have been taught to pull
against it, rather than give to it, as we often expect).
If they were started too
early in life, or required to regularly pull too heavy a load, they may have
engaged the hind end in a desperate, rather than efficient manner. This means
using the toes for leverage and tilting the pelvis anteriorly, which shifts an
overabundance of weight onto the stifle (an unstable joint to begin with!).
This results in an incorrectly developed hind end.
2.
Instability
of the pelvis.
Since these horses typically
balance themselves against a very heavy object, unless they were trained
excellently, they have probably developed locomotive muscles more readily than
postural muscles. Locomotive muscles allow us to move. Postural muscles allow
us to balance and stabilize.
Postural muscles are required
for the pelvis to find a neutral position, and to function properly as a
movable anchor for many other structures of the body. Many of these structures
are, in turn, required for proper movement.
How do we help develop
postural muscles? First, we simply bring awareness to them, using careful
manipulation. Then, we use gentle range-of-motion exercises to gently shift the
center of gravity, which isometrically strengthens. Next, we use tools to
transfer these ideas to exercise, to help the horse build confidence
integrating the ideas during locomotion.
This can be challenging at
first, for ex-driving horses (particularly the larger-boned breeds), because
often they are bred to be “cow hocked”, which means the hocks are close
together. This causes horses to be “toed-out” and affects the hip angle, pelvic
tilt, and ultimately changes a horse’s gait. It is possible to positively
affect all of these issues, but it takes true commitment to all of the methods
listed above.
Horses let us know how much
they can do, what is fair to ask, and what is realistically possible. It’s up
to us as humans to trust their wisdom!
In Toby’s first session, he
was participatory and cooperative with exercises, which told Lisa and me that he
was comfortable enough to proceed. We could appreciate a visible difference in
his posture at the end of his session, which told us that his body is capable
of receiving and responding to new information. We could feel a difference in the
weight and range-of-motion of his extremities, which indicated that he was
beginning to engage himself differently, by choice.
All great and encouraging
signs from this handsome, versatile, and endearing guy!!
Toby is so fortunate to have
an owner that puts his needs before her own. Lisa knows what she wants, and she
is entitled to that 100%!! However, she does not pigeon-hole Toby for her own
sake. She gives him what he needs, so that he can be exactly who he is supposed
to be, and time will tell where his journey leads.
We all know that
unfortunately, true compassion and patience are uncommon, in our primarily
utilitarian horse world. We can change that paradigm, one person at a time. Thank you, Lisa, for reminding us of this!
