Equine Chiropractor: The Equine Leg

Matt Kenna is a fully qualified veterinary and sports chiropractor working with elite athletes and their horses. He is currently working providing consultancy to premiership football teams, high goal players and treats horses across all levels of polo from low goal to high goal. Based between Guards and Cowdray, he travels all over the south of England.

The Equine Leg

Prehabilitation is the best rehabilitation

Matt performing class iv laser therapy to a 95 per cent tear of the DDF tendon – managed in conjunction with the vet - a very important point

We all dread it; the tendon injury, ligament damage, a muscle tear, however, such issues are part and parcel of managing and looking after performance horses. Tendon injuries, under veterinary management include two to three months box rest and then an integrated return to activity to load the tissue properly. In the middle of the season, having your best horse go down with one is not only inconvenient but also comes with huge emotional conflict, for us and the horse.

When trying to understand the equine legs, it is important to know that the hind limb and the forelimb have very different ways of attaching themselves to the axial skeleton (main body) on the horse. The hind limb is attached through bones and joints, the hip joint to be precise, which is the top of the femur forming a relationship with the ilium, which is a part of the pelvis. The forelimb however isn’t attached in the same way. The shoulder joint (glenohumeral joint), is a relationship between the top of the humerus and the scapula, the latter of which has no boney attachment to the body, it is held in place by muscles and ligaments alone.

The equine leg upon visual inspection, is strikingly thin in diameter when comparing it to the rest of the horse’s body. This allows for it to be light and aerodynamic, a key feature in a flight animal, which equates to speed when running away. Although helpful for this purpose, it comes with its disadvantages. As the horse goes through the different gait cycles and speed increases, so does the load through each limb.

At a walk, around half the horses total body weight goes through each limb, so roughly 250kg when thinking of a polo pony (assuming 500kg total body weight). When speeding up a little to trot, this increases to full body weight through each limb, due to the four-beat nature of the gait pattern. However, when looking at canter, this increases to 2.5 times body weight going through each limb, around 1.25 tonnes and will increase again for gallop. Throw into that the ballistic power, stopping and turning and flat out pace required in a chukka and you can really start to see what our incredible four legged athletes go through for us. This really highlights the need for correct exercise programming and diet. An additional 100kg in bodyweight can equate to 250kg of extra weight through each limb, so contacting Lorna at Baileys to get your horse nutrition right is a great idea! Striking a balance between proper musculature and healthy weight is key. By no means should this mean horses ‘should be run light’ as the saying goes, but do be conscious of keeping them cautiously on the heavy side.

My favourite definition of injury is; failure of a tissue (muscle, ligament, tendon or cartilage) to adapt to the load. Adaptation is key and doesn’t come quickly. Whilst cardiovascular fitness (heart and lung health) comes relatively quickly, soft tissues such as muscles, tendons, ligaments and cartilage adapt to training at a much slower rate. It is my belief that many horses are rushed back into work and lack a variety in their work in the lead up to a season. Things like road work and hill work; up/down, forwards/backwards, are key pieces of advice I offer to clients. Concussion (the force going through the hoof, bone and tendons) will not cause damage; if light and increased at a gentle rate, it will actually strengthen the tissues, increasing collagen lay down.

Variation, actual rest, recuperation (easier days) and well-timed programming will all help tissue to adapt and decrease the likelihood of injury, hence why it’s called ‘pre-habiliation’;

Joss Ridley, Jayne Darling-Parks & Claire Allen

A delicious lunch

CPPC Christmas Party; Cowley Manor, Cheltenham; Friday 13 December Ciren Does Christmas

Peter O’Rorke, Matt Evetts & Tony Haynes

With Christmas on the horizon, Cirencester Park Polo Club members and friends gathered to celebrate the festive season at the iconic Cowley Manor near Cheltenham. Alongside a delicious lunch, served to perfection by the lovely Cowley staff, there was laughter and festive cheer aplenty, as guests exchanged Christmas tidings of great joy! With all eyes turned to the 2020 season, gossip flew around the room – who will Photography by Matt Kenna the next big Ciren star be? Which pros will play for which teams next year? Who will take the most falls? Suffice to say, a wonderful lunch was had by all; the perfect way to begin a thrilling festive season. Photography by John Hankin

The equine hind limb: the red shows bone and green Yanna Mudie, Ginny Williams & Natalie Meredith showing the bones meeting and forming the joints of the hip and SI joint The equine fore limb: the red shows bones of the humerus and scapula and yellow showing the muscular attachment on the scapula to the axial skeleton it’s the notion of helping to stop things going wrong in the first place.

When a bone or muscle gets injured and consequently repairs, it can do so fully. The Susie Godwin & Barrie Upton same can’t be said for tendons, ligaments and cartilage, our aim for healing these tissues is to get them as close to ‘normal’ as possible or the likelihood of re-injury is higher. Therefore, when these type of injuries do occur, it is extremely important to address them as quickly as possible with the best approach.

Laser therapy, non-heating class iii and iv veterinary lasers to be specific, are a key weapon in the arsenal of addressing these injuries and speeding up healing time whilst reducing pain. They do this through clever Christine Williams & Duncan Branch inhibitory interactions with pain producing cells and encourage healing cells to infiltrate into injured tissues. Alongside a good veterinary management and progressive rehab programme, we can, as a team, aim to get the horses back with the maximum potential healing possible.

The best option, and more importantly, cheaper, less painful and emotionally draining option, is to include variety in training and early preparation!

Web: www.mkchiro.co.ukMaureen Moseley, Georgie Seddon-Brown @theequinechiro & Isabel Branch @theequinechiro