muscles begin to contract. Muscles A, B, C and D propel the body first up and then forward, while G pulls backward-upward and lifts the forehand. The lifting action of this muscle is especially noticeable in the canter when you feel like your horse is moving uphill. If, on the other hand, tightness keeps the muscle from contracting, the canter becomes flat, or even downhill.

      In the trained horse the muscles of the neck are well developed and help carry the rider so that the long back muscle, G, is free to connect front and back of the horse and lighten the forehand. The neck carriers, C and D, contract and thus straighten the bottom part of the spine, making the neck longer. This means that the horse is pushing the forehead forward, pulling on the nuchal ligament pulling the back up. The head carriers, A and B, do just that, they carry the head at the end of the long neck and let it act as a counter weight to the body of the horse and the rider, using the withers as a fulcrum.

      It is the careful and correct development of the horse’s muscles that turns him into the perfect animal for riding. Horses, however, do not volunteer for the training, and their resistance to more work when the going gets tough often sends trainers to look for gadgets or strong bits to force submission. Please turn back to my own drawing of the horse’s skeleton and you will see three little stars: one at about the second neck vertebra, one at the middle of the back, and one at the hock. Remember, in the very beginning I mentioned the fact that the nuchal ligament is attached to a short bony protrusion on top of the horse’s head? I mentioned that it is about two inches long. The bit rests about twenty inches from the horse’s spine. When you then pull with a force of ten pounds on the bit, if the horse resists, the pull on the ligament is one hundred pounds. The horse will give in to that pressure, but in most cases overreacts. Between the first two vertebrae and the nuchal ligament you find a protective jell inside a sack called the bursa, much like between the navicular bone and the deep flexor tendon. If this area becomes inflamed by too much friction between the bones and the ligament, it causes the horse a great deal of pain. The problem is that it does not cause the horse to go lame, but it becomes even more resistant, which brings about stronger gadgets, etc. If we ask too much of the horse too soon, and we allow it to work with its back dropped, the spinal processes in the middle of the back may touch (“kissing spines”) and be injured. If the problem persists, they may even fuse. Again, the horse does not necessarily become unrideable, but it will protect its back and not work correctly. When muscles become fatigued because they are asked to work beyond their capability, they lose their elasticity and can no longer protect the joints from shock. The weakest of the three carrying and pushing joints of the hind leg is the hock, and that is why it usually is the first one to break down. I have seen these injuries labeled typical for dressage. They are not. They are typical BAD dressage injuries.

      In the first paragraph I also mentioned that trainers are Angels. Even those who did not start as Angels, if they work with compassion for the horse and train to improve the horse and prolong its useful life, they soon will be.

I rest my case.

*Special thanks to artists, Lisa Ludwig and Joseph Havel for their talented and necessary assistance in illustrating this article.