The Biomechanics of the Horse

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The Biomechanics of the Horse

• For the Pony Club
• Annual Meeting 2009
• Betsy LaBelle

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1. Where the rider sits
2. How the design can fan open
3. How the hind legs coming under the body pulls the
   spine open from the back

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• The Trapezius muscle can pull the spine open from
  the front
• What does on the bit mean?
• The stretching forward of the head and neck

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On the forehead The horse moves down-
Uphill movement The horses withers
hill, with sinking between the
scapulae. are elevated
between his front limbs. As

a result, his hind hoof
contacts the ground

before his diagonal front hoof.
The Sling Muscles The chest downpushed or fallen
The chest balanced up between the aids
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The Horses Chest
Can this horse get his hind legs under his body?
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The Cog and the crooked horse
The shoulders and the break in the horse How to
move the shoulders over
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• The Cog and the Training Scale

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Picture 1 The crooked working gait Picture 2
The straight working gait Picture 3 How the
horse can gain strength and begin to collect
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Picture 1 The horses spring comes from
balancing the chest up The spring coils through
the riders body not by pulling on the reins The
rider begins to feel the horse gather his
hind-end under themselves Picture 2 Hind end
joints Sacroilliac Joint, Hip, Stifle, Hock, and
Pastern
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the internal oblique muscles
the rectus abdominis muscles
the external oblique muscles
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Positive tension vs. Negative tension Partnering
The riders responsibility to the horse
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The outside rein through the riders body
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More balancing between the aids
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Just Plain Wrong!!
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This is what we can have The Natural Horse
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Ideas Cross-Coordination Exercise Feldenkreis Jo
seph Pilates Conclusion Horses core Riders
core