Equine Massage Therapy | Horse Massage

Looking to increase your horse’s stride length? These in-the-saddle exercises for the hind limb retractors will help improve your horse’s gluteal muscles and hamstrings. With proper stretching of the glutes, your horse can better plant his hind legs, which means better cadence and coordination. Stretching the hind legs forward also works the fetlocks nicely, which can lead to more comfortable gaits for you to ride.

Today we’re going to talk about the basic whole-leg foreleg stretch, which, when done correctly, can help mobilize the shoulders/withers area. In geekier terms, we’re talking the trapezius, latissimus dorsi, serratus ventralis, deltoids and triceps. Every massage therapist seems to have his/her favorite muscle, and mine is the latissimus dorsi. In layman’s terms, it’s pretty much where you sit on a horse.

As a reminder, never stretch cold muscles. And if a horse isn’t going along with a particular stretch, don’t bother with it. You can’t stretch a muscle if the horse is contracting it, and if you push the issue, both of you are risking muscle injury. Also -- get your horse moving for at least five minutes at a brisk walk (under saddle or in hand) before moving on to stretches.

Before launching into this series of stretches, please read my previous post, “Foreleg stretches for your horse’s shoulders and withers,” paying attention to the second and third paragraphs.

This series of rotations works the forelimb retractors and allows you to get into the deeper muscles in the shoulder. The exercises work the trapezius, lat dorsi, deltoids and triceps, deep pecs, serratus ventralis, and forelimb flexors (it just occurred to me that I need to post some anatomy diagrams...). They also seem to relax the horse and help convince him that it’s okay to have his limbs held and moved. The big thing here is to help your horse strengthen his extended gaits and develop a freer shoulder.