Proprioception and Proprioceptive Conditioning for Horses

Today I wanted to talk a bit about Proprioception and Proprioceptive Conditioning.

This is something I talk to most of my clients about but for many different reasons.

But what is proprioception in relation to horses❓

Proprioception is your horse’s awareness of where their body is in space.

Your horse needs some level of proprioception in order to be able move their bodies around on a day to day basic without falling over or bumping into things 🤕

However I see many horses whose level of proprioception is simply as basic as this, and even some that do trip and bump into things on a regular basis 🤦🏽‍♀️

Some people may be inclined to think the horse is ‘dull’ or ‘stupid’ or ‘lazy’ but I don’t believe this to be the case❗️

Think about how most (I appreciate not all) of us keep our horses.

They live in perfectly square stables with soft bedding/matting, they walk across the smooth concrete yard into their square paddocks which are harrowed and rolled.

They are exercised in levelled arenas or hacked on tarmacked roads.

I appreciate this is being a little extreme in some cases, but the idea I am trying to give you is why would our horses need to develop good awareness of where their body is if they don’t have to negotiate uneven ground, unexpected obstacles or varying surfaces on a day to day basis?

We then expect our horses to perform complex manoeuvres in our chosen discipline, and wonder why they struggle to pick up the correct canter lead, or why they trip over a tree root when out hacking or knock a pole in the show jumping with a trailing hind limb 🤔

Maybe it’s because the awareness of the body parts, the proprioception, is not conditioned for the task you are asking⁉️

We can look at this on many levels, and I do, I always assess the horse I have in front of me, as well as their history provided by the owner, and consider the ‘job’ the owner has planned for the horse before deciding if the horse’s current levels of proprioception are appropriate, or if we can/need to improve them.

This can be as basic as:

❔How can we help your horse walk over an uneven surface without tripping?

And as advanced as:

❔How can we improve your horse’s proprioception so that they know exactly where to place their inside hind limb in the canter pirouette?

Both of these tasks require a level of proprioception but at different skill levels.

Proprioceptive Conditioning is the process of stimulating the neuroreceptors in the body and strengthening pathways to the brain, helping to increase awareness of the body.

Proprioceptive conditioning comes in many forms, these include:

▪️Massage Therapy – physically touching and stimulating the body parts

▪️Stretching – passive movement of the body and limbs

▪️Travelling over randomly spaced poles

▪️Travelling over varying surfaces

▪️Walking in water

▪️Walking through tyres

▪️Backing up

▪️The use of Body Wraps

▪️Standing on Balance Pads

And more…….

📲 If you would like to learn more about Proprioception and Proprioceptive Conditioning please do get in touch to book an assessment and treatment for your horse where I will be able to create a bespoke plan tailored to you and your horse 📲

Jess | Jessica Limpkin Equine Massage Therapy