The Thoracic Sling Muscle Group............find out more and help your horse

Did you know your horse has no collar bone?

Their shoulders are not attached to their body by a bone like ours are but with a group of muscles, ligaments and fascia known as the Thoracic Sling or sometimes also called the Shoulder Girdle 🤔

The Thoracic sling suspends the chest between the horse’s two front limbs and lifts the thorax 🔝

The Thoracic sling consists primarily of the following muscles:

* The Serratus ventralis thoracis
* The Pectoral muscles (of which there are 4)

1. transverse pectoral
2. ascending pectoral
3. descending pectoral
4. subclavicus

Contraction of these sling muscles lift the trunk and withers between the shoulder blades, raising the withers to the same height or higher than the croup (hind end) ⬆️

A horse that is travelling without proper contraction of its sling muscles, or with weak sling muscles will appear downhill and be ‘on the forehand’ ⬇️

As well as the way the horse is travelling there may be other signs that your horse is tight, sore or weak in the Thoracic Sling muscles.

These can include:

🔸'grumpy’ to be tacked up / sensitive to the girth

🔸reluctance to have front feet picked out / stretched forward for the farrier

🔸difficulty going up or down hills

🔸reluctance to pick up a lead or tend to swap leads or cross-canter

🔸difficulty with banks, drops and other jumps or obstacles that require extra "reach" in front

🔸showing reluctance when asked for lengthened strides

🔸tiring more quickly during exercise, because of having to work against the tightness to go forward

You can quite easily palpate 🤚 (feel) the superficial pectorals and serratus ventalis thoracics yourself to see if you think your horse may be tight here:

Gently run your hands over the surface of the skin and see how they feel. Are they:

* Tight⁉️
* Loose❓
* Consistent and smooth❓
* Bumpy and stringy⁉️
* Are there even holes or dents in there⁉️
* Is your horse sensitive in the chest or girth area⁉️

If you think your horse may be sensitive or tight in this area, or lacking strength and muscle tone, Equine Massage Therapy is a great way to detect and treat problem areas helping to free up your horse, make them more comfortable and therefore more able to work correctly and become stronger 💪🏻

If you think Equine Massage Therapy can benefit your horse please do get in touch to find out more or to book and appointment 📲