What do you know about the horse's neck?

Did you know…….. your horse has 7 Cervical Vertebrae just like we do as a humans❓

Dogs and cats also have Cervical Vertebrae and all of us have much shorter necks than the horse 🐶 🐱

Cervical Vertebrae are the bones that make up the length of the neck.

The horse has huge individual bones with thin fibrous discs in-between ⭕️

The first vertebrae is called the Atlas and allows the horse to ‘nod’ or say ‘yes’ ✅

The second is called the Axis and allows the head to twist from side to side or say ‘no’ ❌

These 2 vertebrae are anatomically different from the other 5 vertebrae which go down the neck and then meet the Thoracic spine behind the shoulder blade (Scapula).

The neck is the most flexible part of the equine spine.

The majority of movement is at the base of the neck when the head is raised or lowered. 🔼🔽

When treating horses I often find tension in the neck which can be caused by many things, including but not limited to:

▪️Environment (eating from only one height)

▪️Environment (a horse that is stressed and on high alert)

▪️Tack (ridden or trained in restricted positions or constantly on a loose rein)

▪️Handling (tied or lead in restricted positions)

▪️Ridden work (allowed to travel on the forehand or forced into hyper flexion)

▪️Unbalanced riders (hanging on the horse’s mouth / pushing weight onto the forehand)

▪️Untreated Orthopedic pain (causing the horse to compensate)

▪️Incorrect foot balance

▪️Incorrect tooth balance

Having your horse assessed by an Equine Body worker will help to detect restrictions in your horse’s body and potentially identity the reasons behind this, meaning you can work to address them.

Many humans suffer with neck pain, and look how short our necks are❗️

Plus how we don’t have another being to weight bear, pulling on our heads, whilst sitting on our backs❗️

When you put this into perspective it makes you realise why it is so important for our horses to have regular body work to keep them in tip top condition to carry their riders and perform at their best ♥️

Jess | Jessica Limpkin Equine Massage Therapy