Silent Pain Signs in the Horse

So many times in our rushed world we forget to look for the smallest signs of trouble.  We only become aware of them after they are “Monsters”.  Since I see a variety of horses every week I thought I would document some of the more common pain signs I see.

Pain is not usually the issue that the owners called me for. Mostly it is “He wont take a lead.” or “He is falling out of the circle” or “He’s knocking over the barrels”. Once I look at the horse I usually see many signs of pain.    So I put together this short list of the obvious ones.
I’m sure the list will grow as I get more/better pictures.

• Wither “Pockets” – Hollows behind the shoulders

This is where the muscles have atrophied from the horse trying to avoid a poorly fitted saddle.

• Hollow Flanks – Sides are concave behind the ribs.  Not from lack of food or being underweight.
• Butt  Muscles are angular not smoothly rounded

The red line shows how the butt muscles are over contracted creating the angle.  The Green line shows which muscles are the primary culprit in this situation.

• Inverted Topline or sway back are signs of saddle fit pain or improper use of the rear end.  This only applies to breeds without genetic markers for sway back (saddlebreds, etc.).

A horse in good condition with regular exercise and properly using their butt should have no more than a 3″ drop in the back and will frequently have less than 2″.

• Ewe Necked – is almost always present when sway back is present.

The red line is what is commonly presented as the being ewe necked.  The appearance is that the neck is set too low on the shoulder.  This is rarely true.  What normally happens is that the underside of the neck (green line) is over developed to the point that you may not even be able to see the carotid groove.

When the head goes up, the neck needs to flex at the shoulder and the back goes down.  Pesto-change-oh and you have a “ewe neck”.  Get the muscles of the back into proper work and most of the neck issues go away.

• Pursed Lips – The lips are held tightly together.  The teeth can be gritted together.  Look for the wrinkles on the lips – sour puss face.

The more wrinkles the higher the pain.  The deeper the wrinkles the longer the pain has been around.   These Lips look like he was sucking on sour grapes.

• Contracted Muscles – Hard muscle bands or spasms – Never relaxes all muscles

It is not just a sweat pattern in the area circled.  The muscles circled are actually in contraction.  He is not able to relax this area.

• Skin doesn’t slide across the muscles smoothly but is stuck in place.  This can be over bones or over other muscles.  This means that the fascia that the skin should slide over has stuck to the skin.  This prevents full extension/contraction of the muscles underneath the stuck fascia.

Horse Grimace Scale

Animal Scientists have finally developed a Facial Grimace Scale to tell how much pain a horse is in.  They have kept the scale simple and since it relates only to the head it is easy to use.

• Stiffly backward ears
• Orbital (eye) tightening all around
• Tension above the eye area
• Strained chewing muscles
• Facial Muscles strained
• Pronounced chin

This can be used by ANYONE to determine IF your horse is in pain. The more pain a horse is in determines how high the score is.

Just because your horse doesn’t exhibit all of these signs does not mean there is no pain.  It only means that there is not enough pain to affect more areas of the horse’s face.  It’s the I have a headache that is:

1. Just behind my eye
2. All around the eye/sinus pain
3. Starts at the back of my head and goes to my face
4. A full blown migraine

You would grade each of these differently from low (1) to high (4).  The intensity of the headache will determine how you look.  From slightly pinched eyes, to furrowed brow, to a grimace.

The picture below shows how it these facial traits are applied to a horse. 0 is no pain effect; 1 is moderate pain; 2 is obvious pain shown.

Using this scale, look at your horse and evaluate their current pain state.

• If any one item is graded as a 2 then it is time to get with a professional to evaluate your horse.
• If the total is 4 or more it is time to get with a professional to evaluate your horse.
• If the total is 2-3 it is time to look at what is going on and find the cause.  You can most likely do this without a professional.

Photo from BVM Equine Grimace Pain Scale.

 

Affects of Poor Saddle Fit

Poor Saddle Fit Affects Everything

Everyone knows that a poorly fitted saddle will result in a horse with attitude problems.   The only thing that most people forget when they start to see “attitude” is that it frequently started with something physical like the saddle.

Many of us with horses live in the town of “Equus Broke US”. So having the money for a custom fitted saddle is out of the question.  We buy the best saddle we can for the money we have from the inventory that day.  So the saddle may not be the best fit for our horse.

There are almost as many ways for a saddle to Not Fit as there are saddles.  The tree may be too wide or too narrow.  The spine channel may be too wide/narrow.  The tree angles can be wrong – too flat or too angled.  The tree can be too long. There can be loose screws, bunched lining, stuffing lumps.  And many more issues that cause pressure points on the horses back.

Then there are all the other things that go on or under the saddle.  The pad is not thick enough or too thick.  The girth is too narrow or pinches.  Our placement of the saddle is too far forward or back.  Any one or some combination of all may be causing your horse to try to avoid the pressure from the saddle.

Here are some of the signs of a poorly fitted saddle.  There are others that may be specific to your horse.  This is not a complete list, just some of the more common behavior and signs that I see.

1. Does your horse resist being caught, act ticklish over the back, dip his back/more sideways or backup when brushed?  Does he hate the site of the shedding blade? Does he act “cold backed”  or buck when first saddled?
2. Does he protest when touched on the spine just where the wither muscles tie into the spine or in the middle between the withers and the end of the ribs?
3. When girthed, does he nip, side-step or rear in the absence of obvious girth chaffing or pinching?  Does he fill up his lungs/hold his breath to keep the saddle loose?
4. Does he have swollen areas in front of the saddle on the shoulder blades?  Is the spine clearly defined on a well fleshed horse? Are there voids or hollow pockets just behind the withers where the saddle sits?
5. 
6. Does he refuse to stand still when mounted?  Does he move constantly rather than standing quietly after mounting?  Does he dip his back and throw his head regardless of how carefully he is mounted?
7. Does he have a history of hitting riders in the face with his head?  Does he flip his nose all during the ride?  Does he collect easily or does he rely on the reins to balance?  Does he run through the bit?
8. Does he have difficulty walking calmly on a long rein? Does he become more impatient as a training session or ride progresses, rather than becoming calmer?
9. Does he have difficulty taking a particular lead, or flexing his neck around to one or both sides without taking a step?
10. Does he “track up” more on one side in the rear than the other? Does his gaits appear uneven giving the appearance of illusive lameness?
11. Are the bottom neck muscles just in front of the chest over developed?  Are the croup muscles over developed?
12. 

What is a rider to do?

Remember “Stop, Look and Listen” for trains?  The same thing applies to your horse.

Stop

First Stop what you are doing.  Recognize there is a problem.  Then know it is NOT your horse being “stubborn”.  This most likely is NOT a training issue if it just suddenly developed.  He is trying to tell you there is a problem.

Look

Too often when we groom we don’t spend very much time on it.  It is that necessary part of riding before we get to the fun stuff.   🙂

Really look at your horses back.  Feel every inch of it.

1. If any of his back feels soft like a marshmallow then there is damage there that the swelling is trying to protect.
2. If his back has hot or cooler areas, there is healing going on.  Healing requires more blood to that area so it will feel warmer than the rest of his back.
3. The last thing to look for is any hard areas.  Hard areas that are not bone indicate that there is a lot of progressive damage occurring.  The hard areas are muscles in the midst of a spasm.  The body is trying to brace against whatever is causing the pain.

Listen

If we listen to the horse he will tell us what is wrong.  The problem is he doesn’t speak our language.  We have to take the time to listen to what he is saying.   He will tell us by moving away from pain.  By trying to not let us mount.  By pushing our hand away.

All horses will test us to see if we are still worthy leaders.  Don’t let the testing get in the way of knowing that it could also be a problem.

What do I do now?

Once you know what the problem is, how severe it is and the expected time to heal you are ready to fix the cause of the back pain.

1. Stop using that saddle until you can get with a saddle fitter.
2. Call a massage therapist.  Your horse will need help to get his back pain free.  This may be multiple visits or even several weeks or months depending on how much damage is there.
3. Check with a saddle fitter, trainer or knowledgeable friend to find the source of the pain.
4. Get the saddle adjusted or fixed.  Or if you don’t live in Equus Broke US, buy a new saddle that fits correctly – lol.
5. Give your horse some time to heal before starting to ride again.  It will take a little while after the pain is gone for him to be convinced the new saddle/pad/adjusted saddle won’t hurt anymore.  Give him the time and it will be like ridding a new horse again!

The Hyoid… How does it help your horse collect?

If you have watched any of the CSI type of shows, you have heard of the hyoid process and how it is damaged when a person is choked.  Very few people know how it relates to a horse’s ability to collect and relax.

In horses the hyoid is not a “single” bone (it’s not in people either, no matter what the shows imply), but  a combination of several small bones/joints that influence the horse’s head/neck.  The hyoid apparatus is a crucial part of the anatomy for responding to aids from the seat and leg. As a link in the “circle of aids,” it allows fine adjustments to be made in relaxed responses from tongue and jaw.

When horses are “through” and “on the bit/aids,” tension in the muscles connected to the tongue via the base of the hyoid is relieved by soft munching. This aids the readjustment of the neck vertebrae (reversal of the lower curve from convex toward the ground to concave) for the characteristic “arched neck”.

The hyoid is connected to the styloid process at the bottom of the brain case by ligaments. It connects the muscles and ligaments of the tongue, pharyngeal section of the windpipe and neck. Faults with the tongue are traceable to the intimate linkages in the hyoid system being overly tight.

When the horse is on the bit he should have sufficient room in his bridle (2 fingers minimum between the nose and the noseband/flash) to keep his jaw mobile in order to relieve muscle tension that build up when moving in collection or extension. Making adjustments in the hyoid by licking & chewing, horses may flick their tongues very briefly out the front of the mouth.

If a horse sticks its tongue out of the side of its mouth, over the bit or withdraws its tongue from the bit, it is a sign that bit, saddle, pressure from the seat combined with a fixed/hard hand or perhaps an injury is a problem.

Massage prior to a class is a perfect way to loosen up your horses head/neck/tongue.  This will enable him to collect better and be more relaxed.  This can directly influence their collection and extension.

Photos by Dr. Nancy Nicholson.