Varied Surfaces Help Equine & Canine Connective Tissues
When I was growing up, we all rode ponies everywhere: down asphalt roads, on frozen ground, in wet mud, and through rain and snow. The foundations of our arenas were made up of grass, sand, or dirt. We rode up and down hills, bushwhacked through trees, and trekked through streams and creeks.
Among all of these memories, I can’t recall a single instance in which our riding habits led to a damaged suspensory ligament or tendon. In fact, the first bowed tendon I ever saw as a kid was a trainer’s riding prospect that obtained the injury while at the track.
These days, competition horses go from one carefully manicured arena at home to another carefully manicured surface at shows. Each one is often sand mixed with synthetic materials or wax-coated footing.
Example of footing made from sand and synthetic materials
Unfortunately, these modern, “perfect” surfaces aren’t always what our horses’ connective tissues need and rarely provide benefits.
Tigger and her late horse, Lionheart
Not so long ago…
…competitive dressage rings were “made of” grass. Many of the courses designed for the hunter and jumper disciplines were also on grass (and featured more big, galloping, forward tracks than what we see today).
Some smaller shows had a dirt arena that frequently featured large, rain-made puddles.
Horses that could be described as “mudders” saw the puddles at ‘X’ or in the corner as no big deal. However, the horses that didn’t like water generally jumped, did impromptu leg yields, or dramatically spooked away from those same puddles.
The few sand arenas seen during that time tended to be shallow and/or deep in different spots, especially after a number of horses had gone around. These surfaces, in many ways, were far from ideal or “perfect.”
What connective tissues need
Connective tissues need varying surfaces for added strength and resilience. A conditioning routine that implements a rotation of differing footing also benefits:
The core
Joints
Proprioception (awareness of individual limb and whole body placement)
Balance
The nervous system
The respiratory system
All of these things put together can help build a horse’s overall confidence.
Connective tissue strength
Walking horses on different ground surfaces (some soft, some hard) gives connective tissue the opportunity to build strength and resilience. Walking up and down hills and trotting over uneven ground allows connective tissues and joints to adjust.
Important note: soft ground does not mean deep. Footing experts say six inches or deeper actually increases the risk of tendon and ligament injury.
Proprioception
Think of proprioception as a constant feedback loop operating between the nervous system, brain, and body. It is responsible for coordinated movements of the body, balance, spatial awareness, and avoiding injury.
One of the extra benefits of conditioning horses on different surfaces is that it does increase proprioception.
A tincture of time
An old horseman’s adage: a tincture of time.
Connective tissue strength can’t and doesn’t improve all at once, or even in one week. A suspensory injury isn’t going to heal in just a few weeks. Ligaments and tendons take time.
After six to eight weeks, your horse’s connective tissues and joints will have adjusted to these new surfaces, allowing you to…
…add longer walks, trot sets, or easy stretches at the canter.
And along the way, your horse will also be developing better balance and coordination.
Get out of the arena
Horses don’t have to condition on varied surfaces like 5* eventing horses (and you don’t have to let your inner cowgirl/cowboy out) in order to reap the benefits of training on different grounds.
Walking on varied surfaces is the best way to start.
If you have hills, use them!
Once you and your horse are more accustomed to less-than-perfect footing, try a short trot set in the grass…
…then a twenty-meter circle at the canter.
Pull the cavaletti out of the ring, and let your horse trot through it on a different surface.
As an added bonus, getting out of the arena helps the horse’s mind and confidence.
The European model
Back when I was living and training in Holland, it was common to take the horses for a ¼-mile to ½-mile, under saddle walk on the asphalt to cool out and relax after a training session. Some days we worked in the corn field, just cantering around, doing flying changes, and then hacking in the woods. It was not at all unusual to see multiple horses in quarter sheets trotting down the narrow asphalt lanes in Holland, coupled with the quintessential clip-clop, clip-clop sounds.
If your horse has experienced a connective tissue injury
Collagen is an important component for improving the ligament’s structural integrity. Adding a bioavailable collagen, such as BioStar’s Ligatend™ Collagen EQ with eggshell membrane collagen, can be extremely beneficial for healing and maintaining connective tissue integrity, aiding for a smooth transition back to full work.
Circulatory support
Connective tissue in the limbs can suffer from poor blood supply due to the tightly packed fibers.
Horses recovering from ligament or tendon injuries often benefit from shockwave therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) treatment.
Vasodilation of the blood vessels
Adding circulatory support – like foods high in l-arginine (e.g. pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds) and Indian gooseberry (AKA “amalaki”) – support the production of nitric oxide in the body. Nitric oxide is the master circulatory molecule, and it supports vasodilation (widening of the blood vessels). Good circulation is incredibly important for healing and maintaining ligaments and tendons.
BioStar’s Circuvate EQ™ features Capros®, a patented extract from the Indian Gooseberry plant.
Varied surface conditioning also applies to dogs
For the same reasons as horses (connective tissues, joints, and proprioception) giving our dogs varied surfaces to walk and run on is important.
Dogs that spend their lives walking on sidewalks need periods of soft terrain, uneven ground, slippery mud, and dirt.
Dogs that spend their lives on farms or are taken on frequent hikes are already accustomed to changes in surfaces. These dogs can benefit from obstacle enrichment – not as in jumping the obstacles, but by moving around them. Some examples of incorporated obstacles include:
Planks (even an old fence board without nails!)
Doggie cavalettis (which can be easily fashioned from muck rakes, leaf rakes, and upside down shovels)
You may be surprised at how your farm dog navigates something new.
Thinking and getting outside of the box benefits humans too
Equestrians are often used to riding in a confined area, and dog owners tend to go on walks in the same neighborhood regularly. Sometimes fear creeps in when facing new environments, whether it’s being weary of the horse spooking or the dog becoming reactive.
Tigger and Lionheart
If you are fearful, take baby steps! Have a friend ride with you if you are afraid of riding out of the arena, or keep your rides closer to the barn to start. After practicing for a couple of days, try to take the same route twice and gradually increase your laps.
With dogs, make sure you aren’t putting a lot of tension on the leash. Let your dog sniff around the new location, and reward them often!
As we overcome our fears, our horses and dogs become more confident too.
My horse, Lionheart, could be a very spooky horse on occasion. At first, riding him down the Dutch lane was spook central. He reacted to everything; the cows in the neighboring field, passing cars (even though drivers in Holland tend to be very respectful of horses and riders), or even a shadow across the road would cause him to spin and try to head back to the barn. Our solution? I started to sing to him on our walks, which made both of us relax.
Taking care of both mind and body
Our horses and dogs benefit in mind and body when we expose them to varied terrain, and provide specific nutritional support when needed.
About the Author: With over 30 years experience in the equine and human supplement industry, Tigger Montague knows nutrition from the synthetic side as well as the whole food side. She started BioStar US in 2006 with formulas she created in her kitchen. Before she started the company, she was an avid rider and competitor with eventing and show jumping, until she got hooked on dressage in the late 1980’s. She has competed on horses she’s owned and trained all the way from training level to Grand Prix.
