Managing Soundness in Dressage Horses

[From the April 2011 Sho Times:
Shannon Dueck is a contributing writer to the
Sho Clothes Sho News monthly newsletter]

by Shannon Dueck
(Photo of Shannon Dueck by Sue Stickle)

Managing Soundness in Dressage Horses


For this article I am getting off my dressage training soapbox and getting onto a different topic - that of management to help keep our horses sound and performing well. In particular suspensory ligament injuries are rampant in the dressage, and it’s not usually because we work our horses terribly long or terribly hard. In some instances soft tissue injuries are just plain bad luck, but in many cases we can make our luck better with some good management of our dressage horses.

Here are a few of my thoughts on good management practices that will help maintain our horse’s long term soundness:

1. Train consistently. That means train your horses at least 5 days a week, every week. Your horse’s general fitness level should be maintained as much as possible, unfit horses are more likely to be injured than fit horses. My perfect schedule would be to train 5 days a week, longe one day a week, and give one day completely off. I try to include hacking almost every day for each horse. Then daily turn out or hand-walking is also essential, no horse should stay in a stall for 23 hours a day.
2. Warm up and cool down. In Florida we don’t need to warm up for long, but still a nice 10 minute walk and then posting trot before getting down to work is always a good idea. In colder climates a longer warm up should always be part of the training program. Warming down is also crucial, after a hard workout it is important to do a nice stretchy trot for a few minutes to relax muscles and get rid of lactic acid build up. A good cooling out walk is also important, as it is hard on soft tissue (muscles, tendons and ligaments) to be immobile after a hard workout.
3. Ride in the best footing possible. My personal preference is for a sand mixture with some kind of fiber that can aid in shock absorption and also help reduce shear. The footing should not slip away from your horse’s feet, nor jar them. Hard footing can cause foot soreness, muscle soreness and make any arthritic changes more painful. Footing that slips away from the step of your horse can cause soft tissue strains and sprains. My coach once said to me “Good footing is the cheapest veterinarian”. It is so true!!! 3(A). Maintain your good footing. This means making sure that the footing is evenly distributed in the arena and evenly packed. Usually this means daily harrowing of the arena and raking of the track. Some places with lots of traffic even do it more than once a day. Using the appropriate dragging equipment for the footing is important; the harrow that works on plain sand might be the wrong piece of equipment for a waxed fiber sand composite.
4. Cross train. Hack your horse on different footings, grass, pavement and arena surfaces. Be careful to walk when the footing is not even. Turn your horse out if he is used to it, but use caution - supervision is a good idea and so is good paddock footing. For those brave souls out there, jump your horses occasionally, and for sure all of us can do some cavaletti work! Move your horse a lot. Most horses stand too much and don’t move enough.
5. Get off the 20 meter circle. Remember that lots of dressage injuries can be attributed to the repetitive nature of the sport - so try to make it less repetitive!
6. Develop a great relationship with both your vet and farrier. Make sure your vet and farrier get along well too. They will help you design a program that enables your horse to be fit, strong and sound for many years of fun together.
7. (Or 6-A!) Shoe your horse well. Not many horses have the ideal conformation from a textbook, but with good help your horse can have well balanced and sound feet. Consider investing in x-rays once or twice a year to see how your horse’s angles are looking, and have your vet and farrier work together to get as close to ideal shoes and feet as possible. Your farrier will appreciate it!

I am sure there are many more points I could make, but this is a start. Luck is always part of dealing with horses, but with good management your luck just seems to get a little better. Happy riding!

International Grand Prix trainer and competitor Shannon Dueck is a Pan Am Games Individual Silver Medalist, and has competed at both WEG and the World Cup Final. She has trained with Bert Rutten of the Netherlands, Kathy Connelly, Lars Peterson, Hubertus Schmidt, Robert Dover, and most recently, Wolfram Wittig while in Germany this past summer.