Summer plans - is the break worth it?

It’s definitely coming up to that time of the year where people are considering their summer plans for both themselves, and most importantly in conversation with me - there horses. What they will do with them, and when they will work with them, give them a break, spell them, or not.

There are many factors, all of them individually valuable to consider when considering ‘the down time’ for your horse.

Time. How long, and when should I ‘spell’ my horse?

Spelling traditionally relates to a period of time off formal exercise, training or fitness regimes where the horse is residing in a paddock environment with other horses, or alone. It provides freedom of movement if they are normally stabled, yarded, or paddocked in smaller paddocks. A change of surface with uneven or undulating terrain. A social environment if they are normally kept separated from other horses in free living environments.

In some situations, where high impact sports may compromise bone integrity or ligamentary structures causing potential micro trauma - a longer period of rest was desirable, such as in the racing industry.

However, we now know that the risk factors associated to the physical health of most performance horses from sudden, or acute decline in exercise regime, a change of environment and the effort required to return them to their previous state of physical fitness actually places unnecessary stress, and overt strain on the physiology of the horse.

The risks also increase, as fundamentally your horse is a powerful, athletic animal that will be driven primarily through adrenalin in response - so even if your horse is not fit enough, not stable enough, and highly likely to risk strain, it will most likely response form the basis of pre fitness decline competence and attempt to hero their way through your questions. This situation is usually more complex to handle if you are a particularly good trainer, that is skilled at positively and beneficially motivating your horse previously, the outcome of this is that your horse received benefit from athletic performance - so they will want to provide a highly athletic & skilled response.

Evidence now suggests that late maturity performance horses (from the age of 6 and above) should have no longer than 2 full weeks off any from of fitness, stability, mobility maintenance regime. So the 8 week spells are off the table unless under extremely rare circumstances…

Weather.

Well. I am in Western Australia.

Summer Break, late November to late February/March is HOT. Hot and dry.

Yes we have early mornings, but the reality is your horse does not live in air-conditioned climate controlled environments like we are often lucky to experience - so therefore their recovery periods are always going to be affected by many impacting variables. Air quality (bushfire smoke), thermoregulation (heat, humidity) and other climatic factors such as flies,and insects all play a role in impacting recovery & rest.

Stamping hooves and shaking flies them away all day does take it’s toll. So sometimes, it’s often best to just take it easy not those days, and remember, the losses won’t compare to the losses of a compromised recovery from missing a day.

Personally, I find most of us humans want a holiday, a rest, or to slow down in the heat anyway. This makes it an ideal time to take this into consideration over the hotter, drier times of the season and consider the idea of an overall lighter work load, that allows for the occasional week of no riding, no intensive work, or even no work at all as the heatwaves come and go. It’s honestly far better for both horse, and trainer to just skip it of the forecast is for over 38. Obviously, humidity also plays a huge factor in risks during exercise.

In reality - we all are trying to fit in copious end of season parties, festive events and then recovery from them over the Christmas period - so it makes sense to just do the bare minimum.

But it is important to do more than nothing, such as maintaining their minimal routine, will benefit your horse in way’s I delve into more below.

Maintenance.

Manual therapeutics. Mobility. Medications. Hoof care.

These are really big ones. In my opinion, it makes no sense, creates major problems, and gains nothing to stop supporting the horse with their individual needs for soundness, and mobility throughout their down time.

MOST of you have experienced a period of time where you have had to acquire a diagnosis, or develop a management picture to support you individual equine athletes needs that has been followed by a period of rehabilitation to bring them to the point of sustainable or management fitness and functionality. Like fitness, if you bring the horse up to a position of physical expectation, and physical competence through support and training, then take that support and management system away from them to ‘give them a break from it’ it brings two questions to mind - what was happening with the management system that is placing stressors on them that they need a rest from, and secondly, if these management systems are what they need for base functionality, then taking them away for a period of time is going to both require further rehabilitation from a riskier situation (horse super heroing on you through high levels of fitness, and increased stressors from new levels of discomfort, changed sensations, or changed routines) and puts the horse through a period of unsupported potential decline throughout their ‘rest’.

Which in itself, benefits nothing, rests nothing, and actually usually creates more problems than prior.

So sure, drop back the support that has been shown to ONLY be necessary during intensive exercise periods, but don’t drop the supplements, medications and most definitely not the supporting hoof care. Hoof care takes a long time to correct, and the broader more holistic physical changes in the horse as a result of hoof related dysfunction takes even longer. Unfortunately though, it takes very little time to destroy a horses correct functionality and way of moving that will maintain its hard earned posture & mobility status by simply removing shoes, and failing to upkeep trimming/hoof balance regimes. The horse organises its load, posture, and locomotion from the ground up. If you want it least the horse, do not take away its foundation.

Often it is recommend to ‘give the horse a rest’ from shoeing. But this needs to be discussed in detail with your hoof care team (ie. farrier & veterinarian) to find the best way to do this if at all.

The terrain the horse will be residing on, the duration of going unshod, and the benefits that are likely to be gained from it are important to consider. Benefits are often far less than just continuing with an excellent, individually appropriate and correct hoof care regime that supports the horse in functional movement and soundness initially. Generally, if the horse needs shoes to support healthy hoof functionality in locomotion, it needs them all the time, 24 hours a day.

Routine.

Horses are creatures of habit, and thrivers on routine.

They take pleasure, and find deep security and contentment in predictability and reliability. They are social creatures that take great and necessary comfort from their social companions, both horse, and human alike.

Changes in routine, unpredictable living situations, changes in social structure and environmental stimulus are all attributed with an increase in metabolic and endocrinological stress states that can lead to metabolic/endocrinological disorders such as EGUS (Equine Gastric Ulceration Syndrome) and a prevalence of stereotype displays. Wind sucking, cribbing ,stall walking, fence walking & weaving.

Horses by nature are neophobic, and fearful of, or disrupted/distressed by change. They would be world champions by nature at ‘Where’s Wally’ as they are incredibly skilled at defining what is not within their perception of developed normal, in their day to day sense of order.

The reality of this is that when we are inconsistent with our routines, or change their routines - It takes a lengthy period of adjustment to a consistent scenario for the horse to shift out of the stressful adjustment phase in response to a routine disruption, and then into newly developed neutral stress levels of the new routine.

Depending on the length of the ‘break’ that you are giving your horse from their normal routine - it can take the entire period of rest for the horse to actually stabilise their adaptive stressors into the new routine… the bad news is - this can further impact on psychological stressors, that when paired with the potential for more physically expressive stereotypical behaviours that are often coping mechanisms, it can place more stress on the physical structure of the horse that their normal day to day workload continuing and being reduced.

But…if you do send them out - send them out well.

Lastly, send them out the way you want them back. I will repeat it again, send them out the way you want them back.

Horses, will horse…and no - they won’t self correct. They will persist, particularly if they have learnt that the current disfunction is self beneficial to reduce pain, discomfort and stress.

It is found that many performance horses rely heavily on the rider or handler postural corrections that take place as a normal part for performance training to manage and correct fatigue related or repetition related changes in symmetry of posture. When this is not present in the daily routine such as when the horse is spelling, that subsequently, lack of straightness, lack of symmetry will persist. This is not the case for every situation, but as further research is undertaken into the varied presentations of musculoskeletal disorders, poor functionality & structural pathologies in horses, rarely a study results in a positive outcome to the conditions by simply leaving the horse to their own devices in a spelling scenario. Long gone are the days of ’spelling’ being the cure all and most minor, or major issues require an active ‘hands on’ recovery.

So fundamentally, if you have a horse that is showing signs of physical asymmetry, physiological discomfort and you don’t have a definitive reason or resolution to that prior to choosing to rest the horse - you are not likely to have the horse return in a better state, but you are more likely to have the horse return with a more consolidated development of the problem, quite likely alongside both behavioural & physiological compensatory patterns.

A horse, is still going to horse…despite what your hopes are. One thing is for sure, they will continue to horse based on how they are horsing currently. They don’t self correct well, but they are champions of compensation.

What you horse does most, it will do more. So even as the least you can do, don’t leave the lasting impression (that confirms the unideal response) from your training influence as the lasting impression on your horses rest period. If you don’t take the time now, you will definitely find yourself taking at least twice as long to recover them from their ‘rest period.’

If the training is persistently resulting in a negative outcome - correct that, then if you must slowly reduce it all down for the season.

Train, correct, recover, THEN rest.