The hands

The hands are the cause of a great deal of suffering in horses. The whole of the cervical spine and the entire topline are affected by a bad hand.

Quotation: « The cervicothoracic junction supports the base of the neck and rests on the frame of the thoracic inlet. Its relations with the autonomic nervous system (cervicothoracic ganglion), the origins of the phrenic nerve (C5, C6, C7) and the roots of the brachial plexus make it a functional element of major importance. The nuchal junction, for its part, carries the head and rests on the intermediate segment. The relations these two junctions maintain with the central and autonomic nervous systems are numerous and complex. »

It is therefore clear that any cervical lesion can have repercussions on the nervous system, « leading to abnormalities notably in the thoracic limbs (lameness) and in the central nervous system (ataxia) ». (Bibliographic study: Arthropathies of the cervical vertebrae of the horse. Doctoral thesis, Veterinary Medicine, École Nationale Vétérinaire de Toulouse — ENVT, 2018, p. 50)

1 / The hand that is too rigid:

It is the direct cause of many hindlimb lamenesses. « The rider who pulls on the horse's mouth causes an increase in stress on the lumbosacral apparatus; there will sometimes follow the appearance of dorsolumbar myositis (the horse "caught in the loins"), or pathologies of the lumbosacral disc, sacroiliac problems, sciatica… » (see same source, p. 66)

2 / The hand that pulls:

The greater part of the pathologies of the upper or lower cervical vertebrae are due to the abuses of the hand that pulls on the horse's mouth, compressing the neck. The snaffle bit and the low hand, the hand that uses horizontal movements towards the rider's chest, are the causes most often identified. The horse takes support on the bit with its premolars, with several consequences.

Mechanical consequences: « the ligamentous stresses provoke insertional desmitis of the nuchal ligament; the result of the bony stresses will be the formation of arthrosis, or chronic pain caused by the closing of the foramina ».

And mouth problems: dentists observe a great number of premolars damaged by the pressure of the bit, or by the traction force of the bit, which the horse will attempt to wedge between its teeth in order to escape the localised pain.

3 / The opening rein:

This abuse of the hand can also have serious consequences for hindlimb lameness. Under the effect of the opening rein, the horse will often slip. The inside hind will come to cover the track of the outside fore of the circle, which « brings about an increase in stress on the hind joints (fetlock and interphalangeal), causing cartilage compression on the weight-bearing side and ligamentous traction on the opposite side. At the same time, an increase in rotational and sliding movement in the hindlimbs occurs on the medial side (absorption and propulsion), on the inner face of the hock — which in time can lead to the appearance of spavin ». (see same source, p. 69)

And to crown it all, the rib cage pivots…