Mobility and Mobilisation, what is it?
Mobility is how much can your horse move.
Mobility can be assessed with active movements (observing your horse walking , for instance, when you bring him from the field or from the stable to the arena but also asking for a “carrot stretch” type exercise)
It can also be assessed with passive movements, and that’s you holding the leg and checking the mobility of it. This has also the benefit of working as a warm up for the joints and soft tissues.
Check for symmetry, resistance/stiffness, signs of pain, reluctance.
Assessing stiffness and crookedness of your horse helps you being aware of where your horse is at (and therefore more mindful towards his limits) before you ride so you can correct it and stretch it to improve rebalancing.
Once you have assessed mobility, comes the mobilisation. So mobilisation is the act of moving a joint in order to improve its mobility. It implies moving the joint to improve the fluid movements inside it, lubricating it to help the articular surfaces and stimulating blood flow to the area ( remember, with arthritic changes and inflammation: if you don’t use it , you loose it!) stretching the muscles and ligaments too. It also stretches the ligaments of the joint itself and of the nearby muscles and tendons. This improves mobility and also recovery so they are great to do after a good warm up or after a work out.
TIP: If you are in the middle of your exercise routine with your horse and you notice clearly that he/she is tighter on one hind or one shoulder, do not hesitate to get off the horse, do a few mobilisations of the joints involved and stretches and hop on again : see the difference, you will be amazed! It’s worth the hassle of getting off and on, trust me.
If you want to get a clearer idea of what to do and how, join me on my next Mobility & Mobilisation Workshop. More details here. Sign up to the mailing list to be updated of the new dates.
