Grooming- the effects on the musculoskeletal system

Grooming can sometimes feel like a chore, especially come winter and if you have a grey! However, the benefits it has on your horses musculoskeletal system may change your perspective on it and may now become a priority for your horses welfare.

The rubber curry comb is a fantastic example of this, whilst its versatility means it is primarily used to lift dirt from the coat and as a de-shedding tool, it works brilliantly as a massage tool too.

Soft tissue such as muscle and fascia are highly responsive to mechanotransduction. This is a process where cells respond to pressure by generating a biological reaction such as improved circulation. Unlike a body brush, the rubber curry comb can reach deep into the coat and have contact with the skins surface. As a result of the small amount of pressure and ciruclar motions applied by a curry comb it can help to stimulate blood flow, thereby helping to increase oxygen and nutrient delivery to the area to enhance cell health whilst working to reduce waste products such as damaged cells more effectively which can become harmful. Additionally, the circular motion can help to reduce collagenous crosslink restrictions in muscles or fascia which can hinder or limit your horses performance as a result of not allowing for correct muscle and fascia glide respective to eachother.

On first hand, I have massively noticed a difference between using it and not. If I have been a little slack on using it one week I have noticed tension starting to rise within back muscles as well as a few fasiculations starting to appear within muscles and have also sometimes noticed that a simple curry comb over the back has removed or decreased the number of these fasiculations, therefore I always promote it as a management tool which is simple and inexpensive to help reduce back pain.

However, some horses often prefer a lighter/gentle approach to grooming and whilst a body brush will have less of an effect on reducing fasciulations and collagenous cross links, it will still encourage circulation in addition to its long sweeping motions applying a small amount of stretch in the muscle fibre to improve extensibility of tissue, allowing for greater freedom of movement.

The next time you start grooming your horse, think... is there a common area in my horses body which generally holds tension? If your horse is tolerable why not spend a few more minutes working through this area with a curry comb or body brush.

Some research to support grooming...

20 minutes of grooming caused non-significant increases in walk, trot and canter protraction symmetry. This means that following brushing there was improvements in symmetrical movement of the horses hindlimbs coming forwards underneath them, indicating the potential for grooming to reduce compensatory movement and enhance the stride patterns.

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References

Mabbutt, Chloe & Yarnell, Kelly & Blake, Roberta. (2022). A short-term hindlimb massage programme can improve gait symmetry in riding school horses. Comparative Exercise Physiology. 18. 1-8.