Is Your Horse Strong Enough?
- Horses Inside Out
- 14 minutes ago
- 7 min read
How can we tell if a horse is strong, or strong enough for the job we ask them to do? This seemingly simple question is one that can lead to myths and misconceptions. In this article, Gillian Higgins looks at some of the myths surrounding muscle strength, gives an overview of basic muscle anatomy and biomechanics and offers practical ways you can assess muscular strength in your own horse.
Looking Strong vs. Being Strong
It’s easy to believe that big muscles means strength. In people, we often think of weightlifters as the strongest, yet consider a marathon runner - lean, wiry, and undeniably strong in their own way.
The same applies to horses. A Shire may look more powerful than an Arab, but strength must always be assessed in the context of the horse’s size, breed, conformation, and discipline. A Shetland pony carrying a child requires a very different type of strength compared to a 17.2hh Warmblood competing at Grand Prix dressage.
It's important to recognise that strength is not just about muscle bulk. It’s about coordination, control, and the ability to apply force at the right time in the right way.
The Role of Technique
Technique and posture enhance strength. Just as we lift more safely by bending our knees and engaging our core. A horse’s ability to carry a rider, perform in a dressage test or jump a course of jumps is influenced by how they coordinate their muscles and use their body.
"Posture is key and any of you that know me will know how passionate I am about posture. A horse with good posture will not only move more efficiently but also be better protected from injury."
Poor posture compromises movement and can lead to long-term issues. We won’t go into detail on posture in this article, but it’s an essential companion topic to understanding strength.
Pondering Posture
Keen to delve further into the world of equine posture? Here are links to previous articles that look at this topic:
Take a look at these on-demand recorded webinars, which are all available to view in the Horses Inside Out Academy.
Discover and clear and structured postural assessment system and learn how to assess good or bad posture through good management practices. Understand how in-hand exercises and correct riding can improve the horse's musculoskeletal comfort, longevity, flexibility and efficiency.
Poles are an excellent training aid for improving posture, range of movement, expression, strength, symmetry and suppleness. This on-demand webinar is full of exercises that you can do with your horse.
If you would like to improve your horse's posture and way of going, this is a must watch. It looks in detail at the anatomy of the thoracic sling muscles and how to assess their strength and suggests appropriate exercises to stretch and strengthen them.
Love to curl up with a book?
Look no further than Posture and Performance. This beautifully illustrated book looks at how to deliver a safe, varied, fun, effective and achievable training programme. It provides all the ingredients you need to make informed decisions to maximise you and your horse’s potential and improve your skills.
The Basics on How Muscles Work
Every movement a horse makes is powered by skeletal muscles contracting and pulling on bones. Muscles cross one or more joints and act to move them. For example, the longissimus dorsi crosses all the joints between the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae, helping to extend and stabilise the spine.
Nerves carry signals from the brain, instructing muscles when to contract and when to relax. As a general rule, deep muscles and those close to joints are postural muscles responsible for supporting and stabilising joints. The muscles responsible for creating power and large gymnastic movement are further away from the joints. The massive superficial muscles of the hindquarters for example provide the propulsive forces necessary for locomotion.
From Pairs to Chains
Muscles don't act alone. They work:
In pairs – As one muscle contracts, the other lengthens. This allows movement to happen. For example, in our arm, the biceps contracts and the triceps relax to flex the elbow and vice versa to extend it.
In groups – no one joint is operated by one muscle alone. Movement is dependent on groups of muscles working together to create fine precision and smoothness; when one group contracts, the opposite group relaxes. The two groups of muscles are known as agonists which move the body part by shortening or contracting the muscle or antagonists which relax or stretch to allow the movement to happen.
In chains – This facilitates precise control and continuous flowing movement. The presence of muscle chains helps to explain compensation mechanisms. When one muscle in a chain is weak or tight, it can affect function elsewhere in the body.
Two Key Muscle Chains for Strength and Movement
The Extensor Chain. Located along the top line (above the spine and behind the hip). These muscles power forward motion, extend the spine and hips, raise the head, and create impulsion. A well-developed extensor chain enables movements like extended trot or piaffe.
The Flexor Chain. Found beneath the spine and in front of the hips, this includes the abdominals and deep core muscles. They flex the spine, lift the back and withers, and are crucial for collection and posture. A strong flexor chain helps maintain balance and core engagement.
When both chains are well developed and coordinated, they create a balanced, powerful, and athletic horse. If one chain is underdeveloped, the horse may compensate elsewhere, often leading to stiffness, imbalance, or even injury.
Types of Muscle Contraction
Understanding how muscles contract helps us train more effectively.
Isotonic contractions results in movement. This type of contraction can be subdivided into two categories, although all movement uses a mixture of both.
Concentric: Muscle shortens to produce movement.
Eccentric: Muscle lengthens to control movement, support and stabilise joints, or act as a shock absorber during an abrupt movement such as coming to a sudden stop.
Isometric contractions (stability). The muscle contracts without changing length, stabilising posture. For example, a horse in collected trot holds many postural muscles isometrically.
Horses use isometric muscle contraction to brace and support themselves whilst travelling. This is why one hour in the horse box can be attributed to 20 minutes trot work!
How to Assess Your Horse’s Strength
Simply looking at your horse tells you very little. A true assessment happens in movement - here are seven tests your can do.
1. Observe the Walk
Ask someone to walk your horse away from you and back. Does your horse move fluidly and with purpose, or do they appear wobbly and weak? Is their hoof placement precise? Is the limb taken in a straight line through the air? Watch for twisting of limbs, especially at the hock - twisting outwards may suggest lateral weakness.
2. Add a Slope
Walk your horse up, down and across a slope. Do they stay balanced? Does it affect how strong they look?
3. Walk a Circle
A strong horse maintains rhythm and balance, even on small circles or on a slope. A weaker horse may lose coordination or fall out through the shoulder.
4. Transitions on a Slope
Ask for a halt while walking downhill. Can they stop in balance? A horse that struggles to stay coordinated in these conditions may lack strength or postural control. Increase the difficulty with trot-to-walk transitions downhill.
5. Backing Up
Asking your horse to back up in a straight line is a good test for strength. It recruits different muscles, in particular the muscles down the front of the limbs, which help to push the horse backwards. If your horse struggles or loses rhythm, it’s a sign of weakness in those muscle groups.
6. Test Weight Transfer
Use simple equine Pilates-style tests:
Wither Rock – gently rock your horse side to side at the withers.
Hind End Lateral Sway – sway the hindquarters from side to side.
Both of these exercises are explained in more detail in the following article - Maintaining Mobility in Your Horse. A strong horse will move smoothly and with control. A weaker horse may feel unstable or shaky during these movements.
7. Picking Up a Foot
When you lift a foreleg to pick out the hoof, does your horse stay balanced or lean on you? Do they snatch the leg back quickly, unable to support themselves? This simple everyday activity can tell you a lot about your horse's postural strength, or lack of it.
Strength for the Job
Ultimately, strength must be considered in relation to what your horse does. A dressage horse needs strength for sustained postural control and collection. A jumper must absorb and redirect force with every take-off and landing. A happy hacker needs stability and stamina across varied terrain.
Assess your horse's strength with their discipline in mind. Watch how easily they maintain frame, move in straight lines, turn, and transition between gaits. Are they falling out through the shoulder? Losing the hindquarters? These signs tell you that your horse is lacking in strength and something that won’t see when you look at them.
As we are covering this subject, it's important to mention muscle wasting (atrophy). It can result from pain, nerve damage, disuse, or bony changes. If you notice unexplained muscle loss, don’t simply try to “build your horse back up”- investigate the underlying cause first.
True strength in horses isn’t always obvious. It’s not about size or appearance, but about balance, posture, and the ability to perform tasks with ease and efficiency. By understanding how muscles work, how to assess functional strength, and how strength relates to specific jobs, you can train and care for your horse in ways that keep them healthier, more athletic, and better protected from injury.
Want to learn more about muscles... check out these books and on-demand courses?
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