Horses for LIFE - Online Horse Magazine - Natural to Classical Dressage

Veterinarian Research: Mayhew and Surprises in the Vertebral Column

SEPTEMBER 2005 • HORSES For LIFE™ Magazine

Brie Hamblin takes a look at the study by I.G. Joe Mayhew. And finds suprising information on the equine vertebral column. How we apply this information is up to each of us. Both riders and instructors.

But even more so equine veterinarians and equine chiropractors need to take this information into account during diagnostic procedures. This information could impact upon a variety of different problems as expressed by owners, from lack of mobility, to lack of the ability to collect, to back problems, to problems with lateral work. All based on physical conditions that the horse has no control over.

Do you know exactly where the horse has the most ability to flex and extend in his spine?

Do you know exactly where the horse can provide the most axial rotation of his spine?

Biomechanical information that impacts upon our very riding and training.

The Healthy Spinal Cord

I recently read “The Healthy Spinal Cord” by I.G. Joe Mayhew. There were a number of sections in the paper that any rider should consider particularly in developing a training regime for any horse.

The typical horse and most other mammals on this earth, have four sections to its vertebral column (the spine). These are cervical, thoracic, lumbar and caudal or coccygeal.

The Horses Spine

The cervical vertebrae are located from the skull to the area just before the shoulders. In the horse there are seven cervical vertebrae. Following the cervical vertebrae in the spine are the thoracic vertebrae. Horses normally have 18 thoracic vertebrae and these vertebrae approximately start between the shoulders and end just before the hips. The next set of vertebrae are the lumbar vertebrae located just prior and up to the hips. Horses typically have 6 lumbar vertebrae. After the hips leading into the tail head is the caudal or coccygeal section of vertebrae. There is more variation in this area and horses can have anywhere between 15-21 coccygeal/caudal vertebrae.

All of the vertebrae are named based on where they are located in the four aforementioned sections. Therefore, the second thoracic vertebra is labelled T2; where ‘T’ stands for thoracic and 2 designates it position relative to the skull. That is, the first vertebrae to begin a section is always labelled ‘1' and this vertebra is always the one closest in position to the skull. For example, T1 is the 8^th vertebra from the skull, remember there are seven cervical vertebrae preceding T1 in the spine, but it is called T1 because it is the first vertebra that begins the set of thoracic vertebra.

However I think it is interesting to note that there are exceptions to the vertebral formula mentioned.

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September 2005 Volume 1

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