14/11/2025
You worry about knocking a pole, we worry about the body ๐ง
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ท๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐๐ป๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ผ๐น๐ฒ๐: ๐๐โ๐ ๐ก๐ข๐ง ๐ฎ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ โ ๐๐โ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ๐บ
๐๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ด.
๐๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐จ๐ด.
A horse bred for jumping doesnโt want to hit poles; itโs uncomfortable, inefficient and instinctively avoided.
So when a jumper keeps tapping rails, itโs often because the body canโt organise the movement, not because the horse โisnโt trying.โ
And hereโs something worth thinking about:
๐ผ๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐ 80โ90% ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐ง๐จ๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐6 ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ญ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ง๐ค๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐.
๐ฝ๐ช๐ฉ, ๐๐จ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐ฅ๐ค๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ก๐จ, ๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ฃ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ช๐จ๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐.
This is why a whole-horse assessment is essential, not just focusing on the feet hitting the poles.
๐ญ. ๐ฃ๐ฒ๐น๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ป๐ด๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ผ๐บ
๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ท๐๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ฑ.
If the pelvis canโt tilt or the SI and lumbosacral joints lack mobility, the horse canโt sit, coil, or push.
That means:
๐๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง
๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฆ
๐๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐:
SI joint, lumbosacral junction, gluteals, hamstrings, iliopsoas.
๐ฎ. ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐น๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ
A supple midline allows the horse to round over the fence.
Restrictions here create:
๐๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ง๐ง, ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฑ
๐๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต
๐๐๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐:
Longissimus dorsi, multifidus, abdominal sling, T12โL2, L5โS1.
๐ฏ. ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐น๐ฒ & ๐ง๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ
โข The forelimb isnโt attached by bone โ only soft tissue.
โข If the thoracic sling is tight or weak, the shoulders simply canโt lift high enough.
โข But lift doesnโt start at the leg โ it starts at the scapulothoracic junction.
โข For clean jumping, the scapula must glide freely in all necessary directions:
๐๐๐ฑ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ & ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
๐๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
๐๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
๐๐๐ข๐ถ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ
๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐บ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ท๐๐บ๐ฝ.
When the scapulothoracic area is restricted, it frequently accompanies a 1st rib held in either inspiration or expiration, locking the entire front end.
And again, around 80% of horses show dysfunction here that improves dramatically with skilled manual therapy.
๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
โช๏ธ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต
โช๏ธ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ
โช๏ธ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐:
Serratus ventralis, pectorals, subclavius, trapezius, rhomboideus, brachiocephalicus,
plus the scapulothoracic fascia, 1st rib, and associated intercostals.
๐ฐ. ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ โ ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐
Neck mobility directly affects the front-end mechanics.
If the neck is stiff, especially midโlower cervical:
โช๏ธ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ถ๐ญ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ๐ญ๐บ
โช๏ธ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด
โช๏ธ๐๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐:
C3โC7, poll/AO joint, nuchal ligament.
๐ฑ. ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ & ๐ฆ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐๐บ โ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฃ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
The ribcage must expand and the sternum must elevate for the horse to truly lift the front.
Restrictions cause:
โช๏ธ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ด๐ง๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
โช๏ธ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ท๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ
โช๏ธ๐๐ช๐ฎ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ค ๐ด๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
โช๏ธ๐๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฎ
๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐:
Costovertebral joints, intercostals, sternum.
๐ฒ. ๐ก๐ฒ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น & ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
๐๐ค๐ข๐๐ฉ๐๐ข๐๐จ ๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฉ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ โ ๐๐ฉโ๐จ ๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐จ๐จ.
๐๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ:
The horse may not fully register limb placement
Takeoff timing becomes inconsistent
Poles get tapped simply from lack of spatial awareness
Key structures:
Brachial plexus, fascial lines, cervical spinal nerves.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ
๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ โ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฆ๐ ๐ถ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ญ๐๐-๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ถ๐
๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ, ๐ผ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ.
๐๐๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐
๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ถ๐๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
A horse can only lift the limbs once the pelvis, spine, ribs, neck, scapula, and thoracic sling are all working harmoniously.
Endless jump practice wonโt fix body restrictions.
Before worrying about techniqueโฆ
๐๐ถ๐
๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
๐๐๐๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ. As always this is just a snippet of information to create a post. This could have been written in many different ways, with differing angles of thought. Its no way the complete picture. Book your horse for a complete assessment is always Key.
๐ก๐ฒ๐
๐ ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐
My next post will go into more detail about that very common L6 in extension pattern โ why it happens, how it affects movement, and what it means for performance.
If you have any thoughts or questions youโd like included, comment or message โ
Iโll try to add them in the L6-specific post.
