11/11/2025
🔥 The Four Powerhouse Muscles That Connect Us All – Horse & Rider Edition 🐴
Whether you’re human or equine, these four muscles are THE foundation for everything: breathing, posture, movement, and performance. Let’s talk about why the diaphragm, psoas, serratus, and masseter are absolute game-changers!
🫁 THE DIAPHRAGM – Your Breathing Powerhouse
In humans, the diaphragm moves 25,000 times per day, and when it’s not functioning properly, it stays in a shortened state, leading to tight backs, hip flexors, and even shoulder tension as accessory muscles compensate. Horses have a unique breathing pattern where the diaphragm and abdominal muscles share the principal pumping duties during rest.
Here’s the connection: The diaphragm connects directly to the psoas muscle through fascial connections and ligaments that attach right alongside each other on the spine, literally connecting your ability to walk and breathe.
💪 THE PSOAS – Your Core Stabilizer
In horses, the psoas acts as a stabilizer of the lumbar region, and movement from the hind quarter passes directly through the psoas into the thoracolumbar junction, where it overlaps with the diaphragm. In humans, the psoas attaches to the diaphragm, lumbar spine, and travels to the femur, connecting deeply to the central nervous system via the fascial system.
When your psoas is tight, it increases intra-abdominal pressure, impacts the pelvic floor, and makes it harder for the diaphragm to move effectively, disrupting proper breathing mechanics.
🏋️ THE SERRATUS – Your Posture Guardian
In horses, the serratus ventralis forms the thoracic sling that suspends the chest between the front limbs, and through its connection to the external oblique, it supports core function and breathing. In humans, the serratus anterior anchors the shoulder blade to the rib cage and promotes optimal rib cage positioning, which allows the diaphragm to function properly.
Without a functioning serratus? Your whole postural system collapses, affecting everything from shoulder stability to core engagement!
😬 THE MASSETER – Your Jaw Connection
The horse’s TMJ is one of the most innervated joints in the body, sending information to the brain on vestibular balance, proprioception, and posture. In humans, the masseter is one of the strongest muscles, responsible for jaw elevation and stabilizing the TMJ when you clench your teeth.
When stressed or grinding teeth at night, the masseter becomes sore and tight, and over time, this clenching causes pain and dysfunction with TMJ itself, leading to headaches, neck pain, and whole-body compensation patterns.
🙌 SO, HOW DOES CHIROPRACTIC CARE HELP?
Chiropractic adjustments to the lumbar spine and pelvis directly impact the psoas muscle since it’s one of the only muscles that attaches to the vertebral discs in the lumbar region. For TMJ issues, chiropractic care uses spinal adjustments, soft tissue therapy, and manual techniques to address muscle tension in the masseter, temporalis, and pterygoid muscles, while correcting spinal misalignments that contribute to jaw dysfunction.
When the spine is aligned, the nervous system can communicate properly with ALL these muscles, allowing them to relax, function optimally, and work together as the integrated system they’re designed to be!
The bottom line? These four muscles form a connected chain from your jaw to your hips in both horses and humans. When one is out of balance, the whole system compensates. Chiropractic care + Tensegrity Balancing Therapy helps restore that balance by working WITH the nervous system to integrate proper function throughout the entire body.
Ready to help you and your horse perform at your best? Let’s get both of you aligned! 💪🐴
Top Line Chiropractic, Bolentini Inc *
📍 Sacramento Area | New Clients Welcome | AVCA,IVCA Certified
