09/29/2025
🧠 RETHINKING MOVEMENT: Why We've Been Looking at This All Wrong
What if I told you that muscles aren't actually in charge of movement? That everything we think we know about how horses move might be missing the most important piece of the puzzle?
Here's the game-changer: Muscles can only do ONE thing - contract.
They don't decide when, how, or why. They just follow orders like obedient soldiers. Yet our entire industry builds theories around muscle groups as if they're running the show, operating in isolation, making decisions.
But here's what most people don't know:
Ligaments aren't just passive structures holding joints together. They're actually the INITIATORS - loaded with sensors that feed real-time information to the nervous system about position, stress, and threats to joints. When they detect trouble, they fire up specific responses to stabilize, support, or shut down movement.
It's called the ligamento-muscular reflex, and it changes everything.
Think about it: if a ligament feels threatened, your horse's nervous system instantly reroutes movement to protect that joint. This completely overrides any "muscle chain" function you're trying to create. Suddenly, you're not dealing with simple muscle activation - you're dealing with complex feedback loops that pre-program stiffness and movement quality.
The bottom line? Strong muscles don't matter if connective tissue is compromised.
A muscle is just the end-point. A tool. It has zero autonomy.
Here's the real chain of command:
1️⃣ Motor cortex plans the movement
2️⃣ Spinal cord relays the message
3️⃣ Ligaments fine-tune the ex*****on
4️⃣ Fascia shapes the outcome
5️⃣ Muscles simply contract when told
BEND VS. FLEXION - A Perfect Example:
You can create lateral flexion in a horse's neck without creating true bend. But the moment you create genuine bend in the ribcage, you automatically get lateral flexion. Why? Because ribs work like an accordion - inside ribs compress together, outside ribs spread apart. And here's the kicker: 90% of lateral bend happens from the 14th thoracic vertebra forward.
THE GASTROCNEMIUS CONNECTION:
Let's talk about a muscle most people ignore - the gastrocnemius (yes, you need your teeth in to say it!). Think of your own heel and calf pain, and you'll understand where this sits in your horse.
This "little" muscle connects to the massive hamstring group and forms part of the Achilles tendon system that covers the back of the hock. When horses have bulging hamstrings but weak glutes, or when they shuffle, drag toes, or lack stride length - this is often the missing piece.
Here's what's fascinating: Lack of propulsion is actually one of the TOP reasons for behavioral issues. We think bucking, rearing, or rushing are the obvious pain responses, but often it's the quiet horse that can't engage behind that's suffering most.
The ripple effect is massive:
Poor range of motion through hips, stifles, or hocks compromises everything downstream. Ligaments that should provide stability become lax, creating instability. Fascial connections into the lumbar create pain that we treat as "primary" when it's actually just the result, not the cause.
The key insight: We only look for muscle tears to document problems, but muscle strain is ALWAYS a result of dysfunction - whether overworked or underworked, it's not doing the job it was designed for.
So, here's my challenge to you:
Let's expand this conversation beyond single muscles or pairs. Let's acknowledge the full sensory-motor loop that actually governs functional movement in relation to the whole body.
Because if your training model doesn't include reflexes, joint sensory input, fascia, pressure systems, body chemistry, and neuroplasticity - it's not really a model of movement. It's just a flat sketch of anatomy.
Next time you think about "building muscle," ask yourself:
What's the connective tissue doing?
How are the joints communicating?
What's the nervous system prioritizing?
Are we working WITH the whole system or against it?
The answers might surprise you. 🤔
