Equine Wellness
Overtraining
Dr. Christine King
July 1, 2007

“No pain, no gain” is a common credo in human sports training. The fact is, though, that it’s based on a faulty premise and it’s simply not true. Muscles and other tissues don’t gain in strength because you stressed them to the point of causing pain (i.e., exercise at or beyond the damage point); they gain in strength despite it! It’s not the trauma that induces the gain, it’s the simple act of loading the structure to near its physical limits. You could have accomplished the same gain in strength without the pain and damage just by working at around 90% of your current capacity. You’re not supposed to need a day or two to recover from a workout. Neither should your horse.

That brings me to another gym credo: “Give 110%.” Now, I don’t know how well you listened in math class, but that approach puts you in debt 10% every time. (100% means 100 out of 100; there is no more than 100 in 100. Take 110 out of 100 and that leaves you with minus 10.) That extra 10% has to come from somewhere, and where it comes from is your reserve capacity, which is for tissue repair and for the occasional emergency. Guess what happens when you repeatedly eat into it during your exercise sessions. Same for your horse.

So, how do you know where the line is between too much and too little? How do you stimulate the body sufficiently that it increases its exercise capacity (strength and stamina), without crossing the line and causing harm? It’s easy enough to tell with your own body when you’re approaching that line. It’s a whole lot harder with a body other than your own. That’s one of the reasons why training a horse is considered an art.

As space is limited, I’ll jump right to the common signs of overwork in horses. If you’re interested in reading more about training, take a look at the article “Training the Young Horse” on my web site (www.animavet.com/articles.html). The principles apply to horses of all ages, breeds, and occupations.

Signs of Overload

There are many ways in which a horse may communicate to you that you’re pushing too hard or asking too much. Some of these signs are quite subtle, particularly with a good-natured or very subservient horse, so you need to be paying attention to see these early warning signs.

Behavioral signals of overload:

o     sourness (e.g., the horse puts her ears back when you approach the stall or lift the saddle onto her back)

o     balking or shying at the entrance to the arena, at jumps, etc.

o     the horse resists being bridled or saddled

o     the horse is “girthy” or “cold backed”—i.e., expresses displeasure at being saddled or mounted

o     the horse doesn’t want to be caught

o     other avoidance behavior

o     bucking or rearing

o     reluctance to go forward

o     the horse seems unhappy (I know this one is vague, but if you know the horse, you’ll know when s/he’s unhappy)

o     the horse is “hard mouthed” or overly sensitive to the reins/bit

o     reluctance to perform certain maneuvers the horse knows how to do

Abnormalities of gait or movement that can signal overload:

o     stiffness, especially the day after a training session or competition

o     the horse lacks energy, has no “go”

o     resistance to turning or circling in one direction

o     reluctance or inability to pick up a certain lead at the canter

o     disunited (4-beat) canter

o     shortened stride: the horse seems “tied in” at the shoulder or does not “track up” (i.e., the hoof prints of the hind feet land well short of those made by the fore feet on the same side)

o     “crabbing” (moving like a crab)— the hoof prints of the hind feet are to one side of those made by the fore feet on the same side

o     the horse doesn’t move as well as he did before training began

o     the horse is not straight (e.g., holds the head or the head and neck to one side, curves the spine to one side, and/or swings the hindquarters to one side when on a straight line)

o     vague, low-grade lameness which may be hard to pin down to one particular limb or which comes and goes

o     obvious lameness

Other indicators of overload:

o     lower than expected power, speed, or stamina for the amount of training

o     the horse’s feet change in some way, e.g., hoof wall quality deteriorates, the horse starts losing shoes, one or more shoes show uneven wear, one or more hooves are no longer in good medial-lateral balance (i.e., the hoof is no longer symmetrical when seen from the front or rear)

o     interference marks appear on the inside of the lower legs or feet (e.g., small cuts or abrasions on the cannon, fetlock, pastern, coronet, or heel bulbs; scuff marks on the hoof wall; ruffed-up hair on the knee or fetlock not caused by boots)

o     areas of excessive muscle tension and discomfort, particularly at the poll, base of the neck, front or sides of the shoulder, saddle area, loins, rump, and/or thigh

o     swelling, inappropriate heat, or pain anywhere on the body

o     roach back—slight upward curvature (hump) in the horse’s back that wasn’t there (or wasn’t as prominent) before training began

o     lying down more than usual, seems tired all the time

o     decrease in appetite, especially for grain (can indicate the presence of stomach ulcers)

o     soft or loose manure for which no explanation is apparent

o     intermittent colic

Of course, many of these behaviors, gait abnormalities, etc. can have other causes such as inadequate training, poor saddle fit, injury, or illness. But in a hard-working horse, it is always worth having overwork or overtraining on the short list, too.

Avoiding These Mistakes

The way to avoid overwork and overtraining is to know your horse, listen to your horse, always treat your horse with kindness and respect, and when in doubt, err on the side of doing less rather than more. The earlier you can identify signs of physical or mental overload, the sooner you can make adjustments to the horse’s training program that optimize athletic capacity while avoiding injury and burnout. Sometimes by asking for less, you ultimately achieve more.