Pre- and Post-Ride Routine for My Horse with Kissing Spine

If you’ve ever seen the meme that says, “I work hard to give my cat a better life,” or something to that effect, that’s me if you insert “horse” for “cat.” Can you relate? I’ve had my off-track Thoroughbred Knight for a decade, and it seems with each passing year, I add varying practices to our routine for his optimal health and comfort. In case you missed it, Knight was diagnosed with kissing spine in 2018, on his 11th birthday.

I’ve taken the advice from a vet who helped us along the way: “Ride the horse, not the X-rays.”

Early on, I wrote blog posts tracking Knight’s kissing spine journey. We have been successful in keeping him in work and comfortable.

Click here to read my reaction when I discovered Knight has kissing spine.

and click here to read a roundup of blog posts of hope for horses with kissing spine.

This blog post with my pre and post-ride routine for my horse with kissing spine is not meant to serve as advice to anyone with their own horse. It’s honestly a way for me to record what is working and serve as kind of a checklist, which I know I need to create—I forgot to do the pizza stretch the other day after our lesson. If something intrigues you in my routine, consult with your equine vet and your equine bodyworker and your trainer—your team—to seek guidance.

This post contains affiliate links.

Pre-Ride Routine

First, I plug in Knight’s heating pad. Yes, he has his own horsey heating pad. A few years back an equine bodyworker I met in Kentucky told me she really liked this model. It has jade and tourmaline and the long cord can easily be detached so that once it heats up, I place it on Knight’s back like a saddle pad. There are no long, dangling cords. I already had it on standby for reasons that aren’t clear (maybe for my back pain), so when my vet said I should use a heating pad on Knight’s back before and after my rides (unless it’s super hot outside already) I had it ready to go.

Next, I grab a small bucket that I keep in Knight’s stall (separate from his big grain bucket) and walk over to the round pen area where my Oscar the Grouch garbage can houses a bale of Standlee alfalfa. I pile maybe half a flake into the bucket so His Majesty can eat the calcium-rich concoction prior to exercise. My vet (who advised for me to do this) said we want his belly to be “carpeted” with the alfalfa so the gastric juices are in a way not able to slosh around freely. This is an ulcer prevention technique.

Lastly, I have both a Back on Track saddle pad and a Back on Track fly bonnet that is in the rotation. I realize the flies’ days are numbered as it’s officially fall, but I’m going to keep riding with the fly bonnet during the winter and indoors as their Welltex technology is supposed to ease pain. Knight’s a cribber so he puts his head and upper neck through the ringer on the regular. I use this cribbing collar, but he still cribs—but that’s a story for another blog post.

Speaking of flies, here’s my natural fly spray roundup and review.

Added bonus on the Back on Track products: Knight gets many compliments wearing brown.

Twice a week before I ride, I ground drive Knight for 10ish minutes—5 minutes to the left and 5 minutes to the right. It’s gratifying to see his walking stride lengthen the more he moves. Typically, he starts out in a slow-mo walk, but as I encourage him forward with my voice and kinda stamping into the arena footing, his hind hoofprints will surpass his front hoofprints. I enjoy seeing his expression. His ears are usually forward and his eyes bright.

I then ride. Usually, one ride per week is all walking and I like to ride around the perimeter of the farm. I think it’s good to have Knight navigate various terrain. Now on to the post-ride routine.

Post-Ride Routine

When I dismount, I always loosen the girth. I don’t know if people do this anymore, but all the nonfiction horse books I read as a kid talked about cooling out your horse and loosening the girth.

Ambling back to Knight’s stall, I stop him about 12 feet beyond his stall door. I remove the saddle, place it on the nearby rack and then have him back up in the aisle about ten to twelve steps. I then walk into the stall with him and remove his bridle, dipping the bit into his waterer to clean it off a bit.

He goes back to his hay while I grab his halter and place it on him with the Assissi Loop tucked under the crownpiece. The Assissi Loop is a miniature PEMF device that has a 15-minute duration. It will turn itself off automatically. It might seem a little hokey (I DO believe in the benefits of PEMF) because it’s so small, but after reading impressive product reviews on Amazon, I bought it. The review about the arthritic dog that would walk up to the loop hanging on a doorknob and nudge it, telling his owners to put it on him, got me. Also, I really trust my vet’s wisdom and advice. She had an ankle injury last year and said she used the loop on her ankle.

While Knight is munching hay with the loop on his head, I use something similar to this small and super inexpensive massager to gently go over his back about four times each side.

Then I hold onto his withers and rock him back and forth. I move down his whole spine back to his hip, quietly rocking his spine. He seems to really like it.

Onto tail tugs. Next, I grab his tail and pull it outward at a 45-degree angle.

Following the tail tugs I have several front leg movements which I sometimes do in between other pulls since it gets to be a lot bending down.

First, I hold each front leg out, similiar to a hoof shake (kinda like the trick Marguerite Henry taught Misty–If you like Marguerite and Misty, I’ve got a book recommendation). I hold each leg for 30 seconds.

The next PT-esque movement is holding up Knight’s front leg straight and reaching around his chest and neck and tickling his shoulder on the opposite side. This causes him to turn his head away from the leg I’m holding (like turning to get a fly). The goal is two neck stretches while holding the leg up straight, and then I start over by holding the hoof so the fetlock joint is bent, and doing the same tickle on his shoulder on the other side.

The final stretch is holding the front hoof out like the hoof shake, but gently crossing the leg over so it is in front of the standing leg–it moves the shoulder I believe. I gently rock the leg. I do each stretch on left and ride sides.

Then there are a few movements that require carrots or other treats. My favorite is called the pizza stretch. I don’t know if that’s the real name, but it was a great visual picture for what shape I am trying to create in Knight’s body. For the pizza stretch, you stand kind of mid-barrel to your horse and pick up his or her tail. If I were on the left side, I would grab Knight’s tail with my right hand and in my left hand, I would have a carrot. Similar to the tail tugs, I have Knight’ tail in hand. I then squat and tease him with the carrot with my left and hold the tail tightly in my right. My body essentially becomes the tip of the pizza and Knight’s tail and neck the pizza edges (his barrel would be the crust).

I will admit, this was a little tricky at first. The goal is to hold the pose for 30 seconds on the left then the right.

The next stretch with a treat is to walk Knight several strides down the barn aisle, teasing him so he follows the carrot with his head and neck low. When I have gone say 15-20 feet I then stand at his shoulder and give him the carrot, but the idea is to have him crane his neck around me and have the side of his head almost parallel to the floor. I turn around and travel the same distance and do the stretch on the other side.

And the easiest carrot stretch is to feed him the carrot between his legs, high up so he doesn’t bend his knees.

And that is it, folks.

Yesterday after my ride, another rider said, “Knight is so lucky.” And he is. And so am I. Even though it takes time before and after my rides, and I have to plan ahead to plug in the heating pad, bring carrots to the barn, remember all the stretches, it’s gratifying to know I am doing everything I can (along with consistent riding/lessons, lots of turnout, etc.) to keep my best friend feeling as good as possible. Knight is teaching me to be a more empathetic, more educated horsewoman. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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And here is that checklist I promised myself. Lol!

Pre-Ride Checklist

1. Plug in heating pad and apply to the saddle area for 5 minutes.
2. Feed alfalfa
3. Ground drive ten minutes 2x a week.

Post-Ride Checklist

1. Back up 10 steps
2. Assisi Loop for 15 minutes
3. Mini massager
4. Wither and back rocking
5. Tail tugs
6. 30 second hoof shake (both sides)
7. hold front leg and tickle opposite shoulder (do this twice with leg straight, then twice with fetlock joint bent gently)
8. leg crossovers
9. pizza stretches (requires carrot or treats)
10. walking with head low and then turn to left then right sides (requires carrots or treats)
11. carrot stretch between front legs—legs must be straight

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed learning about my extreme horse care! 

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• Unbridled Creativity. 

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