To start the discussion, what is a good posture? I would love if you could email me with a photo of a horse/ their horse, and tell me if they think the horse has a good or bad posture and why. E-mail: pic@sound.horse

Now, how could people have affected the horses posture?

Horses used to be tiny, like a small dog. They looked a fair bit like my dog actually. Or like a small deer. They were suitably agile/flexible. As they developed into the huge animals they are today, they had to also develop core stability, a stronger skeleton had to be the answer. As well as more big muscles to shift that big skeleton, bones are weighty! I don't know how many of you know how a horses skeleton actually looks. It is rather amazing really, how it all works.

Anyway, obviously there is one thing humans have done to affect the riding horses posture, we have added a 50-100kg lump onto the middle of the spine. This is actually not the worst of it. The worst part is that the lump we have added 80% of the time does nothing to help the horse deal with this added weight. Sure we do, you say, we put a saddle on it to spread the weight. Ok, so you did something to help, but did you really do that for the horse, or did you do that because otherwise you'd slide off and end up on the floor?

What we need to be doing is to teach the horse how to carry himself before we start riding him. Sure, you will lose a few weeks. But you will gain a better moving horse, not just posture-wise. The improved posture equals improved gaits, incredible don't you think?

A horse needs to be carrying himself in a different way when he carries a person on top. Naturally the horse is front heavy, with a person on top he needs to shift his weight further back, towards the hindquarters. He needs to lift his front thorac! Hands up to those that understand what that means. Now, do you know how to get a horse to do that? Especially if the horse has never learnt it, has always carried himself incorrectly? Call me! No, only joking. I know a few ways, I'm sure there are many more. It is not so hard to teach the horse to do this, it is actually harder to teach people how to notice when the horse does or doesn't carry well. It is certainly not down to stupidity, I have some amazingly intelligent clients, some very experienced clients, even some that are both! But all the intelligence and experience in the world will not help if you have not been taught to start off with.

If you have been told, and shown, and taught, and shown again, and taught by a few more people, and you still can't see or feel it, make sure you have a trainer that knows how it looks etc, and practise! And if you still don't get it, maybe riding should only be a hobby for you, maybe you should not be the only one riding a particular horse?

Most horses are carrying themselves wrong. As I mentioned above, it is natural for them to. And it is fine for them. As long as they are just on their steppe eating ... Unfortunately, also most horses with a rider on top carries themselves wrong. I will be putting exercises on the how to page eventually, Ikeep watching out for it.

What problems does this bad posture cause?

Well, obviously if the horse is not carrying something that's on its back, backproblems! But looking a little further down the line, a horse that is not carrying itself gets more wear and tear on the front legs as they get more pressure put on them. This can show itself in tendon/ligament strains, calcifications etc. Bad performance is another problem, sadly the one that will get the most attention.